In my overflowing abundance of free time, I started pondering about the past RPGs I've played, and what they would become if combat was stripped away. It seems that of all these games, maybe only Planescape: Torment would still hold together without the fighting. Even Fallout and Arcanum, to me, seem to rely heavily on combat as part of the gaming experience -- not to mention games like BG2. While relying on combat is definitely not a bad thing (who doesn't enjoy splattering a super mutant's limbs all over the ground?), it just came to me as a slight shock that RPGs, where the most prominent features should be in its story, interaction and the like, is perhaps the only genre that doesn't contain a significant number of games that don't involve combat. Well, okay, the FPS genre is probably more intent on killing folks, but I think my point was delivered.
More specifically, in all RPGs, most (if not all) of the skills and character attributes seem to correlate to combat prowess. Take the D&D ruleset, for example, isn't charisma the only attribute that has nothing to do with battles? (I realize this is a blatant generalization, as it's perfectly feasible to include dialogue that uses attributes like intelligence, etc. And that for the sorcerer/ess, charisma is most certainly related to combat. Please bear with me here. ) In Fallout, aren't most of the perks related to enhancing combat abilities? I suppose the case could be made for Fallout that there are certainly more non-combat skills than combat skills, but I find that unless you're "trying something special," you would usually rely heavily on at least one combat skill. Again, this is not bashing such a system, but just pointing out how intrinsicly important beating other people up is in CRPGs.
Given the extreme wealth of knowledge that's present on the board, could someone tell me if there were non-combat oriented RPGs? I can think of a few that are made in Asia, where perhaps combat is replaced by a card game/Mahjong, but they are certainly not very well known unless they feature women taking off their clothes. I also considered The Sims, but found it difficult to stuff into the RPG category. While you're certainly playing a role (lets face it, in which game are we not playing a role?), the interaction with the world is, though fun and interesting, very contrived and limited. Also, the character itself doesn't seem to grow and develop -- it's more of the character's possessions. Also, short of making up little stories, there really isn't a plotline in the game.
My second question is: Why on earth is this the case? Is it due to demented human nature (demented 13-30 male target audience nature?) that entertainment must contain big hammers to smash people with? Did we simply classify all the RPGs-with-no-combat to be adventure games? Doesn't it fly in the face of multiple-solutions, interactivity, and immersion that we discuss here for games to be so heavily reliant on one form of interaction alone?
And finally, if you're still reading, I'm curious as to what type of RPGs could be made that feature NO combat in the sense of monster-hunting that's so prevalent in CRPGs today. Spinning off of the upcoming Republic game (which I'm definitely looking forward to, by the way :wink, perhaps politics would be a good topic. Perhaps a run-for-office game with character skills of inflammatory speech, underhanded dealing, foreign knowledge, etc, and an overlaying story-arc of playing an individual who wants to run for office, and eventually succeeding/failing. (Hey look! That's already multiple-ending!) I know that there was actually a game made in Taiwan that is similar to this, but I've never played it and cannot comment much on it.
Or, perhaps, the story of a wannabe musician and his/her path to renown? With attributes of sense-of-rhythm, charisma, taste in outfit, "traits" like perfect pitch, and quests done to build relationship with record companies.
The most poignant point that I've gotten from writing this big long thing is that. . . can it be that combat is used in CRPGs simply because the developers don't know how to fill 40 hours of gameplay?
Much appreciations for your response ahead of time. :D
More specifically, in all RPGs, most (if not all) of the skills and character attributes seem to correlate to combat prowess. Take the D&D ruleset, for example, isn't charisma the only attribute that has nothing to do with battles? (I realize this is a blatant generalization, as it's perfectly feasible to include dialogue that uses attributes like intelligence, etc. And that for the sorcerer/ess, charisma is most certainly related to combat. Please bear with me here. ) In Fallout, aren't most of the perks related to enhancing combat abilities? I suppose the case could be made for Fallout that there are certainly more non-combat skills than combat skills, but I find that unless you're "trying something special," you would usually rely heavily on at least one combat skill. Again, this is not bashing such a system, but just pointing out how intrinsicly important beating other people up is in CRPGs.
Given the extreme wealth of knowledge that's present on the board, could someone tell me if there were non-combat oriented RPGs? I can think of a few that are made in Asia, where perhaps combat is replaced by a card game/Mahjong, but they are certainly not very well known unless they feature women taking off their clothes. I also considered The Sims, but found it difficult to stuff into the RPG category. While you're certainly playing a role (lets face it, in which game are we not playing a role?), the interaction with the world is, though fun and interesting, very contrived and limited. Also, the character itself doesn't seem to grow and develop -- it's more of the character's possessions. Also, short of making up little stories, there really isn't a plotline in the game.
My second question is: Why on earth is this the case? Is it due to demented human nature (demented 13-30 male target audience nature?) that entertainment must contain big hammers to smash people with? Did we simply classify all the RPGs-with-no-combat to be adventure games? Doesn't it fly in the face of multiple-solutions, interactivity, and immersion that we discuss here for games to be so heavily reliant on one form of interaction alone?
And finally, if you're still reading, I'm curious as to what type of RPGs could be made that feature NO combat in the sense of monster-hunting that's so prevalent in CRPGs today. Spinning off of the upcoming Republic game (which I'm definitely looking forward to, by the way :wink, perhaps politics would be a good topic. Perhaps a run-for-office game with character skills of inflammatory speech, underhanded dealing, foreign knowledge, etc, and an overlaying story-arc of playing an individual who wants to run for office, and eventually succeeding/failing. (Hey look! That's already multiple-ending!) I know that there was actually a game made in Taiwan that is similar to this, but I've never played it and cannot comment much on it.
Or, perhaps, the story of a wannabe musician and his/her path to renown? With attributes of sense-of-rhythm, charisma, taste in outfit, "traits" like perfect pitch, and quests done to build relationship with record companies.
The most poignant point that I've gotten from writing this big long thing is that. . . can it be that combat is used in CRPGs simply because the developers don't know how to fill 40 hours of gameplay?
Much appreciations for your response ahead of time. :D