Next-Gen Role-Playing Design, Part One
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While role-playing has evolved into a form of collaborative and reactive story-telling based on social network layers, computer role-playing game are still busy trying to copy and tweak the statistical and combative elements that permeated the genre in its humble foundations. The dungeon crawling mentality of the old days still applies - after a trifling gain of experience points, you are suddenly able to improve whatever value you want on a character's spreadsheet. And the character that has been making a living stomping on sewer rats for the past weeks is now suddenly able to do something completely different such as discussing quantum mechanics, quoting the works of Rimbaud or find the cure for cancer.
On the other hand, while these play mechanics may seem blunt and sometimes inadequate they actually serve a purpose. The industry's shift into the realm of believable virtual actors who attempt to mimic human emotions with breathtaking detail through lip synching and other such aesthetics are clearly leaving an impression on many gamers - but what are they doing for the character you're trying to role-play? You can tell through a virtual character's expressions when he is lying or feeling troubled but can your character do the same? Can he react to this without that level of abstraction that tries to translate this kind of perception into numbers? Conversely, is your character's intelligence doing anything that your own intelligence can't? Is it more rewarding to adjust a value to gain an immediate benefit than it is to work for results?
