NWN2: MoW - Interview @ GameZone

GameZone has an interview with Ossian's Allan Miranda on Mysteries of Westgate and related topics:

Q: What will Ossian be working on next?
Alan: People are going to have to wait before hearing what we’re working on. Given that we’re an RPG developer, it’s a good bet that it’ll be an RPG.
Q: Do you think the fantasy RPG/RTS genre is stagnating in repetitious ideas (like the release of several Diablo-esque games of late), or do you think the industry is still tickling the edge of what is possible?
Alan: There will always be developers in the game industry that will push the edge of what is possible. It won’t necessarily be a lot of people, and it won’t be constant, but the drive is always there. I’ve seen and played my share of generic fantasy games and think that the advantage of trying to do something new and unique is that you have the potential to surpass all the clone games. I don’t see RPGs or RTSs ever stagnating for overly long for that reason.

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what 3 or 4 diablo clones and it becomes a stagnating genre? What about all teh shooters? Lame question.

He's right though - the genre stagnated with Diablo 2.

Though I still think Hellgate was an evolution of certain key aspects.

He's right though - the genre stagnated with Diablo 2.

What are you talking about? What is the interviewer talking about? Diablo II was released nine (9) frigging years ago, and it's yet to have a sequel or heir, official or otherwise. How could it possibly be responsible for any current stagnation of RPGs?

Also, and here I'm not disputing it but just for my curiosity, which several Diablo clones have been released lately? I know one is Sacred 2…

Originally Posted by Yeesh
Diablo II was released nine (9) frigging years ago, and it's yet to have a sequel or heir, official or otherwise.

In my opinion the point is simply this:

It dominates huge parts of the whole genre since then.

Just take a look at how many RPGs are having the word "action" in their desctription nowadays. None, if I see this correctly. Nowadays, ALL RPGs MUST have this attribute, or … well, at least marketing from all around the world believes it won't never ever sell.

That's a very subtle kind of domination, imho.

Originally Posted by Yeesh
What are you talking about? What is the interviewer talking about? Diablo II was released nine (9) frigging years ago, and it's yet to have a sequel or heir, official or otherwise. How could it possibly be responsible for any current stagnation of RPGs?

Also, and here I'm not disputing it but just for my curiosity, which several Diablo clones have been released lately? I know one is Sacred 2…

Ah, I thought it was about the genre of action RPGs specifically - sorry about that, my mistake.

You're right, of course, that if it's about CPRGs in general - Diablo 2 has little or nothing to do with the genre as a WHOLE stagnating.

Ah, I thought it was about the genre of action RPGs specifically - sorry about that, my mistake.

Yeah, rereading the question I'm not even sure what the interviewer meant. If he was combining the two genres, I can't imagine why he'd mention Diablo clones. But separately, I can see that RPGs and RTSs have gotten a little samey.

You know what actually was an RPG/RTS? Birthright! Bring it back!

Just take a look at how many RPGs are having the word "action" in their desctription nowadays. None, if I see this correctly. Nowadays, ALL RPGs MUST have this attribute, or … well, at least marketing from all around the world believes it won't never ever sell.

I see what you mean, but in my opinion blaming that on any particular game or game(s) makes no more sense than attributing the fact that 3-D has become so prevalent to the first couple of games that came out with that. I know that's not a perfect analogy because the shift to action isn't primarily a tech issue the way 3-D was, but nonetheless the intrusion of action into RPGs is a natural progression.

Why? Because as games have gotten more expensive and risky to make, they've necessarily gravitated towards more popular forms of gameplay. And kicking ass in real time is always going to sell more, all things equal, than clicking on menu options. Except maybe in Japan. Of course the necessity of courting the console crowd is a big part of this, and those people would rather do stuff than read text. Those crazy kids.

Diablo certainly had its impact. But my point is that you cannot say that had it not been for Diablo, games with turn-based combat would be dominating the current-gen console charts. That was just never going to happen. Except maybe in Japan.

Originally Posted by Yeesh
Diablo certainly had its impact. But my point is that you cannot say that had it not been for Diablo, games with turn-based combat would be dominating the current-gen console charts. That was just never going to happen. Except maybe in Japan.

RPGs were going real time well before Diablo happened too.

There are also a number of "action" sub-genres. I prefer to call these "hack'n'slash". Back a few years they were quite common but there aren't really so many of them these days.