SpaceKungFuMan said:
Since when are the primary virtues of RPGs size and content?
Since about the time they went out of the dungeons and met towns and outdoors outside.
Of course, good combat engine and advanced game-mechanics stand first, but the bigger the world and more content, the more potential it has in exploration, the third priority.
The best RPG ever made (Fallout)...
Who told you? Last time I checked, Wizardry 7 was the one. Or was it Darklands? Maybe Temple of Elemental Evil?
...is only 10 hours long.
Spoilers ain't good for salvation. But I guess married attorneys don't have much choice other than to arm themselves with a walkthrough and run like hell to wherever the ending happens, if only the game permits so?
That guy on youtube who played through Morrowind in under 14 minutes, it wasn't you, by any chance?
I absolutely do think that RPGs should be shorter though
I sure hope you won't ever lose your hands to a terrible accident. Else you'd probably demand RPGs to have pedal controls.
along with any other game that has content that can be cut without taking away positive gameplay experiences.
Ever occured to you that someone else's take on positive gameplay experiences might be a tad different from yours?
When a game is filled with great quests and an interesting world that is worth exploring because that exploration itself is interesting (i.e. divine divinity, fallout) and not just because of rewards, it can be as long as it wants.
Can't argue here, all correct. Except that there is nothing inherently wrong with exploring for rewards alone, if rewards are good. Ontopic, huge part of a problem with TWitcher was that "rewards" were worth shit.
But as soon as the playtime is padded with trash encounters, pointless dungeons, and walking across bland generic scenery (i.e. Oblivion), the game needs to be shorter to stay worth playing.
No. The game needs not to be played at all. Shorter length does not make trash encounters, pointless dungeons and generic scenery any better. And problem herein is not in length but in a crappy game in general.
I would buy a game like portal or cod4 every week, because they provide a short but great experience. That seems like a better revenue stream then milking one purchase for half the year.
As a game producer who has to goad gullible people into purchasing more of my games to make my living, I would probably agree. As an RPG player, I think huge games like Wizardry 7 or World of Xeen piss at 10-15 hours long midgets from a very, very high altitude.