Kids Can't Handle Old-School RPGs Anymore

[starhaven]

hehe they should play front mission any of them cept the new one coming out on steam soon i have front mission 4 or 5 i think and even that was hard to get the hang of even though they run you though like 5-10min talks on how to use the upgrade and parts system

 

[rees263]

To be fair I don't think it's really the students' fault. Most games nowadays tell you nothing in the manual, you have to play a tutorial level or whatever to find out what to do.

If I'm not sure how to do something in a game my first stop is always the manual but often this is fruitless! I usually end up going to a message board to ask for the answer instead - much more reliable than modern day manuals.

 

[DayDark]

I don't think it's about intelligence, it's more about expectations. It's pretty clear that these people can't play the game because they haven't read the manual, not because they were too stupid. Were they too stupid to read the manual? Of course not, you aren't gonna do something you've never had to do before.

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 possible 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?

Right. Manuals were the DRM of old times. I remember playing Day of the Tentacules and having to flip though the manual to find the correct recipe to make a battery (une recipe on each page of the manual, the game tells you what page).

Shit that makes so much sense!

 

[Judgement101]

I never play games older than myself.

 

[starhaven]

These kids today with their twitter and their Jersey Shore. They don't appreciate anything
Back in my dad we had to walk up hill. Both ways. In the snow. Underwater. In SPACE for our RPGs. AND WE WERE HAPPY

haha good take on the old guy grumble

 

[thenumberthirteen]

GAmes have evolved since then, and it's like going from a graphical OS to text based. Designers were hampered by technological and space limitations back then, but simply good design has evolved. A game where you have to read a massive manual and have no idea what to do is simply bad design.

I now feel compelled to post thespoonyone's review of Ultima IV
<bliptv=hIVVgfeJdwI%2Em4>

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

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.

High five for the Old Geezer Club (OGC henceforth)!

 

[Andantil]

I'm not very willing to play any rpg older than the original Final Fantasy(1987)

 

[Weaver]

If I was that professor I would fail the lot of them.
I always read my manuals, even the 230 page Civ V manual.

 

[alik44]

aparanty to most younger gamers if your not killing somthing/ blowing up somthiong/ killing by blowing up something its considered boring.

 

[Aerodyamic]

Wow... I feel like a fossil, just remembering the copy-protection embedded in the manuals for games like Pools of Radiance (the original one), the King's/Police/Space Quest series, and Leisure Suit Larry. If you didn't have the manual, you couldn't even play the game, unless you had a crib-sheet written up, and there were always a crapload of clues in the manuals, besides.

Alas, where have my old loves gone?

 

[PettingZOOPONY]

Just release the games again on smart phones and tablets with a easier to use UI with a built in hint system and I bet you most people would love these games even more.

 

[Chevy235]

Wow. Just...wow.

Anybody who spent money to take a class on the the "Art and History of Video Games" who ISN'T planning on a career in the game industry just failed an intelligence test. EPICALLY.

 

[IridRadiant]

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 possible 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?

Nah, you just do what I did with the original Carmen Sandiego (on the C-128) when I lost the encyclopedia that came with it: guess and hope you're right and don't blame yourself if you're not. That also helps you memorize the answers, which is good for an educational game.

Speaking as someone who's currently working his way through the Gold Box RPGs for the third or so time (on Curse of the Azure Bonds at the moment), I guess I can kind of understand...though admittedly, these ones were my childhood.

Still, though, not reading the manual? That's kind of odd, though I guess if they're in pdf format, you might miss them if you don't know they're there. Not to mention games today more often have help functions in the game itself, so I can understand some of their confusion.

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.

Amen, brother. I think I still have a stack of old manuals around here somewhere, for games I haven't played in years. Inspires me to pick them up again, every so often...

Agreed. The original Gold Box game manuals even inspired me to start table-top roleplaying back when I was in middle school. Even the original Legend of Zelda came with a poster map where you had to complete the upper two corners.

 

[Minky_man]

I would say that with games like Quest of the Avatar, it had a rudimentary sense of realism. So you've just come fresh out of knight school and want to save the world through philosophy and enlightenment.

So modern gamers stand there waiting for the 30ft long blue arrow to appear above their heads to show them where to go.

Retro gamers had to explore, write everything random NPCs say down just in case it might come in useful later on and work out WTF the particular game designer wanted them to do with little to no help.

Try playing GTA4, or Fallout New Vegas without map markers or quest markers or anything else we take for granted. I'd bet half the people playing would give up within 2 hours and mark the games down as terrible.

BUT thats not to say Modern games should go back to the limited resources era of games back in the Goldern age, a game like Ultima 4 did well when it was released because it was a simpler time and something entirely new. Release an RPG these days without a main antagonist or shady govenerment control and it wouldn't be taken seriously.

 

[Orry]

Ultima, especially Ultima IV, and Might And Magic were both kind of cool to the gamers of the time (who were also frequently pnp RPG gamers) because half the fun was exploring, and "adventuring" in the truest sense, and gradually figuring out what the exact objective was and how to go about it. Although admittedlt both games gave a good hint hin the title ("Quest Of The Avatar", and "Secret Of The Inner Sanctum")

Might and Magic was/is a great series. If you want to see what older RPGs were like, as well as their evolution over time I suggest buying the Might & Magic 6 pack from GOG here: http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/might_and_magic_6_limited_edition

Unfortunately I don't know where the Ultima games can be legally acquired or I would recommend them.

Just a warning, you will need to read the manuals, and you will need to draw maps for at least the first game, and highly recommended for the second. And as an aside, between Swords of Xeen and VI's release Heroes of Might and Magic 1 and 2 were made, so storyline-wise those two games are in between some of the games in the Might and Magic pack.

Anyhow, more on topic, I'm only 18 and I always read the manuals for games, assuming of course there is a manual, even if it's just a pdf Steam links me to when I click the manual button. It's a shame that people can't enjoy the RPGs of years past when they are very entertaining. Although, when they were released completing a game was meant to be an accomplishment, not a given, as you will see if you complete Might & Magic Book One, when you are presented with a score and a number to call and get a certificate, although with New World Computing out of business I doubt you will get it....

 

[Urgh76]

Manuels?

On every single game I've ever played, I always hit every single button and button combination I can think of before it starts XD

 

[gabe12301]

Wow I'm a kid,i just played one of those and I read instructions first when I buy any game so this is just a stereotype