Vault Dweller
Commissar, Red Star Studio
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 28,024
<a href=http://rpgvault.ign.com>RPG Vault</a> posted <a href=http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/473/473734p1.html>RPG roundtable #4</a>. I didn't read the first 3 so I don't know what all the fuss is all about, especially since the companies are not the ones I'd associate with role-playing anyway. Without further ado...
<blockquote> <b>Guild Wars designer</b>: While it seemed to me that every publisher's favorite three letters this last year were either GTA or MMO, it might well be that every developer's favorites were RPG. (Note to self: write up pitch document for the GTAMMORPG.)
The real standout, however, was Knights of the Old Republic, which showed definitively that strong storytelling is not antithetical to giving the player interesting choices. The key, I thought, was simply that the choices weren't just meaningful in a choose your own adventure sort of way, see this ending or that one, but rather had a pervasive and consequential influence on something players were sure to care about, their characters.</blockquote>
Yeah, who needs silly things like meaningful choices or different ending (what's up with that?), when you can have romances. Next...
<blockquote><b>Clueless dude from Tannhauser Gate</b>: The combination of events surrounding The Temple of Elemental Evil shows clearly that the age of 2D is over. The game is absolutely perfect (despite a few minor, insignificant bugs) - graphics, animation, combat system. All of the aspects that make a great PC CRPG were there, but no one cared. Who actually treated it the way it deserved? The very fact it is not 3D placed it in the second tier. Sad.</blockquote>
One word: huh?
<blockquote>The competition between stories in Deus Ex: Invisible War and Knights of the Old Republic. There is no reason to compare between them, because the former is definitely better, more complicated, serious, thrilling and without the simplifications the latter has in abundance. And yet, the majority of gamers seem to value Knights of the Old Republic more. Why?</blockquote>
Uh, because Deus Ex 2 was stripped of anything that made the first one fun?
<blockquote><b>Warlords III guy</b>: On one hand, a lot of people said to me that they felt CRPGs were going into a decline once again, like they did back in the mid- to late '90s. But on the other hand I've had a very memorable year playing some of the best CRPGs that I can remember. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was a magnificent piece of work - possibly the most engaging and immersive CRPG ever done.
The number of games that are adding in RPG elements to the mix seems to be growing exponentially (our latest strategy title Warlords IV fell into this category too). It has taken some time, and may be partly brought about by the fact that it is now unacceptable to release a modern game without some sort of career mode, but designers in other genres seem to have finally appreciated the addictive power of that good old CRPG hallmark - the character levelling system</blockquote>
Is it any wonder that most RPGs suck if designers have no clue what makes them fun, what makes them succeed or fail?
<blockquote> <b>Guild Wars designer</b>: While it seemed to me that every publisher's favorite three letters this last year were either GTA or MMO, it might well be that every developer's favorites were RPG. (Note to self: write up pitch document for the GTAMMORPG.)
The real standout, however, was Knights of the Old Republic, which showed definitively that strong storytelling is not antithetical to giving the player interesting choices. The key, I thought, was simply that the choices weren't just meaningful in a choose your own adventure sort of way, see this ending or that one, but rather had a pervasive and consequential influence on something players were sure to care about, their characters.</blockquote>
Yeah, who needs silly things like meaningful choices or different ending (what's up with that?), when you can have romances. Next...
<blockquote><b>Clueless dude from Tannhauser Gate</b>: The combination of events surrounding The Temple of Elemental Evil shows clearly that the age of 2D is over. The game is absolutely perfect (despite a few minor, insignificant bugs) - graphics, animation, combat system. All of the aspects that make a great PC CRPG were there, but no one cared. Who actually treated it the way it deserved? The very fact it is not 3D placed it in the second tier. Sad.</blockquote>
One word: huh?
<blockquote>The competition between stories in Deus Ex: Invisible War and Knights of the Old Republic. There is no reason to compare between them, because the former is definitely better, more complicated, serious, thrilling and without the simplifications the latter has in abundance. And yet, the majority of gamers seem to value Knights of the Old Republic more. Why?</blockquote>
Uh, because Deus Ex 2 was stripped of anything that made the first one fun?
<blockquote><b>Warlords III guy</b>: On one hand, a lot of people said to me that they felt CRPGs were going into a decline once again, like they did back in the mid- to late '90s. But on the other hand I've had a very memorable year playing some of the best CRPGs that I can remember. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was a magnificent piece of work - possibly the most engaging and immersive CRPG ever done.
The number of games that are adding in RPG elements to the mix seems to be growing exponentially (our latest strategy title Warlords IV fell into this category too). It has taken some time, and may be partly brought about by the fact that it is now unacceptable to release a modern game without some sort of career mode, but designers in other genres seem to have finally appreciated the addictive power of that good old CRPG hallmark - the character levelling system</blockquote>
Is it any wonder that most RPGs suck if designers have no clue what makes them fun, what makes them succeed or fail?