On RPG Elements

[KDR_11k]

Honestly I hate RPG stats in action games, they mean those who have more skill tend to get more stats upgrades and thus an easier game while those with less skill get fewer points and thus a harder game, exactly the opposite of what these people would want.

 

[AncientYoungSon]

I believe Deus Ex was one of the first shooters to use this technique, but it managed to edge around the "reverse difficulty curve" by having the earlier enemies be quite easy.

But I think the real issue about RPG-elements is that they cover up what I feel is the elephant in the room: when did we, as gamers, start to suck so badly at games that we need an artificial skill enhancement system to make us feel as though we're improving at something when we're actually not? To me, this is like my country's dismal policy of responding to the falling test scores of students by making the tests easier.

Do you remember the days when the mechanics of the game stayed the same and YOU had to get better? I miss those days, because being good at a game felt like an accomplishment. Hell, I remember the first time I beat a number of hard games as a kid and it always put me on cloud nine.

The only recent game I can think of that still did a good job balancing this concept was Mario Galaxy. Mario's skills stayed pretty much the same and you could beat the game without much difficulty, but if you wanted to go ALL the way and get all the stars, you needed to use those same skills to overcome some of the most difficult challenges in the game.

I think RPG-elements are the lazy way out of a good difficulty curve. The most satisfying and enjoyable games were the ones that made you improve in order to beat them. I wish more developers would find this curve, rather than simply starting the game with your character being weak as a kitten and being a god of death by the end.

 

[goggles6]

"...there's a bear behind you. RUN"

What lunacy! Wait!? Snuffles?... Aaaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhhh!...

 

[Ari Ace]

Since many of todays RPG's offer a lot of variety in the games they make "normal" games look very starved for content. Developers then fill this out with the same "content" instead of a interesting, long, twisted, exciting storyline. Not that I would have expected it anyway considering the load of crap the movie industry has been throwing up lately. Can't expect someone in the game industry to write something better then can ya. I can't remember the last time I've been surprised by a game really... same goes for the movies. Meh, whatever.

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

Ok, I'll be nit-picky with your RE4 weapons complaint. It's not quite as much as a dick move as you say. You can stick with a weapon and it won't become obsolete if you upgrade it faithfully anyway, because the end of the line upgrade is overpowered for every weapon anyway (even your first little handgun). You probably won't figure this out the first time around, but you don't play games only once, right?

 

[Angerwing]

I think one of the major problems with internet censorship is this: Someone has to decide what to ban. People aren't super-intelligent, benevolent beings. They are fallible. And so, when they ARE deciding what sites to ban, I'm sure some personal morality is going to come out of the woodwork, giving us an internet ban that bans perfectly legal [pornography] things.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I can understand the kind of worry that is made when you acknowledge that there are people in the goverment bordering on Hitler fanboys.

Also, I think having some meaningful character progression is important... but makes more sense with a realistic system like shops and money, ala the upcoming Assassin's Creed 2.

 

[flatten_the_skyline]

I think one of the major problems with internet censorship is this: Someone has to decide what to ban. People aren't super-intelligent, benevolent beings. They are fallible. And so, when they ARE deciding what sites to ban, I'm sure some personal morality is going to come out of the woodwork, giving us an internet ban that bans perfectly legal [pornography] things.

The Problem is: Politicians are mostly too old(-fashioned) for the internet age. They keep on rambling on how they now use emails and even know what twitter is, though I guess they have been briefed to say that. Prime Example was yet another school shooting in Germany (like everything from the US it becomes a fad a few years later), when all of a sudden everyone wanted to ban Counter-Strike. Sure, it has been the most popular FPS at that time, but it's one of the least brutal ones. Plus, the German edition made it a ridiculous paintball match where blood is yellow and defeated players sit down and shake their head (and I'm not making this up). The bloody version was already banned. To make things worse, the media used footage from Soldier of Fortune (Now that's some pretty nasty shooter, which I think was never allowed over here) to talk about CS. FAIL!

When it comes to child pornography, minister Von Der Leyen (the children and old guy department) has already proven in one of her first statements regarding this matter what a tool she is. Talking about a "child pornography industry", "making millions". Seriously, she has no idea. most kiddie Porn is recorded by sickos that molest their own children or at least children they know, and traded over various channels, including mobiles and postal service, since few people are SO STUPID that they put up a CHILD PORN SITE, or pay for kiddie porn with their credit card over Paypal or something. We had one politician who did some invesigation on this, and they kicked him out for the possession of child porn.

Another thing: Imagine you are a politician, and you find some mystical child porn site where they make millions. What would you do? Think to keep people from visiting it while doing nothing against those who host it does anything?

 

[TheRealCJ]

Thanks for the heads up about the bear, Ben! You just saved me a lot of hospital-related downtime!

 

[WindKnight]

The comment on 'why hasn't batman leveled up over his previous years of crime fighting?' summed up what can make the rpg elements feel silly for me. Take Mass Effect - your character is a seasoned military veteran with years of experience behind them... and their only 'level one'. over the next few days (weeks at the very most) you learn more and gain more than you have over all those years of training and experience.

 

[TheScarecrow]

That's what I think was one of Dead Space's problems, it had an RPG element but would have been better off without it.

Looking forward to the next one already.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

I wouldn't really class them as "rpg" elements, but I can see what he's getting at.

 

[Jenx]

But basically, these games usually make you (or at least try to) insert yourself into the story. Only you do not play the character as "me" but rather as the "fantasy, perfect me", the world of the game more or less revolving around your character... Not only that but the backstory the character tends to make him/her a very special individual, and the rest of the cast really exists only to support the main character, who is always the one making the decisions and getting the story driving, badass action.

Hits pretty close to the usual definitions.

Ok fine. And how is all of this bad again? Would you rather play a brave warrior who was destined to become someone important or some peasant who spends his entire life digging in the dirt and then dies because he didn't wash his teeth? "Mary Sue" or not I'd prefer to play as the warrior guy.

 

[Jhales]

Bioshock had a somewhat annoying RPG upgrading system for the guns. Due to the scarcity of weapon upgrade kiosks, you can't fully upgrade more than two weapons, I believe. Which stinks because all the weapons were good, and it's easy to have three favorites. Of course, there is an achievement for upgrading multiple weapons, which could only be gotten by replaying the game a few times.

 

[theSovietConnection]

That thing with the Australian government really frightens me. The internet, while filled with a lot of crap, Is as I have often said the greatest tool of free speech ever invented. If it is censored or controlled, then we are truly lost. Say I'm dramatic all you want but I can't imagine a worst dystopia. This is only the beginning.

I'd argue that it would be once we're controlled as to what we can and can't say in public, but to each his own.

Good article, brought up some good points, particularly about the reverse difficulty curve.

 

[Cali0602]

"Area man narrowly avoids being mauled by black bear after being warned by Internet Article. Story at 11"

In all seriousness though, I would expect the legislative songs of internet restriction to change as "the old folks retire and die out." Seriously, positions that extreme cannot last for long.

 

[beefpelican]

I find that the RPG elements in games like Prototype and Infamous add a sense of legitimacy to the collection system. If there were a bunch of hidden glowy things scattered about town but no reward for collecting them, they would be as stupid as the hidden flags in assassin's creed. Having hidden experience balloons encourages a player to explore the lovely environment that the designers made, and allowing them to level up their skills after doing so makes it feel like less of an enormous waste of time. Maybe this doesn't really apply in linear shooters like Resident Evil, where there isn't much of an environment to explore, but in sandbox games RPG elements are excusable.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Maybe that's why the best 'J'RPGs are typically the ones with 'W'RPG elements of determining the outcome and stat allocation, like SMT Nocturne.

 

[Rheden_Sol]

I tend to stress about being underleveled in RPG's (mainly the ones with an added "J" to the front...lots of stat-pushin' =/). There should be more..flow, injected into the genre, accomodating to the players entertainment needs through a curve that changes depending on how they play. Companies push out games that seem a bit...
"Here, give us money, eat this"
"Why?"
"All the, er, cool kids are doin' it."
"But..it's, just shit in a bag?"
"We have to feed the mentally disabled in the innovation sector somehow."
Telling us what to like. Or misinterpreting feedback. Like a crappy parent..haha..

 

[NeoShinGundam]

I tend to stress about being underleveled in RPG's (mainly the ones with an added "J" to the front...lots of stat-pushin' =/).

Really? I have the exact opposite problem. Usually by the mid-boss I'm over leveled and have 1,000,000 Gil, but nothing to buy. *shrug*

"Also, there's a BEAR behind you. RUN."

A Polar Bear, in NEW YORK CITY?! Wow, Global Warming is worse than I thought!!