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What is an RPG?

turul

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Captain Shrek said:
1) Story: It has to be non-linear to suit YOUR character. That means a lot of choices and consequences.

Or the other way. Your character suits the story. I think the best RPG would recognize your pluses and minuses, based on the character you are playing, and the outcome should be dependent on the path you have chosen. I'm not talking about this weak minded shit about good/evil, which is just stupidly obvious from the start and now it's like some sort of a plague in today's RPG wannabes, No, in a much bigger spectrum, your mage should have a mage-favor outcome while a strength dependent character should be ending up in an entirely different way.

Despite the claim that in a role playing game "you sould do whatever you want" is wrong. You should be strictly forced by boundaries based on the choices that was made earlier or given onto you. And you must play this role of this character, and it should not always be a pleasant experience, due to drawbacks. There should be a sense of burden to be confined in those boundaries which should be felt by the role-player throughout the game.

It's hard to explain it to the Oblivious-people, how stupid it sounds to be a cleaner lady/hedge fund manager/football player/master chef mass murdering the wildlife.

You should also have a sense of progress from the beginning to the end, and it shouldn't be necessarily becoming an uber dominator of the lands, which is another narrow minded idea. Your environment should change, based on the choices you have made, and that's not necessarily dead bodies laying around.

Also, an RPG should take at least minimum 60 hours to complete, otherwise it shouldn't qualify as an RPG, instead it should be labeled a poor attempt to make fast money by the publisher by deploying the 7 deadly sins on the gullible public.
 

Konjad

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turul said:
Also, an RPG should take at least minimum 60 hours to complete, otherwise it shouldn't qualify as an RPG, instead it should be labeled a poor attempt to make fast money by the publisher by deploying the 7 deadly sins on the gullible public.

So fallouts are not rpgs because u can complete them in less than 20 minutes. Well, actually there is no crpgs because every single one can be completed in much shorter time than 60hrs.

ur point is invalid.

Sure, they shouldn't be too short (like AP) but thet don't have to be very long. Most of them takes me about 50-60 hours to complete anyway (The Witcher, Gothics, Fallouts, NWN2, Bloodlines, Baldur's Gates and most of the other cRPGs I have ever played)
 

Jools

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Konjad said:
turul said:
Also, an RPG should take at least minimum 60 hours to complete, otherwise it shouldn't qualify as an RPG, instead it should be labeled a poor attempt to make fast money by the publisher by deploying the 7 deadly sins on the gullible public.

So fallouts are not rpgs because u can complete them in less than 20 minutes. Well, actually there is no crpgs because every single one can be completed in much shorter time than 60hrs.

ur point is invalid.

Sure, they shouldn't be too short (like AP) but thet don't have to be very long. Most of them takes me about 50-60 hours to complete anyway (The Witcher, Gothics, Fallouts, NWN2, Bloodlines, Baldur's Gates and most of the other cRPGs I have ever played)

+1

Also, I'd take 20 hours of GOOD writing and GOOD gameplay over 60 hours of futile filler combat and/or pointless walking down hallways anytime.
 
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Raapys said:
Basically, a RPG is a game where stats significantly determine the outcome/success of some/most of your character's actions. That's pretty much it.

This. But to differentiate it from shooters, the player also has the opportunity to permanently shape/build their character by constructing their stats into a particular pattern.

Everything is is just subgenres - the story subgenre, the roguelike, the C+C, etc.
 

DragoFireheart

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Oh Codex, don't be butthurt about my silly topic. It's a place for you to vent your rage!
 

Radisshu

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Crooked Bee said:
What is an RPG?
Well, if you play a role, that's an RPG in the broad sense. If it involves much action and whenever you press a button something awesome happens, it's an action-RPG. If, however, nothing awesome happens when you press a button, then it's an RPG proper. Easy.

"Playing a role" means fuck all in the context of RPGs as seen through a perspective that takes the history of games that have been defined as RPGs in consideration. People see the word "role" in "role-playing games" and ignore everything else, as if the history of something's name somehow automatically must define what that something is.
 

Kaanyrvhok

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An RPG is just a game where the central theme is roleplaying. Its loose criteria.
 

Crooked Bee

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Radisshu said:
Crooked Bee said:
What is an RPG?
Well, if you play a role, that's an RPG in the broad sense. If it involves much action and whenever you press a button something awesome happens, it's an action-RPG. If, however, nothing awesome happens when you press a button, then it's an RPG proper. Easy.

"Playing a role" means fuck all in the context of RPGs as seen through a perspective that takes the history of games that have been defined as RPGs in consideration. People see the word "role" in "role-playing games" and ignore everything else, as if the history of something's name somehow automatically must define what that something is.

Sarcasm check fail?
 

Vault Dweller

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whatisrpg.jpg
 

Radisshu

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Crooked Bee said:
Radisshu said:
Crooked Bee said:
What is an RPG?
Well, if you play a role, that's an RPG in the broad sense. If it involves much action and whenever you press a button something awesome happens, it's an action-RPG. If, however, nothing awesome happens when you press a button, then it's an RPG proper. Easy.

"Playing a role" means fuck all in the context of RPGs as seen through a perspective that takes the history of games that have been defined as RPGs in consideration. People see the word "role" in "role-playing games" and ignore everything else, as if the history of something's name somehow automatically must define what that something is.

Sarcasm check fail?

:rage: :retarded: :retarded: :retarded: :retarded:

I only read the first sentence. i r retartet
 

sirfink

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Asking "what's an RPG" on the Codex is like walking into the scummiest, roughest biker bar and asking "hey guys, can someone show me how to ride a bike?"
 

Jaesun

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sirfink said:
Asking "what's an RPG" on the Codex is like walking into the scummiest, roughest biker bar and asking "hey guys, can someone show me how to ride a bike?"

You make that sound like that would be a bad thing?
 

7hm

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octavius said:
One could argue that a game with behind-the-ass camera, like the Gothics and NWNs are less RPG than games where the player only sees what the character sees.

what?

:x

Tell me I got trolled please.
 

Jools

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octavius said:
One could argue that a game with behind-the-ass camera, like the Gothics and NWNs are less RPG than games where the player only sees what the character sees.

And what would be the argument based upon?
 

Jools

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hoverdog said:
it's about the IMMERSHUN!!

So? BTA (Behind The Ass, definition borrowed from Octavius) camera better simulates peripheral view and surroundings awareness, IMHO. I like it better and actually find it more immersive than 1st person in RPGs. 1st person feels like walking around looking at the world through, forgive the pun, a camera's sight or binoculars.
 

Andyman Messiah

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Not to mention that you can't see your character's tits in first person mode, rendering all those Fallout3Nexus modders unemployed, undesired and unrated. Third person is simply the way to go, even when it makes the game completely impossible to play.
 

octavius

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Jools said:
octavius said:
One could argue that a game with behind-the-ass camera, like the Gothics and NWNs are less RPG than games where the player only sees what the character sees.

And what would be the argument based upon?

Because if you are truly role playing a character, you should only see what the character sees.
I'm not saying the POV determines if a game is RPG or not, only that 1st person POV gives a better role playing experience. After all, role playing (in a broader sense) is often used to make people see things from another persons perspective.
Of course this only applies to single character games.

Bethesda got it right when you have an option to switch between 1st and 3rd person.
 

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