Would I play one?
Yes.
Do I think that it'd work out especially well on any video-game platform? Maybe.
Do I think that, in the above context, it would allow for more ROLEplaying over ROLLplaying...? No.
At least, not so long as hiding the stats is the only change made.
Most RPGs that get the label attached, like DA:O, TES series, Mass Effect, etc., are RPGs because they use those similarities to tabletop RPGs listed in the definition above. TES, Witcher, Two Worlds: they all happen in "that timelocked portion of Medieval England that all fantasy RPGs take place in as inevitably as the fucking tide," to quote Mr. Croshaw. Most of the older PC RPGs were direct translations of D&D to the PC; Pools of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Wizardry! and so on. They existed primarily to provide the experience of plying D&D, creating your character; having a party, wandering dungeons, slaying monsters and taking their stuff. And, of course, levelling up. Most importantly, both the old and the new existed to provide the experience of playing D&D WITHOUT having to have at least one other person to play it with.
So, when you play a CRPG, nine times out of ten, you're not actually playing a genuine roleplaying game. No matter how much you try to force elements of it on yourself, whether this through dialogue choices, eschewing heavy armour as an Elder Scrolls magic user as though you still had the Old School class restrictions for Mages, or through not allowing yourself to run all day and all night without sleeping or eating. These are artificial, cosmetic things that you, the player, choose to engage in. The game doesn't care one way or the other. Computer RPGs are action-adventures who, sometimes, frame the goblin-skewering with an interesting and compelling story that makes you want to follow it through to the end.
Simply hiding the stats wouldn't change this. What makes for interesting, genuine roleplaying is not not being aware of how powerful your character is, or how to improve them, it's other people to play that character off of. Unless there's either at least one real person to react to and observe your character's character, or some NPCs who can react at a level WAY beyond the NPCs of today, anything you do in most computer RPGs is meaningless or at best, mechanical. There's the 'good' path and the 'evil' path. Occasionally, there might just be a "selfish" path, too. But you generally only get to see the results of these either as a part of the ending of a game, or as relatively minor effects such as one NPC refusing to speak to you or your in-game Karma rating being lowered.
Until computer RPGs can genuinely react to HOW you play your character, as opposed to the numbers used in his or her stats by giving you more choices, more reactive NPCs and making your decisions and actions genuinely mean something to the wider world you're effectively playing very pretty Space Invaders with goblins and dragons instead of UFOs.
tl;dr If you want to roleplay, well that's what pen-n-paper and MUDs are for.
Yes.
Do I think that it'd work out especially well on any video-game platform? Maybe.
Do I think that, in the above context, it would allow for more ROLEplaying over ROLLplaying...? No.
At least, not so long as hiding the stats is the only change made.
Pretty much nothing. This defines what the genre name means, not what individual parts make up the workings of an RPG. Stats are implied in "same...game mechanics." Especially when the definition cites D&D, traditionally an extremely stats heavy pen-and-paper RPG. THAC0s anyone? Stats in Computer RPGs obviously encourage and reward munchkinism and powergaming. But, the real question is less "Would removing stats mean less gaming the numbers?" and more "What else is missing from Computer-based RPGs that causes this kind of reductivist gaming?"Yopaz said:Definition of a RPG video game right here.
It doesn't say anything about stats... What to make of this?Role-playing video games (commonly referred to as role-playing games or RPGs) are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games[1] such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests. The major similarities with pen-and-paper games involve developed story-telling and narrative elements, player character development, complexity, as well as replayability and immersion. Electronic medium removes the necessity for a gamemaster and increases combat resolution speed. RPGs have evolved from simple text-based console-window games into visually rich 3D experiences.
Most RPGs that get the label attached, like DA:O, TES series, Mass Effect, etc., are RPGs because they use those similarities to tabletop RPGs listed in the definition above. TES, Witcher, Two Worlds: they all happen in "that timelocked portion of Medieval England that all fantasy RPGs take place in as inevitably as the fucking tide," to quote Mr. Croshaw. Most of the older PC RPGs were direct translations of D&D to the PC; Pools of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Wizardry! and so on. They existed primarily to provide the experience of plying D&D, creating your character; having a party, wandering dungeons, slaying monsters and taking their stuff. And, of course, levelling up. Most importantly, both the old and the new existed to provide the experience of playing D&D WITHOUT having to have at least one other person to play it with.
So, when you play a CRPG, nine times out of ten, you're not actually playing a genuine roleplaying game. No matter how much you try to force elements of it on yourself, whether this through dialogue choices, eschewing heavy armour as an Elder Scrolls magic user as though you still had the Old School class restrictions for Mages, or through not allowing yourself to run all day and all night without sleeping or eating. These are artificial, cosmetic things that you, the player, choose to engage in. The game doesn't care one way or the other. Computer RPGs are action-adventures who, sometimes, frame the goblin-skewering with an interesting and compelling story that makes you want to follow it through to the end.
Simply hiding the stats wouldn't change this. What makes for interesting, genuine roleplaying is not not being aware of how powerful your character is, or how to improve them, it's other people to play that character off of. Unless there's either at least one real person to react to and observe your character's character, or some NPCs who can react at a level WAY beyond the NPCs of today, anything you do in most computer RPGs is meaningless or at best, mechanical. There's the 'good' path and the 'evil' path. Occasionally, there might just be a "selfish" path, too. But you generally only get to see the results of these either as a part of the ending of a game, or as relatively minor effects such as one NPC refusing to speak to you or your in-game Karma rating being lowered.
Until computer RPGs can genuinely react to HOW you play your character, as opposed to the numbers used in his or her stats by giving you more choices, more reactive NPCs and making your decisions and actions genuinely mean something to the wider world you're effectively playing very pretty Space Invaders with goblins and dragons instead of UFOs.
tl;dr If you want to roleplay, well that's what pen-n-paper and MUDs are for.