WildSeraph said:
Dungeon Fighter Online, an MMORPG,.
Two things: firstly, if you're going to make a thread about ~all~ RPGs, you ought to be a bit more specific than one obscure MMO and, "everything else." In any sort of argument, really, speceficity is a necessity.
WildSeraph said:
and we were on the subject of Skill builds. Now, I'm not an expert at this game, and I simply asked what skills were good to get for one of the game's classes. I was directed to a "Skill build simulator", that crunches exact numbers for every level of every skill in the game! Using this, I discovered that my build was "terrible", yet I've been getting by pretty well with it.
Apparently, you're NOT supposed to base your stats and skills on what you use often and what you don't!
I don't think I've ever seen a game where any one build will cripple you. The point of games is to have fun... with an RPG, or RTS or shooter... there will always be some tactics, equipment or way of customization that will yield superior results than another. Playing games, regardless of genres, is typically about discovering these things on your own. From what you've said, you were having a fine time with this game, but suddenly decided you were having an awful time because someone--no, worse, something--indicated that you were doing it "wrong."
I think the root of this problem has nothing to do with games, but rather with your own disposition and susceptibility to suggestion.
WildSeraph said:
No, every single aspect of customization this game comes down to whether the simulator likes it or not.
This is true of every game, regardless of genre, like I stated earlier. Who will win, a Zergling or a Protoss? It depends on which unit is favored by the program. These is where numerical statistics, ratings, and other mathy-ideas come into play. What you're saying here, essentially, is that you have a problem with the number 2 being greater than the number 1.
WildSeraph said:
This got me thinking about other RPGs I've played. In every single one of them, somebody's complained that I was doing things completely wrong.
That's not possible. The only goal of any RPG is to move forward. The only way not to move forward is not to play the game at all. Or to simply fail at understanding the very simple concepts at play--like using ice magic on ice-demons, repeatedly healing them, etc., etc. As long as you're progressing, you cannot be doing anything "wrong."
You want an example of how to play a game wrong?
Stick the controller in your mouth and chew on the buttons. That's doing it wrong.
WildSeraph said:
I've been forced by others to start over, no matter how well I play, even if it's a single-player game!
No one can force you to do anything. If we could, I'd force you to grow a damned backbone. This is a problem with YOU, not a game, not a genre of games, and not "games" plural.
WildSeraph said:
How can so many people (every RPG fan I've ever met) care so much about what a computer or walkthrough says?
It's not what the "computer" is telling them, or a walkthrough. It's about objective stats. You know, that basic-comprehension thing I've been going on about. A sword that does 10-12 damage will ALWAYS be superior to a sword that does 4-6 damage. This isn't subjective. This is not open to opinion or debate. This is FACT.
WildSeraph said:
Why does everybody else get all of this Skill and Stat and Equipment stuff, yet I always "ruin" my characters completely?
I'm not going to insult your intelligence by assuming you're too stupid to play the game: rather, I'll say that odds are the only thing "ruining" your characters is YOUR decision that they're ruined. In all liklihood, it's probably a GROSS overreation.
WildSeraph said:
And most importantly: How many RPGs have REAL customization? Do RPGs really have billions of customization options? Or do they have three or four "options", and a billion fuckups?
Most RPGs. That's kind of a hallmark of the genre. Levelling up, equiping items, using stat points, learning abilities, etc., etc. Generally speaking, in almost every RPG the differences in how a character is customized become less and less important as time moves on. The consequences for foolish choices are generally pretty minor. As with most things in games, the idea here is for you to learn what works and doesn't work when you customize your character, and then to change your actions in the game accordingly.
The game wants you to think. By outsourcing that thought to, I assume, online message boards, you're omitting that crucial step.
WildSeraph said:
This has turned me off from the entire RPG genre. And, in case you haven't noticed, a LOT of games these days have Stats and Skills and all that jazz. I don't want to go the rest of my life unable to enjoy these games. So please, Escapist. Convince me that I'm horribly, horribly wrong.
You have two paths to take here.
Path 1:
1. Don't understand something.
2. Get Angry.
3. Give Up.
That's the path you seem to be on now, with a 4th option--whine online.
Then there's Path 2...
Path 2:
1. Don't understand something
2. Think about it.
3. Either come to an understanding, or discuss what you don't understand with someone else.
4. Achieve comprehension.
5. Play the game, have some fun, learn some crap.
WildSeraph said:
EDIT: It's not just people I play with that are unimpressed with me. I've found "Easy" games seriously hard, and I'm positive some of it is actually because of my decisions. Maybe I just think differently from everyone else, but a stat build in a game that I thought was pretty solid has, more than once, made it a LOT harder. It can't be ALL others' fault. I'm seriously bad when it comes to RPG elements, even in simple games like Pokemon.
As vague as your post is, I don't think the problem is how you think, but rather that you seem violently opposed to thinking in general.
If you don't like thinking, don't play RPGs. And avoid the RTS genre, too. And puzzle games. Any sort of games with multiple endings, any sort of game where you're ever given a choice. I guess that really only leaves super-linear first-person shooters and platforming games. Good luck with those.