Are RPGs Evolving or Dying?

[VentilatorOfDoom]

<p>Gamerant are ranting about the evolving/dying RPG genre, asking themselves: <a href="http://gamerant.com/skyrim-dragon-age-2-mass-effect-3-rpgs-dying-dyce-68478/" target="_blank"><em>does the genre have any hope of surviving</em></a> ?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What this means for franchises like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and now The Elder Scrolls is that the complex and intricate gameplay mechanics that have defined the genre are being tossed aside in favor of a more &ldquo;user-friendly&rdquo; approach.

We here at Game Rant aren&rsquo;t against progression or evolution of gameplay, and we have little interest in debating whether the changes will result in a &lsquo;better&rsquo; game.

Instead, we&rsquo;re wondering what this means for the modern RPG, and whether it has a chance of existing in its current form, or will inevitably be twisted into something that no longer possesses the qualities that defined the genre.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>How many RPGs are being released which still possess the <em>qualities that defined the genre</em>? There you have your answer.</p>

 

[DragoFireheart]

How many RPGs are being released which still possess the qualities that defined the genre?

Compared to the past? So few that it's more than obvious that the genre is dying out.

 

[Norfleet]

The answer: Both. They are both evolving, and still dying. They are evolving towards some kind of local maximum fitness, but over time this fitness will still decline towards zero, resulting in ultimate extinction in the long run.

 

[felipepepe]

I believe RPGs are going the same road that Adventure games went. We used to have great games as Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Gabriel Knight, Grim Fandango, Broken Sword, etc...but then they started to become "action-adventure", like the HORRIBLE King's Quest: Mask of Eternity....and it was all downhill from there. Now they sell Prince of Persia as "adventure-games".

Some could say Bioware is the new Lucasarts.

On related news, I would say RTS genre have managed to survive really well the "downfall of Pc Gaming", although we lost Age of Empires to Facebook and had that Halo: Wars shit going on...

 

[Unkillable Cat]

As mainstream AAA titles? They're not dying, they're dead. We're being sold lifeless corpes at inflated prices.

As low-budget indie titles? They're doing fine. Eschalon wouldn't be heading into its second sequel if it wasn't returning a profit... would it?

 

[Jaesun]

The finally figured this out, now?

 

[Konjad]

Risen, The Witcher, Age of Decadence, Eschalon, Fallout New Vegas,Mysteries of Westgate, Mask of the Betrayer...

Hater's gonna hate them though.

 

[Jools]

Well, if by "evolving" they mean they are killing it themselves, yes, that's what they're doing.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Risen, The Witcher, Age of Decadence, Eschalon, Fallout New Vegas,Mysteries of Westgate, Mask of the Betrayer...

Hater's gonna hate them though.

Those are such a minority that pretending that they are a representation of the genre growing is intellectually dishonest and you fucking know it.

 

[Black Bart Charley]

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

On related news, I would say RTS genre have managed to survive really well the "downfall of Pc Gaming",

It has something to do with RTS genre being a part of the downfall.

 

[Raapys]

They're not really evolving. The indie-RPG titles are still pretty much following the footsteps of your RPGs of old, and triple-A RPGs aren't being made anymore, i.e. they're already dead. All the high-budget titles are first and foremost action games with some light RPG-elements sprinkled on top.

 

[Arcanoix]

Risen, The Witcher, Age of Decadence, Eschalon, Fallout New Vegas,Mysteries of Westgate, Mask of the Betrayer...

Hater's gonna hate them though.

Risen - Shitty.

Witcher - Click, click, click, sex, click, click, click, sex.

AoD - Vaporware.

Eschalon - What?

FO:NV - INCLINE.

MoW - Pretty good mod, could have used much more marketing. Maybe make it an expansion?

MoTB - Awesome pickup to a shitty story. (the OC)

 

[circ]

I believe RPGs are going the same road that Adventure games went. We used to have great games as Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Gabriel Knight, Grim Fandango, Broken Sword, etc...but then they started to become "action-adventure", like the HORRIBLE King's Quest: Mask of Eternity....and it was all downhill from there. Now they sell Prince of Persia as "adventure-games".

Some could say Bioware is the new Lucasarts.

On related news, I would say RTS genre have managed to survive really well the "downfall of Pc Gaming", although we lost Age of Empires to Facebook and had that Halo: Wars shit going on...

The heydays of any innovative gaming is long dead, including RTS's. There are like two remaining RTS developers, Relic and Blizzard, and Blizzard just keeps doing sequels with very little innovation. Then there's C&C, but EA killed that. It has nothing interesting in it anymore, though I liked C&C Generals. And MS killed whatever the AOE studio was called. As for Relic, well, Retribution was fun, and had more new features than DA 2, even though the release cycles were pretty much the same, and it's a fucking standalone addon, unlike DA 2, which shouldn't be even called that, but a DLC. But Retribution's heavily geared towards MP, so.

Anyway, back to DA 2. Rogues were severely dumbed down in DA:O, and even further in DA 2. Now they're just DPS machines. DA 3 will probably drop lock picking too finally, who needs it, rogues are dual wielding ninjas with huge daggers!

 

[easychord]

Why give any credit to this whole "evolving" thing at all. It's just the latest marketing buzz word that they use to make dumbing down and going down-market to less sophisticated customers sound smart and sexy. People realised that streamlining meant the same thing so they just picked a new word.

 

[Higher Game]

Eschalon - What?

You have a problem that must be fixed, post-haste.

You all watch Grimoire redefine the genre in 2012.

 

[Jools]

Risen, The Witcher, Age of Decadence, Eschalon, Fallout New Vegas,Mysteries of Westgate, Mask of the Betrayer...

Hater's gonna hate them though.

Risen - Shitty.

Witcher - Click, click, click, sex, click, click, click, sex.

FO:NV - INCLINE.

No, not really.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Well, if we're technical about it, RPG's are evolving. They're changing over time, from generation to generation into something completely different from the original "organism". Evolving into what is the more important question.


Just like Adventure today means Tomb Raider or Prince of Persia , RPG is starting to mean "press A to execute totally awesome move and make blood splatter, and decide between the 2 weapons in your inventory with which to do it".

 

[Dr.Faust]

Risen - Shitty.

Witcher - Click, click, click, sex, click, click, click, sex.

AoD - Vaporware.

Eschalon - What?

FO:NV - INCLINE.

MoTB - Awesome pickup to a shitty story. (the OC)

Your opinions on RPGs mean jack shit if you don't know what the Eschalon books are. Especially since the opinions are so wrong.

 

[Metro]

Two observations:

1) King's Quest and Ultima required graph paper?

2) To point out the obvious -- even the franchises he names have already 'evolved' into hybrids.

And people here are still arguing Witcher is an RPG? It's a hybrid at best.

 

[felipepepe]

On related news, I would say RTS genre have managed to survive really well the "downfall of Pc Gaming",

It has something to do with RTS genre being a part of the downfall.

RTS = Real Time Strategy (Starcraft, Age of Empires, Command & Conquer, etc).

Don't tell me you believed that something like "Real Time Shooter genre" was more than a retarded journalist trying to get his review on the cover of a game...

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

On related news, I would say RTS genre have managed to survive really well the "downfall of Pc Gaming",

It has something to do with RTS genre being a part of the downfall.

RTS = Real Time Strategy (Starcraft, Age of Empires, Command & Conquer, etc).

Yes, that's precisely what I'm talking about.

 

[felipepepe]

On related news, I would say RTS genre have managed to survive really well the "downfall of Pc Gaming",

It has something to do with RTS genre being a part of the downfall.

RTS = Real Time Strategy (Starcraft, Age of Empires, Command & Conquer, etc).

Yes, that's precisely what I'm talking about.

Now I'm curious. Whats your point?

 

[Johannes]

He wants to say he doesn't like RTS's.

 

[Silentrider]

They are evolving into action games.

 

[hoverdog]

Risen - Shitty.

Witcher - Click, click, click, sex, click, click, click, sex.

AoD - Vaporware.

Eschalon - What?

FO:NV - INCLINE.

MoTB - Awesome pickup to a shitty story. (the OC)

Your opinions on RPGs mean jack shit if you don't know what the Eschalon books are. Especially since the opinions are so wrong.

come on, eschalon was like a roguelike with better graphics and a (generic) story but without all the things that make roguelikes playable. atrocious, atrocious game.