Rampant Games - Indie RPG Roundup

The Rampant Coyote has a new Indie RPG Roundup, with quite a few things we cover anyway but also some projects out of our scope, such as Magical Diary, Cthulhu Saves the World and Planet Stronghold.
Somewhat related, Sinister Design has a piece titled Reasons to Support Indie RPGs, mostly discussing 2K Marin's attitude to turn-based games:

2K Marin, the developer working on the X-Com series reboot, has become the latest big studio to take a turn at trashing classic turn-based games:

“Every studio we had wanted to do it and each one had its own spin on it,” Hartmann says of the revival of the XCOM brand. “But the problem was that turn-based strategy games were no longer the hottest thing on planet Earth. But this is not just a commercial thing – strategy games are just not contemporary.” So, it became a first-person affair, even if 2K seems somewhat hesitant to label it a first-person shooter.
Hartmann says the team at 2K Marin are trying to “renew Xcom but in line with what this generation of gamers want.”
My first thought upon reading this was simply “Again?” This is twice now in the span of a month. It seems the mainstream studios just cannot help themselves: they just have to justify their wholesale abandonment of slow-paced cerebral gameplay. And it seems that they all have the same justification: that modern gamers are all Ritalin-popping adrenaline junkies with the collective attention span of a piece of dryer lint.

More information.

I don't understand how some of these people can think that turn-based games are out dated and not popular when there are several popular series of turn-based strategy games going today. They are more simplified then they were but they are still turn-based. I guess they are morons that can't see outside of their little boxes.

Originally Posted by guenthar
I don't understand how some of these people can think that turn-based games are out dated and not popular when there are several popular series of turn-based strategy games going today. They are more simplified then they were but they are still turn-based. I guess they are morons that can't see outside of their little boxes.

They are morons who can't see outside of their PNL statements. A turn based game can be a success, but in this day and age a game has to be a huge sweeping success or the industry considers it a failure. Its all about the benjamins.

Well it looks like Dungeons of Dredmor is going to be a hit. It's still in the top 3 best seller list on Steam. That one is all turnbased. If it continues to be a best seller maybe some other devs/publishers will follow their example.

The real question is how much money they make by having the price so low. It can be a best seller, but for 5 dollars a pop they'll have to be a best seller for awhile (I would think).

Originally Posted by guenthar
I don't understand how some of these people can think that turn-based games are out dated and not popular

"The industry" makes people believe that !

Remember - we live in an "Age Of Action" (regarding games), not in an "Age Of Story" !

And of course they want to sell what they propagate …

The sad thing is, he's right, especially in the console market. If you want big sales, trying to appeal to the cerebral types isn't going to cut it. It would be like making a game that only works well for left-handed people.

What CrazyIrish is saying is right, too. You don't HAVE to have big sales. Get a small team together and keep a lid on the mass marketing and you can make a mint with so-so sales. I don't remember seeing many of those, though. Games always seem to be made by 200+ people or made by 5 or less people.

Turn Based > Real Time

I prefer real time with pause for RPGs, but do enjoy turn based for strategy. I just find that in RPG's, turn based is disruptive to my immersion, particular if it is implemented like in ToEE.

It's discouraging that people like this continue to be employed in the industry. The marketing weasels have truly taken over the development.

I think I'll go play XCOM:Apoc, or maybe load the latest UFO: Alien Invasion. Then I can be all non-contemporary…

Next up:

Boardgames are yesterday's news! Boardgames used to be popular but now are outmoded technology. —Feargus Urquhart, Obsidian Entertainment

Collectible card games are dead, no one plays those anymore! Players don't have the
patience for outdated 'cardboard' technology. —John Riccitiello, EA

E-mail will soon be phased out as a form of communication. Now that real-time interaction is possible through chat, e-mail will soon die off. —Todd Howard, Bethesda

Children no longer play soccer! Now that real-time 3D sports simulations are available even for older rigs, schools everywhere have canceled all their sports programs. Why go outside and get dirty when you can do it all on your home PC? —Strauss Zelnick, Take Two Interactive