Ideas/Requests not demands and My view on RPGs

[thecountofchocula22]

Let me preface by saying I love CRPGs, I am a completion freak and a bit of a power gamer. I might sound pathetic but I have spent probably thousands upon thousands of hours leveling characters in most every major RPG or Action RPG of recent memory. The major things I freedom to act and the ability to see the consequences of my actions. It seems like these things are already being addressed. I play RPGs for the complete escapism on par with some of the best books I have read. To me a good RPG is like a choose you own ending book but infinitely better because the character is whoever I want them to be, effectively write my own story. I digress, these are things I would love to see:

1.Companions as rich and complex as those in BG 2 and DAO (with romance options) that make me feel like they have lives beyond my interactions with them, it would be nice to adopt or have children and raise them if possible, as I think this adds an emotional component. Surprise betrayals are always good too.

2.As open a world as time/budget permits with the consequence that if I delay the main quest too long, things change around me for better or worse (Inaction.

3. The politics of the world should feel like they are mine to mold as I see fit. Rising to power myself or putting people in power that I feel are awesome.

I guess in essence I want what I think most RPG fanatics want to build and get lost in my own story and at the end feel like it mattered in my own little

[evdk]

Let me preface by saying I love CRPGs, I am a completion freak and a bit of a power gamer. I might sound pathetic but I have spent probably thousands upon thousands of hours leveling characters in most every major RPG or Action RPG of recent memory. The major things I freedom to act and the ability to see the consequences of my actions. It seems like these things are already being addressed. I play RPGs for the complete escapism on par with some of the best books I have read. To me a good RPG is like a choose you own ending book but infinitely better because the character is whoever I want them to be, effectively write my own story. I digress, these are things I would love to see:

1.Companions as rich and complex as those in BG 2 and DAO (with romance options) that make me feel like they have lives beyond my interactions with them, it would be nice to adopt or have children and raise them if possible, as I think this adds an emotional component. Surprise betrayals are always good too.

2.As open a world as time/budget permits with the consequence that if I delay the main quest too long, things change around me for better or worse (Inaction.

3. The politics of the world should feel like they are mine to mold as I see fit. Rising to power myself or putting people in power that I feel are awesome.

I guess in essence I want what I think most RPG fanatics want to build and get lost in my own story and at the end feel like it mattered in my own little

1) No. We've been over that.

2) Yes. Very much.

3) Could be cool, but I've never seen it successfully implemented.

[eimatshya]

It's funny to me that you use BG II and DA:O's companions as the yardstick for "memorable characters" since I actually found them to be completely unmemorable. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Luckily for me, I've found most of the companions from all of Obsidian's games + PS:T to be very memorable, so there's a good chance the same will be true in Project Eternity.

 

As for romance options, I would ideally like these to be possible because I think attraction naturaly develops when people spend a lot of time together. It would feel a bit odd if they didn't crop up at all, although cropping up doesn't need to entail Bioware style romance (not that I think there's anything inherently wrong with that sort of thing). I thought Sion's obsession with the Exile (if female) was a neat touch in KotOR II. Still, I usually don't end up pursuing the romances in games, so their absence/presence probably won't affect me much.

 

I'm completey on board with you when it comes to number two. As we've discussed in other threads, I always find it kind of immersion breaking when you supposedly have some imminent threat to deal with, but it will wait for you to get around to it in your quest log. This always seems like a strange disconnect between story and gameplay.

 

As for the politics angle, I'm indifferent. I can see how it could be cool to be kingmaker or become king yourself (I enjoyed that aspect of DA:O, and the politics were my favorite part of Awakening), but honestly I'm fine without becoming involved in such things. If my own quest doesn't become tangled with the power games of the rulers, that won't bother me in the least. In PS:T I never missed not being able to become a key player in the goings on of sigil. If your quest is deeply personal, then I think it's possible for the story to feel fulfilling without your character becoming entangled with the fate of the realm/world/whatever (not that the two are mutually exclusive).

[septembervirgin]

1. I love complex characters. I don't think melodrama means complexity though. So stop it with the slave-rape-orphan tropes.

2. An open world is a good world

3. I agree that grand strategy CRPG is the wave of the future.