Following up on <a href="http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=17512">an earlier newspost</a>, be advised that Gamasutra continues to peddle its dastardly fiction that the RPG genre predates <i>Oblivion</i>. Author Matt Barton concludes his series on RPG history with <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20070411/barton_01.shtml">The Platinum and Modern Ages (1994-2004)</a>.
In this final installment, Barton touches on RPG titles mostly forgotten in today's market - for example, <i>Shadows over Riva</i>, <i>Amberstar</i>, and obscure Rogue-like <i>Diablo</i>. At its best, his article also contextualizes tried-and-true classics like <i>Daggerfall</i> and <i>Darklands</i> within a longer cultural tradition. This concluding piece is more difficult to follow than earlier installments, however, partly because it's less chronologically linear. (He missed the memo from modern RPG designers: linear is the new pink!) This period in RPG history is noteworthy for the end of long-established franchises like <i>Ultima</i> and <i>Might and Magic</i>, and for the progressive dismantling of previous game design traditions by new titles like <i>Ultima Underworld</i> and <i>Fallout</i>; the article is not always an effective guide.
Barton's conclusion is interesting - that "the best CRPGs of all time have been far more a matter of craft than revolution, of paradigms coming together rather than breaking apart" - but his neglect of the indie RPG scene leads him to miss one of the most compelling emerging stories within the genre: the redefinition (de-definition?) of "RPG" by mainstream market successes such as <i>Knights of the Old Republic</i> and <i>Morrowind</i>, and its potential re-reinvention by the persistent indie RPG community.
In this final installment, Barton touches on RPG titles mostly forgotten in today's market - for example, <i>Shadows over Riva</i>, <i>Amberstar</i>, and obscure Rogue-like <i>Diablo</i>. At its best, his article also contextualizes tried-and-true classics like <i>Daggerfall</i> and <i>Darklands</i> within a longer cultural tradition. This concluding piece is more difficult to follow than earlier installments, however, partly because it's less chronologically linear. (He missed the memo from modern RPG designers: linear is the new pink!) This period in RPG history is noteworthy for the end of long-established franchises like <i>Ultima</i> and <i>Might and Magic</i>, and for the progressive dismantling of previous game design traditions by new titles like <i>Ultima Underworld</i> and <i>Fallout</i>; the article is not always an effective guide.
Barton's conclusion is interesting - that "the best CRPGs of all time have been far more a matter of craft than revolution, of paradigms coming together rather than breaking apart" - but his neglect of the indie RPG scene leads him to miss one of the most compelling emerging stories within the genre: the redefinition (de-definition?) of "RPG" by mainstream market successes such as <i>Knights of the Old Republic</i> and <i>Morrowind</i>, and its potential re-reinvention by the persistent indie RPG community.