Cali
Rookie
Warning: It's likely that this post might piss some, if not a lot of people off. Keep in mind that you are welcome to criticize and flame me all you want, just don't bore me.
I'm honestly thinking about giving up gaming, or something like that, unless game companies are going to be more innovative from here on. I mean, honestly. Games nowadays are processed, dumbed down, overpriced, unoriginal, casual packages with just a few redeeming qualities.
Here's a quick perception of some of the things I think about the industry now:
The Elder Scrolls Series:
Elder Scrolls I: Arena was an innovative first person open world RPG.
Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall refined what was in Arena. A colossal world, an extremely deep character system, nearly limitless replay value. A timeless game.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, even though I like it as my gateway RPG, was astronomically shallow compared to Daggerfall.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was comparable to Morrowind. Only slightly larger, and embarrasingly simplistic RPG elements.
Conclusion: The first two installments of the Elder Scrolls series didn't sell well at all. Bethesda knows that they can now make more money by making dumbed down games, and will continue to do so.
Warcraft Series:
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was the first Dune II knockoff, and was actually good.
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness was a simple, yet finely crafted game.
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos was an innovative RTS that let loose a little bit of RPG into the franchise.
World of WarCraft was an MMORPG that mainstreamed the genre and brought a bunch of newfags in that don't know and don't care about the genre's RTS roots or the lore for that matter. Unfortunately for me, I don't care even the slightest bit for MMORPGs.
Conclusion: How can Blizzard make another true RTS WarCraft title? They can't, because they know they can make more money with MMORPGs. A StarCraft MMORPG is imminent.
RPGs as a whole:
Deus Ex was a beautiful FPS/RPG hybrid with complex RPG elements and morally knotted decisions within the story.
Deus Ex II: Invisible War was a dumbed down, simplified, and broken shell of a game that could have been much better.
Deus Ex III is confirmed to be an adridaline induced shooter with a Halo like damage system (Seriously. Bring back health bars people.) and no RPG elements.
System Shock was a cult classic that pioneered the FPS/RPG hybrid.
System Shock 2 was to System Shock 1 as what Steel is to Iron. It did not sell well, and was the final nail in the coffin for Looking Glass Studios.
Bioshock, was the spiritual successor to the System Shock series. While a decent game, it was more or less a spaid version of the said series that dissapointed many fans, but attracted many newfags and casual gamers.
Final Fantasy was the mother of JRPGs that produced a unique party system.
Final Fantasy II-V were excellent continuations to the genre.
Final Fantasy VI was the flagship of the genre, towing in excellent RPG elements, a profoundly good story, and cool cutscenes.
Final Fantasy VII was the epitaph of the series, with a shallow character and inventory system, and a less satisfying story. Fortunatley for Squaresoft, it mainstreamed the franchise and raked in big bucks.
Final Fantasy VIII was a slight improvement to Final Fantasy VII, but it's like comparing Oblivion to Morrowind.
Final Fantasy IX-XII followed in VII's footsteps and produced the same watered down gameplay.
Rogue suprised the RPG community by incorporating real time combat rather than a turn based system. This was a benchmark.
Diablo was a tribute to Rogue, and refined it's combat system and is considered to be one of the most influental RPGs of all time.
Diablo II was a much larger game. While snapping on a much more deep character and skill system, made it significantly easier than the first Diablo and it required less skill (that is, if you weren't playing it on Hell or Hardcore).
Diablo III, according to Blizzard is going to have a prerendered skill system that you cannot customize. No skill trees everyone. Thanks a lot Blizzard.
Fallout: A Post Apocalyptic Roleplaying Game put console RPGs in a new light with an inintimatible character and stat system and fun turn based combat.
Fallout 2 was a longer harder game than the first Fallout and sported much more depth and variety.
Fallout Tactics was a delightfully tasty mix of RPG and strategy.
Fallout 3 was made by Bethesda after Black Isle collapsed. As with Morrowind and Oblivion, they watered it down and made a highly controversial decision to make it an FPS/RPG hybrid rather than an isometrical RPG. Todd Howard and the rest of the team did this because he mentioned that isometrical games are unimmersive and would not sell well to mainstream gaming public. Sadly, this proved to be true, as Fallout 3 outsold the previous games.
Conclusion: RPG's are not even RPG's anymore. They're watered down games that focus on graphics and stories rather than gameplay. Game companies still make these kinds of games because the general public doesn't like complicated games, and instead want storylines and gameplay that holds your hand and tells you where to go. Bah.
Bottom Line: Games were never meant to be mainstream. I'd love to have more people in my hobby, but these people all want watered down scotch. It's like filmmakers who want to make a comedy, realizing that Woody Allen type comedies will bore the hell out of everyone, so they make Superbad knock offs that are even more raunchy and stupid, because that's what everyone likes.
While I still have some hope that games nowadays will rebound, I'm realistic enough to think that it's not entirely possible. It's going to take something drastic to restore my faith in the gaming community. Very drastic.
Discuss, sympathize, flame, or tell me that a topic like this has already been made (I don't lurk much here anymore).
I'm honestly thinking about giving up gaming, or something like that, unless game companies are going to be more innovative from here on. I mean, honestly. Games nowadays are processed, dumbed down, overpriced, unoriginal, casual packages with just a few redeeming qualities.
Here's a quick perception of some of the things I think about the industry now:
The Elder Scrolls Series:
Elder Scrolls I: Arena was an innovative first person open world RPG.
Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall refined what was in Arena. A colossal world, an extremely deep character system, nearly limitless replay value. A timeless game.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, even though I like it as my gateway RPG, was astronomically shallow compared to Daggerfall.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was comparable to Morrowind. Only slightly larger, and embarrasingly simplistic RPG elements.
Conclusion: The first two installments of the Elder Scrolls series didn't sell well at all. Bethesda knows that they can now make more money by making dumbed down games, and will continue to do so.
Warcraft Series:
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was the first Dune II knockoff, and was actually good.
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness was a simple, yet finely crafted game.
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos was an innovative RTS that let loose a little bit of RPG into the franchise.
World of WarCraft was an MMORPG that mainstreamed the genre and brought a bunch of newfags in that don't know and don't care about the genre's RTS roots or the lore for that matter. Unfortunately for me, I don't care even the slightest bit for MMORPGs.
Conclusion: How can Blizzard make another true RTS WarCraft title? They can't, because they know they can make more money with MMORPGs. A StarCraft MMORPG is imminent.
RPGs as a whole:
Deus Ex was a beautiful FPS/RPG hybrid with complex RPG elements and morally knotted decisions within the story.
Deus Ex II: Invisible War was a dumbed down, simplified, and broken shell of a game that could have been much better.
Deus Ex III is confirmed to be an adridaline induced shooter with a Halo like damage system (Seriously. Bring back health bars people.) and no RPG elements.
System Shock was a cult classic that pioneered the FPS/RPG hybrid.
System Shock 2 was to System Shock 1 as what Steel is to Iron. It did not sell well, and was the final nail in the coffin for Looking Glass Studios.
Bioshock, was the spiritual successor to the System Shock series. While a decent game, it was more or less a spaid version of the said series that dissapointed many fans, but attracted many newfags and casual gamers.
Final Fantasy was the mother of JRPGs that produced a unique party system.
Final Fantasy II-V were excellent continuations to the genre.
Final Fantasy VI was the flagship of the genre, towing in excellent RPG elements, a profoundly good story, and cool cutscenes.
Final Fantasy VII was the epitaph of the series, with a shallow character and inventory system, and a less satisfying story. Fortunatley for Squaresoft, it mainstreamed the franchise and raked in big bucks.
Final Fantasy VIII was a slight improvement to Final Fantasy VII, but it's like comparing Oblivion to Morrowind.
Final Fantasy IX-XII followed in VII's footsteps and produced the same watered down gameplay.
Rogue suprised the RPG community by incorporating real time combat rather than a turn based system. This was a benchmark.
Diablo was a tribute to Rogue, and refined it's combat system and is considered to be one of the most influental RPGs of all time.
Diablo II was a much larger game. While snapping on a much more deep character and skill system, made it significantly easier than the first Diablo and it required less skill (that is, if you weren't playing it on Hell or Hardcore).
Diablo III, according to Blizzard is going to have a prerendered skill system that you cannot customize. No skill trees everyone. Thanks a lot Blizzard.
Fallout: A Post Apocalyptic Roleplaying Game put console RPGs in a new light with an inintimatible character and stat system and fun turn based combat.
Fallout 2 was a longer harder game than the first Fallout and sported much more depth and variety.
Fallout Tactics was a delightfully tasty mix of RPG and strategy.
Fallout 3 was made by Bethesda after Black Isle collapsed. As with Morrowind and Oblivion, they watered it down and made a highly controversial decision to make it an FPS/RPG hybrid rather than an isometrical RPG. Todd Howard and the rest of the team did this because he mentioned that isometrical games are unimmersive and would not sell well to mainstream gaming public. Sadly, this proved to be true, as Fallout 3 outsold the previous games.
Conclusion: RPG's are not even RPG's anymore. They're watered down games that focus on graphics and stories rather than gameplay. Game companies still make these kinds of games because the general public doesn't like complicated games, and instead want storylines and gameplay that holds your hand and tells you where to go. Bah.
Bottom Line: Games were never meant to be mainstream. I'd love to have more people in my hobby, but these people all want watered down scotch. It's like filmmakers who want to make a comedy, realizing that Woody Allen type comedies will bore the hell out of everyone, so they make Superbad knock offs that are even more raunchy and stupid, because that's what everyone likes.
While I still have some hope that games nowadays will rebound, I'm realistic enough to think that it's not entirely possible. It's going to take something drastic to restore my faith in the gaming community. Very drastic.
Discuss, sympathize, flame, or tell me that a topic like this has already been made (I don't lurk much here anymore).
- resort to the top 100 topic not far below or above this topic!
