DISQUS

Pete S · 1 month ago

I wonder how it is being received in Console Land, where Japanese RPGs keep the CRPG torch alive, at least to some extent. That's where I still play RPGs.

scopique · 1 month ago

JRPGs have always been an eclectic taste (like anime and manga), and I think they're still considered as being the immutable "standard" for the continuity of the CRPG legacy. I DID play a lot of Phantasy Star on the Genesis, and have had on-again/off-again interest in JRPGs over the years.

From a Western standpoint, though, our MMOs are obviously influenced by the western CRPGs, and PnP D&D, obviously.

Longasc · 1 month ago

You made an awesome yet scary observation. Is this really what people expect/demand from a (MMO)RPG these days?

This is actually Baldur's Gate style, which evolved out of the D&D fighting style of Pool of Radiance and all the many other nice adventures who still put an emphasis on world on story. Story is mostly dead in MMORPGs nowadays, and the world is getting reduced to party-sized dungeon fights. Maybe this is also another reason why DDO is doing now so much better than at launch, the focus on instanced "dungeon" content.

It is very interesting that the MMO connection always comes up with Dragon Age. While we so often play solo online, we seem to be unable to comprehend something of this scope to be an offline game by now!

In terms of offline-RPGs, give Gothic 1-3 and Risen a try. After DA:O of course, I am sure this game tops them easily.
They are quite good but suffered from poor quality and lots of bugs. Gothic 2 is one of my all-time favorites, it had a very good story and gameplay.

I am also glad that some of the fights in DA:O are supposedly a bit harder. We have grown SOFT & LAZY over the years, with games getting not only more streamlined, but outright dumbed down.

scopique · 1 month ago

I was quite flabbergasted when I saw that post on the DA forums. I had actually EXPECTED it at some point, but in a kind of comical parallel universe where someone always says "Oh no he DINNIT!" and the audience laughs.

There ARE those who have played nothing but MMOs all their lives. They know nothing else, and probably don't care to. What really bowls me over is the abssolute ignorance, or lack of interest in stepping outside that garden. WHY would someone expect a CRPG to be an MMO clone? They have no historical perspective to realize that MMOs are clones of older CRPGs, which are clones of PnP RPGs. Flabbergasted!

And I agree: we've become lazy in our tactical appraisal in these games. We haven't HAD to be tactical over the years. Even games which claim to offer some kind of tactical gameplay through real time combat or some-such aren't any more then "spam the hot bar until someone drops". I am someone who is easily frustrated, but I am looking forward to more DA combat.

They let us pause the game for a reason :D