The importance of (or lack thereof) "downtime" in RPGs

[zntznt]

In a lot of ways downtime for me is a half of the game, since I really enjoy well crafted fictional worlds. A character isn't just a killing machine, it exists in a world and IMO a game should allow you to explore how the character is and can be an individual beyond just doing fetching and fulfilling the prophecy of the chosen one. Whatever mechanical depth a game has in terms of combat, I highly appreciate that there is also depth in the options available to find out more about the world. The "main questline" should in my opinion keep things fairly simple in terms of exposition. That makes finding out more about the world through optional tasks much more rewarding to those who actually want to bother with such things.

 

[anvi]

Dt iz gud

 

[Tweed]

Everquest, you don't just magically regenerate back to full in 5 seconds.

You do now

 

[Sreggin Etah I]

Combatfags.

Combatfags have low IQ

 

[Rahdulan]

MMOs sometimes cater more to this. Things like crafting and player housing are designed specifically with the downtime-oriented player in mind. Some people (a surprising amount) actually prefer non-confrontational activity in MMOs. Say of them what you will, but the desire to just "live" in the gameworld and not attempt to conquer it exists in substantial numbers.

I think "downtime" in MMOs may refer to something different and largely means "recovery period between battles" aka phase during which you recover health/mana so you can keep grinding. Although, using either definition of the term, both have been gradually phased out because players perceive them as waste of time in largely end-game centric games focused on getting the latest shiny gear so you can get more shiny gear. Non-combat activities that add to fullness of the world like housing, extensive crafting, etc got the ax because developers seem to be more intent on creating stringed together levels versus actual worlds, and combat downtime also got negated as you now recover health automatically between fights, resource management hardly exists, etc. There are of course exceptions and remnants of these features exist in most MMOs, but I think the entire genre has shifted more and more towards the combat loop as its main draw as technology allowed for more varied approaches to it considering we're no longer bound by 56k modems and can, for example, have action combat in MMOs.

 

[anvi]

Crispy Too long?! If you can't spend the 3 minutes it takes to read that, why even make this thread.

 

[Invictus]

If by downtime you mean activities in a game that are not the usual “kill this” “fetch that” then yeah if done right not only are they fun but sometimes they can make that special moment in a game that stands out and makes it unique; think of the play in Final Fantasy 6, getting shitfaced with your buddies in the Witcher (the wedding is still one of my favorite experiences in a videogame of all time) playing a sidegame like breeding chocobos and racing them in Final Fantasy 7 or simply having downtime that you make for yourself like sorting out inventories, trekking just looking for crafting materials or simply selling old stuff that you will never use anyway... I do that in New Vegas and Morrowind all the time

Those activities can be just so enjoyable by themselves too, they make a nice change of pace and allow the player to immerse himself in the game; it almost feels like an mmo where you get to really roleplay your character living in that world

 

[Chippy]

Downtime is goo, and pacing is good. BG1 did it best, and the rushed aspect of BG2 - or the impression that you had to move on was my biggest gripe against it. Even in Fallout 1 and 2 where there was a timer ticking down, BG2 still felt like it missed something important from what the original offered. Kingmaker is a game built around managing time properyly, and it also didn't feel like it was pushing you.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Few games managed "downtime" well.
HoMM series did a great job but it's hardly a cRPG, still, games like Kingmaker would be so much better if they had been searching the right inspiration for their kingdom management.

I also liked M&M 6-8 "downtime" nothing special but you can sell your loot and eventually find some interesting equipment in shops (even if it's just one ring), you can also enchant your loot before selling it, increasing profit and sometimes getting some valuable equipment you'll use. (best part being with shortcuts, enchanting is fast like everything else in M&M before X)
There's also the Masters hunt to improve your skills, searching for horseshoes or even playing Arcomage in 7/8.

Fallout had great downtime too, mostly due to very interesting quests and side-quests.
Maybe it was the opposite in Fallout 1/2, fighting sessions were the downtime from quests...

 

[Zanzoken]

You don't need downtime in terms of useless filler / fluff but if the combat is challenging enough to be mentally taxing (which it should be) then there also needs to be some low-stress gameplay in between missions. Not only to allow the player to rest, but for pacing.

I like the idea of forcing players to be at home or at an inn to level up. Crafting, shopping, and item management are also good de-stressers. I like to completely empty my party's inventories from time to time and evaluate what gear should be changed, new stuff that could be crafted, what can be sold, etc. Dialogue with party members can also be done here although personally I don't enjoy yakking it up with NPCs that much anymore.

I know games aren't movies but any decent film is going to have periods of low intensity to contrast with high intensity. If you just go high intensity all the time then the audience gets desensitized and none of it matters anymore.

 

[Raghar]

It's easy to talk about the importance of all the main aspects of RPGs: combat, interactivity, C&C, character development, etc. But what's often not mentioned, or overlooked entirely, is what our characters in RPGs do, if anything, between adventures -- in their "downtime".

Do you mean this?

 

[Background Character]

And the side-quest design is abysmal - apparently by design.

You just made me remember Tales of the Abyss. You just made me have Tales of the Abyss flashbacks.

 

[Saduj]

I like to have time to sell off loot, equip my character and explore a little in between major quests. Don’t like when a game railroads me.

But I don’t need or want to waste time doing Sims crap with my character.

 

[anvi]

Mini games and playing with a virtual house or whatever is not downtime. It is the exact opposite of downtime, the whole point of it is to prevent downtime. It exists to give people something to do when they aren't out fighting/questing, so that they have no 'downtime'. This thread is clueless. I explained what real downtime is in depth but nobody wanted to read it because codex is only interested in shitposting.

 

[Saduj]

Doesn’t help that you deleted the post in question. Bit of an overreaction, IMO.

 

[King Crispy]

LOL he actually did delete it.

Wow.

 

[anvi]

I didn't delete it, I edited it to be more suitable to your kind.

Dt iz gud

 

[RK47]

Prostitution mod

 

[glass blackbird]

anvi do you legit have autism, like for real

 

[anvi]

dude u like for realsies legit totes lowkey autie bro srsly omg

 

[King Crispy]

anvi why did you have to ruin my nice thread?

 

[glass blackbird]

dude u like for realsies legit totes lowkey autie bro srsly omg

You could just say "yes"

 

[anvi]

anvi why did you have to ruin my nice thread?

You did that in the op!

 

[Craig Stern]

I remember thinking about this in 2014/2015 when I played Telepath Tactics (Craig Stern ).

The game goes from mission to mission with very little breaks in between. I used to play a bit of chess and that setup felt like playing chess game after chess game one after the other. It’s tiring.

IRL I used to take a break between chess games, do a postmortem and generally think about the game itself a bit before jumping back in to another one.

Yeah, Telepath Tactics is pretty unique among the Telepath games for its laser focus on battles, as I was experimenting with a traditional Fire Emblem-style campaign progression; every other main entry in the series has exploration and optional dialogue to break things up.

As for me? I appreciate having optional dialogue and exploration options in a game, but only if they're well implemented. If the dialogue isn't interesting (or doesn't afford me role-playing options), then talking to villagers and such increasingly feels like a waste of time to me. A good mini-game can be nice, though things like fishing and crafting bore me to tears; I'd rather give myself downtime by turning the game off and doing something else.