Initial Tutorial

During a tutorial with Jon he mentioned that my narrative behind my game concept was unrealistic and my concept was in need of realism to be stronger and more immersive for the gamer. My initial idea involved the main avatar being homeless and in need of shelter and survival, however there were no solid reasons why she may be in this state, no valid reasons which would relate to the player and allow a connection. Therefore Jon suggested that I look at issues in todays society which may help evolve the situation. He asked me to put myslef in her shoes so to speak, to understand why a person might be situated in a shopping center. After much deliberation Jon suggested as an idea that my character might have an attachment to the mall i.e. the woman had a young child and a couple of years ago whilst in the shopping center her child was abducted while her back was turned for less than a second, they never recovered the child, press releases were issued with descriptions of the man in question for the kidnapping but never found. Once everyone including the police and her partner gave up and resigned themselves to the worst she became obcessed, not allowing herslef to give up hope she started to stake out the shopping center day and night in hope of catching a glimpse of the kidnapper and saving her child.

With this scenario there could be a number of alternate endings which could satisfy the player for example the mother could find the kidnapper and her child, another could be that she comes across an older version of her child with another family, but she knows its her child instantly as does the child, these may leave the viewer feeling satisfied and emotionally involved, emotionally satisfied. However although this idea is realistic (unfortunately these instances seem to happen alot) it would only be fully appreciated by mainly parents, would i then be limiting my target audience considerably?

I had set out with the intention of targeting most ages and genders in hope to attract a wider audience than many games, using this scenario would limit me and may not attract the younger audience and perhaps not all men. Also because this issue is so heartfelt and strong it may upset people rather than having the desired effect? However I feel that a realistic issue and subject matter would strengthen my game and help people become immersed easier, they would be able to relate better.