Poll: Would you pay for an RPG Maker game?

[sethisjimmy]

I don't know. I haven't seen any RPGMaker games that I thought were worth paying for yet. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the barrier for entry is so low, in turn a lot of games tend to be pretty weak in terms of story or gameplay mechanics.

I have no problem with top-down 2D gameplay or rpgs. I love a ton of SNES games and Roguelikes in that format, but I find RPGMaker games tend to be of lower quality than those unfortunately. Not that there can't be exceptions, it's just that I'd have to think about it before paying money for something like that.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

if it's REAAAAAALLY good and sells at a reasonable price then I don't see why not.

 

[ItsNotRudy]

I don't know. I haven't seen any RPGMaker games that I thought were worth paying for yet. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the barrier for entry is so low, in turn a lot of games tend to be pretty weak in terms of story or gameplay mechanics.

I have no problem with top-down 2D gameplay or rpgs. I love a ton of SNES games and Roguelikes in that format, but I find RPGMaker games tend to be of lower quality than those unfortunately. Not that there can't be exceptions, it's just that I'd have to think about it before paying money for something like that.

There's quite a few good RPG Maker games. The Witch's House and Yume Nikki for example. They're free, but I'd say they're indie titles that would definitely be worth a few dollars.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Havent bought one yet and apart from to the moon which I may pick up at some point I cant see myself paying for any others. That said a good game is a good game and if it appeals to me I will pay for it regardless of what engine was used to make it.

Buy it now, You will not regret it. Be sure to play it through it in the same session, about 4 hours preferably.

As you can probably guess, I already have, namely To The Mon, and it was worth it. Very much worth it.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Yume Nikki

Actually now that you mention it, I had forgotten about Yume Nikki. Very interesting game. I suppose I might be willing to pay for something like that. Though I do think it's pretty much the height of RPG Maker horror.

 

[TJC]

Germany actually had (still has?) an avid RPG maker community and it created some of all-time favourite games (beating even a couple real J-RPGs) namely Vampires Dawn 1 & 2 (which was WAY before the whole twilight craze) for being nifty, incredibly hard RPGs with a great moral choice aspect. Since you're a vampire, you can't just replenish your MP by sleeping at an inn (which doesn't even heal that much aside HP because, you know, coffin and shit) but by sucking blood. Of course, you could suck the blood of monsters during battle oooooor... you could drain each and any NPC for blood down to the last drop if you choose to do so, even turning them into vampires as party support and slaves. It had really nifty ideas beyond the usual round-based slapping across the head which turned them into great li'l adventures (that took 30 hours to complete and had 5 unique endings based on your choices... thankfully the developer was smart enough to put in a new game + mode)

The other game was Unterwegs in Düsterburg (roughly: on the road through Dark Borough) which wasn't that epic in scale but had incredibly inventive bossfights, a suprising amount of side quests and a really tight narrative that was heart-warming and exciting at once despite being clichee-ridden.

For games of these calibre I'd be willing to pay. But they are far and few between

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Seeing as how To The Moon is fantastic, I would totally get another RPG Maker game if it interested me and was of that quality. Would I buy an old-school style RPG made in RPG Maker? Probably not, but that has as much to do with my huge backlog of big RPGs at the moment as anything else.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I bought RPG Maker VX Ace when it was on sale on Steam for half off, and I've dabbled with it a bit. It's quite fun to mess with.

As for buying a game made with one of the RPG Maker engines, yes I would. I love old school style RPGs. I wouldn't care if they only used the base resources that the program gave them.

But of course, I'm the purest type of gamer that will play pretty much any game if I have the money to get it, and they don't have to have the latest newfangled everything. Oh, the game looks too retro or "dated" in style and game-play and that's why you say you can't play it....yeah, get over yourself.

It is sad how many people miss out on great games because they have these mentalities:

1.) It doesn't look right, why didn't they use a better graphics engine(or just plain with the best graphics out there), or make it look like this other game I like.

2.) Oh, it doesn't have that mechanic that makes things so much easier and quicker, like other new games I've played.

3.) Oh, it doesn't do anything new and doesn't innovate, well then it is just rehashed piece of crap.

I just can't stand people like that.

 

[ItsNotRudy]

Yume Nikki

Actually now that you mention it, I had forgotten about Yume Nikki. Very interesting game. I suppose I might be willing to pay for something like that. Though I do think it's pretty much the height of RPG Maker horror.

I suppose there are still games like that we haven't found yet. Or just not enough attention for RPGM games. I'd pay for some, just not AAA pricing. I don't even think most AAA titles are worth half their starting prices tbh. 60 euros for a 6-8 hour playthrough is quite a lot.

 

[Doom972]

As a general rule, no. There might be exceptions, but I can't think of any. I felt a bit ripped off when I played Cthulhu Saves the World and realized that it plays like an RPG Maker game (I know that it actually isn't).
It just seems like paying for a mod to me.

 

[josemlopes]

I guess... Personally I dont like JRPGs and I know that I wouldnt buy any of those games but if I was interested in JRPGs the same way I am in other games I think that for me to buy one of those games it really needed to look like something that wasnt made in it, like in the same way that there is that crappy UDK game The Haunted that really looks and plays like a mod, but then there is Forgotten Hope 2 that is a mod for Battlefield 2 and it looks and plays like a standalone title (I would buy it).

Basicly it would have to stay away from the original mold of the engine. And as usual with anything that can be easy to set-up there is probably a shit load of fan fic quality material there.

 

[BrotherRool]

I bought To The Moon and would happily buy similar games again.

Problem is, it has to be special. Anything close to a standard RPG I'd probably never go for

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Like some others in this thread I have already bought To The Moon.

Most RPG Maker games are terrible but there are some amazing games made with it that I would have no problems with paying for.

EDIT: And the poll is broken. Fantastic. The first option is supposed to be: "Yes. If it's good, it's good." The third option is "no interest in this old-school nonsense."

Apostrophes break the polls.

 

[sindremaster]

All I care about is if a game is good. So yes, I would. I bought To the Moon on Steam when it came out.

 

[Echopunk]

I wouldn't have a problem paying for a game made in RPG Maker, but the fact that there are several excellent games already available for free would set the bar pretty high. I've tried the demos for some of the "commercial" games that came out for RPG Maker XP & VX. I was never any more impressed with them than I was with best games I'd already played, free of charge.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Personally, I think whole point of RPG maker was so that people could make great, FREE games. It doesn't seem to be in the spirit to charge for them. Though I would pay for fleshed out games that came from RPG maker like Corps Party

Edit: after seeing some posts I can tell more professionals use RPG maker than I thought, but mainly I don't like the idea of amateurs making and charging for them because they can. Ao Oni, Ib, the One Night series and others were great games and I think part of that has to do (for me) with the fact that they felt like they were made for the sake of making a good game

 

[Kilo24]

Well, I've already bought To the Moon and Cthulhu Saves the World. I'd say that RPG Maker does carry a stigma with me that induces a little doubt, but it's not a problem if the game's good enough.

 

[thejackyl]

I've seen some pretty good RPG Maker games when I used to frequent a forum that catered to it and Game Maker.

I know Barkley Shut up and Jam: Gaiden started off as an RPG Maker game (though I believe they moved to Game Maker). And I forgot the name of the series and the maker but I remember it being a dystopian future and all the main characters were named after colors. It and it's sequel were pretty good.

I could see paying $3-$5 for one if it's good enough. But the amount of work people put into some of those... Damn, it's pretty impressive considering how restrictive RPG Maker can be.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

There are some RPG Makers on the PSX that I'm interested in buying but that's just for the sake of collecting PSX games. The genre seems interesting enough of course and I would be interested in making my own RPGs if the program is friendly enough to work with a complete idiot like myself.

 

[Korica]

Old JRPGs are not my thing.

JRPGs in general are not my thing.