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DesR85 wrote:I don't expect an 'original' story since it's hard to come up with new and original storylines these days since most of the ideas have been taken up already.

I don't know if it's so much that most ideas have been taken up already... I suspect it is more the case that there is a very limited framework of what is viewed as likely to sell. As mentioned in LD's other thread here.... RPGs are very formulaic for the most part, not unlike detective fiction, westerns, romance novels etc.

dragon wench wrote:I don't know if it's so much that most ideas have been taken up already... I suspect it is more the case that there is a very limited framework of what is viewed as likely to sell. As mentioned in LD's other thread here.... RPGs are very formulaic for the most part, not unlike detective fiction, westerns, romance novels etc.

I always thought that the developers really ran out of ideas for a story and that's the reason why they kept rehashing the same type of story over and over in different games.

DesR85 wrote:I always thought that the developers really ran out of ideas for a story and that's the reason why they kept rehashing the same type of story over and over in different games.

As an analogy, think of the way Hollywood has turned most novels into films. If you didn't read the originals, you might wonder how it is that novelists across several centuries, in several cultures, even across various continents, all managed write the same kinds of stories with characters that could easily be swapped in and out. There are exceptions, notably when the novels have already become so successful that their writers/estates hold the trump hand, but when the studios are in charge, everything is made to fit a certain mold. Unique qualities are eliminated.

That's true of RPGs, too. The gaming industry, like the film industry, is run by the Accounting Department. They only try to make the games that will sell the best, not merely well (which is why a remake of Planescape: Torment, which sold decently, was abandoned). Truly creative people end up fired; those who do their jobs well while making the same titles over and over stay employed. I can provide numerous examples, if you'd like. It's sad, but true, and the fact that the kiddies keep swallowing the PR and buying the titles only perpetuates the comedy.

fable wrote:As an analogy, think of the way Hollywood has turned most novels into films. If you didn't read the originals, you might wonder how it is that novelists across several centuries, in several cultures, even across various continents, all managed write the same kinds of stories with characters that could easily be swapped in and out. There are exceptions, notably when the novels have already become so successful that their writers/estates hold the trump hand, but when the studios are in charge, everything is made to fit a certain mold. Unique qualities are eliminated.

You could not say it better. That is why I try to avoid film versions of classic novels; the fluffy Hollywood ears are too blatantly sticking out in all directions.