BioWare Co-Founder: RPGs Are Becoming "Less Relevant"
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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this is what he meant guys, not "RPGs are dead" but "the title of RPG is dead".Kingsnake661 said:
look at the bulk of games today, they all have RPG elements.
from leveling up, to gear, talents , and even classes.
good lord, how are people to blind to this?
it not that they've died, its that they've infected everything.
Yeah, Bioware didn't make a RPG since DA:O. Mass Effect is a Shooter with a story and DA II is a Hack'n'Slash.
As far as I remember people bought DA:O like crazy and people loved it. They built a massive Fanbase, add shitty DLC like rain in London and then came DA II and they fucked up 50% of their core fans.
Thanks for treating the people that paid your fucking salary the last decade like we are garbage.
But thats what EA does all the time, so we should get used to it, remember Origin with the permanent online DRM.
Bye Bye EA and Bioware. Hope you all loose your jobs and have to live on the streets for showing the middlefinger to your fans.
As far as I remember people bought DA:O like crazy and people loved it. They built a massive Fanbase, add shitty DLC like rain in London and then came DA II and they fucked up 50% of their core fans.
Thanks for treating the people that paid your fucking salary the last decade like we are garbage.
But thats what EA does all the time, so we should get used to it, remember Origin with the permanent online DRM.
Bye Bye EA and Bioware. Hope you all loose your jobs and have to live on the streets for showing the middlefinger to your fans.
Cue RPG fans calling Bioware and shooters Satan.
You see, the thing is, he's [bold]wrong[/bold]. Well, maybe old style RPGs are, but like everything, they're changing. Name the most commercially successful game of the past decade? (Hint: It's MW2.) MW2's main attraction is it's PVP, which involves leveling up through gaining xp by defeating enemies, completing certain challenges and developing specialised load outs by experimenting with different gear. I think you know what I'm getting at.
You see, the thing is, he's [bold]wrong[/bold]. Well, maybe old style RPGs are, but like everything, they're changing. Name the most commercially successful game of the past decade? (Hint: It's MW2.) MW2's main attraction is it's PVP, which involves leveling up through gaining xp by defeating enemies, completing certain challenges and developing specialised load outs by experimenting with different gear. I think you know what I'm getting at.
You would think the fact that they built an entire company on RPGs and people continue to clammor for JRPGs and RPGS alike would make him not think that.
I suppose in all honesty, I really just don't want the same exerience from every game when we reach the refinement of our artform, that would be a sad fate indeed.
I suppose in all honesty, I really just don't want the same exerience from every game when we reach the refinement of our artform, that would be a sad fate indeed.
Forgive my bluntness but...what the hell is wrong with you? You want thousands, if not tens of thousands of people and their families to have their lives destroyed simply because Bioware is taking a different approach from what they did a decade ago? Stop being a selfish ass.balberoy said:
Also, people SERIOUSLY need to read the article a little more thoroughly. Not once does he say that RPG's as a genre are less relevant. What he is saying is that old-style conventions of RPG's like insane stats-building and whatnot are less important than crafting a great story.
Also...is nobody paying attention to how Mass Effect 3 is almost drowning in RPG elements relative to Mass Effect 2? People complained there weren't enough stats, Bioware brought them back. People complained that the choices don't have enough consequences, so Bioware is going all-out in the finale. People complained that the combat needed improvement, so Bioware improved the combat. And people are yelling at them for doing EXACTLY what they asked for in the first place!
I think I might be misinterpreting the statement.
If you mean this in the way that most RPGs are usually leaped over and people tend to focus on FPS or something, then yes. Sadly, some people who consider themselves "gamers" are usually those "dudes who like CoD and Madden cause they're HXC!" Nothing against the games; I, myself, enjoy playing CoD every now and then even though I suck at it. But a lot of people who get into video games do so because of genres such as FPS. So when they try to broaden their horizons and try an RPG such as, let's say, DA:O where you have to really think about your next move and customization and all that, they get scared and dump the game only to go back to their FPSs.
But I probably got this wrong...
If you mean pureblood (lol) RPGs are getting old and boring and new, and outside elements should be added in order to keep them fresh and interesting, then yeah, sure. I'm all up that. I would still like to have some pure RPGs out there just in case, like DA:O. Although...I'm not even sure if there is such thing as an RPG that doesn't grab a little from other genres. Hmm. Anyway, old RPGs still appeal to some people so don't forget that.
An example that comes to mind of a good mixed RPG is the KH saga. You have RPG elements, such as leveling up, customization, free roaming, magic, party members and so on. But you also got a lot of other genres mixed together, such as adventure and even a little bit of rhythm and driving, if you think about it.
So yeah, by all means, go ahead and mix it up. But please, make sure you do it right and fully. Brink tried to implement the whole customization element and god, it failed miserably. You could only choose 6 different pre-set body types and like 10 or 20 different pieces of clothing. Despite my best attempts, I could never come up with a character I was contempt with. I know, I know, "But it's a shooting game! You're not there to create a DA:O-like character!!1!1!" Yes, but since we have that customization element in there, I feel like I should. So if it doesn't work, either fix it or scrape it off. Don't give us a half assed game with bits of other genres.
If you mean this in the way that most RPGs are usually leaped over and people tend to focus on FPS or something, then yes. Sadly, some people who consider themselves "gamers" are usually those "dudes who like CoD and Madden cause they're HXC!" Nothing against the games; I, myself, enjoy playing CoD every now and then even though I suck at it. But a lot of people who get into video games do so because of genres such as FPS. So when they try to broaden their horizons and try an RPG such as, let's say, DA:O where you have to really think about your next move and customization and all that, they get scared and dump the game only to go back to their FPSs.
But I probably got this wrong...
If you mean pureblood (lol) RPGs are getting old and boring and new, and outside elements should be added in order to keep them fresh and interesting, then yeah, sure. I'm all up that. I would still like to have some pure RPGs out there just in case, like DA:O. Although...I'm not even sure if there is such thing as an RPG that doesn't grab a little from other genres. Hmm. Anyway, old RPGs still appeal to some people so don't forget that.
An example that comes to mind of a good mixed RPG is the KH saga. You have RPG elements, such as leveling up, customization, free roaming, magic, party members and so on. But you also got a lot of other genres mixed together, such as adventure and even a little bit of rhythm and driving, if you think about it.
So yeah, by all means, go ahead and mix it up. But please, make sure you do it right and fully. Brink tried to implement the whole customization element and god, it failed miserably. You could only choose 6 different pre-set body types and like 10 or 20 different pieces of clothing. Despite my best attempts, I could never come up with a character I was contempt with. I know, I know, "But it's a shooting game! You're not there to create a DA:O-like character!!1!1!" Yes, but since we have that customization element in there, I feel like I should. So if it doesn't work, either fix it or scrape it off. Don't give us a half assed game with bits of other genres.
rembrandtqeinstein said:
Exactly. And I think this is what he meant to say, he just chose his words poorly. I mean when you get down to it not even most "RPG"s contain all of the elements you listed - I mean everyone considers Square-Enix to be a major RPG dev but their games don't have a lot in the way of the player what order they play content in, or have choices that affect the outcome of the game.
I mean when you sit down and really think about it, the term RPG is becoming more and more meaningless as video games evolve - meanwhile you have a ton of people who refuse to let go of extremely narrow definitions of what makes a game an "RPG". So I don't think what he said is wrong, but the way he worded it is just going to piss off those people can't seem to let go of those increasingly irrelevant definitions.