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Piccolo

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About Piccolo

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    (5) Thaumaturgist
    (5) Thaumaturgist
  1. The character development systems (or RPG mechanics) in those games are significant enough for both to be considered RPGs. Of course, they're also a hybridization of the stealth genre and the horror genre respectively. If you took away the stats, they would just be action games with an emphasis on stealth and horror respectively. And there's the problem. I think RPGs are dependent on choices and fleshing out what starts as a blank slate, whereas you think RPGs are dependent on using stats and levels. Our ideas of the genre are fundamentally different. But here's the thing - the adventure genre revolves around choices. You assume the role of a character and make choices from their perspective through branching dialogue trees. What adventure games generally lack is any significant character management or progression that actually has an impact on gameplay, such as levelling.
  2. The character development systems (or RPG mechanics) in those games are significant enough for both to be considered RPGs. Of course, they're also a hybridization of the stealth genre and the horror genre respectively. If you took away the stats, they would just be action games with an emphasis on stealth and horror respectively.
  3. You know what game lets you advance characters via the use of numbers and stats? TF2: MVM mode. You get money from shooting the robots, and then spend said money on upgrades to jump height or whatever. Is TF2 an RPG? Bioshock Infinite let you upgrade your guns and plasmids vigors. Is it a RPG? Getting money for upgrades isn't the same as having a fleshed out character who's defined by attributes and skills. Some action-adventure games even have very basic skill systems, but because character development isn't fleshed out or important enough, I would only consider them action-adventure games with RPG elements.
  4. Sounds to me like you don't even know what an RPG is. A lot of ignorant IE-era kiddies do this. They base their definition of an RPG on what they like about RPGs released decades after the genre started. I assume this is the point where you argue that Rogue is an RPG? It's not. In order to be a ROLEPLAYING game, a game has to include roleplaying. Rogue does not, so it gets dumped into the dungeon crawler bin. Same thing goes for Ultima 1-3ish, Diablo, and yes, Icewind Dale. Also, since you brought it up, I base my definition of RPG on tabletop roleplaying games as a whole, whereas you seem to have based your definition on RPGA modules. I base my definition on the history of the video game genre and hard facts. Not on tabletop roleplaying (which is a vastly different experience) or the literal definition of playing a role (which would basically make 99% of all games RPGs). The simple fact is that the only defining and essential feature of an RPG that separates it from action games and adventure games is character development through the use of numbers or stats. It doesn't matter whether the experience is limited to a simple dungeon crawl, as long as the character development system is fleshed out enough to allow for unique characters whose progression has a significant impact on gameplay. Your characters then fulfil "roles" based on what their stats are. An RPG doesn't need to have storyline or dialogue choices, because those are adventure game features. In fact an RPG doesn't even need a storyline at all. These are just things that enhance the experience for some, much in the same way that having an open world may enhance the experience for some.
  5. Sounds to me like you don't even know what an RPG is. A lot of ignorant IE-era kiddies do this. They base their definition of an RPG on what they like about RPGs released decades after the genre started.
  6. If they were able to produce a worthy Infinity Engine style RPG with the $1.1 million they initially asked for, they should be more than capable of producing something better than the Infinity Engine games in terms of both quantity of content and quality with nearly four times that amount of money. Ample funds, no pressure from publishers to rush the game for a certain deadline, and a wealth of experience in making some of the highest rated RPGs of all time. There's really no reason for them to disappoint.
  7. If you're referring to storyline or dialogue choices, then I don't really consider that to be a defining or essential feature of the genre. All RPGs have to have some kind of numerical progression in place, but not all of them have to have storyline and dialogue choices. A lot of the old RPGs didn't even have much of a storyline or dialogue at all, let alone choices to make. Choices are just something that has been taken from the adventure genre later on and added to RPGs in order to give them more flavour and complexity. It doesn't matter how you interpret such choices, they are by no means a defining feature of an RPG on their own.
  8. Stats and levelling don't necessarily need to be part of the UI, but there does have to be some form of numerical progression working under the bonnet in order for a game to even be considered an RPG. Without that, you're playing an action game or an adventure game. And if the progression is too basic, you're playing an action/adventure game with RPG elements.
  9. Every aspiring RTS developer should play Age of Empires II and Stronghold. After that, they should be held at gunpoint and be forced to play Age of Empires III and Stronghold 3 before answering these two questions: Why are Age of Empires III and Stronghold 3 uglier than their predecessors? Why are they clunkier and less fun to play? If "3D" isn't mentioned in the answer to both those questions, they should be shot on the spot.
  10. The map that came with the standard edition of Skyrim is pretty nice. It's paper, but it's thick and has a nice cloth texture to it. Pity the game holds your hand so much that there's really no practical need for it, but it certainly looks great on the wall.
  11. Mount & Blade does combat better than all three of those games.
  12. Deus Ex System Shock 2 TES II & III (if you've only played the newer TES games) Might & Magic VI and VII Betrayal at Krondor Realms of Arkania II Wizardry 7 and 8 Darklands Ultima VII Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
  13. I'd be just as happy if another Tolkien-esque game of any variety never gets made ever again. The thing is though, Tolkien-eqsue doesn't just mean elves and orcs. World of Warcraft has elves and orcs and it's not even remotely like Tolkien's work. There are suprisingly few good cRPGs in the same style and level of quality as Tolkien.
  14. There's a lack of good Tolkien-esque fantasy cRPGs, and an even greater lack of good medieval non-fantasy cRPGs.
  15. CRPGs really aren't the thinking man's games they're made out to be. Online games (from FPS to browser based) often have a far greater capacity for challenging the player's mind through strategy and tactics.
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