Slashdot Mirror
On Character Development In RPGs
Thanks to IGN RPGVault for their continuing series quizzing videogame creators about single-player RPG character development. Respondents include Chris Avellone of Black Isle/Obsidian, who rants on CRPG spell conventions: "Almost every spell system I have encountered in an RPG has done wonders for sucking all the mystery and enjoyment out of magic", and Star Wars:KOTOR producer Mike Gallo, who suggests: "I think that somewhere, at some time, a type of stat-less main player character development will make it into an RPG."
Blame yourself. Such spells have been in OD&D/AD&D/3E for over 20 years. It's your, and other game developers, fault that you do not program your games with a wider range of spells.
From the linked article...
"Long story short, I know as far as character development goes, I wouldn't mind seeing other avenues of magic explored that are not solely designed to buff your character and destroy an enemy... anything to give magic that element of mystery and exploration. Spells that commune with spirits, provide psychometry of objects, or anything that goes beyond "3-18+2 Electrical in a two meter radius." Spells that make you wonder what the hell they're going to DO when you let them fly."
I don't really see the stats as being "tired" just as being something different.
:)
:))
If I want to go the statsless RPG route, I play something like Zelda, where the focus is more on puzzle solving and quick fingers. Guys who once knocked off X amount of energy no longer do so once I understand their pattern.
On the other hand, if I feel like getting gratification by fighting guys who would have annihilated me 20 game-hours ago thanks to my shiny new weapon, armour, and stats, I play a Final Fantasy or Baldur's Gate type of game.
Is there a medium between the two? I dunno, it seems like a pretty clear line to me: Either you have in-game stats that empower you or you gain empowerment through getting better at playing the game itself. Is there a third option? I'm not saying there *isn't*, but I'd like to hear what the 3rd one is
The only thing I can even come close to thinking of is a MMORPG scenario where real people imbue you with abilities based on how they feel you've contributed to the community (in the case of good alignment) or shit disturbing (in the case of evil alignment). You wouldn't KNOW what your stat is via a number or meter, you would just have to test your mettle once in a while to see if you "feel" any stronger in a certain ability.
As far as magic goes, it's hard to say. Would FF7's magic system via Materia(?) be considered a more freeform type of magic? Linking types through putting them in weapon slots?
To be honest, most of my satisfaction through playing mage-types in RPGs has been from having a rough ride starting off the game (and a steeper learning curve) but then being able to obliterate things later on. The spells themselves haven't felt boring to me, and I've been playing the games since Ultima III.
The games that have impressed me lately don't really seem to have a specific genre. What are Deus Ex, Black and White, and Anachronox? Adventure? RPG? FPS? A puzzle game? (I know, I know.. B+W = Most overrated of all time
If they could come up with a way to make it dynamic enough where you wouldn't see a website with the list of all possible spell combinations within a week.....*cough*Asheron's Call*cough* I think it could be incredible.
If you want just a broad range of out of the ordinary spells.....check out a MUD called Dragonrealms by Simutronics. It's $10/month, but I've been paying it for years......simply the most engrossing game out there. Don't believe me? Check out their spell list.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Its like this: Magic is such a convention in RPGs, it has become mundane even though if it were a real world phenomenon it wouldn't be. Do you get all excited when you find a sword? Of course not, theres millions of them, they are in just about every game, and they just aren't that special because of this. Magic is a tool, you know when you play a CRPG that magic is going to be for delivering pain on your foes, healing and curing, or buffing characters.
I think if you want to make magic interesting, you need to make the actual play mechanics of it more complex. For those of you that have played it, think of "Magic the gathering" regardless of your views on the game you have to admit that the way that players in that game cast spells to attack, defend, and counter their opponents spells creates something closer to the way that one might imagine a pair of real wizards may face off against each other. Now I'm not saying that the next Bioware offering should include a card game with the rest of the package, but what I am saying is that the way you make magic interesting is to give it a mechanic beyond "I cast, I burn a resource, and then the foozle takes 6-36 fire damage".
I am spouting so let me give some examples of what I mean: In the game "Chrono Cross" for the PSX, the battle area had a "field alignment". When spells of an elemental nature were cast, they would shift the field to their color, and subsequent spells of like alignment would become more powerful. Certain spells and abilities could only be used if the last 3 spells or effects cast were of a specific color, say for example you wanted to throw a firestorm spell, and it required the field to be in full red alignment, it would mean that your characters preceding the one casting the firestorm, would need to shift the alignment by using their own spells or abilities. Furthermore, on occasion you would face off against foes that had very dangerous abilities that they could use if the field alignment shifted all the way to one element, and so besides trying to hurt them, you would need to throw a spell or two here and there to prevent them from getting a favorable alignment. THis system made a number of the games battles a difficult and demanding encounter since your spell resources were limited. It was a lot more interesting than the usual MP based different colored damage model that is the standard convention.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
ex. You could pile up some lumber, put rocks on it, and cast a fireball on the lumber. This would start a fire and heat the rocks up, the practical upshot of which is a batch of little mini fireballs.
But for the most part magic is pretty rule based; targets: enemy, enemy all, ally, ally all, all. Some games, like Secret of Evermore, have tried implementing an alchemy system, mixing items together to create different spells, but then you are usually limited to what the game designers pre placed in the game as far as effective combinations go.
The other side of the equation is Robotrek, a game that was pretty limited, but let you design techniques(basically magics or attacks) based on button combinations. Mind you there were only 3 or 4 buttons, so you couldn't get too inventive, but at least there was an effort.