I suspect I'm not along in that my favoriate type of game is RPGs but I don't really like completing them. I like enjoy creating a building a character. I just kind of hit a brick wall when the character improvement ends. This is kind of the same both for single player and multiplayer.

To create a game that focuses more on my favorite part I've been thinking about a "generations" game. With this game when your character dies, instead of the game ending it continues with the character's offspring or close reletives. In this way there isn't just one creation and building of a character but many. On the other hand it seems all it is really doing is taking the normal begin, build and end phases of an RPG and repeating them.

So I'm wondering what others think about this. Is there a way to focus an RPG more on creation and building as well as extending that part of the game? Or is this something where existing games have already made the most of what is possible?

In Dwarf Fortress you can basically keep on going forever without reaching the ending due to the nature of procedural content. In practice the only viable way of creating broader RPGs is with procedural content, or spending shitloads a lot of money on content-developers.. As for procedural content, existing games have definitely not done the most out of the concept. Terrain heightmaps and vegetation is to some extent generated procedurally during development to ease the burden for world designers, I think Skyrim did this. Other than terrain generation not much has been done on procedural content generation in game development, which is somewhat sad since I am convinced it can be done without making the worlds and its events and content to artificial.

Didn't Phantasy star 3 or 4 have generations of characters? That idea is not new

Edit: Yes, it was Phantasy Star 3: Generations of Doom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasy_Star_III:_Generations_of_Doom

No doubt there, not many ideas are new these days. More interested in what works well. I'll have to take a look at Phantasy Star III some time.

yes it is repeating, to not let a game end you dont need different mechanics(although one can argue this point) but more content and possible also spreading the content out over a longer time.

Nothing wrong with more content but I do wonder if there is something that can be done with mechanics instead as I tend to be a better coder than storyteller :)

I always thought an RPG should take a stab at multiple perspectives. Where a player can finish a playthrough then choose from the characters they've come across in the story and play through from beginning to end from the other player's point of view. This makes the allure of multiple endings more fun by making sure the player doesn't have to endure the entire play through from the same perspective with only a few variables changed.

Otherwise the only aspect that can keep an RPG interesting after the level grinding is complete is creating arcade elements that require skill. I would imaging this would mostly surround the combat in the game and involve the player exploring old arcade design win conditions in combat vs bots/players.

Multiple perspectives is an interesting idea. You do loose the idea of the character being "my" character "I" created but it would provide excellent immersion.

I will say that is one thing I liked about Fallout 3 is the RPG element enhanced the character's skills but player skill still accounted for quite a lot.

There is also the option to shift gears on your game play and character development. Multiple 'stages' that the player can advance through, rather than just sticking within a single narrow line that makes you feel like nothing has really changed from the start of the game beyond the numbers are higher and special effects are a little prettier.

It can also work really well with procedural content generation tie in.

You would start at an 'errand boy' game play. You are low level, given assignments by someone else and play on a fairly short leash. Maybe you are a member of a party, but you're the lowest of the low. As you develop more skills and abilities you can get the chance to make more and more decisions, and eventually you split off into the second stage: "Adventurer/party leader"

You are calling the small time shots. A few people will follow you, you can offer some influence on other groups (ie, telling the towns people to arm themselves and barricade their families in the castle, or convincing them to stand out and fight along side you.), and you can make your choices in what direction you want to take in "life". (ie, you head off to find the dragon to slay, or stay close to town to deal with local thieves and bandits, etc.)

Second stage is about exploring the world, gaining wealth, power, fame, etc. You begin to build contacts, collect assets, and build a history for yourself. Second stage advances into the third stage: Community.

Community stage: Eventually your character puts down roots. They get some bit of land or use of a building to call their own. Maybe they'll choose some kind of industry to generate wealth for them, or just a place to call home. The game will begin to cycle the 'story' around this location, presenting challenges and such to the player to deal with, and opening avenues for them to build more wealth and power in their chosen community.

Noble Stage: Eventually you begin to gain enough wealth and power that you can begin really calling the shots. Your choices and decisions have wide ranging impacts. You pull back from doing everything yourself, and instead are sending others to do the dirty work you started with.

Combine these elements with a generational or 're-roll' persistent world play as you have in Dwarf Fortress, and I think you have something that could be really interesting to play. A lot more to the development due to basically combining RPG, Builder Sim, and possibly Empire Strategy game, but I think it can be made far more engaging than many existing linear RPGs.