AlanC9 wrote...
Evil Johnny 666 wrote...
Well, people here have been arguing the definition of RPGs, the usefulness of a definition is being a definition. I don't know what you're trying to ask.
Vague language. My bad.
I was questioning the usefulness of the category itself if this is the definition of that category. Knowing a game is an "RPG" doesn't tell me much if this is the definition of RPG.
Bringing RPGs to the PC most probably had something to do with the ability of making a character who can progress - as well as playing alone, but that's something pretty much any game type can offer - as well as being able to make a more defined (can't really find the right word) story - but that's also something other game types can offer.
I've always thought CRPGs came about as they've been because progression was the only element of PnP RPGs that could be translated into a computer game with the limited power available. I've often said that we'd be better off if CRPGs had descended from something better than D&D, but the elements of better systems aren't easily reduced to computer form. Hell, I'm not sure that writing code to enforce Hero System's Psych Limitations is feasible now.
That's actually a relatively common misconception.
Most platforms RPGs appeared on also featured any number of real time titles. Take the C64 for example, which featured Archon. Just as easily translated into a real time RPG, and it was, in the form of Gateway to Apshai. There was nothing stopping early forms of today's games, other than the fact that in many cases it makes little sense. The C64 was amongst the earliest of graphical platforms, which was when CRPG's took off, and it coud do what people claim is "More modern!".
It's a common misconception, because there's been two forces at work.
1. Game Industry team members too young to know what the early platforms were like, making misguided assessments of what they were capable of, and using that to justify their reasons for making everything into a Real Time game, absolutely refusing to consider why things were made they were. One recent large studio displayed this in spades. "It's because the hardware was too slow!". No, it wasn't. It was a concious decision for a reason.
2. Marketing myths because the PR department wants you to think that game X is an unheard of revolution and that game's before it were tired and boring. This actually has it's origins in the Real Time revolution in the late 90's when everyone was trying to be Warcraft. It just carried over to the RPG's a short time later.
Now I'm not saying TB is a necessity, or always the best solution. I'm saying that the games were developed this way for a reason, it was a concious decision. Early RPGs were made linear because early PnP RPGs were linear, character development was non-existant, because in the 80's, character's in most media were one-dimensional. Narrative was weak because at the time, an RPG consisted of "You meet your friends in a tavern, you find a map on the floor!" The concept that the story, and the Role you were taking on weren't developed yet.
These ideas were explored to an extent, Dragonlance in PnP, Wastelands as CRPG, but largely wouldn't be developed until the 90's.
The "Better" systems are actually pretty subjective. It's been 30 years, and GURPs is the only thing to ever threaten D&D's throne (until 4e anyways). While the "Better" systems may have facilitated character development and the roles more fully, they generally lack character progression.
As far as Hero's limitations goes, that's really not hard. Those are Fallout's Perks system from what I gathered from my brief reading on them. It's not hard to implement exceptions to do those things, it's just time consuming. Honestly, most of those are either implementing die roll impairments or alternate dialogues. Which simply isn't going to happen as long as Shooters have "RPG" labels on their boxes. Regardless, even that system is going to require behind the scenes die rolls to represent the limitation with penalties assessed for the situation, which means it requires the statistical based system upon which all RPGs are based.
We won't see another system as in depth as that until this whole "Everything must be real time FPP or TPP action!" fad dies.
Modifié par Gatt9, 21 février 2011 - 07:05 .
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