Anything can be amazing if it''s done right. People will buy anything if it''s amazing (''cept amazingly bad! )
And since when did it become a requirement that an RPG MUST be about saving/changing the world?! I''d like to see a game about changing the life of ONE PERSON. Why? Because it''d have to have a f*cking great AI. I thought Square was ALMOST on to something when I heard FFVIII was to be a love story, then they made a bollucks of it. Sheesh.
Save the world plots are for overcompensators. Frankly, I''ll play anything if it''s done well.
===== Are you aware that the people who bring you television actually refer to it openly as "programming?"
=====Are you aware that the people who bring you television actually refer to it openly as "programming?"
Yeah, I seem to recall it was part of Joe Campbell''s theory on mythic structure. Right between re-entering the threshold and killing your dad, the hero must change the world.
I think he also mentioned that if you set the story in the future, all characters are required to wear some kind of uncomfortable non-functional body armor and strange combination headset/monocular things on the side of their head, except for the women, who must be naked.
Howzabout reinventing the wheel on this one? Rather than take the whole symbolic structure of ancient myths and transferring them to a neo-medieval type setting ala FF''s last couple titles, (I mean c''mon, why did Cloud''s sword do as much or more damage as Barrets cannon? Ever hear of bringing a knife to a gun fight?) why not work on developing new content for this (relatively) new medium? FFVIII''s gunblade was a little better, but even that came across as an apology for blades in such an out-of-place setting. The archetypes will always be the same of course, but how about myths that carry meaning into this millenium? I would like to see games delving into the implications of genetics and Artificial Intelligence, to be to classic themes what science fiction is to literature. Wintermute will forever be a part of our cultural heritage, so why not the next video game hero? Why not an anti-hero? (Yes, yes, I know. SHA-DOW RUN. Ok, but even that was a leech off of Will Gibson, word for word) We are at the threshold of main stream acceptance, and we are not ready for it. We are too ghettoized to realize what an opportunity that is. We are stuck on the latest 3D algorithms and Artificial Intelligences. How about REAL intelligences? These technical breakthroughs WILL slow, then halt, (though maybe not in our lifetimes) just look at the demise of the GreaseMonkey in the 1950''s. Yes, there were once professional drivers, before the interface became user-friendly enough for Grandma to get behind the wheel. How breathtakingly real do our artificial environs have to be before we allow development tools to be standardized and affordable enought for _real_ people to develop games? As of now, game programming lies in the domain of those rare individuals whose right and left brains are both at a high level of development, and find the pursuit of digital entertainment more fulfilling than the scads of money to be had in other fields. How about the technology of the printing press? In the beginning, that, too belonged to a specialized elite. How many of you posting to this forum are typesetters? Computer gaming will cease to be for the geek, of the geek, and by the geek. That much is inevitable. The question is-will we still be relevant?
Every since I first played Elite, I have been thinking of a game, set in the future, that allowed the player to "get out" of the ship and interact with the cities. I think the world is ready for a RPG set in the future. Anyone play SpaceQuest? The game was very interesting and has some nice puzzles, not to mention the humor. I''m waiting for something that encompasses all of these features
Dave "Dak Lozar" Loeser
Dave Dak Lozar Loeser
"Software Engineering is a race between the programmers, trying to make bigger and better fool-proof software, and the universe trying to make bigger fools. So far the Universe in winning."--anonymous
Do you know many RPGs that happen.. not in the past.. not in the future.. but in the present ?!
Not a single one that I can come up with, Ysaneya. Excluding Reality that is . Possibly Vampire-The Masquerade ( I only know the PnP version, not the Computer one, it could be medieval ).
I think basing a CRPG on the present might give you some interesting challenges indeed.
Give me one more medicated peaceful moment. ~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~ ERROR: Your beta-version of Life1.0 has expired. Please upgrade to the full version. All important social functions will be disabled from now on.
It's only funny 'till someone gets hurt.And then it's just hilarious.Unless it's you.
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