Friday, October 09, 2009
The Little Things Every RPG Should Have
An article on Destructoid about the conveniences that "every" RPG should have:
The Little Things Every RPG Should Have
I agree with some parts of the list. Visible indicators that a monster is low on health, summaries of the "story so far" (very useful when you have to take a several-day hiatus from a game and get back into it), and merchant screens that let you actually see what you are buying and fiddle with your inventory while there ... definitely good stuff.
The status effect spell thing is an especially big deal with me. I mean, they give you these awesome spells that totally kick butt in a battle.... but then they only work against foes that are so trivial you can kill them in one or two hits, anyway. And even then it only has a 1 in 3 chance of sticking. What's up with that? All that is is a waste of your mage's turn.
The in-game bestiary idea is a nice one. But that's one that requires care. Part of the thrill of RPGs is the mystery of some of the monsters. At what point do you open up the kimono and let the player see the details on what it is he is facing, and even reveal it's stats?
Some of the other suggestions are a little bit more iffy to me. It sounds like the author has been playing too many of one kind of game.
The party separating in town? Yeah - that would work great in Eschalon: Book 1. This is obviously a very traditional jRPG thing where you have a story-heavy game with specific, pre-defined characters. And yeah, it's neat. But I'd stop very, very short from including it in a list of things that "every" RPG should have.
HP & MP restoration on level-up: This is really a matter of taste. Sure, the thrill of a free, unrealistic recovery in the middle of waves of combat can give a nice gambler's rush. But I really don't see this even resembling a "must have." Conceivably, it could hurt some games, though I have a tough time making a strong case for it.
Visible weapons and armor on opponents? Ideally, sure. But as a developer, I know exactly how crazy that can get on content requirements. Nice to have, but that's a pretty tall order. What's important to me, is a player, is that you do defeat enemies with clearly cool weapons or armor that are denied to you when time comes to loot for no good reason. I remember Wizardry 7 bugged me that way, with those cool shock-rods and Umpani firearms that somehow self-destructed when you defeated their wielders.
Even if I don't agree with all of it, I do like the direction he's going with this article. I do not believe that every game in a genre should use a laundry list of best features of every other game in the genre as the core design document. But it's nice to have them.
(Thanks to RPGWatch for the link!)
Labels: Roleplaying Games
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 6:52 AM (Permalink)
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I agree -- some good stuff in that article, but other stuff seems more RPG sub-genre specific (i.e. jRPGs).
Visible health indicators: While I agree, I'm a little confused on this one; I mean, what RPG doesn't show either hit points or a health bar for the combatants? I can't think of a single one! What I would like to see, however, are more detailed and varied indicators, things like visible wounds/blood, signs of fatigue (attack/movement speed), morale (they try to run or call for help), etc.
The status spell effect thing is a definite pet peeve of mine too, particularly in regard to World of Warcraft. Player classes are given a whole slew of spells and abilities, but when it comes to most boss fights, the abilities are useless. Can I stun him? No, immune. Bleed? Immune. Polymorph? Immune. Slow? Immune. Burn? Immune. Sleep? Immune. Etc. For some things it makes sense, e.g. a fire elemental is immune to fire damage. But there are so many occasions where the designers obviously couldn't come up with a better way to make the fight challenging. Weak.
Bestiary: Always cool to have. As for when or how it becomes available... I don't recall what the game was, but in it you had to interact with (read: kill) a monster a certain number of times before the information about it was completely revealed. Actually, Diablo did something like this, where the average hit points and magic abilities or resistances of a creature weren't revealed until you had killed a certain number of them.
Another idea, which I think would be very cool... Have NPCs, loremasters or sages, that the player can interact with:
"Hey, I was out in the swamp and I got attacked by something that looked like this... smelled bad too!"
"Well son, that sounds very much like a Great Northern Muckswiller, very territorial -- it's no wonder you got attacked..."
Then after talking to this NPC, the info would be filled out and available in the bestiary for that creature.
Health and mana regeneration on level-up: Eh, it's nice but... necessary? Naw. For one thing, this assumes a level-based system. What if the system is skill-based? The writer also alludes to healing potions or items being rare; this might not be the case at all (and in some RPGs I've played, they are anything but rare).
Related to that, however... I do like to see health and mana regeneration over time even if it's minimal. I find it unrealistic and annoying to be forced to find an inn or make camp, before I can regain one single bit of health or mana.
Visible equipment: Completely agree with you here, Jay; it's very cool to have, but not necessary. And yeah, it's completely lame when NPCs do not drop the gear that they obviously had equipped. Also, not quite as lame, but lame none-the-less... NPCs that drop items that just don't make sense, for example wolves with vambraces, or moths with gold coin, or snakes with wands, etc.
Visible health indicators: While I agree, I'm a little confused on this one; I mean, what RPG doesn't show either hit points or a health bar for the combatants? I can't think of a single one! What I would like to see, however, are more detailed and varied indicators, things like visible wounds/blood, signs of fatigue (attack/movement speed), morale (they try to run or call for help), etc.
The status spell effect thing is a definite pet peeve of mine too, particularly in regard to World of Warcraft. Player classes are given a whole slew of spells and abilities, but when it comes to most boss fights, the abilities are useless. Can I stun him? No, immune. Bleed? Immune. Polymorph? Immune. Slow? Immune. Burn? Immune. Sleep? Immune. Etc. For some things it makes sense, e.g. a fire elemental is immune to fire damage. But there are so many occasions where the designers obviously couldn't come up with a better way to make the fight challenging. Weak.
Bestiary: Always cool to have. As for when or how it becomes available... I don't recall what the game was, but in it you had to interact with (read: kill) a monster a certain number of times before the information about it was completely revealed. Actually, Diablo did something like this, where the average hit points and magic abilities or resistances of a creature weren't revealed until you had killed a certain number of them.
Another idea, which I think would be very cool... Have NPCs, loremasters or sages, that the player can interact with:
"Hey, I was out in the swamp and I got attacked by something that looked like this... smelled bad too!"
"Well son, that sounds very much like a Great Northern Muckswiller, very territorial -- it's no wonder you got attacked..."
Then after talking to this NPC, the info would be filled out and available in the bestiary for that creature.
Health and mana regeneration on level-up: Eh, it's nice but... necessary? Naw. For one thing, this assumes a level-based system. What if the system is skill-based? The writer also alludes to healing potions or items being rare; this might not be the case at all (and in some RPGs I've played, they are anything but rare).
Related to that, however... I do like to see health and mana regeneration over time even if it's minimal. I find it unrealistic and annoying to be forced to find an inn or make camp, before I can regain one single bit of health or mana.
Visible equipment: Completely agree with you here, Jay; it's very cool to have, but not necessary. And yeah, it's completely lame when NPCs do not drop the gear that they obviously had equipped. Also, not quite as lame, but lame none-the-less... NPCs that drop items that just don't make sense, for example wolves with vambraces, or moths with gold coin, or snakes with wands, etc.
Regarding an in-game bestiary, I always wanted to talk with NPCs to get warnings and information about monsters. The locals should logically know of dangers and have at least some information about them (attacks, defenses, immunities, etc.). So, if you take the time to ask around town, you should know quite a bit about nearby monsters, though you might have to encounter one yourself to fill in the details.
I never liked being required to have a detailed knowledge of AD&D lore in order to play a computer game (re. knowing the monster list ahead of time). And this is another case where automatic notes would help a player returning to the game after a delay. If I were really in danger of my life, I probably wouldn't have any trouble remembering how a creature attacked me previously, but in a computer game, an in-game bestiary is nice.
The party separating in town? Not particularly important, though I did like how The Magic Candle and its sequel let you split the party and leave some members working while the others adventured - maybe just because it was different.
I never liked being required to have a detailed knowledge of AD&D lore in order to play a computer game (re. knowing the monster list ahead of time). And this is another case where automatic notes would help a player returning to the game after a delay. If I were really in danger of my life, I probably wouldn't have any trouble remembering how a creature attacked me previously, but in a computer game, an in-game bestiary is nice.
The party separating in town? Not particularly important, though I did like how The Magic Candle and its sequel let you split the party and leave some members working while the others adventured - maybe just because it was different.
OK, a really boring comment, but:
decent movement speed.
Play Eschalon: Book I. What do they have in common? The character/party moves like molasses. I have better things to do than watch my character crawl across the screen waiting for something to happen.
decent movement speed.
Play Eschalon: Book I. What do they have in common? The character/party moves like molasses. I have better things to do than watch my character crawl across the screen waiting for something to happen.
Agree with all your points but I do love the idea about bestiaries. The way how I plan to implement this into my game design is by letting the player collect certain data disks that are hidden throughout the worlds (this could even be made a side quest) and every data disk contains information about a certain thing. This not only provides background information about bestiaries but also about the worlds, races, weapons and equipment etc.
I know this is a lot of extra work and doesn't necessarily add anything to the gameplay but I like it if everything has some sort of background information to give the world you're playing in more depth. This very much reflects your own intellectual property. A RPG where things have no depth feels very stale for me.
I know this is a lot of extra work and doesn't necessarily add anything to the gameplay but I like it if everything has some sort of background information to give the world you're playing in more depth. This very much reflects your own intellectual property. A RPG where things have no depth feels very stale for me.
@xenovore: "what RPG doesn't show either hit points or a health bar for the combatants?" Baldur's Gate? Final Fantasy 6? Ultima 7? No important games, obviously. ;)
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