S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Preview @ CVG

With considerable input from GSC's Anton Bolshakov, CVG has a meaty preview of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky that includes some history on the original project-

Indeed, as those who followed the Stalker story will recall, the game was always touted as being a little more freeform than the final release proved to be. Clear Sky, it seems, will be returning to the more open-ended inspirations.
"Most of the features in Clear Sky were from the original concept that we were working on but were not included in Stalker," says Bolshakov. "We picked some and we're now integrating them into this new game. What we're making is more complete and polished."
Central to that is what GSC are doing with the various factions that inhabit the zone. While there were a large number of factions in the original game (Freedom, Duty, the military, the mercenaries, the scientists, the neutral stalkers and the servants of the monolith) you were only really able to follow three paths: Neutrality, Freedom, or Duty. In Clear Sky you'll be able to join up with seven different factions, work with them, fight them, and ultimately lead your chosen side to victory.

More information.

Why do you follow up on this completely non-rpg title? Such attention from RPG-inclined reviewers actually fooled me into buying the original and this is by far the most regretful videogame purchase I ever made.

Well, it is pretty clear that it is not a RPG, but it is pretty popular here. And that certainly caused some debate, but the decision was made to cover it.

and why i agree its not an rpg
it's a better rpg 'experience' than oblivion
my most regretful videogame purchase and subsequent hours spent
but thankfully the staff do cover it and aren't swayed in this matter and others by those with few posts

did you read mikes review of it, which was on this site? one of the best reviews out there are; surely detailed enough to let you know its not an rpg under most terms.

Originally Posted by drum
Why do you follow up on this completely non-rpg title? Such attention from RPG-inclined reviewers actually fooled me into buying the original and this is by far the most regretful videogame purchase I ever made.

Then I don't think you've purchased many videogames.

Indeed, it's not an RPG, but like Curiously Undead said, it's more of an RPG experience than Oblivion. The line between genré's is not as sharp as it used to be. For one who plays RPG's for the storyline choices rather than building up points on a character sheets, S.T.A.L.K.E.R gave me what I wanted. And do not get me started on the ancient "what's a roleplaying game?" discussion…

Originally Posted by drum
Why do you follow up on this completely non-rpg title? Such attention from RPG-inclined reviewers actually fooled me into buying the original and this is by far the most regretful videogame purchase I ever made.

Do you always just go with the herd, or do you occasionally, y'know, read the occasional review, or something?

I wouldn't buy anything just because we cover it - read a wide range of opinions before you buy.

We included S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (after it had been released, by the way) because people kept writing to me asking why we didn't cover it. Since we have always included "games of interest to our readers", we discussed it and the team decided to include it. Traditionally, we have reported on stuff like Thief, HoMM, Deus Ex, System Shock and Silent Storm, none of which are RPGs, either.

Now someone is going to write to me and say that Deus Ex is indeed an RPG.

Philosophically, we think genre definitions make for an interesting forum argument but we don't lose sleep at night worrying about the exact borders.

Oh, I'm sorry for having caused so much stir

Come to think of it, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. does really have quite a bit of story, atmosphere and other RPG appeal. It's just so hard to see that behind the hordes of constantly respawning enemies if you are completely not into action games

JDR13, you are quite right, I haven't bought a lot of games because I live in Russia and videogame market became somewhat civilized only 2-3 years ago here. In 2004 and earlier heaps of pirated games were sold on every corner for $2 or 3 per disk, but you had too look really hard to find a legal copy, so most people didn't bother.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
Traditionally, we have reported on stuff like Thief, HoMM, Deus Ex, System Shock and Silent Storm, none of which are RPGs, either.
Now someone is going to write to me and say that Deus Ex is indeed an RPG.

Yes, Deus Ex is definitely a RPG. It's a game with both character statistics, personal choices and multiple endings. System Shock is also a RPG.

See? See?