Kids Can't Handle Old-School RPGs Anymore

[mrx19869]

Why would I want to play some outdated old video-game? Technology advances for a reason. In 25 years will I want to play Fallout 3, MW2, GTA4, or anything that comes out this year? I think not. For me it comes down to graphics. I want new, better looking graphics year after.

 

[42forlife]

There is a different mindset when it comes to manuals. Back in the day they held the flavor text that couldn't fit in the games. Now we have close to infinite space so the idea of having to read a document in order to play a game is insane. And with Steam and downloadable games I haven't touched a manual in over a year.

Also I'm 20, and I can't play Fallout. Which is a shame because I really want to be able to enjoy it, but my expectations are different. I don't want to have to work at a game, I want to play and relax. Sure I love a challenge, but the challenge shouldn't be trying to figure out what the developers wanted you to do.

Though not being able to play Megaman is silly, though now it's more like a Flash Game then a full game to me. Something to play while I'm waiting for something to load or while I'm out and about.

 

[blankedboy]

Why would I want to play some outdated old video-game? Technology advances for a reason. In 25 years will I want to play Fallout 3, MW2, GTA4, or anything that comes out this year? I think not. For me it comes down to graphics. I want new, better looking graphics year after.

Tell me this is sarcasm. PLEASE!

Ontopic, that game actually looks pretty interesting... I love games that require out-of-game thinking, like an awesome free Steam game I forgot the name of where you're given a bunch of control points, etc, and you have to draw out a map, scan it, and use it to your advantage.

 

[lacktheknack]

Am I the only person who ever reads the manual? I love reading the fluff that comes with videogames, and when it comes to CRPG's, you often NEED to read the manual.

Stupid children.


EDIT: Then again, it might be because I'm so damned old. 29 isn't exactly a spring chicken anymore.

I'm only eighteen, and I read the manual. Heck, I got Roller Coaster Tycoon when I was ten, and I read the whole 90 page manual before even installing it.

 

[BlueCrossBlueShield]

Honestly, I don't think that kids not reading the manual is an excuse for the game being hard to get into. If you can't explain yourself in-game, then how well can you possibly explain the rules in the manual? And if you simply feel like not explaining how to play inside of the game, you are being lazy.

Having a manual is fine, requiring a manual is bullshit. What if you lost it? The game would have been nigh unplayable at the time, right?

Our opinions are diametrically opposed, then.

 

[Lightslei]

Am I the only person who ever reads the manual? I love reading the fluff that comes with videogames, and when it comes to CRPG's, you often NEED to read the manual.

Stupid children.


EDIT: Then again, it might be because I'm so damned old. 29 isn't exactly a spring chicken anymore.

Nada, I'm 20 and I read the manual, hell for some games I memorize parts of the manual (specifically fighting games).

This seems disappointing that these students weren't even able to challenge themselves.

 

[milkkart]

why are so many people in this thread confusing manual with walkthrough?

 

[quack35]

I can't really blame them. That game looks boring.

 

[xscoot]

The point of a role-playing game is for it to be an entirely intellectual exercise with the outcome based on the numbers and what you decide to try and make happen. When you put "gameplay" into the equasion reflexs and such destroy the entire point.

Storyline, dialogue, etc... have nothing to do with something being an RPG. After all the very first RPGs simply involved two units beating the crud out of each other with dice and numbers emulating the action while nerds guffawed at the idea that they had reduced combat to mathematics to their satisfaction.

So you want a ROLE PLAYING GAME to have no actual "gameplay", or "role-playing".

You just want a timesink filled with stats and math, without any skill or player choice necessary. Those are called MMOs.

 

[Bullfrog1983]

Ridiculous that they wouldn't read the manuals, considering that's the first thing I do in any game. Ultima 4 doesn't have fantastic 3D ultra-realistic graphics so i'm sure they wouldn't enjoy it when they usually play Call of Duty or whatever the newest FPS is.

 

[PlasticTree]

Damn, I want to follow that course.

 

[Robyrt]

Learning how to play a game is more like driving a car than taking a math test, and as such it is properly communicated by a tutorial lesson, not several paragraphs of text.

Not to mention that Ultima IV is not the most approachable game even if you did read the manual. The controls are awful, the graphics have not aged well, and completion requires heavy use of taking notes, solving riddles, and playing find-the-pixel.

 

[spartan231490]

I love reading the books and stuff, but i usually play the game first. Don't think i would like ultima, but i know that after 10-15 minutes of confusion, i would go read the damn manual, if it was for a class, or stop playing, if it wasnt.

 

[RyuRanXXIII]

How I miss the old-school RPGs!

So many years having my party wiped out by the floor in Ultima III, doing good deeds and learning about the Virtues in Ultima IV, running from the Shadowlords and being tortured by Blackthorn in Ultima V, killing gargoyles and cleansing the shrines in Ultima VI, listening about the Triad of Inner Strengh all the time in Ultima VII, getting killed by Mordea in Ultima VIII, getting stucked in a bugged dungeon in Ultima IX. Not to mention the Ultima Underworld and World of Ultima subseries! Ahh the good old times!

By the way, I recommend checking out Spoony's Ultima Retrospective here: http://spoonyexperiment.com/2010/09/19/ultima-5-warriors-of-destiny/

 

[Slangeveld]

I'm 19 years old. Officially not a child any-more even though I refuse to accept it. And no, I would get bored with that game I guess. Though I did (Proudly) learn how to play "Dominions 3" without a guide.

I played FF6 and kind of enjoyed it. I played Dwarven Fortress and it was kinda nice for a little bit of my time.

I'm a rather impatient person with my games I guess.

 

[Aurgelmir]

Well, those games wasn't easy to grasp or easy to play back then either... It's just now we have games which are fun on a completely different level.

 

[De Ronneman]

So, quickly skimming the topic I find myself detecting this: Kids these days don't read manuals.

This is not entirely their fault. Look at Super Mario Galaxy 2: A DVD, a chart with controls explained AND a regular tutorial!

In general games have a pretty good tutorial, so reading becomes redundant. Can't blame them for it, since I don't learn the same trick twice either.

With my respectable 20 years of experience in living, I have played some games that killed me over and over, even when reading the manual, didn't have a tutorial or any clue as to what to do, and I've played SMG2, that gently took my hand, pulled me from the dirty floor, and enlightened me with the knowledge of everything I allready knew since I played SMG1.

I was too young for the ultima series, so I don't know whether they were especially hard, but I do think that times have changed.

I just found out why:

Back in the day of cardridges and 1 GB being a lot of memory, a fancy tutorial took up memoryspace. If, however, we printed it and put it in a box, there was more room for actual content. Nowadays, where you can easily download your games through Steam, memory is no longer a problem, thus a lengthy tutorial can be included on top of the content.

Think about it. It sorta makes sense...

 

[Klepa]

I don't think this is anything special, or worth mentioning.

It's like handing an old TV to a kid. He'd complain about the remote not working, until you tell him that it needs to be connected to the TV with a cord, ie. it's not wireless. Why on earth would he assume that there needs to be a wire, when he's never had to use one before?

Don't get me wrong, I used to love reading manuals. NES and SNES games had awesome manuals, I read the shit out of them. But nowadays they're full of ads for other games, and legal babble. If you buy a digital copy, you won't even get a manual.

 

[Xaryn Mar]

Why would I want to play some outdated old video-game?

Because you can?
That is the only true reason for playing any game. That and to have fun, which you easily can with an old game. I play rpg's from around that time still and have a very good time with it.