What's the ONE Thing You've Wanted In RPG's Over The Past Decade?

[Chippy]

A loaded question, I know - but for me I've always wanted more freedom to use any type of weapon in the UI.  It seems RPG's have made steps forward and then back in this regard.  Ideally I should be able to equip a longbow, switch to throwing daggers in each hand as the enemy advances, grab a spear as they close in and then choose between single, two weapon or sword and shield for close melee.

 

And all of these weapons are in my trouser pocket bags of holding thankyou very much.

 

 

 

 

[Boox]

This might be a bit of a non-answer but I've wanted RPGs to be more like Baldur's Gate 2, in almost every way.

 

Okay, that's definitely not the kind of answer you are looking for.  It's really hard for me to choose just one thing because there are quite a few reasons why I haven't been satisfied with RPGs for a long time. BG just captured so well what I wanted from a game.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Boox

[LunaticPandora]

What really gets me in almost every RPG i play is the lack of variation and uniqueness between enemies of the same type / class, particularly when it comes to how the AI is implemented. For instance in the IE games you knew that when you saw a mage his contingency would fire, then they would go through a set list of (reasonably predictable) spells until they were all used up, then they would attack with their dagger. Obviously this still presents a challenge - the enemies have a very limited element of randomness, and the abilities they use are often the best in the game (I should point out that a lot of player made mods, such as SCS and Tactics did a lot to address this).

 

If you look at modern MMO's the situation is even worse, each monster of the same type has exactly the same behaviour, abilities and stats and you use the same rotation to kill them - it makes things seem so stale, almost as though the world has been populated with clones rather than creatures which have grown and evolved with different personalities and backgrounds.

 

What I want to see is lots of little variations in enemies to make things much more unpredictable, for instance:

 

I'm walking through the forest and come across a ranger who begins attacking me, pretty standard stuff, but then once his health gets low, he enters a berserker rage - thats a bit unusual, but you can adapt as you've seen it before in other enemies - suddenly, when he is extremely close to death, he shapeshifts into a huge bear and starts ripping your party to shreds. That's something completely unexpected but pretty cool - this would be the only enemy in the game that does that particular thing, and there is no prior warning of it, but it makes you stop and reassess the situation and keeps you on your toes, that fight which you thought was goingto be pretty straightforward actually forced you to usesome pretty unusual tactics.

 

Other examples of little quirks which enemies could have (just off the top of my head out of the thousands of possibilities):

 

- Only ever use one type of element in their attacks

- Particular hatred towards a certain race or class (especially when outside of their inidigenous areas), or conversely a particular reverence for certain races or classes, for example a nature spirit may completely ignore a nature-element godlike character

- Limited cross class abilities, e.g. a chanter who can buff himself with some limited priest spells, a fighter who uses only throwing daggers and electrical magic, etc

- Extra or unusual animal / demonic / fey companions

- Unusual items which enemies actually make use of (think similiar to wands in the IE games).

- Unusual weapons or fighting styles, e.g. a fighter that only uses their fists, a mage who uses touch spells through a spear etc

 

Obviously some of these are more ambitious than others, but hopefully I get my point across, enemies should be interesting and exciting to engage with, and the combat should be reactive and surprising although it's important to point out that not all enemies should have these extra characteristics, it should be something which happens with maybe one or two enemies every few fights to break things up.

 

So yeah, bit of a ramble, but that's what i've wanted

[SophosTheWise]

I miss the grand adventure or at least the feeling of grand adventure. With fast travel a map means nothing. For me it's almost like a godmode cheat and the only game that really did fast travel right in my book were WoW (I don't know how it works now, but when I started playing when the servers first opened it was) and Dragon's Dogma.

[lolaldanee]

extended and better voice acting in combination with well written dialogs

not having full voice-over is barely tolerable for me since i've played the first Gothic title in 2001

and much to my pleasure, that's exactly what i've got with all the bioware and obsidian games these days

the mass effect and dragon age series, as well as all the newer obsidian games, may be a bit lacking in (camera-)controls or gameplay here and there, but DAMN have they improved on the presentation side of things, especially the voice acting

 

oh, and can sombody please add javelins and one handed spears to a game for gods sake?  those are only the most used weapons in human history

Edited November 28, 2013 by lolaldanee

[Jarmo]

Freedom to make my choices.

More akin to tabletop where sky is the limit and less like stumbling down a prewritten path with cutscenes that's the norm.

 

Fallout and FO2 even more, went a long way towards.

Tired of doing the inane busywork for some nobody? Pull a shotgun instead and resolve the matter through senseless violence, CAN DO!

 

Now you can't make a game that can replicate a proper DM, just no way to start inventing new stuff if the player decides to go elsewhere.

Like deciding halfway through Baldurs Gate 2 that "heck, nevermind this stupid wizard and I never liked Imoen anyway, I'll go back to Baldurs Gate and get my life back in tracks".

 

But heck, it's been many, many years and we're no further at all!

It's just less choice, less interaction, more cutscenes and a higher polygon count.

In some ways, Mount & Blade is more of an RPG than any of the big name RPG's today.

[TMZuk]

Oh.... I'm not very demanding. I just want the game to be responsive and have freedom at the same time.    Not a lot to ask, I know.

 

I want the game to be a GM, rather than a series of scripted events. It's a dream, but I can dream, can't I?

[CaptainMace]

I'd like good and natural reactivity in the party. It's something I haven't seen since BG2, in which it wasn't perfect to begin with, but promising at least.
It's always a pain to see someone who belongs to x faction/people/city have little or no reaction when the PC decides to trade/talk/ally with its enemy/rival of any sort. Although I've never understood why there was no interactions between more than 2 party members at a time in these games, why can't we have some banter-like events between three of them ? It would not only be more natural, but also make people want to try different party combinaison only to see how they behave together.

[Failion]

I want to see older school games modernized. Like the wizardry series with space ship boarding and travel, planet exploration, full voice acting and powered by the latest unreal engine. A fallout sequel with isometric game play and world map travel. Inexile least giving us wasteland 2 for that.

[Sensuki]

Something that wasn't ported from console.

 

besides The Witcher 1 and Knights of the Chalice there really hasn't been too much.

Edited November 29, 2013 by Sensuki

[Karkarov]

Something that wasn't ported from console.

 

besides The Witcher 1 and Knights of the Chalice there really hasn't been too much.

Sensuki that just isn't right.  Most of the big "RPG's" from the last few years were not ported from console.... they were ported from PC.  The Witcher 2, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Dragon Age: Origins, just for example were all designed for PC first or PC and console at the same time.  Just because it is designed to play well on a console too doesn't mean it was designed for console primarily.... nor does being a console RPG mean it sucks by default.

 

That said what would I like?  I would like to see the narrative depth of say... the Witcher (minus all the pointless sex) but in an open world like Skyrim and with a character I get to create who is not a blank slate but has a in depth in game method of generating a personality and backstory.  Not asking for much I know.

[mcmanusaur]

To be completely honest, probably a focus on things other than combat. Really, the closest thing I can think of is Crusader Kings 2, and that's not even an RPG. There's so much more to life than violence, and yet it forms the basis of just about every RPG. I admit, combat is very interesting, but it's given a disproportionate amount of prioritization in RPG design.

[IndiraLightfoot]

So many great posts here, and I doubt I can come up with something that is even more prioritized than any of those. Which one should I pick?

 

Well, I will pick LunaticPandora's post, as that would make one heck of a difference for a CRPG!

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Being able to play a character who is not an adventurer by default. So, if I'm playing a noble, I want to do courtly stuff, and trust the dungeon-delving to the (very well-paid) specialists I employ just for that. More intrigue, more subtlety, more using methods and resources outside the standard threatening/murdering/bribing triumvirate employed by Generic Murderhobo from Generic D&D-inspired Fantasy Game.

 

Edit: also, I wouldn't mind a bit more personality in our characters, depending on background.

Edited November 29, 2013 by aluminiumtrioxid

[Cubiq]

extended and better voice acting in combination with well written dialogs

not having full voice-over is barely tolerable for me since i've played the first Gothic title in 2001

and much to my pleasure, that's exactly what i've got with all the bioware and obsidian games these days

the mass effect and dragon age series, as well as all the newer obsidian games, may be a bit lacking in (camera-)controls or gameplay here and there, but DAMN have they improved on the presentation side of things, especially the voice acting

I'm actually glad there won't be full voice acting, because the content is then limited to voice acting budget. Which can get pretty huge depending on the number of people you employ. I can't confirm if the numbers are accurate since I didn't get them from their official report, but Mass effect 2 supposedly had 450,000 words recorded +maybe another 50k that wasn't recorded (and I think I'm being generous) while Baldur's gate 2 had 1.2 million written words.

 

And you usually end up with a game that reuses the voice actors for different characters, and you end up with a game like Skyrim where every faction guard or child has a single voice actor, which completely breaks the experience.

Edited November 29, 2013 by Cubiq

[CaptainMace]

And you usually end up with a game that reuses the voice actors for different characters, and you end up with a game like Skyrim where every faction guard or child has a single voice actor, which completely breaks the experience.

 

 

This is indeed really annoying. You forgot to mention that professionnal voice acting implies same voices for hundreds of NPCs in the game, but also same voices between different games, and I don't know if that's the case in original version, but I can tell you that the french voice actor of Uriel Septim from Oblivion does a sh*t ton of game voices over here, and I can't bear it anymore...

I like partial voice acting better, and I think the Fallout system was excellent, giving full voice acting only to the most important dudes of the game.

[Sedrefilos]

Deeper role play. All the rest are mechanics that I can adapt to if the story/role-play is good.

[Wombat]

In-depth roleplaying experience, which explores interesting themes.  As long as there are intriguing themes, I don't mind how the settings are categorized-real world (history included), Sci-Fi, fantasy or even children's literature (Seven Dwarves sounded interesting) or they are narrative-focused or simulation-focused (Planescape Torment focused on narrative while FO series focused on simulation-something like Morrowind are in the middle ground in an interesting way).

 

As for PE, I'm still wondering if it is more simulation-focused or narrative-focused since BG, especially BG2 was more on narrative (unfortunately, not a good one, IMHO) while Sawyer and Festermarker seem to be more accustomed to simulation focused games, different from Ziets and Avellone.  I wonder how team chemistry will end up with this project.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Sawyer and Festermarker seem to be more accustomed to simulation focused games, different from Ziets and Avellone.  I wonder how team chemistry will end up with this project.

 That sounds like a dream team! The perfect combo, IMHO.

[Endrosz]

This is actually a hard question... I want so many RPG-things done right - and I put my faith in Sawyer's design principles that I'll get most of those with PoE - that it's difficult to pick one that I want the most.

 

I think I'll go with simply Choice and Consequence. It's a funny thing to say, because the label 'RPG' has been so inflated and bloated over the past two decades that currently it only means 'it has character leveling and item equipping mechanics'. When I say 'I want C&C', I actually mean 'I want an RPG', you know, a ROLE PLAYING game, but the meaning has changed so much that we had to invent another term just to be able to say what we want. In these past years, only MotB, the Witcher and F:NV gave me fulfillment in this regard (and those are weighed down with the costs of voice over and full immersive 3D).

 

Being able to play a character who is not an adventurer by default. So, if I'm playing a noble, I want to do courtly stuff, and trust the dungeon-delving to the (very well-paid) specialists I employ just for that. More intrigue, more subtlety, more using methods and resources outside the standard threatening/murdering/bribing triumvirate employed by Generic Murderhobo from Generic D&D-inspired Fantasy Game.

 

Edit: also, I wouldn't mind a bit more personality in our characters, depending on background.

 

Then Age of Decadence is THE game for you (currently in Steam Early Access). There is a demo, I played it twice, first with an assassin, then with a loremaster, and I was completely blown away how different and non-violent the gameplay was with a non-combatant character.  It is one of the very few computer RPGs which reminded me of PnP roleplaying. Check it you for yourself: http://store.steampowered.com/app/230070/ (demo download link on the right).

 

The recommendation also goes to mcmanusaur, for the same reasons.

 

That said what would I like?  I would like to see the narrative depth of say... the Witcher (minus all the pointless sex) but in an open world like Skyrim and with a character I get to create who is not a blank slate but has a in depth in game method of generating a personality and backstory.  Not asking for much I know.

 

As a Witcher fan yourself, you know about the Witcher 3 coming along, right? It promises exactly what you're talking about, plus the pointless sex.

[JFSOCC]

The one thing I've wanted and not seen is proper dialogue and rewarding gameplay for intelligence as a trait.

 

It seems there is a giant misunderstanding about intellect in fiction of any kind, where 'smart' is obnoxious, anti-social, verbose, book-smart or knowledgeable. That's not a true depiction of intelligence.

 

Truly intelligent people are social, generally much wiser and measured in their approach, and (with exceptions) don't need everyone to know.

Intelligent people are good communicators, which isn't the same as being wordy.

 

I cringe when I see intellectual or smart characters written by authors with average or slightly above average intellect as they never seem to get it right. It bothers me because I want to play smart characters, really smart characters, not badly clichéd stereotypical smart characters.

Edited November 29, 2013 by JFSOCC

[Messier-31]

Role-playing experience. But that is somewhat a pipe dream, 'cause nothing will give you a better role-playing experience than a standard pen and paper RPG, a theater based upon our common imagination. Let's face it, role-playing in CRPG's has its ups and downs, but in the end it is so-so. That's why we need more "baldursgatey" titles, such as Eternity. Huzzah!

 

 

 

That said what would I like?  I would like to see the narrative depth of say... the Witcher (minus all the pointless sex) but in an open world like Skyrim and with a character I get to create who is not a blank slate but has a in depth in game method of generating a personality and backstory.  Not asking for much I know.

 

As a Witcher fan yourself, you know about the Witcher 3 coming along, right? It promises exactly what you're talking about, plus the pointless sex.

 

Minus creating your own character  But I don't give a damn, Geralt pwns.

Edited November 29, 2013 by Messier-31

[mur'phon]

Fewer, deeper NPCs, that interacts with the story constantly. Think Alpha Protocol, only more. The point is, stick with a few characters, then use them as questgivers, plot-drivers, vendors etc. Let them drive the plot, and make your relationship to them something important.
Basically, I don't want to steal evidence from the guards to make sure some random guy isn't hanged, but I'm happy to steal data from Halbech in order to sell it to Scarlet.

Taking the "a lot of small consequences add up" from Alpha Protocol would be nice too. Basically, make the player know that the game is noticing their choices, even if it is just a tiny bonus to stealth.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

 

Being able to play a character who is not an adventurer by default. So, if I'm playing a noble, I want to do courtly stuff, and trust the dungeon-delving to the (very well-paid) specialists I employ just for that. More intrigue, more subtlety, more using methods and resources outside the standard threatening/murdering/bribing triumvirate employed by Generic Murderhobo from Generic D&D-inspired Fantasy Game.

 

Edit: also, I wouldn't mind a bit more personality in our characters, depending on background.

 

Then Age of Decadence is THE game for you 

 

Didn't like it. Pseudo-romans are a big turnoff for me (along with the yet-another-postapocalyptic-wasteland). Also, the game had kind of an artificial feel to it, dunno why. (Ironically, though, loved the combat.)

[Sensuki]

Sensuki that just isn't right.  Most of the big "RPG's" from the last few years were not ported from console.... they were ported from PC.  The Witcher 2, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Dragon Age: Origins, just for example were all designed for PC first or PC and console at the same time.  Just because it is designed to play well on a console too doesn't mean it was designed for console primarily.... nor does being a console RPG mean it sucks by default.

You tell yourself that, buddy. The DAO Camera control was really designed for PC first, you know, that whole bit where when you're in isometric mode you can't free look ... lol.