More Morons on RPGs

[Evil Feline]

Some Idiot who thinks he knowns something about RPGs has yet again posted an article on the subject.

It is perhaps fair to say that the Japanese have been bolder in their approach to the role-playing game

Comes of to a good start doesn't it.

Final Fantasy VIII took a turn for the technological without missing a beat, and Skies of Arcadia seamlessly blended airships and swashbuckling

So, allot of fantasy games uses technology alongside magic, even WoW does.

But it gets worse, he attacks yours truly:

Fallout may be about a post-apocalyptic future, but the gameplay doesn't stray far from the dungeon crawling epics of the day.

What the... How... at least try to back it up with an argument.

There has to be something better than a totally pre-scripted plot featuring nearly meaningless dialogue trees and unimportant decisions. BioWare certainly experimented with this in Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire

When does KotOR & JE not feature meaningless dialogue trees and unimportant decisions, when does Fallout?

Edit: Actually now that I think about it JE did let you work love interest into being less squeamish and then when she had gotten a colder heart you could tell her "Hey, I thought you where my conscious" Nothing like fucking with NPCs virtual heads.

At any rate he's still a Fucking Idiot.

 

[Per]

Re: More Morons on RPG's

There has to be something better than a totally pre-scripted plot featuring nearly meaningless dialogue trees and unimportant decisions.

Yeah, like bold Japanese console "RPGs", you fucking idiot?

BioWare certainly experimented with this in Knights of the Old Republic

The *clunk* just heard was the sound of forty thousand irony-o-meters falling off walls everywhere.

 

[Montez]

That's a very poorly thought out article; he muddies and distracts from his essential point by name-dropping and shallowly criticizing the great games of the genre, making a highly disputable statement about Japanese games that has nothing to do with his point, and throughout talking about setting rather than role-playing.

Although it's pretty much par for the course for most writing, especially about games.

 

[Pajari]

Haha, the comments pretty much tear this guy apart. Well done, anonymous internet folk.

My problem with editorializing about games is that most of the time people jump straight to it without having the nessecary background to really do it right. This guy is basically spilling out his half-baked notions about RPG's without understanding the history and characteristics of RPG's, and making references to games he probably never played. And, of course, there is the requisite attempt at being unbiased that is quickly shown to be a complete and utter failure. Nothing infuriates me more than a game writer saying that JRPG's are superior because of their settings or intricate stories. That's not what interactivity is about, at all.

Like Orwell said, muddy writing means muddy thinking.

 

[zioburosky13]

Re: More Morons on RPG's

Okie. Name me any RPG that let you persuade the final boss to kill itself/change it's mind.

I can only think of Fallout and Arcanum

Don't bother with this guy's "journal". I find the lack of evidence and history is insulting.

Good thing many trolls are bashing his site

 

[Sander]

Re: More Morons on RPG's

Okie. Name me any RPG that let you persuade the final boss to kill itself/change it's mind.

I can only think of Fallout and Arcanum

Also Planescape: Torment and if I recall correctly some of the Spiderweb games too.

 

[Brother None]

I only finished one Spiderweb game and the boss attacked on sight, that I recall. Might've taken a wrong path somewhere, though. Those games are complex with a capital C.

Also, the Japanese RPG genre IS in fact bolder than the Western one. It hasn't always been so, and this was untrue during BIS' era, but it's true again now. Hell, the Japanese still experiment in mainstream gaming with turnbased, mention turnbased to any Western publisher and they'll go grey around the ears.

PS: I also hate it when people say "RPG's". RPG, plural RPGs. "RPG's" means "of (an) RPG"

 

[mortiz]

People should stop giving their opinions on games in these so-called Editorials unless someone asks for it, unless they like getting bitch slapped, which happens 99% of the time.

 

[Evil Feline]

Haha, the comments pretty much tear this guy apart. Well done, anonymous internet folk.

We aren't any less anonymous then the guy who wrote the goddamned thing, the only difference is we don't put our actual names on it (cept maybe Per and Sander).

That's a very poorly thought out article; he muddies and distracts from his essential point by name-dropping and shallowly criticizing the great games of the genre, making a highly disputable statement about Japanese games that has nothing to do with his point, and throughout talking about setting rather than role-playing.

Although it's pretty much par for the course for most writing, especially about games.

You might want to get the current issue of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists apparently it has some article about serious games, I have but I haven't bothered reading it yet.

I hate it when people say "RPG's". RPG, plural RPGs. "RPG's" means "of (an) RPG"

Fair enough, I changed it.

 

[Roshambo]

I only finished one Spiderweb game and the boss attacked on sight, that I recall. Might've taken a wrong path somewhere, though. Those games are complex with a capital C.

Most likely a path was taken at one point that led up to that. They are complex, and I admire them for their numerous paths to completion.

Also, the Japanese RPG genre IS in fact bolder than the Western one. It hasn't always been so, and this was untrue during BIS' era, but it's true again now. Hell, the Japanese still experiment in mainstream gaming with turnbased, mention turnbased to any Western publisher and they'll go grey around the ears.

On the other hand, and which is pretty fucking amusing: mention that BioWare RT+P passive "watch the combat" shit to a Japanese publisher/developer, and they'll likely laugh their asses off. It really isn't fun, as there's no gameplay. The Japanese know that simple games have a market and can be fun, the same with complex games. There is no market for "mindless", unless you count the US.