What makes an RPG?

[Poet_and_Gentleman.598]

That's not what I meant by "the way its meant to be experienced". To go back to the art analogy, the audience is blind. They have no input beyond what the author provides and it's not up to them to match their attitude to the author's writing.

And yes, gaming is a form of art or at least it's heavily reliant on it. How reliant depends on the genre. Some games are on one side of the spectrum(strategy/sim), but RPGs are waaaaaay @ the other end. RPGs in fact, are at the complete mercy of their writers.

If it relies on a specific mindset to be appreciated,the writing is a massive failure.You can't reasonably expect the audience to have a certain mindset in regard to gameplay in RPGs because mechanics are part of the narrative.

You keep coming back to your expectations, but there's no need to respect said expectations. Fan service is the lowest form of fiction and is only a notch above erotica and about equal to CYOA.

In fact, a good writer (or director in this case) will defy and deny them. He will impose HIS vision of the world upon the audience and not the other way around.Partly the reason why post-2003 games are so terrible is the excessive conservatism of hardcore gamers.

A sensible director would be tempted to break them instead.

 

[Suhiira]

To make a long story short, because it's boring.

Then stick to action games instead of RPGs.

A good strategy game strives to provide a good stragety game experience. A simulation strives towards good simulation. In the same vein an RPG should strive to provide a good RPG experience. It doesn't need a simulation or a strategy game injected into it to provide that -- and while it can borrow some elements, like most genres do these days to other generes, it most certainly doesn't need to mutate itself into game of another genre.

Exactly.
I play tactical (Steel Panthers MBT) and strategic (War in the Pacific) games as well as RPGs. It's unrealistic to expect any one game to be both.
Do you expect Chess to play like Monopoly?

 

[Poet_and_Gentleman.598]

Then stick to action games instead of RPGs.

No: you stick to bingo instead of computer games.

The elephant in the room is that your definition of RPG is utterly outdated.
Furthermore, is that almost no one plays RPGs this way.

And sure enough, you get frustrated when you realize that the world doesn't revolve around the early 90s and that your airplane made out of cement can't fly. Is there supposed to be a surprise here?

I play tactical (Steel Panthers MBT) and strategic (War in the Pacific) games as well as RPGs. It's unrealistic to expect any one game to be both.

It was espescially true in the 90s. There started to be a few blended genre, but things took a very very sharp turn post-2003 where AAA games became standardized into a few archetypes.

I don't see a technical reason why several game types cannot be pursued at once. Slowly, but surely, ArmA is trying to reach that level. There has been embryonic attempts to do it, e.g. Star Citizen, Mount and Blade, et al.

A sort of sim is really the next step in gaming.

 

[Sardukhar]

No: you stick to bingo instead of computer games.

The elephant in the room is that your definition of RPG is utterly outdated.
Furthermore, is that almost no one plays RPGs this way.

Ahhh....okay, first your bingo comment seems kind of bigoted and aimed at a certain age group and gender. I hope i'm wrong. Tell me I'm wrong.

Second, LOTS of people play RPGs this way! Dragon Age Inquisition. Wasteland 2. Fallout New Vegas. Shadowrun Returns and Dragonfall. Divinity Original Sin. And the legions of those of us who replay Bloodlines again and again and don't really care much for the action part - which we've done looooots of.

Witcher 1 and 2 are much closer to classic Role Play than they are to Diablo Action Role Play. You get great whacks of speech, choices as a player that change the game world and many tools for shaping what kind of a Witcher you want to be - brutal, compassionate, thorough, smart assed, lying, honest, adulterous, non-adulterous, etc.

Actually, I'd say in the last couple years we went from heavy Action RPG to much more literate, plot- thick RPGs - some, like Skyrim, let you nearly totally avoid combat if you want.

 

[Poet_and_Gentleman.598]

You know how much money I rake in playing bingo?

Them poker players got nothing on me.

We, young men have definite advantage. Like, for example, incredible stamina, quickness, and reflexes. Nasty people run those bingo parlors, let me tell ya.

Are you telling me that young men cannot play bingo?
Thanks for showing us your TRUE ageist collar. Collarbones.. Colors. Ah fuck, now I'm talking like you.

Actually, I'd say in the last couple years we went from heavy Action RPG to much more literate, plot- thick RPGs - some, like Skyrim, let you nearly totally avoid combat if you want.

I'd say it's true of Western RPGs but Japanese RPG have always been if not literate, very story-driven. I'd say most Japanese games had strong storylines, in general.

 

[Sardukhar]

I'd say it's true of Western RPGs but Japanese RPG have always been if not literate, very story-driven. I'd say most Japanese games had strong storylines, in general.

Mmm. I'd agree, although I find the gameplay boring.as.hell. Stand there and salvo attacks. Ugh. Ughity ugh ugh. Also I find my character is very predefined and options to change him or her limited.

Great writing, though. Very creative.

 

[Sasza]

• 1. A story
  2. The use of statistics for abilities, skills, etc
  3. freedom to do what you want
  4. Choice and Consequences

 

[z0rex]

This RPG is what makes RPG - RPG. And where is my Ig® Nobel Prize for insight and witty humor?

 

[Suhiira]

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