Community Larian Studios RPG Survey - The Results

[*-*/\--/\~]

Those voting for 100+ hour length should have their balls cut off. If you desire shitton of filler content, go play some japanese mmo.

 

[Tigranes]

"Story rich"

Oops, Larian

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Morality Games]

Meh, I feel like people give DOS' story too much shit. I mean, it's not great, but most quests are very good for example, NPC have good interactions, etc

Probably. There's an inscription written above the Oracle at Delphi ruins that means, "Nothing too much," because the Ancient Greeks were afraid of overdoing it (constantly reflected in the stories of their religion) but the Codex does, "everything too much."

 

[thesheeep]

Well, someone had to balance out that Oracle.

 

[chaddiek]

Looks like it's the "Rich Story" people vs. the "Tactical Combat" people.

I have to say, most results I was like "SEE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!" Until I saw that "Rich Story" beat out "Tactial Combat" and my heart sank like the Titanic.

After reading three or four lines of game dialog I have to spam through it. If you need to write a goddamn bible just to get your point across you've missed something. I just don't have the time to be reading my way through a game, I want to play it, read a fucking book for christs sake, there are a trillion of those but precious few decent turn based RPGs. IMHO

 

[Quantomas]

Story Rich vs. Tactical Combat

Depends how you interpret the data. If you include the range from moderately important to very important the response is: 15,085 vs 14,273

That's nearly equal. The difference is chiefly that much more people stress the VERY important for story. Could very well be that people are more sensitive to deficiencies in story. Whereas more people are likely to tolerate grind or meh combat (Arcanum, PoE, JRPGs).

Difficult to tell which way the reasoning really goes.

Anyway it's a treasure trove of data, even if it's possibly mostly the opinion of DOS players. The most interesting takeaway for me is that there is a good correlation between players of RPGs and strategy games.

 

[BlackAdderBG]

Looks like it's the "Rich Story" people vs. the "Tactical Combat" people.

I have to say, most results I was like "SEE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!" Until I saw that "Rich Story" beat out "Tactial Combat" and my heart sank like the Titanic.

After reading three or four lines of game dialog I have to spam through it. If you need to write a goddamn bible just to get your point across you've missed something. I just don't have the time to be reading my way through a game, I want to play it, read a fucking book for christs sake, there are a trillion of those but precious few decent turn based RPGs. IMHO

Huh? 14k rated story Important or Very Important and 10,5k for tactical combat, how is that story vs combat?

 

[Valky]

Storyfags and multiplayerfags need to be put in concentration camps.

 

[M. AQVILA]

I just want interactivity and interesting mechanics. Couldn't care less about story or combat to be honest.

 

[vonAchdorf]

The divided opinion of JRPGs in the survey is very Codexian. Also interesting is that Crafting isn't valued very much compared to other features.

 

[Lurker King]

I think the Codex members sometimes forget that the particular world view that exists around here isn't the same in the "outside world."

For example, I imagine that a turn-based game with a difficulty considered appropriate for the members here would be essentially unplayable for most people. Way too hard for them. The same goes when we talk about story. By the standards here, the story of Larian's games is its weak point, which deserves no consideration. But for the rest of the players? Who thinks that games like Dragon Age Inquisition look like a perfect example of deep and engaging plot? Original Sin may very well be regarded as a game with good history for these standards, especially for those who like the kind of humor presented by Larian (which is somewhat hit'n'miss).

It's not that they lie to themselves, but simply that their level of demand (and preferences) are completely different.

Exactly. People are way worse than your worst caricature. I have a cousin who has all these consoles. He plays every new AAA cRPG. I thought that finally we would be to agree that Andromeda sucks and he says the game was good. I give up. People have no standards.

I just want interactivity and interesting mechanics. Couldn't care less about story or combat to be honest.

I want everything.

 

[chaddiek]

Looks like it's the "Rich Story" people vs. the "Tactical Combat" people.

I have to say, most results I was like "SEE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!" Until I saw that "Rich Story" beat out "Tactial Combat" and my heart sank like the Titanic.

After reading three or four lines of game dialog I have to spam through it. If you need to write a goddamn bible just to get your point across you've missed something. I just don't have the time to be reading my way through a game, I want to play it, read a fucking book for christs sake, there are a trillion of those but precious few decent turn based RPGs. IMHO

Huh? 14k rated story Important or Very Important and 10,5k for tactical combat, how is that story vs combat?

Mostly the comments in this thread are what I meant by "Combat people vs. Story people".

I personally rated Combat highest and Story lowest lol..

I was being a bit dramatic by saying my heart sank because it was nice to see Tactical Combat rated "Important"

 

[Alienman]

I want tactical story.

 

[imweasel]

The tactical combat-faggotry bar is alarmingly low. Story, combat and character progression are pretty much the three pillars of RPGs.

 

[daveyd]

I just want interactivity and interesting mechanics. Couldn't care less about story or combat to be honest.

What RPGs do you think have good interactivity and interesting mechanics?

I mean, like it or not, combat is what you spend over 80% of your time doing in the vast majority of RPGs. I personally wouldn't mind some more combat-light RPGs, but aside from certain backgrounds in Age of Decadence, certain missions in SR:HK, Torment, and the handful of classic cRPGs that allow for pacificist playthroughs, (and the upcoming "No Truce With the Furies") combat is the main mechanic in the genre (i.e., you fight, manage equipment, level-up, repeat). Unless a RPG has lots of unskippable cutscenes the story is easy enough to ignore but how do you tolerate slogging through hours of combat if you "couldn't care less" about it?

 

[buru5]

Storyfags dominating the data. Pathetic. These dumbfucks don't know how to pick up a book. Games are about gameplay. It's in the name. Storyfags are always pure decline. Whatever they get their mitts on rots into putrid bile.

 

[Freakydemon]

People lie to themselves about their own preferences. As if people play Div OS for the story

The survey was a general questionnaire, not specific to Larian RPGs so it's not surprising at all to see story top the boards.

 

[M. AQVILA]

What RPGs do you think have good interactivity and interesting mechanics?

Planescape: Torment (more for the interactivity and the interesting setting), Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (Spiriteater mechanics) and Baldur's Gate 2 (General D&D and Bhaalspawn related mechanics) are the ones that instantly come to mind.

I mean, like it or not, combat is what you spend over 80% of your time doing in the vast majority of RPGs. I personally wouldn't mind some more combat-light RPGs, but aside from certain backgrounds in Age of Decadence, certain missions in SR:HK, Torment, and the handful of classic cRPGs that allow for pacificist playthroughs, (and the upcoming "No Truce With the Furies") combat is the main mechanic in the genre (i.e., you fight, manage equipment, level-up, repeat).

I don't entirely mind combat as long as there is a reason for it. And I'm not saying I don't like a challenge but it's not what drives me to play RPGs. I most definitely don't play them for combat. And I absolutely hate grind.

Unless a RPG has lots of unskippable cutscenes the story is easy enough to ignore but how do you tolerate slogging through hours of combat if you "couldn't care less" about it?

Curiosity and fun. A game can have the deepest story or the most challenging and addictive combat but if it's not interesting then it's meaningless for me.

 

[Roguey]

Storyfags are their main audience, yet Larian can't into fucking story at all.

People lie to themselves about their own preferences. As if people play Div OS for the story

You overestimate peoples' standards. Millions of people play and love Bioware games for the story.

 

[CRD]

Once you have read to Kurt Vonnegut and the Shapes of stories or the seven basic plots from booker you don't need to read anymore, as you already know everything that writing can offer. We have evolved beyond any possible story on the codex /s

but anyway, is fun and I like to read on some games, and on others just play. Throw me an invisible inc with a rich and complex story and I'll give you $100

 

[thesheeep]

Storyfags are their main audience, yet Larian can't into fucking story at all.

People lie to themselves about their own preferences. As if people play Div OS for the story

You overestimate peoples' standards. Millions of people play and love Bioware games for the story.

I think everyone is basically saying the same here.
People may play for the story, but they aren't capable of telling a trash story from a good one.
As long as it is something, they'll happily claim the game has a "great" story. And that "great" stories are very important to them, lying to themselves about their standards (though not consciously).

 

[Iznaliu]

But for the rest of the players? Who thinks that games like Dragon Age Inquisition look like a perfect example of deep and engaging plot? Original Sin may very well be regarded as a game with good history for these standards, especially for those who like the kind of humor presented by Larian (which is somewhat hit'n'miss).

It's generally regarded as quite crappy; even people who like it regard it as "good enough", not amazing. This is a perfect example of what the Codex's isolation does.

 

[Ruzen]

It's not about story vs gameplay when It comes to games. Gameplay is the only thing matters when It comes to games. From the street games, where children used to play on the outside (where there is no story) to a walking simulator where you only press W (which is only a story). A story only gives more meaning to gameplay or not. Gameplay always comes first and It can only be about: Is my game going to be casual or challenging? Larian may look like they don't give a fuck about the story by focusing gameplay trying to add lots of stuff. But they don't just do that regardless of the story. In fact, they are well aware of their needs in their story/setting and creating their gameplay around their story/setting.

I also believe D:OS had a good story too but the gameplay obfuscates that, If you don't pay attention. It may be the hardest story type in fantasy, to make people swallow a high fantasy setting or story. From talking animals to the time itself, there are no limits in the high fantasy setting and It may sometimes make people puke but Larian makes a good adaptation to games of this setting by creating gameplay for each of them. Because in D:OS the gameplay wasn't only about tactical combat It was the other lots of things you can do and they are meaning full for the story. It's not like Todd "the liar" Howards case where he wants to have Minecrafty, weird gameplay in Fallout 4 and makes bad excuses in the story which then alienates the setting too much.

The gameplay always comes for all the games but what about RPGs? The answer is similar but not quite right. You see to make an indivudual be part of a fantasy (sex or games) you have to create a certain setting/story. Where in an action shooter game is less important but in an adventure game is the most important to merge a game around a story. RPG's are in higher positions in this chart. In the case of Torment: Numenera where its gameplay doesn't merge with story or setting; Even though, there is a good amount of visual aspects telling you stuff yet you still have to deal with walls of text to experience twice what you have seen or Where it tells lots of fun "objects" but in combat those feels total lackluster.

To summarize, It not about balance between story and gameplay. It's about how you adapt your story by using gameplay.

 

[Naraya]

I'm just happy so few people "love" crafting. The sooner it dies the better.