Enlighten me: what is so fun about old RPGs? I'm dying to know, since you appear to have the objective definition of what a "fun" RPG is, so I can't wait to hear it.
I'll reply to your bait post anyways, though I will not be surprised when you say "those things aren't fun":
- I love running around hunting animals.
- I love entering caves and see what's inside.
- I love looking at the world.
- I love sneaking around and killing monsters and NPCs.
Among other things. Those I find them fun. And you know why? Because
adjective
informal
adjective: fun; comparative adjective: funner; superlative adjective: funnest
1.
amusing, entertaining, or enjoyable.
There's no direct correlation between "something" and "fun" that is true for everyone.
I'm not going to dismiss what you personally find fun, you can find watching paint dry fun if you want, go right ahead, but the things you list have nothing much to do with RPG'ing, they are just general gaming activities that can be found in almost any game, from survival games to FPSes to action games like Prince of Persia.
What makes RPGs 'fun' for people who like RPGs tend to be things like character building, stat analysis, interesting loot, wide and varied monster bestiaries, mazes, multiple ways to solve a particular situation, some kind of continuous narrative that holds everything together (where the plot/desire to complete is greater than the desire to fuck around for the sake of fucking around), interesting companions and/or NPCs breaking up the combat, most all of which is determined by gameplay mechanics and while RPGs rarely do them all right and well, most of them get some aspect right. The really 'monocled' ones are the ones that do get quite a few right and it's a pretty obvious and not-a-secret thing that is common-sense to most people:
Which is the more 'fun' sum to work out:
1+1
or
369+183
?
Do you prefer your Sudoku puzzle to have most of the numbers already filled in or do you prefer it when you start with only a few?
Do you prefer easy crosswords with clues like "It's a bird with a red breast _ _ _ _ _" or do you prefer a more 'monocled' crossword puzzle with the clue "Thieving bird!"
Oh what a surprise, no answer. Because... there's no need to give an answer apparently... but amazingly post after post that attempts to make some kind of point about the 'incorrectness' of other people thinking Skyrim is dumbed down vapourware. No offence mate, but you brought up the topic, yes, I do expect you to give some details as to what specifically is so good about skyrim beyond the vague and non-descriptor use of the word 'fun', which could be applied eqully to someone watching paint dry if they wanted.
This is coming from the guy who just admitted that he judges games based on whether or not let's play videos of said games put him to sleep.
Well... quite. I need something that makes me stop thinking about everything else in the world, but entertains me as I'm not tired when I start watching, then, as my mind shuts down I relax into a comforting sense of familiarity and drift off to sleep. Skyrim proved to be an astonishing sleep aid, I was usually out like a light with 10 minutes. I must have watched episode 9 about 20 times now and not once got to the end. However, with the others I tend to find I like watching them beyond sleep time as well, like while having lunch or waiting around, Skyrim never made it to that stage.