Am I the only one ?

Originally Posted by GlimpseDart
One might also consider that RPGs grew out of wargames, quite specifically

I always read this argument everywhere where discussions are about fighting.

Isn't it time RPGs become emancipated from their origins ? Isn't it about time RPGs become emancipated from war games ?

Far too often I get the impression as if fighting & killing was the main mechanics/design goal - that that the missions were concocted rather as an excuse to give players a reason to fight/to kill.

Everyone is saying that video games should be considered as art. Yet killing is the only non-art thing not touched at all in any RPG. It's so deeply conservative … it's as conservative as it can get … as conservative as possible. "Change maybe everything BUT NOT FIGHTING !!! THIS NOT AT ALL !!! PEOPLE WILL NOT LIKE CHANGES TO IT !!!"

One of the few exceptions to this is PS:T.

Why is it so that all these innovative, creative, new forms of pen & paper RPGs are never translated into C-RPGs ? Are the buyers that conservative ?

It's not an argument, it's a statement of fact.

The point is that there's a reason combat is such a big part of RPGs - it's tradition.

Not that you seem interested in what people are saying about it here. Seems to me that you're just trying to reinforce what you already believe - and you completely ignore that many of us are actually agreeing with you to a certain extent.

Anyway, whatever.

Pacifism does not equal intellectualism. Tell yourself this every time you wake up. You seem to equate being a pacifist with being more intelligent. It doesn't add up.

Gregory Bateson observing dogs at play: "The playful nip denotes the bite, but does not denote what would be denoted by the bite."

Personally, I do find that I'm playing less and less combat focused games as I get older.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Pacifism does not equal intellectualism. Tell yourself this every time you wake up. You seem to equate being a pacifist with being more intelligent. It doesn't add up.

oh - kay … let's keep this INSIDE the computer game realm, alright?

I have personally never had an issue with 'suspending reality' to enter the game world (or honestly playing all sorts of X vs Y scenarios as a young kid). But I remember my older son the first time playing Wolfenstein 3D was very bothered having to kill dogs … mowing down Nazis was not a concern, but hearing that little dog yelp resulted in him never finishing the game.

I also had a thing in the original Prey with the children, but that was largely because my older son was in the hospital getting his kidneys re-plumbed just before that so the anxiety was still too real for me to properly compartmentalize. I remember some passionate discussions about the game from back then

hmmmmm, I'm not super upset by the violence in most games, but I do agree with your point about a lack of creativity in most games. A lot of games made today seems to be a reskin with an n+1 improvement in some already well worn gameplay mechanic. I suppose I should clarify that I'm mostly talking about the big AAA titles, but to be fair to them, they can't really take creative risks with their monster budgets =\

Because familiar sells. It's hard to market (and develop) a game that is original.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Because familiar sells. It's hard to market (and develop) a game that is original.

Every type of game that exists was original once.

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
Every type of game that exists was original once.

Sure, when they were developed by one person or a group of people in some guy's garage. With multi-million dollar budgets, originality is risky.

Yeah, part of the trouble is that there's a lot more media around of all kinds, not just games. It's all become more expensive to produce, and harder to get noticed. I think that's one of the reasons we see such a prevalence of franchises and remakes, it's that familiarity and recognition are powerful tools for marketing. I think most people that work in entertainment media generally will say that it's much harder to pursue an original idea these days.