Anyone who likes the concept of an rpg that hides the stats from you probably has never actually played an rpg that hides the stats from you. It's hell. It is absolutely absurd. You have no idea if you're making correct decisions.
Let's say you have four equip slots, and you change them out. Suddenly enemies aren't goind down as fast. Why is that? Is it your hat? Is it your cloak? Is it a set penalty from the hat and cloak? Is it because your sword secretly sets things on fire and these are fire elementals? Is it because your sword DOES NOT set things on fire and these things need fire? Is it because the enemies attack your feet and only feet, so every other piece of armor doesn't matter?
Or is it simply because they're higher level? You don't know. And going around trying 16 different combinations just to see if you can hit a fucking orc isn't compelling game play. It's not solving a puzzle; it's not high adventure.
The idea of removing stats to facilitate play outside of equipment only makes it more of a guessing game. That's not game play. That's just dicking around cause of an obtuse system.
Discovery requires tangible feedback, not guesswork. The stats allow tangible feedback in a meaningful immediate way. I'm okay with new items having unknown stats that can be uncovered through discovery, but hiding the stats completely is fail. It does not work for rpgs. It never has. It never will.
There's a difference between mystery and obsfucation. There's a reason why rpgs have gone away from the 'mystery' and 'arcane' systems that require a fucking degree in cryptography to decypher; it's because it's absolutely shitty game design.
The only reason you don't think this games didn't and don't exist is because no one fucking cares about them enough to talk about them. They're obscure and dead for a reason.
Let's say you have four equip slots, and you change them out. Suddenly enemies aren't goind down as fast. Why is that? Is it your hat? Is it your cloak? Is it a set penalty from the hat and cloak? Is it because your sword secretly sets things on fire and these are fire elementals? Is it because your sword DOES NOT set things on fire and these things need fire? Is it because the enemies attack your feet and only feet, so every other piece of armor doesn't matter?
Or is it simply because they're higher level? You don't know. And going around trying 16 different combinations just to see if you can hit a fucking orc isn't compelling game play. It's not solving a puzzle; it's not high adventure.
The idea of removing stats to facilitate play outside of equipment only makes it more of a guessing game. That's not game play. That's just dicking around cause of an obtuse system.
Discovery requires tangible feedback, not guesswork. The stats allow tangible feedback in a meaningful immediate way. I'm okay with new items having unknown stats that can be uncovered through discovery, but hiding the stats completely is fail. It does not work for rpgs. It never has. It never will.
There's a difference between mystery and obsfucation. There's a reason why rpgs have gone away from the 'mystery' and 'arcane' systems that require a fucking degree in cryptography to decypher; it's because it's absolutely shitty game design.
The only reason you don't think this games didn't and don't exist is because no one fucking cares about them enough to talk about them. They're obscure and dead for a reason.