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Alpha Protocol photo depository thread
ackblom12:
I'm torn on how I feel about leaving stat based RPGs behind.
I like the idea and games like ME2 do it quite well, but I won't deny that I'm a big fan of tabletop games and I like having that spreadsheet aspect to the game that lets me do exactly what I want with my character, at exactly the pace I determine, with some sense of progression other than the game handing me new things via story and that being my only form of progression.
I'm pretty certain the OC tendencies in me would get over it at some point if it went away completely, but I'm always a little sad to see an entire branch of a genre go the way of the Dodo.
Ozymandias:
Stat-based RPGs aren't actually dying, John's just doomsaying because of Mass Effect's success. Fallout's still very stat based, all MMOs are still stat based, Dragon Age was stat based, they're still around.
Alex C:
I like stats when they serve an integral purpose in a well-thought out design as opposed to just being tacked onto some twitch game to give some half-baked sense of progression. Stats were no detriment to exploration & strategy oriented game play like that in Heroes of Might and Magic, for example. The crux of the gameplay was figuring out just how much you can probably handle at any given moment with the resources at hand, after all, and stats & roll based damage introduce both a degree of uncertainty while also serving as a decent indicator of just how tough your force really is. Deciding whether to wait a week for reinforcements or to try to taking those resources by force now was a legit game play decision given that your opponents were working under similar constraints. It was almost golf-like in the sense that you were playing the course. The problem is, most stat based games don't require decisions like that. Final Fantasy games, for example, are essentially on rails and you basically mash Fight until you get to the next cut scene. Basically, the numbers were there to tell when to cast Cure or to get you cock blocked by some dragon. And frankly, unless there was another, better way to approach the dragon that could be discovered through proper exploration, the latter is just a useless exercise in grinding rather than an opportunity for an interesting game play decision.
ackblom12:
--- Quote from: Ozymandias on 08 Jul 2010, 11:24 ---Stat-based RPGs aren't actually dying, John's just doomsaying because of Mass Effect's success. Fallout's still very stat based, all MMOs are still stat based, Dragon Age was stat based, they're still around.
--- End quote ---
Well, Fallout 3 was stat bases kind sorta. The stats didn't matter much because you could max out practically everything at a ridiculously fast pace if you wanted to. It doesn't fill that niche for me because it's just so incredibly easy to be great at pretty much everything.
New Vegas I suspect may fix some of that with the added difficulty levels.
I also think that perhaps I should say that stat based solo games are a very different beast compared to stat based MMOs and could easily be categorized as a different branch of the genre.
Also I was referring more to your comment.
--- Quote from: Ozymandias on 08 Jul 2010, 09:00 ---Also, I'm completely in favor of moving away from stats-based RPGs. Just saying. Arbitrary numbers indicating progress ain't really a thing I would mourn.
--- End quote ---
Alex C:
--- Quote from: Ozymandias on 08 Jul 2010, 11:24 ---Fallout's still very stat based.
--- End quote ---
I don't really think of Fallout 3's hybrid status as being in any way a virtue. In fact, it was Bethesda games that first made me decide that the sort of hybrid bullshit people are trying isn't something I'm interested in playing.
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