Mochan
09-10-2006, 04:12 AM
I looked through RPG Vault and man it was like a comedy gone bad. It didn't matter which developer interview I clicked on. I clicked a bunch of them at random, and look at how they all open:
"EVE is totally different. There is almost no handholding, and the player has the freedom to experience the game in multiple ways. This latitude brings with it a much deeper game experience and a true sense of reward because the experience is a result of the player's own work. EVE is therefore ideal for those who want to put their own imaginations to work."
"Gods: Lands of Infinity is a unique fantasy game that combines features of both RPG and trade strategy, all wrapped in an easy, attractive and dynamic concept. It is a game that honors features of the old school RPG classics and presents them in a new fashion."
"Crusade is going to take character progression to the next level without biting off too much or making it too complex for the new user. We want first-time players to jump right into the game and have fun from the start."
"Then, when playing World of Warcraft, it reminded me of just how potent this stuff can be, like when it's 4am and you just can't go to bed. The twist is that the world doesn't need 10 World of Warcraft clones. So - to be really clear - I'm not heading in that direction at all. I'm hoping that with the help of my closed beta testers, we can together shape a game that Americans will enjoy"
"When I started work on Africa, I'd been playing MUDs and MMORPGs for the better part of a decade. Over the past few years, I've found myself increasingly bored by current offerings. Most virtual worlds are like a museum in which you can't touch anything, and the exhibits never change. In such an environment, the player can't meaningfully impact the world, and so ultimately, nothing they do really matters. Our goal at Rapid Reality is to change that by introducing more dynamic content, and giving players the ability to change the world."
Without fail, it always starts with some fangled world setting narrative for a few paragraphs to describe the setting for their new fantasy world, then starts with some kind of game design philosophy BS. Almost always starts off with them saying how their RPG is special and different because of how they are avoiding all the pitfalls of the genre, while accentuating all the good parts. But honestly, this is the kind of drivel I've been seeing (heck, I've been spouting them myself!) for like the past 5 years. Or more. And what do we have today? A boatload of cookie-cutter MMORPGs, Diablo-esque dungeon hacks and Baldur's Gate clones! (Oh, and a game called Oblivion which plays pretty much the same as its predecessors despite the so-called RAI system)
I dunno but I have to say that, as an RPG player, I like to think that I have imagination. I thinnk that's necessary to be a good RPG player or to enjoy a good RPG campaign. But somehow I think RPG players (and developers alike, by extension) have a little too much idealism in their imagination and think that whatever RPG they are creating, is "something special" that no other RPG has done what they are doing before. I should know -- I spouted all sorts of RPG development idea crap back in the day on this very board, remember?
And so they go on with their development, following this "new design philosophy" they supposedly have that nobody else has: and end up with another cookie cutter MMORPG or Diablo hack or Baldur's Gate derivative.
It's sad really. Almost sickening to be honest. Well that's how it goes I guess. I'm seeing way too much talk, no walking the walk. I'm seeing people who *think* they have a great idea of how to make an RPG, but end up doing what everyone else has been doing for the past decade.
Almost makes me want to stick to Final Fantasy console RPGs, at least we all KNOW it's just another shounen anime story being tossed into a cookie-cutter battle system.
When are we going to get an RPG that will really get me back into the role-playing?
"EVE is totally different. There is almost no handholding, and the player has the freedom to experience the game in multiple ways. This latitude brings with it a much deeper game experience and a true sense of reward because the experience is a result of the player's own work. EVE is therefore ideal for those who want to put their own imaginations to work."
"Gods: Lands of Infinity is a unique fantasy game that combines features of both RPG and trade strategy, all wrapped in an easy, attractive and dynamic concept. It is a game that honors features of the old school RPG classics and presents them in a new fashion."
"Crusade is going to take character progression to the next level without biting off too much or making it too complex for the new user. We want first-time players to jump right into the game and have fun from the start."
"Then, when playing World of Warcraft, it reminded me of just how potent this stuff can be, like when it's 4am and you just can't go to bed. The twist is that the world doesn't need 10 World of Warcraft clones. So - to be really clear - I'm not heading in that direction at all. I'm hoping that with the help of my closed beta testers, we can together shape a game that Americans will enjoy"
"When I started work on Africa, I'd been playing MUDs and MMORPGs for the better part of a decade. Over the past few years, I've found myself increasingly bored by current offerings. Most virtual worlds are like a museum in which you can't touch anything, and the exhibits never change. In such an environment, the player can't meaningfully impact the world, and so ultimately, nothing they do really matters. Our goal at Rapid Reality is to change that by introducing more dynamic content, and giving players the ability to change the world."
Without fail, it always starts with some fangled world setting narrative for a few paragraphs to describe the setting for their new fantasy world, then starts with some kind of game design philosophy BS. Almost always starts off with them saying how their RPG is special and different because of how they are avoiding all the pitfalls of the genre, while accentuating all the good parts. But honestly, this is the kind of drivel I've been seeing (heck, I've been spouting them myself!) for like the past 5 years. Or more. And what do we have today? A boatload of cookie-cutter MMORPGs, Diablo-esque dungeon hacks and Baldur's Gate clones! (Oh, and a game called Oblivion which plays pretty much the same as its predecessors despite the so-called RAI system)
I dunno but I have to say that, as an RPG player, I like to think that I have imagination. I thinnk that's necessary to be a good RPG player or to enjoy a good RPG campaign. But somehow I think RPG players (and developers alike, by extension) have a little too much idealism in their imagination and think that whatever RPG they are creating, is "something special" that no other RPG has done what they are doing before. I should know -- I spouted all sorts of RPG development idea crap back in the day on this very board, remember?
And so they go on with their development, following this "new design philosophy" they supposedly have that nobody else has: and end up with another cookie cutter MMORPG or Diablo hack or Baldur's Gate derivative.
It's sad really. Almost sickening to be honest. Well that's how it goes I guess. I'm seeing way too much talk, no walking the walk. I'm seeing people who *think* they have a great idea of how to make an RPG, but end up doing what everyone else has been doing for the past decade.
Almost makes me want to stick to Final Fantasy console RPGs, at least we all KNOW it's just another shounen anime story being tossed into a cookie-cutter battle system.
When are we going to get an RPG that will really get me back into the role-playing?