Community RPG Codex 2019 GOTY - VOTE NOW!

[Mortmal]

Pen and paper conversion are completely forgotten.

Is this necessarily a bad thing?

Computers and DMs have radically different strengths and weaknesses. Faithful PnP conversions only succeed by happenstance: despite the system being converted, because the system happens to work acceptably in a cRPG, or because the system left enough room for interpretation that a version playing to the computer’s strengths could be created.

If you look on roll 20 and similar sites there's like 20 players for one DM, gathering people to play such system is hard . Most of those online games have bland storylines, childish DMs, horrible Community with lack of commitment , deviant people even the codex would frown upon. Its so bad paid GM are a thing now.When you find one game its often very slow and unsatisfying .
That's where crpg shines at least for D&D, i'd like to just hop into a good game create a team of characters spend a good hour on it testing builds, pit them on "fast" turn based combat encounters. I sadly had more fun just loading a FRUA modules than playing in some live sessions.
So yes for me it's a bad thing, i play all kind of games but i cant find that rpg experience again, not in any of those 2019 titles.Maybe Vogel is doing that still but he's streamlining it far too much.

 

[Eyestabber]

To anyone thinking of giving Slay the Spire a shot, I wrote a quickstart guide on how to stop losing horribly:

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/slay-the-spire-is-a-pretty-cool-game.123316/page-3

For those who enjoy the gameplay loop of RPGs/Tacticool games of "start small -> kill shit -> loot and progress your character -> fight tougher shit -> rinse end repeat until a final boss lies dead at your feet", StS is a bottomless well of possibilities and fun. As for the RPG label, I frankly couldn't care less. I enjoy killing shit in enjoyable and challenging TB combat, that's enough for me.

 

[biggestboss]

I don't know if Slay the Spire counts as an RPG, but I will wholeheartedly say that it is a better game than any RPG or game in any genre released in the past decade.

 

[thesheeep]

I don't know if Slay the Spire counts as an RPG, but I will wholeheartedly say that it is a better game than any RPG or game in any genre released in the past decade.

Yeah, no idea how that ended up in this list.
Confused the hell out of me. It's a card game.

A really good one, but is about as far away from an RPG as I am from the fires of Australia.

 

[Jenkem]

slay the spire isn't even as good as dicey dungeons imo but StS has that generic fantasy aesthetic so that must make it an RPG

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I literally did not play a single game on the 'best RPG of 2019' part of the poll-- I had heard of maybe 2 or 3 of the games I think. WTF?

 

[Tacgnol]

A Legionary's Life is probably the RPG I've enjoyed most 2019.

I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

 

[SirSingAlot]

why isnt Path of Exile in the poll?
every year?

 

[Eyestabber]

why isnt Path of Exile in the poll?
every year?

Because the latest expac broke the atlas and introduced one of the worst final bosses in gaming history.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Computers and DMs have radically different strengths and weaknesses. Faithful PnP conversions only succeed by happenstance: despite the system being converted, because the system happens to work acceptably in a cRPG, or because the system left enough room for interpretation that a version playing to the computer’s strengths could be created.

Yes, pen-and-paper RPGs are able to take advantage of being controlled by a human Dungeon Master both to engage in improvisational adaptation during gameplay in response to player decisions and similarly to undergo preparation between game sessions to account for player decisions steering the campaign in different directions. On the other hand, a Dungeon Master, even with support from players, is limited in the ability to track and calculate the multitude of potential variables that can affect combat and, to a lesser extent, exploration, with the practical consequence that D&D/AD&D groups tended to simplify or entirely eliminate portions of the already-abstract ruleset. Computer RPGs, contrariwise, are unable to engage in any kind of adaptation or preparation aside from the programming and content they are designed with, in consequence of which they allow for narrative decisions only through the strait-jacket of scripting. On the other hand, computers can engage in an effectively limitless amount of tracking and calculation to cover as extensive a ruleset as is desired for combat and exploration, in addition to easily conducting other tasks that would be costly and time-consuming in a pen-and-paper campaign (e.g. representing tactical combat through miniatures and a dungeon/wilderness model environment).

Computer RPGs should play to their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

 

[Roguey]

2020 looks very promising, and even 2019 was still miles ahead most of the 2000s.

2000: BG2, Deus Ex, IWD
2001: Arcanum
2002: NWN, Morrowind, IWD 2
2003: ToEE, KOTOR
2004: Bloodlines
2005: KOTOR 2
2006: This was a bad year but mods and expansions made Oblivion palatable
2007: The Witcher, Mask of the Betrayer
2008: Storm of Zehir
2009: DA:O, Knights of the Chalice

All those are games I'd rank above the ones released in 2019.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

When people speak about 00s they usually mean a period starting after around 03-05 and ending around 2014 when kickstarters and indies started coming out.

 

[Viata]

So when people talk about the 00s, they are not talking exactly about the 00s. I see.

 

[smaug]

I gave Disco a 1.

because no combat=shit rpg

 

[Roguey]

When people speak about 00s they usually mean a period starting after around 03-05 and ending around 2014 when kickstarters and indies started coming out.

2010: ME2, AP, NV, Divinity 2
2011: Witcher 2, Dungeon Siege III, Deus Ex Human Revolution, even DA2 and Skyrim
2012: I'll concede this was a terrible year with nothing of value
2013: Shadowrun Returns

Still better years for me than 2019 (except 2012, and I suppose 2013's Shadowrun and Stygian have enough flaws to make them roughly equal).

(oh and I guess the PC port of Dragon's Dogma was out in 2013 but I have not actually played it and thus can't judge)

 

[Valky]

Good lord that post 2000's list is utterly horrid.

Without 2014 and 2017 the entire past decade would have been irredeemable.

 

[Viata]

I think that because now we have more crpgs being released than ever per year, we can find a lot of shit rpgs every single year and that makes us easily see we are in a decline.
And that tends to get worse because the people that play today's crpg and likes it are going to make more crpgs based on them(and as we know, it's easier to simplify a game than to make it complex).

Thus, enjoy it for now because the decline is slow, but soon it's going to be free fall and you don't want to know what is waiting for you on the ground.

 

[Valky]

I think that because now we have more crpgs being released than ever per year, we can find a lot of shit rpgs every single year and that makes us easily see we are in a decline.
And that tends to get worse because the people that play today's crpg and likes it are going to make more crpgs based on them(and as we know, it's easier to simplify a game than to make it complex).

Thus, enjoy it for now because the decline is slow, but soon it's going to be free fall and you don't want to know what is waiting for you on the ground.

Cooper Blakemore is a beacon of hope for mankind then.

 

[KK1001]

Is it anyone really pretending the 10s were better than the 00s? The 00s still had classic RPGs and the industry wasn't entirely monopolized and AA studios were yet gutted. Even the big AAA releases of the decade (Morrowind, KOTOR, Diablo 2, Mass Effect) weren't quite shit.

2006 to 2014 is the real dark ages, both for RPGs and games in general. I noticed things getting shittier once I saw how watered down Bioshock was, the terrible console ports, the end of major PC AAA releases.

 

[hexer]

I think that because now we have more crpgs being released than ever per year, we can find a lot of shit rpgs every single year and that makes us easily see we are in a decline.
And that tends to get worse because the people that play today's crpg and likes it are going to make more crpgs based on them(and as we know, it's easier to simplify a game than to make it complex).

Thus, enjoy it for now because the decline is slow, but soon it's going to be free fall and you don't want to know what is waiting for you on the ground.

Absolutely agree. Everybody's a game designer these days.
Previously you had CRPG devs coming into video games from PnP RPGs but now they come from anywhere but PnP RPGs.

They're more concerned with form over substance.
You can't make a cake entirely out of icing!

 

[Ismaul]

If you added ELEX to the poll it would win

 

[Jasede]

What a... great selection.
Made sure to give Disco 1 out of 4 as the only game I ever refunded twice (!)

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Is it anyone really pretending the 10s were better than the 00s? The 00s still had classic RPGs and the industry wasn't entirely monopolized and AA studios were yet gutted. Even the big AAA releases of the decade (Morrowind, KOTOR, Diablo 2, Mass Effect) weren't quite shit.

2006 to 2014 is the real dark ages, both for RPGs and games in general. I noticed things getting shittier once I saw how watered down Bioshock was, the terrible console ports, the end of major PC AAA releases.

The CRPG hemi-semi-demi-Renaissance began in 2012.

2012: Legend of Grimrock
2013: Paper Sorcerer, Shadowrun Returns, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (original 2012, PC port 2016)
2014: Legend of Grimrock II, Wasteland 2
2015: Underrail, Age of Decadence
2016: Salt & Sanctuary, Warlock of Firetop Mountain (digital gamebook)
2017: Grimoire
2018: Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Kenshi
2019: Outward, Operencia

And I'm probably missing a few games. Admittedly, the CRPG wasteland era of the preceding 9 years was quite dire, but 7 of those 9 years occurred in the '00s rather than the '10s.

 

[Daidre]

2019: Outward, Operencia

I am quite surprised at people's willingness to compliment Operencia in this thread.
I mean com'on, this game is like a Dragon Age of the blobber-world.
Pre-made, ridiculously talkative, companions with character-specific skill trees that come in all-skill-points-distributed package, castrated system and completely linear on top of that. I am not claiming it is a bad game per se- locations are nice, pretty and puzzles are less annoying than, for example, in Grimrock, but RPG GOTY, seriously?

After I hit a story about tragic lesbian marriage I went like "Sorry guys, my bs tolerance after TOW dropped below zero, see ya on Steam Sale in 2020". (Another big reason was my genuine dislike for metroidvania approach with backtracking in the frigging blobber).

It almost looks like some posters desperately need a game in GOTY list to compliment (and to spite Disco-fans), that seems more a less like a proper RPG - and something as inoffensively niche as casual blobber fits the criteria. Well, since complimenting TOW is act of even more questionable taste and Greedfall is much more straightforward in its Biowarean inspirations.

PS If you try to praise a casual blobber at least show some class and praise Legend of Amberland instead

 

[V_K]

the only game I ever refunded twice

Why twice?