1eyedking Top 10 things that RPGs don't do anymore

[IncendiaryDevice]

Immersion.

I don't know if it's the fault of new RPGs or if it's because I'm getting older, but I'm having a really hard time losing myself in the game world when it comes to the newer games.

& etc

This is why I liked Serpent in the Staglands so much and was happy to forgive a lot of its flaws, everything was new and unknown, you never knew what was around the next corner.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

The thing about Serpent in the Staglands was that it was too unique for most people, IMO. It was uncomfortably different, so it has a lot more percieved "flaws". That's part of the reason why a lot of these middle-sized indie RPG devs now straddle the line more between old-school and modern conveniences. When a game goes *too* old-school, or even too "out there" (read: unfamiliar) with their systems (i.e. unique compared to other current RPGs on the market or even old-school ones), it is likely not going to sell as many units at best, at worst it's going to confuse a lot of people and lead to a lot of negative reviews.

Just an observation. Ramble Mode disengaged.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

The makers of the game were very happy, nay delighted, with its sales and reception.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

I'm glad to hear that, if only for selfish reasons that I'd like to see more RPGs like it in the future.

 

[Daemongar]

Sorry if it has been mentioned in the previous 10 pages but for me one important thing RPGs don't do anymore is having actual fail states, meaning that you can actually make choices that will end up in you failing. Killing the wrong people, losing important items, missing important dates etc
Devs are way too afraid to make the players feel bad that they did something "wrong".

As an example, in games that you need lockpicks or a key to open an important door there will ALWAYS be something of the sort lying around there to make sure that you don't need to think about it before heading to that location.

Well, older games had ways around "you drop it, game over."

A lot of the old games checked to see if an item was in your inventory before giving the item you needed. If it is not in my inventory, they just gave you another one when you fought the boss or went back to where you got the original (Skull of Mondain, U4; Silver Triangle, Bard's Tale) Not sure I ever appreciated finding myself fucked because I didn't have something that seemed like junk at the time. (Not as critical an example, but getting a Ruby early on in Arcanum. You can sell it for 150 gp or so to help you early in the game, or you can get a stat buff once you leave Broken Hills, worth more than $150. No indication that the ruby is anything more than something to sell, and good luck finding another one.)

But one thing that is missing is "Type the word to advance:" with a parser there for you to type in what is needed. That is, make sure you are paying attention. It used to be:
King: The password is Freedom Fries
Me, sorta paying attention: whatever
(2 hours later)
Guard: State the password:
Me: French Fries?
Guard: Get thee from my sight.
Return to whoever you kinda remember giving me the password. Fumble around for 3 hours.

Right now you hear a password, you get a key, you see anything, it is part of the responses. I liked having to pay attention, but admit that playing a game like PS:T and having to type anything an hour later would be murder with the walls of text.

I guess I wouldn't mind seeing an RPG with some reason to keep a notebook handy. More engaging.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Well, older games had ways around "you drop it, game over."

A lot of the old games checked to see if an item was in your inventory before giving the item you needed. If it is not in my inventory, they just gave you another one when you fought the boss or went back to where you got the original (Skull of Mondain, U4; Silver Triangle, Bard's Tale) Not sure I ever appreciated finding myself fucked because I didn't have something that seemed like junk at the time. (Not as critical an example, but getting a Ruby early on in Arcanum. You can sell it for 150 gp or so to help you early in the game, or you can get a stat buff once you leave Broken Hills, worth more than $150. No indication that the ruby is anything more than something to sell, and good luck finding another one.)

But one thing that is missing is "Type the word to advance:" with a parser there for you to type in what is needed. That is, make sure you are paying attention. It used to be:
King: The password is Freedom Fries
Me, sorta paying attention: whatever
(2 hours later)
Guard: State the password:
Me: French Fries?
Guard: Get thee from my sight.
Return to whoever you kinda remember giving me the password. Fumble around for 3 hours.

Right now you hear a password, you get a key, you see anything, it is part of the responses. I liked having to pay attention, but admit that playing a game like PS:T and having to type anything an hour later would be murder with the walls of text.

I guess I wouldn't mind seeing an RPG with some reason to keep a notebook handy. More engaging.

More engaging, indeed. I like ideas like that.

Although the Ruby example is not all that important. Xulima has similar things, in that you find these unique, expensive items. You can choose to sell them before knowing what they do, and they go for a ton of gold that will really help at the time. OR, if you keep them long enough you will get something nice eventually. I think that is actually a cool idea, since the game kind of gives you the idea that, "Hey, you can sell this thing if you want. It *is* worth a lot of gold...", and you can make that decision if you'd like. If there is some way of knowing that you aren't passing up an absolutely imperative function by doing that (i.e. you sold the item that is needed to beat the game), then it can be an interesting trade-off, IMO.

 

[Old One]

The Skull of Mondain: one of my favorite game items. Somewhere, in a saved game lost to the mists of time, one of my characters is still carrying The Skull.

 

[naossano]

The thing about Serpent in the Staglands was that it was too unique for most people, IMO. It was uncomfortably different, so it has a lot more percieved "flaws". That's part of the reason why a lot of these middle-sized indie RPG devs now straddle the line more between old-school and modern conveniences. When a game goes *too* old-school, or even too "out there" (read: unfamiliar) with their systems (i.e. unique compared to other current RPGs on the market or even old-school ones), it is likely not going to sell as many units at best, at worst it's going to confuse a lot of people and lead to a lot of negative reviews.

Just an observation. Ramble Mode disengaged.

Which reminds me of when many game had a first step in which you had to learn the basics of gameplay first. That meant there was much more variety of games.