Western RPGs have fallen, again

[Nifft Batuff]

Not only related to RPGs...

 

[RaggleFraggle]

The triple A market will crash, certainly, but indies will chug along just fine I guess.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Fable - nobody gives a shit

Hey I give a shit, it could be good...lol

It's been over for several years now. Games/RPGs are a medium for injecting the worst pozzed demoralization propaganda straight into the unsuspecting and hapless gamer-consoomer soul.

There are a few exceptions (Jupiter Hell, Heads Will Roll, etc.) and there are the old games, but otherwise yeah, it's over.

Risking sounding like a politician, yes and no. Cool games are still being made and the trash has been safe to ignore for forever by now.

What intelligent person actually plays jrpgs??

Come on man, some of them are good times. And on that note there are still a shitload of good, fun games being made, just not RPGs (a lot that is).

 

[toro]

The triple A market will crash, certainly, but indies will chug along just fine I guess.

Bingo

 

[Nifft Batuff]

The triple A market will crash, certainly, but indies will chug along just fine I guess.

What about the indieapocalypse?

 

[Tyranicon]

The triple A market will crash, certainly, but indies will chug along just fine I guess.

What about the indieapocalypse?

The previous indiepocalypse was a myth: established indies were just upset they had to compete with the unwashed masses once steam's floodgates opened.

The current "industry crisis also affects indies" is the same deal: indies with money upset that they can't suck investor dick anymore because their trash doesn't make money.

 

[StaticSpine]

AAA development is unviable, that's for sure.

But I think games like BG3 or stuff that Owlcat does are the pillars for the genre now, not what you mentioned in the first post. And they sell well. So I think the genre is in a pretty good place right now compared to the post-2000 - pre-KS-renaissance.
Just for the record - I'm not a fan of both, but I still got some great stuff like Wasteland 3 or Colony Ship in recent years.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

AAA development is unviable, that's for sure.

But I think games like BG3 or stuff that Owlcat does are the pillars for the genre now, not what you mentioned in the first post. And they sell well. So I think the genre is in a pretty good place right now compared to the post-2000 - pre-KS-renaissance.
Just for the record - I'm not a fan of both, but I still got some great stuff like Wasteland 3 or Colony Ship in recent years.

I am more pessimistic now, than during the KS era.

During the KS era old game genres (in particular RPGs, but not only), which disappeared in the decade pre-KS, were brought back with many people interested in them and a general attention on them. It was refreshing, but it seems that that cycle ended.

Now the situation is not clear. The market saturated and changed, so that for many developers is less interesting to make classic RPGs as it was before. For example Obsidian seems not to be interested in RPGs anymore. Ditto for inXile. It's not clear what the future projects for Larian and Owlcat are, but I suspect they won't be what RPG fans would like. Iron Tower self-hibernated due to financial issues, etc.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Now the situation is not clear. The market saturated and changed, so that for many developers is less interesting to make classic RPGs as it was before. For example Obsidian seems not to be interested in RPGs anymore. Ditto for inXile. It's not clear what the future projects for Larian and Owlcat are, but I suspect they won't be what RPG fans would like. Iron Tower self-hibernated due to financial issues, etc.

Obsidian learned that their fpp action rpg (Outer Worlds) sold 10 times better than the classical isometric rpg (Deadfire) so they decided to go along this path with Avowed.

Larian however struck gold with Baldur's Gate 3 and previously enjoyed much success with Original Sin 1&2. So why exactly do you think they'd change a winning formula?

Owlcat also doesn't seem to ne changing course after 3 isometric rpgs (the last one being particularly successful, sold over million copies since release).

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Larian however struck gold with Baldur's Gate 3 and previously enjoyed much success with Original Sin 1&2. So why exactly do you think they'd change a winning formula?

Owlcat also doesn't seem to ne changing course after 3 isometric rpgs (the last one being particularly successful, sold over million copies since release).

Because it's a general trend that I have seen many times. Usually expansion follows success and when they expand, they need to find a bigger market than the previous one to persist. A bigger market usually means that they need to change the product to appeal a broader audience. The best scenario is that they don't expand too much or that they just diversify the products, so that a core can be directed toward the old market too (if it still exists/is viable).

So far the demand was enough to sustain both Larian and Owlcat by making classic RPGs. But they expanded a lot in the last years, and I am not sure if the market is still receptive as before, since the era of the dearth of classic RPGs is long gone. But as I said it is just a feeling. So far there is nothing substantial. But I am not optimistic.

 

[StaticSpine]

From what I've heard Owlcat indeed has one "AAA" ARPG or something on Unreal engine in the works, but don't quote me on that. But they have several projects being made. Also, the became a publisher, and their first two games are isometric CRPG, well, the second one is more like Disco Elysium-style game.

I think companies and investment funds that are not megacorporation-sized are more cautious about niches and audiences. AFAIK Owlcat was backed by GEM capital, and these dudes know what they are doing.

 

[Bastardchops]

The triple A market will crash, certainly, but indies will chug along just fine I guess.

They certainly deserve it.

 

[Sergio]

Now the situation is not clear. The market saturated and changed, so that for many developers is less interesting to make classic RPGs as it was before. For example Obsidian seems not to be interested in RPGs anymore. Ditto for inXile. It's not clear what the future projects for Larian and Owlcat are, but I suspect they won't be what RPG fans would like. Iron Tower self-hibernated due to financial issues, etc.

Obsidian learned that their fpp action rpg (Outer Worlds) sold 10 times better than the classical isometric rpg (Deadfire) so they decided to go along this path with Avowed.

Larian however struck gold with Baldur's Gate 3 and previously enjoyed much success with Original Sin 1&2. So why exactly do you think they'd change a winning formula?

Owlcat also doesn't seem to ne changing course after 3 isometric rpgs (the last one being particularly successful, sold over million copies since release).

And no one in Obsidian ever thought "gee maybe Deadfire sold less because it wasn't that great and maybe Sawyer should've been kept on a leash instead of treating it like his own personal playground"?

 

[Lord_Potato]

Now the situation is not clear. The market saturated and changed, so that for many developers is less interesting to make classic RPGs as it was before. For example Obsidian seems not to be interested in RPGs anymore. Ditto for inXile. It's not clear what the future projects for Larian and Owlcat are, but I suspect they won't be what RPG fans would like. Iron Tower self-hibernated due to financial issues, etc.

Obsidian learned that their fpp action rpg (Outer Worlds) sold 10 times better than the classical isometric rpg (Deadfire) so they decided to go along this path with Avowed.

Larian however struck gold with Baldur's Gate 3 and previously enjoyed much success with Original Sin 1&2. So why exactly do you think they'd change a winning formula?

Owlcat also doesn't seem to ne changing course after 3 isometric rpgs (the last one being particularly successful, sold over million copies since release).

And no one in Obsidian ever thought "gee maybe Deadfire sold less because it wasn't that great and maybe Sawyer should've been kept on a leash instead of treating it like his own personal playground"?

Even if they considered such a possibility it's Microsoft now that's calling the shots. Larian is stil its own master and can decide on what games they make.

 

[Yosharian]

Actually current day Obsidian might be more suited to making first person action-adventure games with light RPG mechanics, than the isometric stuff from the past

Granted TOW was a pile of shit, but there's reason to believe they might be able to find a more successful niche making games like Avowed if they reign in the crazy a bit

 

[Inec0rn]

I've played most RPG's, and yeah Deadfire is on a very short list of games i just find way too boring to play. Funny how pretentiously up their ass Obsidian is about its RPG writing, for the game to be ultimately so boring i can't get past 20h or so.

Casual FPP action game is a much better fit for success.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

The market is oversaturated? Well, duh. There’s hundreds, maybe thousands of interchangeable rpgs where you play the chosen one fighting the evil overlord in a medieval setting. If you played any of the D&D licensed games from the 90s or 2000s, then you’ve played them all.

The genre stagnated because devs refused to do anything else. They have only themselves to blame.

 

[babayaga]

he's not wrong. wake me up when he start making threads "oh my god guys, they made another good game!"

People here would rather complain about bad games than play good games. KCD2 drama thread already doubled the SKALD thread in terms of numbers.

We replaced gaming with

How much time do you guys even have to play? I have like 2-3 hours max to play in a day because I have responsibilities and other hobbies. I don't want to waste those few hours playing some goyslop trash that leaves bitter aftertaste.

I NEED forums like these to tell me what is woke and what isn't. I don't want to waste my money on literal tranny propaganda that came from Tumblr.
I don't mind people having fun and shitposting about it.

I unfortunately made a mistake once by buying a second game of a title I previously enjoyed and by the time I realized it was some woke garbage I couldn't refund it anymore.
I felt deceived and lied to.
I looked around before buying obviously but there was no info on the wokeness. It looked harmless and the ratings everywhere were good.
Never again.