Incline Survey - Most Compelling RPG Concept & Setting Not Yet Attempted

[Nifft Batuff]

I would like an RPG set in Vatican, but with the exorcist themes, and my most beloved superhero: Don Zauker

 

[Vic]

Isekai will be the next big thing in 5-10 years.

video games are Isekai. or what do you want to play a guy who plays a guy in a video game?

 

[Harthwain]

And then one day it'll hit someone in California in the head and it'll go mainstream.

I am not so optimistic.

Isekai works for webcomics, books and could work for movies, but that's because it's easy to set up a pre-defined, linear story in a manner where the protagonist's out-of-character knowledge can be leveraged to his or her benefit. It's much harder concept for a video game (with emphasis on player's agency), when the player is supposed to know what's going to happen (or have a certain knowledge) in order to be able to manipulate the events.

You could technically make it work by having saves and checkpoints, but that wouldn't make it any different from any narrative-driven RPG.

 

[ItsChon]

I've gone into detail in the past on the topic of why action combat systems in first and third person RPGs are not good, and this, along with other reasons, are why I am fundamentally against third-person and first-person RPGs. They are more expensive, harder to execute, and even when they are done well, they often times fall short in comparison to the great isometric RPGs.

Moving on to the actual setting suggestions, none of them are what I'd consider super conducive to the making of a good isometric cRPG. A Cardinal in the Vatican, a party official in the CCP, Trump's Chief of State, these are all just different variations of the same idea with different backdrops. A game like this is essentially going to take heavy inspiration from Disco Elysium, and while Disco Elysium is a great game, one of the elements that made the game so compelling is not something you will really be able to include in any of the setting suggestions you mentioned. Disco's setting and us exploring said setting was a huge part of what made the game so great. A RPG set so close to the present day in the real world will simply not have the same mystique compared to a unique setting that is new to the player. The game can still be great, as the meat and potatoes of Disco Elysium is the writing and character interaction which would have a real chance to shine in the settings you listed, with the potential to have far more choice and consequence than was in Disco Elysium. For some reason however, I'm having a hard time getting excited about the ideas, probably because of how jaded I am in regards to the Catholic Church and politics in general.

If you want a historical RPG, I really think you should avoid having one that is too close to the modern era. The fact that the Vatican exists, the fact that Donald Trump was holding office so recently, and the fact that it has only been a little over forty years since the collapse of the USSR, makes the setting less interesting in comparison to one set hundreds of years in the past, long before I was ever born.

My idea for a historical RPG setting would be a isometric RPG in which you play a tribal leader during the neolithic revolution who is attempting to transition his small hunter-gatherer tribe to an agrarian society. The story would start with our tribal leader attempting to start his village as he fends off hostile wanders/tribes, hunts large and dangerous animals, mediates disputes in between the other members of the tribe, etc, etc. As the story progresses and the village becomes established, our tribal leader would be faced with many difficult choices as two large tribes who are at war attempt to bring our tribe into the conflict to tip the balance of power. This could lead to some great choice and consequence opportunities with multiple endings. Just imagine the different systems you could have, the countless different quests, the different environments that you could feature as the story progresses, and so on.

 

[MLMarkland]

I've gone into detail in the past on the topic of why action combat systems in first and third person RPGs are not good, and this, along with other reasons, are why I am fundamentally against third-person and first-person RPGs. They are more expensive, harder to execute, and even when they are done well, they often times fall short in comparison to the great isometric RPGs.

Moving on to the actual setting suggestions, none of them are what I'd consider super conducive to the making of a good isometric cRPG. A Cardinal in the Vatican, a party official in the CCP, Trump's Chief of State, these are all just different variations of the same idea with different backdrops. A game like this is essentially going to take heavy inspiration from Disco Elysium, and while Disco Elysium is a great game, one of the elements that made the game so compelling is not something you will really be able to include in any of the setting suggestions you mentioned. Disco's setting and us exploring said setting was a huge part of what made the game so great. A RPG set so close to the present day in the real world will simply not have the same mystique compared to a unique setting that is new to the player. The game can still be great, as the meat and potatoes of Disco Elysium is the writing and character interaction which would have a real chance to shine in the settings you listed, with the potential to have far more choice and consequence than was in Disco Elysium. For some reason however, I'm having a hard time getting excited about the ideas, probably because of how jaded I am in regards to the Catholic Church and politics in general.

If you want a historical RPG, I really think you should avoid having one that is too close to the modern era. The fact that the Vatican exists, the fact that Donald Trump was holding office so recently, and the fact that it has only been a little over forty years since the collapse of the USSR, makes the setting less interesting in comparison to one set hundreds of years in the past, long before I was ever born.

My idea for a historical RPG setting would be an isometric RPG in which you play a tribal leader during the neolithic revolution who is attempting to transition his small hunter-gatherer tribe to an agrarian society. The story would start with our tribal leader attempting to start his village as he fends off hostile wanders/tribes, hunts large and dangerous animals, mediates disputes in between the other members of the tribe, etc, etc. As the story progresses and the village becomes established, our tribal leader would be faced with many difficult choices as two large tribes who are at war attempt to bring our tribe into the conflict to tip the balance of power. This could lead to some great choice and consequence opportunities with multiple endings. Just imagine the different systems you could have, the countless different quests, the different environments that you could feature as the story progresses, and so on.

I like the Neolithic concept.

There was some Neolithic pen and paper rpg in the 90s, I don’t remember what it was called though

 

[Vic]

and the fact that it has only been a little over forty years since the collapse of the USSR, makes the setting less interesting

don’t forget that people are literally fucking dying right now.

I think it worked with the Taliban in Counterstrike etc. because they were the bad guys. But it’s different now unless your are an Ameridumb who thinks Russians = terrorists.

 

[ItsChon]

I like the Neolithic concept.

Since so little is known about the era, it maintains the same mystery that a completely new setting would have while still remaining true to the idea of what a historical RPG is. You could always introduce elements of shamanism/mysticism to the game if you wanted to do away with the historical criteria for the setting, and I do think that this would make the setting idea even greater. I can already imagine several quest/location ideas as a result of such a thing being apart of the setting.

 

[Harthwain]

If you want a historical RPG

It doesn't have to be a historically-accurate RPG though. It could simply be inspired by history. That way you could still have the Vatican, but existing in an alternate reality of sorts. The setting as such will be familiar enough, while nevertheless requiring the player to get to know the actors and the events taking place. Or, hell, veer into simulation and have different actors in different roles with different events taking place each time you play (Crusader Kings series comes to mind).

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

And then one day it'll hit someone in California in the head and it'll go mainstream.

I am not so optimistic.

Isekai works for webcomics, books and could work for movies, but that's because it's easy to set up a pre-defined, linear story in a manner where the protagonist's out-of-character knowledge can be leveraged to his or her benefit. It's much harder concept for a video game (with emphasis on player's agency), when the player is supposed to know what's going to happen (or have a certain knowledge) in order to be able to manipulate the events.

You could technically make it work by having saves and checkpoints, but that wouldn't make it any different from any narrative-driven RPG.

I never said this was going to be a good idea for an RPG, because I don't see how to make RPG mechanics into something that's meta, when it's already meta. So the litRPG concept is out. And as for making it just isekai, ehh. Could work, but wouldn't be revolutionary. I was talking about other media.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

And then one day it'll hit someone in California in the head and it'll go mainstream.

I am not so optimistic.

Isekai works for webcomics, books and could work for movies, but that's because it's easy to set up a pre-defined, linear story in a manner where the protagonist's out-of-character knowledge can be leveraged to his or her benefit. It's much harder concept for a video game (with emphasis on player's agency), when the player is supposed to know what's going to happen (or have a certain knowledge) in order to be able to manipulate the events.

You could technically make it work by having saves and checkpoints, but that wouldn't make it any different from any narrative-driven RPG.

I never said this was going to be a good idea for an RPG, because I don't see how to make RPG mechanics into something that's meta, when it's already meta. So the litRPG concept is out. And as for making it just isekai, ehh. Could work, but wouldn't be revolutionary. I was talking about other media.

Japs are so advanced that they go into meta-isekai in 2017 (characters from game about games play in MMO):

 

[Vic]

Japs are so advanced that they go into meta-isekai in 2017 (characters from game about games play in MMO):

Ultima games did it much earlier

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Japs are so advanced that they go into meta-isekai in 2017 (characters from game about games play in MMO):

Ultima games did it much earlier

In this Ultima we had mere braking of fourth wall. In this Neptunia all closed in MMO video game goddess have "romance" with player built by last couple of games.

From Megadimension Neptunia VIIR:

 

[Vic]

Japs are so advanced that they go into meta-isekai in 2017 (characters from game about games play in MMO):

Ultima games did it much earlier

In this Ultima we had mere braking of fourth wall. In this Neptunia all closed in MMO video game goddess have "romance" with player built by last couple of games.

From Megadimension Neptunia VIIR:

yes but it’s retarded

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Japs are so advanced that they go into meta-isekai in 2017 (characters from game about games play in MMO):

Ultima games did it much earlier

In this Ultima we had mere braking of fourth wall. In this Neptunia all closed in MMO video game goddess have "romance" with player built by last couple of games.

From Megadimension Neptunia VIIR:

yes but it’s retarded

Yeah :D But that are the most meta games I have even seen (reference-fests like YIIK doesn't count).

 

[MLMarkland]

Isometric political RPG “Conclave: The Anti-Pope” appears to be taking a significant lead

 

[Kev Inkline]

I like the Neolithic concept.

Since so little is known about the era, it maintains the same mystery that a completely new setting would have while still remaining true to the idea of what a historical RPG is. You could always introduce elements of shamanism/mysticism to the game if you wanted to do away with the historical criteria for the setting, and I do think that this would make the setting idea even greater. I can already imagine several quest/location ideas as a result of such a thing being apart of the setting.

Roll the time period some 1000-2000 years forward, and what you essentially got is the bronze age of RuneQuest/Glorantha, which has both the best hth combat system of any pnp rpg and the best setting and world by far. Its orignal developer, Greg Stafford was also a shaman irl

On deity

It has also a goddess of rape, a detail which I think wins the hearts of even the most obstinate codexers

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Isekai will be the next big thing in 5-10 years. You can screenshot this. Just like normies jumped on the zombie bandwagon with normie shit like "the walking dead", and then the vampire bandwagon with "true blood" and "twilight", then the 80s with "stranger things", there will be a moment when isekai will be it. I won't go into the whys and wherefores, it's obvious stuff, the allure of Isekai LitRPG is especially powerful in a narrative form -- it's simultaneously a powerful power fantasy and powerful escapism. Isekai litRPG web serials and manga being written en masse right now by the crazy cat ladies and the school kids is all retarded, but the idea won't let them go, so they try again and again with their incapable little brains, because the premise is just too good. And then one day it'll hit someone in California in the head and it'll go mainstream.

L. Frank Baum and Edgar Rice Burroughs say "hello".

 

[Kev Inkline]

Isekai will be the next big thing in 5-10 years. You can screenshot this. Just like normies jumped on the zombie bandwagon with normie shit like "the walking dead", and then the vampire bandwagon with "true blood" and "twilight", then the 80s with "stranger things", there will be a moment when isekai will be it. I won't go into the whys and wherefores, it's obvious stuff, the allure of Isekai LitRPG is especially powerful in a narrative form -- it's simultaneously a powerful power fantasy and powerful escapism. Isekai litRPG web serials and manga being written en masse right now by the crazy cat ladies and the school kids is all retarded, but the idea won't let them go, so they try again and again with their incapable little brains, because the premise is just too good. And then one day it'll hit someone in California in the head and it'll go mainstream.

Your argument may be correct, but the timeline is wrong. Vampire fad preceded the zombie craze. Both Twilight and True Blood commenced their run before zombee series. Also, you coudl say it was the second mainstream wave for vamps, Anne Rice says hello.

Dont' let me distract you, just nitpicking here.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Isometric political RPG “Conclave: The Anti-Pope” appears to be taking a significant leadView attachment 37587

Ok but there better be some duelling and swashbuckling against loud mouthed street thugs and hot blooded young duellists to establish papal supremacy and what not.

 

[MLMarkland]

asd

Isometric political RPG “Conclave: The Anti-Pope” appears to be taking a significant leadView attachment 37587

Ok but there better be some duelling and swashbuckling against loud mouthed street thugs and hot blooded young duellists to establish papal supremacy and what not.

we would have Swiss Guards

 

[Snufkin]

Isometric post apocalyptic game with snow, ice, trains and mammoths. Something like this but RPG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60OkMuX_H2o

 

[Lady Error]

Isometric post apocalyptic game with snow, ice, trains and mammoths. Something like this but RPG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60OkMuX_H2o

 

[The_Mask]

I don't know what this thread is about at the moment I am making this post, but I'm going to be the less than 1% minority here and state that I would immensely enjoy:

- phase-based combat (doesn't have to be detailed; pixel art or described in words would do just fine)
- unarmed combat (as detailed as possible within the confines above)

Thank you for making the poll!

 

[curds]

I want a paranormal RPG/FPS hybrid - Deus Ex meets Realms of the Haunting/Clive Barker's Undying.

 

[MLMarkland]

I don't know what this thread is about at the moment I am making this post, but I'm going to be the less than 1% minority here and state that I would immensely enjoy:

- phase-based combat (doesn't have to be detailed; pixel art or described in words would do just fine)
- unarmed combat (as detailed as possible within the confines above)

Thank you for making the poll!