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What is the ideal RPG structure to you?

Faarbaute

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 2, 2017
Messages
760
I thought this might be an interesting topic to discuss as it naturally influences your opinion on a variety of other topics that get discussed here on a daily basis.

My ideal RPG structure for example is that of a gauntlet or a series of gauntlets.

In other words, overcomming a series of challenges. Be they combat, puzzles, riddles or what have you. And seeing as we're talking about RPGs here - through the development of your character or characters.

This necessarily influnces my opinion on most things to do with RPGs and games in general. Things like level scaling, immersion, RTWP vs TB, world design, single vs multiplayer, narrative and so on make more or less sense and could be more or less motivated in the broader context of your idea of what an RPG ideally should be like.

For example, my opinion is that narrative, as it exists outside of player agency, should primarily serve to frame and give context to your actions, to motivate and to propell you towards new challenges. It should not necessarily exist to tell a story in and of itself.

Now this might sound stupid if you're of the opinion that RPGs are about something different entirely. But it makes sense in the context of my idea of RPGs. Mind you, it dosen't have to be as all or nothing as I paint it here, that is for illustrative purposes.

So, what is the ideal RPG structure to you and what is it all about? Is it about creating worlds and submerging yourself into a narrative? Is it all about choice and consequence? Is it art? Is it about the human condition? Are RPGs evolving towards something?

Be as specific as you like.
 
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Viata

Arcane
Joined
Nov 11, 2014
Messages
9,885
Location
Water Play Catarinense
Like Wizardry 1. A single dungeon, you just keep going deeper and raping more enemies(or getting raped, whatever turns you on). For the same reason, Diablo 1 is my favorite Diablo game. I want more games like that.
 

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
5,861
Combat -> sexing up hot bitches -> more combat.

**chef's kiss gameplay loop** Add some good writing and progression mechanics somewhere in there.
 

Serus

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Messages
6,680
Location
Small but great planet of Potatohole
It has to be either structured around ironman or at least ironman playable. A game is not a game if it doesn't offer a challenge and in many genres it's the only way.
Add some hot bitches somewhere in there, it never hurt anyone. In that last part I agree with Tyranicon.
 

Ăśstad

Arcane
Joined
Aug 27, 2019
Messages
8,485
Location
TĂĽrkiye
No level scaling

Free distribution of skill points, it doesn't rely on using the said skill

Stats and stat checks actually matter and can't be improved via consumables like in Fallout

Unique items being unique but not being too OP

Your actions, your faction stance etc. actually matters and recognized by NPCs

Classes actually force you to use different strategy, if your class barely changes your gameplay your RPG sucks
 

ELEXmakesMeHard

Learned
Joined
Jun 19, 2021
Messages
807
Untitled.png
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,324
Location
Flowery Land
Honeycomb, of the variant that only requires most of the sorrounding hexes (instead of all) be acomplished
 

anvi

Prophet
Village Idiot
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
7,530
Location
Kelethin
It depends too much on the game, there are too many different types of RPG and too many different types of things you can put in those games. I don't think the ingredients matter alone, it's how you use it all together. Like TB vs RT, it's meaningless on it's own. If the game is going to be like System Shock then you better make it real time. If it's going to be like Jagged Alliance 2 where you control a team with their own inventories and weapons that need reloading and stuff, then it better be turn based. But whatever. I love some RPGs that are bonkers on paper and complete opposites of each other. I think anything can work if it's done well.
 
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perfectslumbers

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 24, 2021
Messages
1,198
Porn is gay, you're literally looking at another mans dick. In this case you're looking at 2 other men's dicks, what could be gayer than that?

Anyway I like RPG's that start open and get more linear as they go on and get closer to the climax, and I'm a big fan of the extremely basic and generic 3 act structure, it just works :) The first Baldur's Gate game has the ideal structure imo. Fully open/open world games seem fun in theory but I've never played one and had as much fun as I've had with act-structured RPG's.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
33,048
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Shaped like a pair of big tits.
That a shape not a "structure". Structured as a woman with big tits.
and nice ass, and maybe even feet if Jarl was there

And the feet are the best part about any RPG :smug:

My favorite structure for an RPG is an open goal-based structure like Fallout 1. The Vault Overseer tells you to get a water chip, then you're released into the wild and gotta find it. How you do it is up to you. You have to gather the clues all by yourself and you can approach the objective in any way. There's no rigid line going from Quest A -> Quest B -> Quest C, all the main quest cares about is that you get a water chip and it's completely acceptable to break the intended sequence.

Let's take your classic "defeat the evil overlord" scenario many RPGs have. A lot of them force you into a linear sequence of main quests where you first have to contact the rebellion, then you have to meet a contact who knows the location of the overlord's lair, then you have to deliver crates of weapons to the rebels, then you can start the final battle. But if you discover the overlord's lair on your own while exploring, you can't go back to the rebellion and tell them about it - you have to do the quest where you meet the contact. That's rigid and linear and I don't like it. A proper RPG should only give you the goal of defeating the overlord, and if you want you can just explore on your own, find the lair, and attack the boss. You will likely die without preparation, but you can try. Any steps between would be optional, and there would always be multiple ways to achieve your goals.

Wanna find the location of the overlord's lair? Talk to people who might know it, explore for yourself, try to find a map that shows it.
Want support in the fight against the evil overlord? Contact the rebellion and help them, or hire mercenaries with your gold, or even discover an ancient ruin filled with techno-magical golems you can command.

The game never tells you exactly what to do and where to go, you have to figure that out by yourself. No handholding, no forced linear sequences of quests. Just overarching goals and a handful of tools to help you achieve them. This also makes it easier to include failure states that don't force you to reload: if you fail a quest or piss off a faction to the point it will never deal with you ever again, you have enough alternative approaches to take the failure and move on.

Also, the world would be 100% hand-crafted and nothing would scale to the player or be procedurally generated. All the dungeons, enemies, unique items etc are always found in the same location. It's a real world that can be explored in detail, its secrets uncovered bit by bit.
 

FriendlyMerchant

Guest
An rpg should be structured like a shekel with skinnerbox elements to get you to spend shekels and micro-transactions at every turn that deposit the money straight into my bank account.
 

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