RPGs - linear?

[Noer]

Hey

 

why the games are so linear? Why they do not use more randomness in games? why poe uses a lot of resources compared to other old - school games who needed only 32 MB RAM (and poe start with 1 GB RAM)?

 

i mean its easy to implement

roll = rand(1,6) // random from 1 to 6

switch roll

case 1

dmg = 2x

case other

normal dmg

it could be used for everything - spells, random loot, random encounters on map generator and etc etc

why its not so common?

[knownastherat]

Randomness is not opposite of linearity.

 

I dunno, because predictability is integral part of tactic and strategy?

[Eos]

Linearity usually refers to the narrative of a game, not to the amount of variance (or randomness) in its mechanics. Most RPGs are linear because you need linearity to tell a complex story. The more choices you leave to the player, the more different story branches you need to develop. And it's already quiet difficult to come up with one story that is compelling, imaginative, complex, interesting and engaging. Leaving room in it for random player decisions blows the required work for it out of the water. Also some player choices just wouldn't make for a good story.

 

In terms for randomness: have you played a game which has high variance? It's not fun. It's not engaging. It's just random. Manly results in many, many tries until all the little random elements fall into place. If you want random, play lottery D:

[petrivanzyl]

Ummm...But everything is already determined by a "to hit" roll?