E.Y.E. - Interview @ RPS

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has interviewed StreumOnStudio’s Christophe Longuepee about E.Y.E, which is described as having finished development with the release imminent. I must say my personal interest dropped with an emphasis on "fast-paced combat" and player skill - here's a snip:

RPS: Okay! What sort of game is E.Y.E.? What kind of experiences are you hoping to offer players?
Longuepee: E.Y.E is a FPS/RPG game, rather old school, and banking on a fast-paced combat gameplay. The player dives in a very dark Cyberpunk world (we’re not talking about the lack of lights in the maps, as said in some comments, it looks like a French specialty, sort of like cooking, cute girls, or bad moods) where he embodies an assassin, torn apart between his sense of duty and his friendship with his mentor. We wanted to put an emphasis on the player’s skills rather than his avatar’s characteristics.
The RPG part is very present in the dialogues and the choices that player’s character will make, that will influence the events and the scenario of the game. Another priority for us was to offer the player an immersion and a freedom of choice as powerful and complete as possible.

More information.

I'm not sure why "player-skill" is such a dirty word among RPG fans. To each his own of course, but I'm glad that there is a variety of different gameplay mechanics in the genre; variety and new ideas prevent RPGs from becoming stale in my opinion (so long as "new ideas" aren't just a cover-up for "dumbing down"). However, I respect that not everyone will agree with that, and some might have valid reasons why they dislike RPGs that require player-skill. Looking forward to this one, as I love games that allow for player creativity in choosing how to complete objectives.

I think, player/skill is a much deserved dirty word for RPG fans. Many of us play CRPGs because we like the fact that as our character increases in stats, he/she increases in abilities. If player/skill is not properly weaved into the game, then it becomes the dominate game play factor and not character growth in abilities.

E.Y.E.'s game world looks fascinating, but I am not convinced that this looks like a good RPG to me.

Originally Posted by Dajjer
I think, player/skill is a much deserved dirty word for RPG fans. Many of us play CRPGs because we like the fact that as our character increases in stats, he/she increases in abilities. If player/skill is not properly weaved into the game, then it becomes the dominate game play factor and not character growth in abilities.

E.Y.E.'s game world looks fascinating, but I am not convinced that this looks like a good RPG to me.

I feel the same way when it comes to enjoying the character-building aspect of RPGs (and I share the disdain for those elements being taken away), and that's part of the reason why I said that some people probably have completely valid reasons for not liking player skill in RPGs. However, when the need for player skill is implemented alongside a solid character-building system, this creates an enjoyable gameplay blend. RPGs along the lines of Gothic/Risen, The Witcher 2, Deus Ex, and Fallout: New Vegas are just a few examples of RPGs that require player skill/involvement, yet there is still a large focus on character progression to suit your "role" for combat encounters.

To me, E.Y.E. looks like a game that will have enough character building depth to avoid being "just a shooter" with only light "RPG elements" (unlike, say, Mass Effect 2, which in my opinion failed to translate the original's system into one that focused on more player involvement without sacrificing character-building/statistical depth).

I feel all really good rpgs require player skill to be good, it just depends on how one defines skill. Meaningful character progression and customization is key in any rpg but ideally they game should be challenging enough that it requires careful planning and tactical use of abilities to overcome challenges. In other words, two characters with the same builds could perform very differently depending on how well the player uses and optimizes those abilities. This includes the turn-based and more party-based tactical rpgs many of us grew up on, whether it be the old gold box games, baldur's gate, etc.

I think the problem is that the term "player skill" has increasingly come to connote not mental skill but physical or twitch skill. In other words, its most commonly used now to imply that a game is more fps/action-based. As previously addressed by others, there has been a discernible trend in games in which the focus on those aspects diminish if not all together negate the meaningfulness of any rpg/character development.