CRPGs stagnating since 1997 thingy at RPGDot
CRPGs stagnating since 1997 thingy at RPGDot
Editorial - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Mon 30 June 2003, 15:30:22
Tags: GeneforgeRPGDot has a nifty little editorial about how the CRPG genre is stagnating right now, which I tend to agree that it is on the publisher side front. I doubt he's checked out any shareware, though, since many of the things he seems to like were found in Geneforge. Here's a clip:
So what's the problem, right? Well, most people would point to one of two games as responsible for the current rebirth of the genre - Bethesda Softworks' Daggerfall, or Interplay/Black Isle's Fallout. RPG's had effectively stagnated by 1997, after being a driving force for the first fifteen years of computer gaming - originally because the genre lent itself to text based, rule heavy adventures prior to the advent of graphics, but also because developers poured themselves into making engrossing, creative, and long games that took full advantage of the power of home computers. The Gold Box games, The Ultima series, Wasteland, Wizardry, the list goes on and on? until the early to mid 90's. This part has been well documented, so I'll leave it at that, but suffice it to say that the genre was in need of rejuvenation, and 1996 - 1997 brought just that.
Of course, the irony is that he praises the Infinity Engine games like Baldur's Gate, even though they'd probably be near the top of the list for the reason CRPGs have stagnated.
Thanks to Sean Watson for the head's up.
So what's the problem, right? Well, most people would point to one of two games as responsible for the current rebirth of the genre - Bethesda Softworks' Daggerfall, or Interplay/Black Isle's Fallout. RPG's had effectively stagnated by 1997, after being a driving force for the first fifteen years of computer gaming - originally because the genre lent itself to text based, rule heavy adventures prior to the advent of graphics, but also because developers poured themselves into making engrossing, creative, and long games that took full advantage of the power of home computers. The Gold Box games, The Ultima series, Wasteland, Wizardry, the list goes on and on? until the early to mid 90's. This part has been well documented, so I'll leave it at that, but suffice it to say that the genre was in need of rejuvenation, and 1996 - 1997 brought just that.
Of course, the irony is that he praises the Infinity Engine games like Baldur's Gate, even though they'd probably be near the top of the list for the reason CRPGs have stagnated.
Thanks to Sean Watson for the head's up.
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