drae
Augur
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2013
- Messages
- 179
Why does Sawyer hate cRPG's?
Because he defines an RPG as an interactive story.
Why does Sawyer hate cRPG's?
http://new.spring.me/#!/JESawyer/q/181603020847480875Tell me Roguey. Why does Sawyer hate cRPG's?
Link from my sig:A lot of RPG mechanics continue to be reproduced in games due to grumpy inertia. "This is how RPGs have done things, therefore RPGs should do things this way forever."
If a mechanic makes the game extremely irritating or generally un-fun, designers need to investigate ways in which it can be made better. N.B.: irritation and frustration are GOOD things in game design when they come in small doses. The irritation and frustration often accompany difficulty, and overcoming that difficulty produces satisfaction. If you never experience any irritation or frustration, the game is so simple or easy that it demands nothing of you.
Basically I think that most designers are overly concerned with what's come before when they sit down to write CRPG mechanics. When looking at mechanics that typically go into CRPGs, it's pretty hard to reverse-engineer a plan of intent. The conclusion I'm usually left with is that they wanted the system to "look like an RPG" on a UI screen. They have classes and stats and skills and skill/talent trees and a ton of derived stats when probably not all of that is necessary.
I believe that game designers, whether working in the RPG genre or otherwise, should establish what they want the player to be doing within the world. That is, they must ask themselves what they want the core activities of the player to be. Within those activities, the designer can find ways to allow growth over time in a variety of ways. How they want that growth to occur and what sort of choices they want to force the player to make -- that's what should drive the design of the advancement/RPG system.
Instead it usually seems like most designers sit down and say, "Well what are the ability scores going to be?"
Best of a bad bunch sure, but there are so many ways to improve it.a developer who worked on Darkest of Days a bad fps said:any science fiction rpg i basically just want a reskin of the new vegas system/balance. its the best.some person talking about Wasteland 2 said:this is just making me want to reinstall new vegas
Role playing is the interactive story. There needs to be a game to go along with it.
Why does Sawyer hate cRPG's?
Engaging, fun game play should be the bare minimum expected in any game. If you're making an RPG, it should have that AND the ability to define/express a character's personality in a way that significantly changes the development of the story.What is more important in an RPG: real choices with real consequences, or engaging, fun gameplay?
Having strong game play. I think when Lord Gamerson invented games, the best thing he did was put the word "game" in the term "game play".Which do you believe is a more important factor in creating a good game: having a strong story and dialogue, or having strong gameplay?
If the central narrative is meaningfully interactive, I would classify it as an RPG. That is, I consider interactive storytelling to be the primary defining characteristic of RPGs.
Still not quite accurate.
See the second quote in my sig.So he believes good gameplay is critically important to a good game but not necessarily a good RPG,
A role-playing game is by definition a game.So he believes good gameplay is critically important to a good game but not necessarily a good RPG
See the second quote in my sig.
He considers any game with interactive storytelling to be an RPG
Heh. It's not surprising he holds such shit games like Oblivion and Skyrim in such high regard then. Not to mention MOBAs.Still not quite accurate.
http://new.spring.me/#!/JESawyer/q/1781222250
Engaging, fun game play should be the bare minimum expected in any game. If you're making an RPG, it should have that AND the ability to define/express a character's personality in a way that significantly changes the development of the story.What is more important in an RPG: real choices with real consequences, or engaging, fun gameplay?
http://new.spring.me/#!/JESawyer/q/660034169
Having strong game play. I think when Lord Gamerson invented games, the best thing he did was put the word "game" in the term "game play".Which do you believe is a more important factor in creating a good game: having a strong story and dialogue, or having strong gameplay?
He considers any game with interactive storytelling to be an RPG
He does?
What in your opinion are the key moments in RPG genre that defined the direction all the games made after?
Without a doubt, the existence of tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons defined the paradigm for what RPGs were in the early days. For me, Bard's Tale, Wizardry, and Ultima were the "big ones" that shaped my experiences. The "Gold Box" games (Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, et al.) were the next wave. In the years that followed, the new real-time games like Darklands, Eye of the Beholder, Ultima Underworld, and TES: Arena really expanded what RPGs could be.
After that, I think Fallout and Baldur's Gate marked the renaissance of RPGs in the late 90s. I feel that Fallout and Planescape: Torment established a great standard for player reactivity. That's the environment I came into when I started at Black Isle.
He does?
If the central narrative is meaningfully interactive, I would classify it as an RPG. That is, I consider interactive storytelling to be the primary defining characteristic of RPGs.
Those are empty words, he doesn't actually mean what he's saying. JES talking about gameplay is like Cleve saying that gamers should promote and celebrate minorities and women more in game development to make more the medium more accessible and enrich it with new perspectives and ideas.See the second quote in my sig.So he believes good gameplay is critically important to a good game but not necessarily a good RPG,
It's hilarious how the person asking these questions gets gradually more butthurt while Sawyer continues to calmly answer.
It's hilarious how the person asking these questions gets gradually more butthurt while Sawyer continues to calmly answer.
Obsidian's Josh Sawyer has a Formspring (a website where people can post anonymous questions),
Obsidian's Josh Sawyer has a Formspring (a website where people can post anonymous questions),
Not an interview.
Oh, right. I don't know but I assume it's different people merely because the style of questioning is all over the shop.
Oh, right. I don't know but I assume it's different people merely because the style of questioning is all over the shop.
I thought so too.. which ruins the vision I had of this one guy getting more and more pissed as Josh just maintains this emotionless tone answering this guys questions point blank.