You don't think I'm aware of that? Besides Minecraft, there's also the hugely succesful Hotline Miami that uses a very pixely art style. But different genres have different expectations. What part of 'full-scale RPG' in my post don't you understand? These games are also one in a kind in many ways, so I'm not sure they make for a convincing argument.
Easy bro. All I was trying to say was that a good game can have success regardless of it's art style. Arguably, even Dwarf Fortress - without anything that really deserves the name graphic (unless you're using mods and external tools) enjoys a measure of success. It's all a question of what audience you're going for and/or whether the rest of your game is good enought so players are willing to overlook the graphics.
Besides, Minecraft doesn't look horrible. It's blocky, but not ugly.
"Full-scale RPG" is a very generic term. There are many full fledged RPGs with long winding storylines made in RPGMaker out there. I'm not into console style RPGs, but they're there and have an audience - that accepts their rather minimalist graphics. Most don't look "bad" per se, especially if you're into the asian style with the huge heads and stuff, but they're 2D and totally not state-of-the-art.
Maybe I'm totally on the wrong track, but in my opinion, these guys ought to embrace their niche-ness and really try to get that old audience which actually had an idea who they are in the boat.
And I bet most of those are willing to accept a game which doesn't come with 3D graphics that put Dragon Age Inquisition to shame or something.
These guys made some obscure games decades ago that only Codexers care about.
Then again, this may very well be correct. I have a feeling that many gamers, both here and elsewhere, are aware of the Goldbox games, and for a majority of those gamers it's fond memories, but if that's not the case...
But then their pitch needs to be better still as to draw in "unsuspecting" gamers.
Must be a drag to be TSI, having to deal with indifference from most people and a fanbase that wants them to regurgitate the same style of game that everyone got sick of over 20 years ago because they ran it into the ground.
Well, I think most of us "got sick" with the Goldbox games (I bought them all till the end though) because they were slow to freshen up the mix with some innovations. In the very end we saw some neat stuff like reinforcements and whatnot, but it was too little too late.
And we'd seen the entire "from rags to riches" powercurve at least twice, in the Forgotten Realms and Krynn - which is why I'm not at all opposed if they don't use D&D - there's much more exciting systems out there to copy.
Now, when I'm muttering about retro style graphics and stuff, it's not because that's the best thing I can imagine, but because it's the thing that seems most feasible on a pretty tight budget.
If I could wish, the 2D view would be a bit like Grimrock and the tactical combat a mixture of ToEE, Silent Storm and NuXCOM (and I'm not a big fan of XCOM - but it is slick and polished) ... I'm trying to be realistic, though.