Squeek
connoisseur of tidbits
The Iron Tower article on sub-genres reminds me of the recently-featured editorial at Next Generation, “Adventureland.” Both peeked inside the box to identify and define RPG's essence in the hope of determining the logical best path for the future. Somehow, each came to conclusions that, while legitimate, were also very different.
The box is the reason, IMO. It’s restrictive. Normally, restrictive boxes tend to grow, evolve or break as businesses take advantage of new opportunities, especially those provided by technology. But this particular box seems to be a genuine stumper.
The box's market seem to a stumper too. Instead of viewing markets the way high-technology businesses often do, thinking in terms of how new technology can reach new markets, CRPG makers see it the way businesses usually see it: ”There’s only so many dogs out there who are only going to eat so much dog food….”
The answer requires thinking outside the box, both from a technical and a marketing viewpoint, in order to reconsider how computer RPG might be done differently and better. It requires looking beyond the current competitive landscape and considering customers who might want something new without even realizing it. It’s a bet that authentic RPG would appeal to customers who aren’t buying CRPGs now.
IMO, there are a ton of folks out there who would be eager to play a CRPG that provided them with an opportunity to jump into roles like ones in the books they love, characters living lives in imaginary worlds where things like boldness and virtue, daring and cunning and perseverance and sacrifice always result in fantastic adventure.
Collaboration is what’s missing. Collaborative effort is the essential element of RPG and should be provided by the game. That’s something some folks consider a pipe dream. To that I would point out the massive amounts of current collaboration. Players change, extend, improve and even fix single-player RPGs all the time. If that’s not collaboration, than what is it?
RPG requires collaboration in a paradigm other than reality, collaboration that works to authenticate brilliant imaginary worlds where characters like the ones we love make perfect sense. It’s time for CRPG makers to think outside the box by designing games that think in terms of roles played in imaginary worlds with asserted realities.
The box is the reason, IMO. It’s restrictive. Normally, restrictive boxes tend to grow, evolve or break as businesses take advantage of new opportunities, especially those provided by technology. But this particular box seems to be a genuine stumper.
The box's market seem to a stumper too. Instead of viewing markets the way high-technology businesses often do, thinking in terms of how new technology can reach new markets, CRPG makers see it the way businesses usually see it: ”There’s only so many dogs out there who are only going to eat so much dog food….”
The answer requires thinking outside the box, both from a technical and a marketing viewpoint, in order to reconsider how computer RPG might be done differently and better. It requires looking beyond the current competitive landscape and considering customers who might want something new without even realizing it. It’s a bet that authentic RPG would appeal to customers who aren’t buying CRPGs now.
IMO, there are a ton of folks out there who would be eager to play a CRPG that provided them with an opportunity to jump into roles like ones in the books they love, characters living lives in imaginary worlds where things like boldness and virtue, daring and cunning and perseverance and sacrifice always result in fantastic adventure.
Collaboration is what’s missing. Collaborative effort is the essential element of RPG and should be provided by the game. That’s something some folks consider a pipe dream. To that I would point out the massive amounts of current collaboration. Players change, extend, improve and even fix single-player RPGs all the time. If that’s not collaboration, than what is it?
RPG requires collaboration in a paradigm other than reality, collaboration that works to authenticate brilliant imaginary worlds where characters like the ones we love make perfect sense. It’s time for CRPG makers to think outside the box by designing games that think in terms of roles played in imaginary worlds with asserted realities.