What is truly left to us RPG gamers?

[thaddeus6th]

I'm also not into multiplayer. For me, computer games are the antithesis of bowling, and ought to be done alone.

 

[Gramm838]

Maybe so, Gramm, but I wasn't really talking about the slew of MMOs out there. I meant good, solid, single-player games. I've stated before that I, for one, never get a good experience out of player interaction because I always seem to wind up with immature idiots. Plus, even with MMOs with a story to them, that always seems to fade into obscurity with all the chat yelling and errand-running that they all seem to love to do, and tend to have to be forced to do as you're never given enough leveling through any decent amount of combat. Want to avoid these messenger-boy quests? Fifteen hours of tedious grinding!


Hmm. No thank you.

But can you really RP in any game without interaction with other people (as opposed to a game AI)? If you are only ever responding/reacting to a programmed game AI, your own responses are surely also 'programmed' to a certain extent?

I can understand the attraction of an RTS game for solo play, but not for RP.

Of course one other thing to consider (bearing in mind that I don't know you from Adam so please don't take this as an insult) is that it might in fact be you that other players consider is the 'immature idiot'?!

 

[Venusian Broon]

But can you really RP in any game without interaction with other people (as opposed to a game AI)?

Aren't we talking apples and oranges here - MMO's are great in their way, massive sandbox enviroments, masses of content, interaction with real people, teamplay. (And yes Eve online I got a bit addicted to, tis a brilliant game, but I tired of grinding and some of the changes peed me off a bit.)

But you can't be the Hero with these games - you're just a part of the crowd doing a quest/battle/errand/grind. You're a small cog in a much bigger engine - when sometimes you want to be a Ferrari! With something like Oblivion* you are in the spotlight. It therefore feels more meaningful in some deeper personal way.


* I haven't got Skyrim because I have far too many things to do to burn up my life on that one right now

 

[Gramm838]

I don't know if you're aware but there is a Firefly-based MMO on the cards - check out www.fireflyuniverseonline.com

It was due for release on 26/12 but it appears that it may have run into some licensing issues

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

But can you really RP in any game without interaction with other people (as opposed to a game AI)? If you are only ever responding/reacting to a programmed game AI, your own responses are surely also 'programmed' to a certain extent?

I can understand the attraction of an RTS game for solo play, but not for RP.

Of course one other thing to consider (bearing in mind that I don't know you from Adam so please don't take this as an insult) is that it might in fact be you that other players consider is the 'immature idiot'?!

The thing is, no single-player RPG is truly RPG in the sense of the term, but they focus on story and character development, and is the most friendly type of game to fantasy, which is just icing on the cake for me. As for the second part, well, that might be true from time to time, but when I say those I interact with are immature idiots, I mean the type to follow you around like a puppy begging for help and even if you let them down gently as possible, they turn into a three-year-old being pulled away from the candy aisle. On an MMO called Perfect World I actually had a 9-year-old kid chasing me around once who would not shut up.

The best MMO experience I ever had was with Guild Wars, that one I actually enjoyed. I managed to get in good with a great guild with truly mature, nice players. Unfortunately, the laptop I had it on had died and after that point I lost my disks, so...yeah.

No, I'd like to get Kingdom of Amalur, and just hope that Bioware can come up with something down the line that at least nods at their past exploits. I feel Mass Effect 3 saved their ass after the humiliating travesty that was DA2. Apparently EA can't ruin EVERY game.

As for Blizzard, I don't think I'll ever support them again. I loved them back in the days of Black Isle, and Diablo 2, but Diablo 3 was such a huge letdown, and I only wish they had kept Warcraft up as an RTS series instead of crumbling under the bank and turning it into an MMO. I didn't want to have to keep paying a monthly fee to play a game. A one-time is fine enough.

That being said, over Christmas I got a pretty decent game called Venetica. I don't know how big Deck13 is, but they did a good job with it.

 

[Snowdog]

The only decent thing left for RPG gamers is of course...

RE RELEASING THE OLD ONES

Don't know if any of you have been following, but their releasing an enhanced version of Baldur's Gate - adding new content, a slew of fixes as well as mod support and updated graphical options.

Can't post link but just search for it.

Should be coming out pretty soon. I'll make sure my friend gets this because he recently started playing a little DnD so hopefully this awesome series will help him out and take 600 hours of his life away.

I was gearing up for another romp through Baldur's Gate. It looks like BGEE will add lots of things without making any great changes to game mechanics. In other words, they shouldn't be able to screw it up. However, it's got DRM and looks like it's going to be subject to that curse of modern games, an online account and DLC. You'll get half a game with add-ons and patches being eked out over time. Also online activation means dependence on a forever-existing server if you ever want to re-install. Since the core of the game is the already existing Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 anyway, you might be better off buying those from GOG (if you don't already own them) and loading up some mods for additional content.

 

[nubins]

OP is overly harsh on Oblivion. Oblivion were doing games for other people, on a budget controlled by publishers. None of their games were ever released in the state they intended, just what they were told to do.

Their new RPG project is kickstarter funded and so really is the first game that can truly be called 100% Oblivion software. Hopefully it will be great, it sounds like it will so far.

 

[Jacob Larch]

I've never had the chance to play online RPG's but I have run my own RPG table top game every Monday night for years. Naturally, finding like minded people to do such a thing can be tough but I've been fortunate to streamline the group over the years to let the best players remain and allow the rest to disappear.

Power gamers, rules lawyers, selfish gamers, all have bitten the dust and those that remain are one of the most fun, lively, sarcastic, cynical, and enjoyable bunch of people I could call friends.

I've been role playing (table top) since 1977 and after being forced into refereeing in 1982, I never looked back. 30 years later, and I still run regular campaigns with existing rules systems but write my own campaigns that sometimes go beyond the limits of the original game design.

A while back we identified that some of the group would be bored with the same game week in week out, so I adapted to create "campaigns" of 3-4 months length, interspersed with "fillers" of 3-5 weeks.

So in recent years, the campaigns have been on the lines of:

Champions (a super hero system) but set in a near future America where 1% of the worlds' population has Gifted abilities and are persecuted. (ironically, we started playing this a year before Heroes came out on network television; but the group still preferred our story because it went global. I can't comment: never had time to watch Heroes)

Star Frontiers (remember that? The old TSR science fiction game? Someone did a fantastic load of work on the internet and turned it into "military sci fi game for gun nuts" but Star Frontiers still had at its core the ideal that ships are BIG. I mean Leviathan big, Starship Troopers big, so don't think you're going to be a bunch of players running round like Han Solo in a starship...so I created a hard SF but militaristic based game on a world without starships.

Rolemaster (middle earth role playing- one of the best campaigns Iron Crown ever devised) set in the fourth age where magic using characters have their powers curtailed because of the rise of an organised human religion.

The fillers tend to be things like:

Boot Hill: that other TSR game, this time for the wild west. Also known as comedy central for the amount of innuendo, in-jokes, and western movie mick-taking that goes on.

Flashing Blades: renaissance role playing in the 17th century: brilliant for finding a real event and setting a game to it. Last time we played, I had the party on the slopes of Versuvius in 1631. Just before it erupted....

Twilight 2000: adapted for WW2, this runs like a "carry on commando" game with a dusty dozen British or commonwealth chaps (and chapesses) take on the Hun and deliver a stiff punch to Hitler's minions! Another great game for sheer comedy, despite the subject matter.

Phoenix Command (a modern and ultra-modern combat system) adapted to a near future skirmish campaign where gladiators compete in a live blood sport for the chance to escalate their families from Bondsman to Freeman status in the new world order.

So table top roleplaying needn't be constrained to the games that are "out there" or faded rules systems. Take a system, play with it, have fun with it, and enjoy!

 

[Lucky_Lola]

I know the OP has said they're not talking about MMO's per se... but I just have to throw it in here that Ultima Online is still running. Yes, the hubby and I hiss and boo at EA every month when we pay our subs, but nothing - nothing beats the total sandbox. Yes, it's 2D iso. Yes, it's old and a little clunky. But it just celebrated it's 15th birthday - 15 years of constant, uninterrupted gameplay, despite EA, heh. I refuse to be dragged around by a game, told that I must to XY and Z in order to go to Town P. UO doesn't do that, never has. I know people who spend all their in-game time gardening. Yeah. Growing plants. Still can't beat the player housing system, either.

Anyway, my two cents. I know virtually nothing about single player RPGs, but I will always call Sosaria my second home.

 

[Foxbat]

I'm being sorely tempted to try a mod for ARMA 2 called Dayz. Although ARMA 2 itself is something of a FPS, Dayz is a different kettle of fish. You start in a zombie infested landscape with, basically, nothing. You have to scavange, find food and water, find guns & ammo. You can even hunt animals and cook them (cooked meat gives higher health points) whilst all the time, avoid zombies. One twist in this game is that other players are often more dangerous. If they are merciful, they will kill and rob you. If they are feeling nasty, they will just rob you and leave you to the zombies. One other thing - when you're dead, that's it. You have to start over. Average player lifespan is a couple of hours. The point is to survive. I should also add
that your status is persistent across servers - meaning you carry all your loot, health etc when you disconnect and then log on to another server.

This (to me) is fundamentally an RPG (and a sandbox game)and I think I've just convinced myself to buy ARMA 2 and then download the mod (it's still only in alpha but looking good).

You can check out some fan made videos of the game on Youtube (many are hilarious).

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Thing with DayZ is, though, is it is permadeath. You die, you need to create a new character and start from scratch. Yeah, it's technically RPG, but I looked it over and it's not that interesting to me. Besides, it's another MMO.

 

[nubins]

Project Eternity is the one to watch, not due until 2014 though