Hello I'm new and ranting

Therue · Post by **Therue** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:48 pm

Hey glad I found this site, nice to see other rpg fanatics out there though unfortunatley I found it not in such a good mood. Why? Because I'm watching stories of franchise become decade with the ages. Forgive me if I rant and I'll explain (this may have already been spoken about). Whats happening to the world of RPG's? Why is it so difficult to find a good solid story through gameplay? I'm speaking about the good old days like Chrono trigger, or final fantasy 5to9 (over named and used I'm sure) But they once were somthing then, the stories and satisfaction of play were there. Now its all eye catchy graphics lacking a better understanding of player development. It pisses me off watching everything becoming so mainstreamed and cloned be it systems, or game play. There is just no rich, bring a tear to your eye stories anymore unless I pick up a good novel. What happend to the heart the old companys that paved the way to captivating us in their games?
I hope one day soon somthing comes along again and kicks the gener back into what it is and out of what its becoming.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:27 pm

The days of 'geeks' sweating away on righteous projects against the odds is gone and will never return.

What happened? They succeeded.

The gaming industry is now bigger than Hollywood. And it's attracted the corporations with their boards of directors and shareholder interests. With it comes the clout, the politics, the superficiality, the 'compromise', the deadlines and focus on profit.

There is no point lamenting or 'ranting'. You need to evolve to another medium because this one is utterly lost. Like Hollywood, you can expect the industry to churn out buckets of swill year after year with the occasional gem.

kozeph · Post by **kozeph** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:27 am

welcome to GB btw

video games are now one of the biggest entretaintments factions being in the top 3 already rivaling movies and posibly tv, so its no wonder big companies are making their move for this market.

but there is still a vast sea of obscure rpgs to find and there is still a few bravehearts doing solo work and one is particulary interesting. scars of war feel free to check it.

and well you might want to look for some of the oldies(ultima, planescape ect ect) buut thats a double edge knife

some and most are so good that they spoil most modern RPGs hehe

the germans are doing atleast for me an interesting game dark eye something (not drakensang) and well I really enjoyed the witcher and heres hoping for it not to fall into corporative hands(I was really touched by their attempt to reach out to the public by hiding a messege in one of their trailers, even if its a poblicity stunt or something)

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:36 am

You need to look more towards indie developers and small studios if you want something like that.

The once-they-become-mainstream studios will always produce for mainstream audiences.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:45 am

Xandax wrote:You need to look more towards indie developers and small studios if you want something like that.

The once-they-become-mainstream studios will always produce for mainstream audiences.

Problem is, if they pull off any sort of success, they are acquired or absorbed into the big houses and assimilated into the dominant corporate culture. So we're basically looking at one-hit wonders as the 'best case' scenario.

I'd like to think that some of these guys could resist the money but I doubt many will.

Therue · Post by **Therue** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:54 pm

Well its diffently nice to replay or look back on the older titles which I do often. I'm just depressed about how things are becoming. Thanks for the responce.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:17 am

Therue wrote:Well its diffently nice to replay or look back on the older titles which I do often. I'm just depressed about how things are becoming. Thanks for the responce.

Tell me about it!!!

It's not just video games. It's the destruction of the natural environment at a blistering pace, epic corporate corruption, sickening politics, on and on and on!

You really have 2 coping mechanisms these days: stick your head in the sand or take an adrenaline shot of optimism. :laugh:

PS. I just watched 'The Cove' about an hour ago so I'm ultra jaded at the moment haha

jklinders · Post by **jklinders** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:45 pm

RPGguy wrote:Problem is, if they pull off any sort of success, they are acquired or absorbed into the big houses and assimilated into the dominant corporate culture. So we're basically looking at one-hit wonders as the 'best case' scenario.

I'd like to think that some of these guys could resist the money but I doubt many will.

Speculating here, but I imagine the least fun part of developing a game is the hunt for development money. The Witcher was mentioned earlier. CD Project Red pretty much financed that one out of pocket as a labor of love. I heard they just barley did more than break even on that one. This is the exception to the rule. Staying independent often leads to long development time between releases, but going to the big publishers CAN lead to compromise.

I am certain there is a happy medium to be had here, but not without people with wallets willing to wait a really long time for a return on their investment. Games are rapidly catching up to movies in development cost and piracy is a much bigger problem with games than it ever will be with movies. Shouldn't be too surprising really.

If you take a publisher's money, you can expect to be beholden to them to an extent. It is nearly impossible to put out a A-list release in this day and age without them. People who invest want that money to produce as soon as possible, not 5 years down the road, like in the case of The Witcher(six years I think)