What is an RPG?
I simply became curious reading some of these forum posts. The various opinions on romance, character development, desires for BG II EE, or even discussions of specific games, all give slightly different views on what a good or classic RPG "should" be. I have noticed a few major themes.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT/STORY
Some people seem to love the character development. Conversation, romance, banter, etc. They want motivated, interesting fleshed out NPC's to love and hate. (BG, ME, FF...) Others see this as less important (Fans of icewind dale, Elder Scrolls or other such) [I have included story here, because I am not sure how you could tell a good story with flat and uninteresting characters, if you disagree, please correct me.]
PARTY CONTROL/STRATEGY
Others seem to be looking for a specific playstyle. Isometric views, tactical control of a varied party, class systems, etc. They want a good old fashioned D&D or FF style romp, and see things like Mass Effect as "Cover Based Shooters with RPG elements". (IWD, NWN2, BG are classic banner bearers here) Others are fine if they only control 1 character or it has a different play style (Dark Souls, Witcher, Mass Effect)
WORLD EXPLORATION
They want a world to explore, lore to learn, caves to crawl through, nooks and crannies to peek in, and secrets and marvels to find. "Non of this Linear nonsense!" is their battle cry. (Elder scrolls are probably the kings here, some might throw in Zelda or other such) Other do not really mind if they can't loot every box in the game, or wander the forbidden wilds. (DA:O, ME2)
CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE
These folks want to be able to make the hard calls, choose their own path, and have that choice matter. They know that a game can't realistically have a written and scripted path for every outcome, but they take what they can get, and relish it. If they save somebodies life, they want to see them again, and if the game presents a terrible conundrum, they want the good and bad consequences of it all. Feel a little cheated by games with scripted stories (Pretty much all FF for example) big fans of things like: (ME, Planescape, Deus Ex, etc.) Others... don't see choice as that big a deal if the rest of it is good.
OTHER
I have no illusion that I thought of everything, so here this is.
Which of these is most important to you? Which can you let slide? What makes a "good RPG" to you?
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT/STORY
Some people seem to love the character development. Conversation, romance, banter, etc. They want motivated, interesting fleshed out NPC's to love and hate. (BG, ME, FF...) Others see this as less important (Fans of icewind dale, Elder Scrolls or other such) [I have included story here, because I am not sure how you could tell a good story with flat and uninteresting characters, if you disagree, please correct me.]
PARTY CONTROL/STRATEGY
Others seem to be looking for a specific playstyle. Isometric views, tactical control of a varied party, class systems, etc. They want a good old fashioned D&D or FF style romp, and see things like Mass Effect as "Cover Based Shooters with RPG elements". (IWD, NWN2, BG are classic banner bearers here) Others are fine if they only control 1 character or it has a different play style (Dark Souls, Witcher, Mass Effect)
WORLD EXPLORATION
They want a world to explore, lore to learn, caves to crawl through, nooks and crannies to peek in, and secrets and marvels to find. "Non of this Linear nonsense!" is their battle cry. (Elder scrolls are probably the kings here, some might throw in Zelda or other such) Other do not really mind if they can't loot every box in the game, or wander the forbidden wilds. (DA:O, ME2)
CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE
These folks want to be able to make the hard calls, choose their own path, and have that choice matter. They know that a game can't realistically have a written and scripted path for every outcome, but they take what they can get, and relish it. If they save somebodies life, they want to see them again, and if the game presents a terrible conundrum, they want the good and bad consequences of it all. Feel a little cheated by games with scripted stories (Pretty much all FF for example) big fans of things like: (ME, Planescape, Deus Ex, etc.) Others... don't see choice as that big a deal if the rest of it is good.
OTHER
I have no illusion that I thought of everything, so here this is.
Which of these is most important to you? Which can you let slide? What makes a "good RPG" to you?
Post edited by Jalily on
2
Comments
It really is all the trappings that make a RPG a RPG.
Examining where the term originates helps.
In pen and paper game, you create a character. It is a role you play. The trappings change from system to system, but since you are playing someone other than yourself...
This has gotten circular. You're on your own =p
Anything beyond is what you make of it.
It's a game where you assume the role of a fictional character, and guide that character through a fictional world.
In other words, eHarmony.
I'd say having a party is probably the least important of those aspects, I find my own character the most important one, but I certainly do like having companions. As for what makes a "good RPG"... well the story I'd say. Basically all the Black Isle/Bioware/Troika RPGs have quality writing (some would argue it isn't the case for ID though) and that's why people consider them the cream of the crop.
1. It tells a story. Like any novel or play: rescue the princess for her hand or kidnap the princess for daddy's ransom money, there is a beginning, middle and ending.
2. You, as a character in that story, may affect how that story progresses and resolves.
One important thing to remember about the second item. Some will argue that BG only has one ending, therefore you cannot affect the ending. I disagree because in terms of "THE STORY" you still get to define your motivations. Do you want to stop the Bhallspawn's reign of terror, or be the one directing it?
I also once read an interesting article on game design that approached this question from the angle of "Western" vs. "Japanese" RPG's. The author's conclusion, with which I agree, is that RPG is really too broad a term and conflates two genres that share the same origin, but have evolved into separate entities. JRPG's focus primarily on narrative, providing the opportunity to play the role of the protagonist in a pre-scripted series of events. WRPG's are more concerned with allowing the player to express himself through his character, with the story acting as a vehicle to provide compelling interactions and motivations. It's actually a fascinating allegory for the differences between the perception of social identity in Japanese and US cultures.
The only thing that I really don't like seeing in games is romance, and I guess I can see why many people want it, but I have absolutely no interest and will go to great lengths to avoid it's involvement with my story.
With computers, the concept of an RPG got diluted. Games like Baldur's Gate can only emulate a part of the Pen & Paper experience. Lost is the ability to freely define your actions, for instance. The so-called Open World games also limit characters to a great extent. Computers -- and computer programming as a consequence -- can only define deterministic environments, incapable of properly simulating the freedom of imagination granted by a Pen & Paper Game Master (GM) and his players.
In 2002, a game appeared that introduced a more powerful computer RPG experience and could have helped properly define the RPG genre on computer gaming. From the makers of Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights multiplayer module included a full GM experience. It was a very powerful (it's still being played to this day) experience that unfortunately didn't take off as it deserved. Maybe the never solved bugs, maybe the inherent complexity of the system, it simply didn't experience mass adoption. The opportunity to properly define computer RPG as a more close gaming style to that of its ancestor was lost.
Proper computer RPG existed even before Neverwinter Nights, it must be said. To this day there's numerous conversions of board RPGs to computers, in which players play through instant messaging or a simple gaming client that provides IM functionality. I believe rpgarchive.com lists plenty of them -- been a long (long) while since I played. Indies have once and awhile also offered games that more closely adopt the RPG gaming style. Sleep is Death is a recent (2 year old) example.
However, truth the matter is that a triple-AAA game could have had a more powerful impact on the proper definition of the RPG genre. That was lost with Neverwinter Nights meager adoption. Today, the RPG acronym is clearly diluted and close to meaningless on computer gaming. Stats, some sort of plot and some manner of character progression sense (as limited as it may be) is well enough to call something an RPG. It's unfortunate. But it's how it is. Trying to properly contextualize the RPG moniker on modern computer gaming is an impossible task.
...
But nothing is lost. The RPG genre will one day find again its proper place:
* Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern dabble in Artificial Intelligence while developing their project Façade (http://www.interactivestory.net/); a real language parser and an emulator of emotional states and human relationships, in what could constitute a major leap to the current tree-based dialog technology used in about every computer game.
* Chris Crawford studies ways to bridge the gap between computers and the human mind in terms of storytelling, with projects like Storytronics (http://www.storytron.com/), a complete engine to devise, run and play interactive stories.
Last, but definitely not least, Ernest W. Adams lecture at the 2005 Game Developers Conference is a must read exposition of the advances and challenges of developing proper interactive narrative in today's computers. It's very likely that we will require a new computer architecture (and a non-deterministic one) to one day provide a real RPG experience on a computer device. http://www.designersnotebook.com/Lectures/Interactive_Narratives_Revisit/interactive_narratives_revisit.htm
I prefer a game by its resemblies ,rather than just a vague shortcut like FPS , RPG... Just say that it resembles this and that , and it should be enough , as every game till the day seems pretty much their own genre. IWD for example can't be an RPG , if BG was , because IWD is way different and catchy if you are looking for adrenaline even in saving/loading , not hardcore playing , because of Heart of Fury reasons...
It is the poetic transition from entertainment to empathy where the rest of the world falls away and for those short moments we are a hero... or demon.
Eastern RPGs give you a character and you play through his/her story- many decisions are taken out of your hands because the designers have designed the character and are making you play as that character. Except in combat situations, you don't get to decide how your character acts- that's mostly predetermined by who that character is, to the designers.
And characters who go through no changes at all tend to be liked more...
1)Skyrim 2)FF 3)Not D&D at all 4)Not infinity engine.
Children, that's game racism.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/06/morrowind-recreated-using-the-skyrim-engine?utm_campaign=fbposts&utm_source=facebook
All good and legendary RPGs, though, are either isometric, or pseudo 3D. Examples: Diablo 2, Baldur's Gate 2. And old titles. There is good reason behind the statement that "they do not make them now like they used to". But this applies to all genres of pc gaming anyway...
And they are called CRPGs!!!! Computer Role-playing Games.
Even though the standard definition would fit to so many games, I really don't see certain games as RPG nevertheless.. Diablo is a good example for that (if at all it's an ARPG from my pov) or the Elder Scrolls series (would call them a Fantasy World Simulator) - to me a true RPG is based on a detailed setting - a complex living/breathing world with it's own history (no matter if it's sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.), is based on a [complex] rule-system, has turn-based combat and gives me the possibility to play a lot of different roles + the freedom/ability/choice to experience adventures/handle obstacles in many different ways.
Edit: I should add, that I see real-time with pause still as turn-based if it is implemented as it is in the IE games or Drakensang for example, but not if it's implemented like it is in Mass Effect.