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PH.D., Dr. John B. Williston, is a veteran gamer, and when asked what he thought about today's computer RPGs, he had a lot to say. He's not a happy camper, as is the case with many older gamers. In the following article Dr. Williston points what irks him from a gamer point of view.
There was a time when I finished every single game I bought, and most of them multiple times. But as excited as I get about the promise of new CRPGs, with all their spiffy new features, I find myself finishing fewer and fewer of them -- and buying fewer and fewer of them as a result. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the reasons, which I take to be problems with modern CRPGs.
Comments
Personally I feel that RPG has lost that "fantasy" aspect, sure you run around in a fantasy world with mythical creatures and wielding godly weapons of pure destruction but that "feel" of fantasy, that spark just isn't there anymore unlike it was with say Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana.
The "dumbed down" bit is pretty clear from the contrast of Morrowind to Oblivion (at least the most noticable example to give) although one thing the Doc does miss is the point that many RPGs of today's age require you to "create" your character.
There is a major difference between Assassin's Creed and Oblivion and that's not because of how they are set, made or designed to play out. It's the fact that in AC you are already given a character with a background whereas in Oblivion, you are free to define your character's background. For example:
Altair - Assassin with a temper, you are demoted down the ranks in order for the human player to grasp the controls and flow of the game, while doing so, you complete sections of the storyline while the human player also does their own thing, such as kill guards and making a game of it...yet once your objective is complete, there is no punishment for the bad deeds you have done.
Oblivion - You choose the role, whether it is a mixture of magic user, warrior or thief. You are free to roleplay strictly (literally do real life things in game like sleep at correct times and eat) or to loosely roleplay which is to just play the game. While there is a storyline for you to complete, there is a huge world to explore with quests and people to meet/kill yet the things you do are remembered. If you kill someone, you may regret it later since they may have been needed (alright that's carelessness on the human player's part) but the point still stands...the game mechanics do reset NPC emotions within 3 game days as long as you stay away from them but it doesn't "clean the slate" like AC does.
My whole point is that the Doc has forgot to mention the most vital part about what has turned the RPG genre around and that's human interaction. Some for the good, some for the bad but either way it's actually nice for once to be able to read an article that isn't viciously slating/insulting part of the gaming industry just because the author doesn't understand
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