Jump to content

What happened to the RPG while I became an old man?


Recommended Posts

Silver_Fox, you put a lot of ideas foreward for me to think about. Thank God! Wish I could get a transfusion of information and analogue from all you knowledgable people. There are many games I don't know-and the tech side my son understands while I do not.

AI may never be 'good as a human' at this stage of our tech, but it won't be that way forever. More importantly, AI remains the most desired achievement. Gaming is supposed to feel real? They can't get away with better graphics each year as a replacement for interaction, er, can they? I don't think so. The wild card has to be the small children playing now, having grown up with toys I only dreamed of while watching Startrek, (the one with Capt Kirk) Human beings are smarter than the business is giving them credit for, and those children are maturing and will want more than better, 'splat' effects when their hero kills a bad guy.

You could look at the sideshows the industry has given us as a diversion- the unspoken thing in the room, the beast everyone is afraid to mention, is still AI, and the diversions won't change that. Isn't it intrinsic to the art form? I think it is. If they do not push that, then games will never be much more than improved Asteroids. Hollow. Todd Howard said another thing I remembered, for reasons other than he would hope. He's said that the spell making in Skyrim, for instance, had to go because of the graphics- he said reluctantly. He has his priorities wrong. The features he chopped off should never be sacrafised for better visuals. It's the other way around. Apparently, high definition is a over-valued goal, and they are not thinking of the game as a whole. I get that they developed while the industry had lower tech and clumsy graphics, and have always wanted the visuals to be superb. Didn't we all want that? But that's not the end goal.

Someone could take what the tech could bear today and with equal or better than Oblivion level graphics push AI beyond what it has ever been- and have character building and attributes and all else.

I'm subscribed to Grim Dawn, if that's the right word, and while I like it, glad it's here, support the direction, it is not really a Sacred game. It's a step in the right direction.

 

You said Sacred used Character development because it didn't have as much choice in action and plot advancement. And that's exactly why Sacred is re-playable. But repeatable games don't take a bite out of sales-that's apples and oranges, a different market. I don't believe for a second that Sacred or Oblivion took sales from the hordes of buyers who would purchase another 8 hours of Halo, with their always new release coming next year. That 'event' in the marketplace will always exist- it's like the pop music market for young teens.

I don't know what Pve and PvP are. You know, I watched Television in the 60's and much of that programing is contrived and lighweight by today's standards. We wanted more, but the networks were afraid. All the issues they were afraid of then have been hammered out over and over today, with more realistic, filled-out relationships. These things do change. I see the programing today has it's own set of pitfalls and stereotypes too. I just hope this doesn't mean I'll have to wait for my children's generation to mature to see great games. I hope it's not that long. It was disturbing to see so many elder scrolls fans not notice or not care about the huge cuts in character building and choice. But that just leaves a big window open for another company to put out a product that does.

I guess ranting is one of the things I do best. Too bad I never made any money at it.

 

Oh-the opposing maps of the two fps says it all. I didn't actually know that. They have shortened everything, haven't they? I wonder how much of that is the devalued US dollar?

Edited by munk
Link to comment
  • 6 months later...

It's not just CRPG. Also good old pen and paper. Our old university play group did a 25 year celebration: the men hating amazon was married with 3 kids, the agile halfling thief was 341 pounds, the old massive dragon steak eating barbarian was thin as a pencil and vegan, ....

Sounds like life caught up with them. ;)

Link to comment

It's not just CRPG. Also good old pen and paper. Our old university play group did a 25 year celebration: the men hating amazon was married with 3 kids, the agile halfling thief was 341 pounds, the old massive dragon steak eating barbarian was thin as a pencil and vegan, ....

 

Are we talking character to player transformation?

Or did they finally decide to change thins up after 25 year?

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...

Just found another gem, Lords of Xulima http://www.lordsofxulima.com/

Great old school rpg and developed by a small indie company. For what they have produced with this game, they deserve a whole lot of respect from the rpg community.

And if you want story and fantastic turn based combat how about Valkyria Chronicles http://store.steampowered.com/app/294860/

Yeah it's from Sega but it's one hell of a great rpg.

Unlike Munk I think the pc rpg market today is actually full of incredibly deep and involving games. I have fond memories of classics from the late 80's/early 90's but there is still a ton of games being released today that offer the role playing gamer satisfying gameplay.

It's just a shame that most get overlooked because professional reviewers these days seem to focus on the latest big name game release and have little time for the smaller, and in many cases superior, product from independent developers.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up