Kylotan.

Well, the fact is that most RPG actually ARE written in the more classical way of a theatre piece. With acts, pieces, with moments of calm, moments of battle.

But of course, I am talking about paper RPG, not the insipid stuff on our screens.

Anyway, just to add to Landfish arguments, the idea of breaking the plot into more digestive blocks already exists.
The thing is that the good GAme Master will not even let you notice it, as even moments of calm will give you interesting to do.

Landfish, please, if you really like RPG, and you want new ideas, there is a world of games out there that''s waiting for you. Just go out, get a background book on any RolePleying Game, and see what the industry is lacking.

There is shitload of ideas that could be taken straight from the books. Jsut to name a few :
readymade characters : an interesting and balanced character, ready to play, tailored to fit in the plot, with a background that actually justify him being there.
Fixed storyline, free intervention : the storyline is already written, there is a schedule of events that is due to happen, now it''s up to the players to catch the train and modify the schedule so that they save the day.
Random encounters : you''re travelling, and you''re bored of the wandering monsters. Random encounters would be a perfect replacement. e.g. A carriage is stopped on the side of the road, empty. Was it attacked ? Are the owners taking a pee break ? Is it a trap by some road bandits ?
And don''t tell me this would be hard to code ...

Etc, etc, I know I am dangerously drifting OT, but I am jsut saying that with a bit more reading you can find lots of "new" concepts for computer RPG.
Just one thing : AD&D has been around since 1974, it seems to have been the only FUCkING RPG to have been taken as a model (AAMOF, Gurps RPG is the system used for Fallouts, Chtulhu RPG is the system that inspired the Alone in the Dark serie, HeavyGear and MEchwarrior existed as RPG long before they went to the computer)
and because of it, most CRPG haven''t evolved since the creation of the genre (when it comes to the system, that is).

Ah well, I get carried away again

youpla :-P

why must there be a standardized switch to time-limited games? I say keep the RPG''s coming with extremely long time expectations.

But I agree with the point that time-allotted games can be a good thing, especially for those who want to know how long they''re going to expect to be at their computer. Just create a new genre: Eppisoidals

Eppisoidals could be RPG''s (but they wouldn''t necessary have the depth that the traditional RPG has). Eppisoidals could be Action games (you have to kill the baddies and get to the end in a certain matter of time -- but people would still want to make action games that were free of this limitation). Eppisoidals could be Adventure games (kinda like that game that was referenced earlier in this thread, that would last 20 minutes every time, but you chose to be where you were during the game). Eppisoidals could even be shoot-em-ups. I don''t see anyone making a simulation eppisoidal... but who knows? I''m sure someone will think of a way.


"I know not what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones"
- Albert Einstein

Shortening game length will NOT help much with appealing to the wider market. The only thing that will help appeal to casual gamers is to make games dumber. Deer Hunter, Minesweeper, Myst, and Solitaire are ultrapopular for a reason. (No one can argue that these games have the complexity of, say, Alpha Centuari or Fallout).


Now, shortening WILL help with games that take adrenaline, games that require social coordination, and games that are only meant to be beaten. These are much more digestible when they''re short, bite sized pieces. But open ended games, or games that require a lot of player investment and choice, or a high degree of suspension of disbelief, WILL NEVER appeal to the mass audience anyway, and shortening them just robs those gamers that do like them.

--------------------
Just waiting for the mothership...

Hey ahw, you ever heard of a game called "Vampire: The Masquerade"?

And, Fallout had all three of the things you mentioned. It''s true that most "RPGs" have only combat encounters, but the things you want and are looking for are out there.

-------------------------------------------
"What's the story with your face, son?!?"

Funny. Even the people arguing against it are arguing for it in a way...

The reason I''m against episodic stuff it that I hate episodic stuff. I hate television, and I hate the structure that is designed to keep you watching more. I''m npot really talking about standardizing time, but maybe getting some RPGs out there that cost the same, and have just as much content, but are shorter in gameplay. Deeper than they are long. Taht way, you have a short game with a high replay value, but if you can beat it in 30 hours and you only have 30 hours to play the game in your life, you didn''t waste your money. Follow?

I would definitely like to see a shorter, cheaper alternative to most of the expensive crap that they have around today. Why can''t we get something like that? Because everybody is too busy playing to the given market...

If companies started doing it, then I am sure they would set a trend in "shorter cheaper" alternatives... maybe they are afraid of losing sales or something?

-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

Check our site:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~dwarfsoft/
Check out our NPC AI Mailing List :
http://www.egroups.com/group/NPCAI/
made due to popular demand here at GDNet :)

You guys are missing it again, aren''t you

The LF/FS is not saying the game should be over after 30 minutes. He''s saying that you should be able to walk away from it after 30 minutes and not feel that you''ve missed something, done nothing, or seen nothing. You want to be able to come back the next time and see another full "episode", you WANT to see that episode, but it will wait for you, and it''s not that crucial to keep playing.


Give me one more medicated peaceful moment.
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
ERROR: Your beta-version of Life1.0 has expired. Please upgrade to the full version. All important social functions will be disabled from now on.

Kinda...

If the game is a long RPG, it must run good on the minimum requirements and not with everything disabled... This is because I just beat Ultima9 on a P3 800 with GeForce2 and it RAN SLOW... made me man.

So basically MKV you are interpretting it to be "pack more in for the time" and then go? Well, I think that is AN option. I think what LF/FS was saying was that games should be shortened to a standard length so that they had a LOT of content and were still fun every new time you played em. Making art, not just making money . But that is just my interpretation.

-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

Check our site:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~dwarfsoft/
Check out our NPC AI Mailing List :
http://www.egroups.com/group/NPCAI/
made due to popular demand here at GDNet :)