If users here are capable of posting detailed, point by point analyses of video games, I'm guessing they could figure out basic programming and pixel art if it came down to that. At the very least, they could just learn how to use Game Maker. The passion is there, I've seen it. I just don't think people here have the organizational capabilities of business behemoths like Activision/Blizzard or Zenimax to stay focused. All I know is that NMA's worst attempt at an RPG would be still better than Fallout 4.
Problem is that people here do not exist in a limbo. They have busy lives.
Learning new skills like programming and pixel art is very time consuming. Doing it while having to manage full time studying and/or have a family and/or working for a living and/or health problems, is impossible for most people around here.
Not to mention making a game would take years and probably over a decade. And that is with people who already have the skills to do it. Projects this big will always have people leaving at some point and needing to be replaced. Then if replacements are found, it will take time for them to learn all that was already made and be able to work on it. Then as the years pass by, entire parts of the project will need to be re-written from scratch, will need to be optimized for new hardware and software, sometimes the entire engine will be replaced and most work will need to be re-done once again. Since it is the same as an un-paid job, people could only work on it on their spare time, but many people here already have a very busy life, so there is little or no spare time for stuff like this.
I have been part of the TTW team for 6 years, we have re-built TTW from scratch three times already, many team members had to leave during the years (including the original creators of TTW), we had to get more people, the project was almost abandoned at a few points when development had just halted because no one had time to do any work, and private life got in the way. And this is using two already made games.
If we had to make a game ourselves it would probably have taken us this long and we would still not be close to finish it.
These kind of things may sound "easy" and "achievable", but only people who have been through it know that the chances are all against them. It will always take longer than planned, the team will crumble many times, passion will waver, people will grow out of it, the unexpected will happen (unexpected deaths, unexpected diseases, unexpected homelessness, unexpected computer blows up and loses a chunk of work that was lost forever, unexpected natural disasters that affect team members, and so on) etc.
I would love to see a NMA PA game. But at the current NMA situation, it would be impossible for it to happen. We already have trouble having more than a hand-full of regular posters, let alone people who can commit to something like that.
NMA's Fallout P&P RPG didn't go anywhere yet because of people being too busy. I could work at it a bit when I have time, but to be honest I don't have the motivation, since I wouldn't be able to play this RPG with people anyway. Not to mention that choose a ruleset takes quite a while (have to find a good one that fells familiar to Fallout players, while being balanced, not cumbersome and not need a calculator), have to go through tens of rulesets and check them all out to pick the "best", have to decide if it should be played over roll20, tabletop simulator or a different way, get enough players online at the same time to do some test runs, etc.
