why should I get the 50,000 G to get that Regal Blade if this rusty one will do as much damage?
-Jaemes Weare
Hmmm... why indeed.
As if the repitition and boredom you went through is worth something in exchange. You''re right, we need expensive weaponry to reward players for tolerating badly designed gameplay. In games that don''t require the player to mechanically exterminate monsters, you mgiht find that a rusty old blade is perfectly functional.
Look, once again, to reality for your answer. You buy a regal blade if you are regal. Ego. Frills. Golden hilt. A sign of power. These things are not functional in a weapon, and that''s all that regal blade is.
"You''re right, we need expensive weaponry to reward players for tolerating badly designed gameplay."
Well, I''m not so sure that it has anything to do with badly designed gameplay. The point of rewarding the player is that it gives them a reason to keep playing. For example, take a game like Pacman, take away the points, and leave it at one level. What have you got, then? Run away from the ghosts until you get a big dot (so you can eat them) or die. Lather, rinse, repeat. Without the points or the extra levels, the player HAS no reason to continue. Even the most amazing game will get boring if the player can''t see a point to participating in it. You end up with an "interactive movie" with little interactivity.
On the same point, we''re going to be levelling our characters up at *some* point in the game, right? Take Final Fantasy. You kill enemies, get a given amount of experience and gold. What keeps the player from spending all of his money on items when he doesn''t need weapons? We''re looking at the usual system for gold usage in a single-player RPG: buy weapons to kill faster, then buy armor, and lastly buy items. Eliminate the first two, and all the player has a shop for is buying items. This also removes a lot of the adventuring aspect: There''s no Crystal Sword on the Moon anymore, kiddies (FF4/2US) or Zepyulos Lance in Hell (T.O), because they aren''t necessary. That wood sword you started with is *just* *fine*. I think it''s necessary to have these upgrades - otherwise, the rules of the game are going to become very much like the "repitition and boredom" you mention, Anonymous, because there ARE no new strategies for you to try, no new trinkets to play with. Battles will become mechanically eliminating monsters because the player has nothing new to try. When you offer him a better weapon, s/he will try new things with it, because you''re giving him a reason to bother.
-Jaemes Weare
------------------------------ The designer''s one tenet: Beauty is truth; truth beauty. Hold to your own truths, and the player will see the beauty in your creation. ------------------------------
------------------------------The designer''s one tenet:Beauty is truth; truth beauty.Hold to your own truths, and the player will see the beauty in your creation.------------------------------
Call me crazy, but I never cared about points in most games. But MMORPG is a different breed altogether. It doesn''t appeal to the normal video game instincts, since it has no end. These things could run off of dramatic tension, a need to know what happens next. Like a big fantasy soap opera, only interactive (to a degree). Scores and other empty rewards won''t be needed.
Call me crazy, but I never cared about points in most games. But MMORPG is a different breed altogether. It doesn''t appeal to the normal video game instincts, since it has no end. These things could run off of dramatic tension, a need to know what happens next. Like a big fantasy soap opera, only interactive (to a degree). Scores and other empty rewards won''t be needed.
LOL, Soap Games :-), hahaha i like that hehe. The new genre of "Soap" Games. Wow. I can''t stop laughing. My stomach hurts. Finding... it... hard... to... type..
Not really soap games, paul. But Dramatic Tension, the thing we know soap operas best for, because that''s all they are. But remember, nearly every fantasy novel you''ll ever read is just as full of dramatic tension as a soap opera. Even the good ones! =)
The difference being that Soap Operas are quite... uhm... outlandish ("But Rich! You died! Thrice!" "I came back for you, baby.") and dramatic tension can be pulled off without the cheese.
-Jaemes Weare
------------------------------ The designer''s one tenet: Beauty is truth; truth beauty. Hold to your own truths, and the player will see the beauty in your creation. ------------------------------
------------------------------The designer''s one tenet:Beauty is truth; truth beauty.Hold to your own truths, and the player will see the beauty in your creation.------------------------------
I hope i didn''t offend the anon guy with my previous post, it just caught me off guard :-). I believe there needs to be more tension less weaponary in games these days. I also believe that this is what the market are asking for.
It seems that all games these days must have a theme to they to have a chance of being sucessful. Tension and Drama will probably follow. Some FPS require it.
I also (as stated previously in other threads) think that "Ultimate Weapons" in games are game design flaws. I would to see this thought proven wrong. 8-D
