Community RPG Codex Top Ten Vintage RPGs Poll Results

[HiddenX]

Nice list - I like all of these RPGs and played most of them more than once.

 

[Sigourn]

An Open World ARPG IS STILL AN ACTION RPG.

And it's still and RPG. So what? That doesn't mean it's an ARPG like Diablo, sudaco shithead.

Who the fuck said so, you dumb retard with an inferiority complex. Flash news: Portuguese are the niggers of Europe.

You are the moron who thinks because two games are ARPGs means they are absolutely alike.

 

[Fowyr]

But first we must ask, what is an RPG?

I know that Disco Elysium is not the RPG. It's suffice.

 

[Sigourn]

We know Disco Elysium is an RPG because, as Atlantico eloquently puts it, it says so in the box.

 

[Aeschylus]

Overall pretty selections, though I would swap Darklands and U7 personally. Glad to see Betrayal at Krondor on top where it belongs.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

imagine being this upset about a moniker

If the Codex is going to be this upset about any moniker, it should be "role-playing games".

 

[Rincewind]

My main problems with the term "blobber":

• It's revisionist -- People referred to these games simply as "RPGs" back in the day, or even just "adventures" (yes that's right, check out a few magazines from the 80s and 90s)
• It's imprecise -- Its proponents claim that it's a specific term, while it's far from it in reality. It tries to categorise games by a secondary (at best) attribute ("party moves/fights together as a blob" - duh), while neglecting the much more important primary game mechanics:
  • Dungeon Master: "grid-based dungeon crawler focusing on puzzles and exploration with RT combat" vs "a blobber"
  • Might & Magic I-V: "grid-based classic RPG focusing on exploration with TB combat" vs "a blobber"
  • <any Gold Box game>, Realms of Arkania: "grid-based classic RPG with top-down tactical combat" vs "a blobber"
  • Wizardry VIII: "free-movement classic RPG with TB combat" vs "a blobber"
• It's slang -- It sounds like something invented by an edgy teenager trying to sound cool, and I have a distaste for slang in general (I'm no longer a teenager either). Besides, this weird focus on "the party moves as a blob" aspect implies it was coined by someone quite young who grew up on single-person FPS games, then discovered classic RPGs much later.

Check out Thac0's Butthurt Dungeon: Thac0's Ultimate Blobber List; now it's realtively sane, but at some point the list included Lords of Xulima (!), Betrayal at Krondor (!!) and even Ultima Underworld (!!!). I guess I would like the term more if it was more focused, e.g. if it was only used for DM-likes, for instance. But check out how many subcategories Thac0 had to invent... this is the ultimate proof that "blobber" is just too loose of a term.

Generally, I also like terms to be clear and well-defined. As long as we communicate with language, semantics is all we have.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Blobber is a great term, because it's specific and it tells you about the core element that separates these games from what I'd think of as "normal D&D-like RPGs"; "tactical" positioning of your party has been (mostly) removed from / streamlined out of the combat.

Other terms don't actually tell you this, nowadays a "Dungeon Crawler" could have almost any kind of combat. And there is a big difference between turn based combat with positioning and turn based blob combat, they don't necessarily appeal to the exact same audience.

As for JRPGs, some are blobbers and some aren't. But many of the non-blobbers were inspired by blobbers and have very similar combat.

 

[PorkaMorka]

It's imprecise -- Its proponents claim that it's a specific term, while it's far from it in reality. It tries to categorise games by a secondary (at best) attribute ("party moves/fights together as a blob" - duh), while neglecting the much more important primary game mechanics:

• • Dungeon Master: "grid-based dungeon crawler focusing on puzzles and exploration with RT combat" vs "a blobber"
  • Might & Magic I-V: "grid-based classic RPG focusing on exploration with TB combat" vs "a blobber"
  • <any Gold Box game>, Realms of Arkania: "grid-based classic RPG with top-down tactical combat" vs "a blobber"
  • Wizardry VIII: "free-movement classic RPG with TB combat" vs "a blobber"

Dungeon Master is a real time blobber.

Gold Box games have first person exploration but non-blob combat, they aren't true blobbers, if someone called the blobbers they were being too broad with the application of the term

Wizardry 8 took a few steps away from a pure blobber by letting you have more detailed positioning of your party, but it's only one game, a genre label can't be expected to perfectly describe an aspect that makes it somewhat unique; it's a blobber with a more detailed positioning system.

 

[Thac0]

My main problems with the term "blobber

I personally like the term the Japanese use: drpg, short for dungeon rpg.
It makes a lot of sense historically, as the genre developed out of Wizardry, and early wiz, as well as pureblooded drpgs to this day, play entirely in a single megadungeon.
Dungeon Crawler as the previous most logical term for these games doesn't mean much anymore, as for the mainstream hack & slash games like Diablo and card battlers like Slay the Spire have fallen under the term, and as both those genres are more active than drpgs the term has become hard to use.
Drpg says effectively the same thing, but is untainted by normies.

Also it leads to a neat symmetry, as in Japan all rpgs with isometric grid locked combat are called srpgs. Srpgs and drpgs as term cover the two most prestigious subgenres with ease, and rarely ever lead to confusion as to what sort of game is talked about.

But at the end of the day one has to be practical. These terms have become solidified long ago, and trying to change them makes me feel like Don Quixote riding against windmills.

So for me personally:
Tactical RPG - Western hybrid between rpg and squad tactics
Blobber - Western first person rpg with a large focus on dungeoneering
srpg - Japanese Tactical RPG
drpg - Japanese Blobber

As those are definitly the most widespread definitions

 

[Dexter]

"grid-based dungeon crawler focusing on puzzles and exploration with RT combat"
"grid-based classic RPG focusing on exploration with TB combat"
"grid-based classic RPG with top-down tactical combat"
"free-movement classic RPG with TB combat"

That sounds like a mouthful. I think I'd rather call them "Blobber". Also "Dungeon Crawler" can apply to any number of things, observe for instance how it's used in a Live environment: https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Dungeon Crawler/

Btw. if you really want to piss the Autists off, go to the Steam Store page of your favorite Wizardry/Grimoire/Legend of Grimrock/Operencia or whatever and tag it "Blobber". If a few dozen people do it, it might become an official Steam tag similar to "Walking Simulator".

 

[Rincewind]

Dungeon Crawler as the previous most logical term for these games doesn't mean much anymore, as for the mainstream hack & slash games like Diablo and card battlers like Slay the Spire have fallen under the term, and as both those genres are more active than drpgs the term has become hard to use.
Drpg says effectively the same thing, but is untainted by normies.

I get where you're coming from, but who cares what the majority does? I'd call those games "hack & slash" and "card battler" games and be done with it. I like "DRPG" by the way, and it doesn't sound like something invented by a teenager...

That sounds like a mouthful. I think I'd rather call them "Blobber".

Did you even read what you quoted from me?

Btw. if you really want to piss the Autists off

Please go and educate yourself on what autism means and stop misusing the term for people who are merely pedantic, or have focused niche interests.

 

[Dorateen]

At this point, all we're waiting for is BLOBERT to weigh in on the subject.

 

[mondblut]

• • Dungeon Master: "grid-based dungeon crawler focusing on puzzles and exploration with RT combat" vs "a blobber"
  • Might & Magic I-V: "grid-based classic RPG focusing on exploration with TB combat" vs "a blobber"
  • <any Gold Box game>, Realms of Arkania: "grid-based classic RPG with top-down tactical combat" vs "a blobber"
  • Wizardry VIII: "free-movement classic RPG with TB combat" vs "a blobber"

Brevity always wins. That's why the left can't meme.

Check out Thac0's Butthurt Dungeon: Thac0's Ultimate Blobber List; now it's realtively sane, but at some point the list included Lords of Xulima (!), Betrayal at Krondor (!!) and even Ultima Underworld (!!!). I guess I would like the term more if it was more focused, e.g. if it was only used for DM-likes, for instance. But check out how many subcategories Thac0 had to invent... this is the ultimate proof that "blobber" is just too loose of a term.

I don't know how or why did UUW end up even mentioned in there, but if Pool of Radiance and Shadows Over Riva are blobbers, so is Betrayal at Krondor.

 

[Rincewind]

Brevity always wins. That's why the left can't meme.

Memes are mind-infections that bypass thinking, hence dangerous.

I don't know how or why did UUW end up even mentioned in there, but if Pool of Radiance and Shadows Over Riva are blobbers, so is Betrayal at Krondor.

Yes! (none of them are)

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Boy oh Boy! 4 new pages of comments about the poll results! I can't wait to read them!

Doesn't stop Skyrim from being an Action RPG.

Again, what's your point? Who are you arguing with and about what?

Actually, nvm I don't care.

Are you blind?

lol of course cleffie is retarded enough to piss on his garbage game with codex lingo.

It's one of the best dungeon crawlers that I played recently, and I played a lot of them, dear retard. And by the way, yes, it's a blobber.

As if what you like changes anything. Someone thinks highly of himself.

At the end of the day, it's a garbage freeware shit game that nobody is trying to sell.

You took my point in bad faith and I told you to go fuck yourself. I stand by that.

Go fuck yourself.

This is like arguing with trannies. No your game isn't a blobber and you will never be a woman.

 

[mondblut]

Please go and educate yourself on what autism means and stop misusing the term for people who are merely pedantic, or have focused niche interests.

Reported for (autism) harvesting.

 

[Rincewind]

Boy oh Boy! 4 new pages of comments about the poll results! I can't wait to read them!

Doesn't stop Skyrim from being an Action RPG.

Again, what's your point? Who are you arguing with and about what?

Actually, nvm I don't care.

Are you blind?

lol of course cleffie is retarded enough to piss on his garbage game with codex lingo.

It's one of the best dungeon crawlers that I played recently, and I played a lot of them, dear retard. And by the way, yes, it's a blobber.

As if what you like changes anything. Someone thinks highly of himself.

At the end of the day, it's a garbage freeware shit game that nobody is trying to sell.

You took my point in bad faith and I told you to go fuck yourself. I stand by that.

Go fuck yourself.

This is like arguing with trannies. No your game isn't a blobber and you will never be a woman.

 

[Sigourn]

Beaten to the punch

 

[BLOBERT]

At this point, all we're waiting for is BLOBERT to weigh in on the subject.

BROS EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT A BLOBBER IS EXCEPT A FEW PCTARDS IN THIS THREEAD

 

[Rincewind]

All this reminds me of a nice cordial dinner discussion among the Unseen Academicals. The only question — who is the monkey?

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I think the first free-movement game on personal computers was Midi Maze on the Atari ST in 1987. Driller, another Freescape game, predates Total Eclipse by a year; it was also released in 1987 for the C64 and the Spectrum. There was also The Colony on the Mac in 1988.

If you don't count various military sims then the first game that does free-movement is Wayout. There's also a weird Japanese racing game on the PC-88 called SeeNa that beat MidiMaze to the punch.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Great poll, great results, thread turned to shit unfortunately

Blobber is a great, descriptive term. Wasn't used back in the day, but it doesn't sound nearly as forced as something like "immersive sim", for example. It conveys an idea pretty well and is concise. Can't really expect much more than that.

 

[k0syak]

All this reminds me of a nice cordial dinner discussion among the Unseen Academicals. The only question — who is the monkey?

He's an ape!

 

[Rincewind]

All this reminds me of a nice cordial dinner discussion among the Unseen Academicals. The only question — who is the monkey?

He's an ape!

We found him!

The Librarian is known for his violent reaction whenever he hears anyone refer to him as a "monkey" (orangutans are apes).