Diablo - How it Saved the Computer RPG

Drakensang was probably the very, very last non-Indie complex C-RPG.

And why is that? It's just one game made by a small studio that made games primarily for the German market. I guess before Drakensang you thought that NWN2 was the very, very last CRPG?

I'd say that given that there's only been 2 studios in the past 10 years that have made RPG's in that style (BioWare and Obsidian), and both of those have grown too large to make non-AAA games, you'd better give smaller studios a few years before you declare the genre dead forever. After all, there was nothing between 2003 and 2006 either (ToEE -> NWN2).
 
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Diablo never saved RPGs - it created a new genre (or sub genre), hack'n slash. Every game inspired by Diablo is extremely easy to identify, and follow the exact same recipe (Titan Quest, Sacred, etc).
 
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I guess before Drakensang you thought that NWN2 was the very, very last CRPG?

NWN2 -> 2006
DRASA1 -> 2008
DRASA2 2 -> 2010

Okay, you are right in so far that DRakensang 2 was onl 2 years after NWN2.
Drakensang 2 was 4 years after NWN2, and this is the game I actually had meant with saying "the very, very las old school RPG".

Besides, you are twisting my own quote . I was NOT saying this :

the very, very last CRPG?

But INSTEAD I was saying this :

the very, very last non-Indie complex C-RPG.

Please note that I used the word "complex".

And with "complex" I mean the variety of skills, talents and overall means of character progression present in both Drakensang games.

Yes, you are right, NWN2 has it, too. But it was released BEFORE both Drakensang games.
I did use the wod "last" in my quote, you know ?!
 
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NWN2 -> 2006
DRASA1 -> 2008
DRASA2 2 -> 2010

Okay, you are right in so far that DRakensang 2 was onl 2 years after NWN2.
Drakensang 2 was 4 years after NWN2, and this is the game I actually had meant with saying "the very, very las old school RPG".

I was just pointing out that, considering the low amount of such games during the past 10 years, you should perhaps wait a few more years before declaring the latest release as "the very very last ever". Or did you just mean it's the "latest" one, as in released most recently?
 
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And while we are on the topic I would say that if anything "saved" the computer RPG and spawned a sort of renaissance after a period of staleness, that would be the early infinity Engine games starting with BG actually…
 
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created the action rpg genre, maybe.
 
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Baldur's Gate was the true savior of the genre, in my opinion. I've never finished BG, mostly because I'm not a big fan of Minsc, Jaheira, etc. Crpgs were getting fewer and fewer releases before BG reinvigorated the market. Diablo and MMO's killed our niche genre and turned it into something lesser for the unwashed masses.
 
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I'm curious as to where TES modding will take us. We've seen with Nehrim that you can use Bethesda's construction sets to make very deep games. Supposedly, the new creation kit is even more powerful and you've got a team already assembled that will attempt to make a full-blown game with it. Will this be the next big thing? It's already massively huge, but if somebody can earn a living making games with Bethesda's kit, then that might be the next evolution of the genre. Whether this is for better or worse remains to be seen. I loved aspects of Nehrim (dungeon design/world design) immensely and I really like FNV too. Imagine if SureAI had made a few million off their game.....
 
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Baldur's Gate was the true savior of the genre, in my opinion. I've never finished BG, mostly because I'm not a big fan of Minsc, Jaheira, etc. Crpgs were getting fewer and fewer releases before BG reinvigorated the market. Diablo and MMO's killed our niche genre and turned it into something lesser for the unwashed masses.

I agree completely about Baldur's Gate. Betrayal at Krondor was another game from that period that made an impact, IMO.
 
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I was just pointing out that, considering the low amount of such games during the past 10 years, you should perhaps wait a few more years before declaring the latest release as "the very very last ever". Or did you just mean it's the "latest" one, as in released most recently?

Well, looking at how the RPG genre has evolved within the last years, I personally find a lesser and lesser probability (spelling ?) that complex games will come out in the future.

Mass Accessibility (MA or ME ?) is the direction where this game genre is turning towards nowadays. And more and more action-oriented gameplay.

I just see it as a matter of probabilities. The probability of actio RPGs is very, very high nowadays, of "RPG Llight" also, and the more complex the game is, the smaller the probbility of it being produced and mrketed is, in my eyes.

It's like cloning : Everyone saw how Blizzard's games sold - and many tried to repeat that Mass Success (MA = ME = MS).

I have the impression that nowadays Bioware tries to go this route : compolex -> accessible/action
And others try this route : action -> complex

Bot no-one realy tries to do a complex game alone. It is lways tampered with action/accessibility.

Besides, my use of the word "accessibility" doesn't mean that I find accessibility alone a bad thing. (Example : Blade Of Destiny compared to Startrail.)
What I find bad is when *everything* is sacrified for it -> aka "dumbing down" a game.

Whereas the term "to dumb a game don" can both be applied to accessibility and/or to gameplay.
 
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Baldur's Gate was the true savior of the genre, in my opinion. I've never finished BG, mostly because I'm not a big fan of Minsc, Jaheira, etc. Crpgs were getting fewer and fewer releases before BG reinvigorated the market. Diablo and MMO's killed our niche genre and turned it into something lesser for the unwashed masses.

You could set up a multiplayer game and make all your own characters and only take as many companions as you want or none.
 
I wasn't swayed by turn based strategy games. Diablo didn't do nothin' for me either.

This article is the result of Activision/Blizzard sending the author free pizzas for a year or something. Bullshit PR posing as "journalism".
 
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I agree completely about Baldur's Gate. Betrayal at Krondor was another game from that period that made an impact, IMO.

Do you mean Return to Krondor? BaK was released in 1993 during the golden age of the crpg - when all the big series were in full swing i.e. Ultima, Wizardry, Might and Magic etc. Those were the days...
 
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darksun RPG's(sands of time and wake of the ravager) i think were in 1992, also great, great fun games and RPG's.

also fallout kicks baldur's gate's arse..i LOVE BG but fallout is ahead of it even.
 
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It made a difference, because it became incredibly popular - and made investors realise the potential of the genre if handled in a certain way.

By itself, it was a deceptively simple game - with a very strong execution.

Best part of all, was the cooperative multiplayer aspect. I don't think I've ever had a finer time in gaming than playing Diablo with my brother and a mutual friend.

It's literally the only game in existence that ever made me forget about the outside world completely - while playing.
 
also fallout kicks baldur's gate's arse..i LOVE BG but fallout is ahead of it even.

You mean in your opinion ;) BG was way ahead of fallout in my opinion and I'm sure there are lot out there who would agree with me, and also with you.
 
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