D
DArtagnan
Guest
I wonder…
Am I the only one who doesn't really care about being "the center of the universe" in my RPGs?
I mean, so many developers focus so much on making me, or my character, feel truly special - and Bioware is a good example of doing nothing BUT that. It's as if everything that happens in the game, somehow MUST tie into your character.
Personally, coming from the old days of PnP roleplaying, it wasn't always like that. Sure, you and your party members often got involved in the "big picture" - but I recall several fantastic campaigns where we were merely helping out, or assisting those who were actually at the forefront of main events.
I think it's incredibly dull, to be honest - because it's so cliché.
I've always greatly enjoyed games that start out very low-key, where you're just helping some random village with some local trouble, and I think the powertrip is somewhat superfluous in many cases. I enjoy the opportunity to remain relatively anonymous for a long time, and even if the events can be of vital importance to the world, I find it off-putting that they have to revolve around me. Even with a modest beginning, the typical CRPG quickly turns into yet another save-the-world scenario.
I guess, what I'm getting at - is that I greatly enjoy having a limited direction, and the opportunity to simply have the universe be ME - and my own little world. My own character and his own goals should be my universe, and then I can help out or not - as I choose.
Does that make sense?
Also, I really find it dreadfully predictable that there always has to be some kind of god or supreme being behind everything. Why can't it just be some local greedy power baron, trying to tip the balance of power in his favor.
The Gothic games are better in this way, even if they generally follow the cliché in the end. But much of those games are about local people with plausible motives and down-to-earth aspirations.
That's probably one of the reasons I can't get into Torment, to name one example - because it deals with ridiculous kinds of characters and powers.
It's like it can't get over-the-top fast enough, while I was just trying to enjoy my little shiny +1 Longsword that I acquired after much hard work.
I long for a trilogy of games, where the ending is simply about resolving some local trouble - without the entire world blowing up and coming together again. Can't I have the game end with getting a sweet wife - and returning to the simple life?
How do you feel about this?
Am I the only one who doesn't really care about being "the center of the universe" in my RPGs?
I mean, so many developers focus so much on making me, or my character, feel truly special - and Bioware is a good example of doing nothing BUT that. It's as if everything that happens in the game, somehow MUST tie into your character.
Personally, coming from the old days of PnP roleplaying, it wasn't always like that. Sure, you and your party members often got involved in the "big picture" - but I recall several fantastic campaigns where we were merely helping out, or assisting those who were actually at the forefront of main events.
I think it's incredibly dull, to be honest - because it's so cliché.
I've always greatly enjoyed games that start out very low-key, where you're just helping some random village with some local trouble, and I think the powertrip is somewhat superfluous in many cases. I enjoy the opportunity to remain relatively anonymous for a long time, and even if the events can be of vital importance to the world, I find it off-putting that they have to revolve around me. Even with a modest beginning, the typical CRPG quickly turns into yet another save-the-world scenario.
I guess, what I'm getting at - is that I greatly enjoy having a limited direction, and the opportunity to simply have the universe be ME - and my own little world. My own character and his own goals should be my universe, and then I can help out or not - as I choose.
Does that make sense?
Also, I really find it dreadfully predictable that there always has to be some kind of god or supreme being behind everything. Why can't it just be some local greedy power baron, trying to tip the balance of power in his favor.
The Gothic games are better in this way, even if they generally follow the cliché in the end. But much of those games are about local people with plausible motives and down-to-earth aspirations.
That's probably one of the reasons I can't get into Torment, to name one example - because it deals with ridiculous kinds of characters and powers.
It's like it can't get over-the-top fast enough, while I was just trying to enjoy my little shiny +1 Longsword that I acquired after much hard work.
I long for a trilogy of games, where the ending is simply about resolving some local trouble - without the entire world blowing up and coming together again. Can't I have the game end with getting a sweet wife - and returning to the simple life?
How do you feel about this?