Prosper POLL: What type of fag are you?

[roshan]

So we all dream of an RPG that could be perfect in each and every way, but no game is perfect, and some are stronger at certain points than others. Every game of course could use good graphics and music, but I've identified some key areas which make or break RPGs in particular. This, IMO, can be a pretty good good rating system for judging RPGs.

1. Combatfag - self explanatory. Could be TB or RTWP, but most of us know good combat when we play it.
2. Explorationfag - could refer to non linear open worlds, or just the thrill of discovering a secret area, or an obscure dialogue node. Lots of games that are linear, like PST, are filled with tons of secrets to discover.
3. Storyfag - the plot line, the depth of characters, the quality of writing.
4. Systemsfag - how robust and reactive the systems are, the diversity of builds, the usefulness of different options. Also refers to other systems such as resting, food or stealth.
5. CNCfag - the RPG Codex holy grail.
6. Moment to moment gameplay feelz fag - the interface, how easy it is to control your party. Pacing. How responsive the controls are, how often you are kept occupied by something interesting rather than tedious.
7. Just a plain and simple fag - refers to dumbing down of games for the mass market, being INCLOOSIVE!!! No losing, no challenge in character building, auto resurrection, health regeneration, quest compass, all sorts of decline and popamole elements. Pick this option if you like how modern games do it.

Select which 3 the above criteria are most important to you in an RPG!

 

[Night Goat]

doesn't let you see who chose what

 

[roshan]

doesn't let you see who chose what

You're right, that would be much more interesting. I wonder if mods can fix this. Infinitron

 

[Seari]

I am all the fags

 

[Kron]

Artdirectionfag

 

[CyberP]

Why is storyfag one category, yet what should be gameplayfag is split up into sub-categories? Oh well, I'm always happy to see some gameplay bias in a world where most people don't primarily play games for gameplay, but story or graphics. So very disappointing.

 

[Atchodas]

Combat , Systems , Exploration would also pick CnC if i could get 4 votes but no way its more important that first three.

 

[The Bootymancer]

I am going to go Maximum Fag and say I'm an even mix of 1, 2, 4 and 6. Disregarding storytelling and CnC as the garbage babbling nonsense that they are.

Combat is important because RPGs are glorified wargames. If the combat is bad the rest of the game falls apart. Games revolve around conflict and if the conflict itself is poorly played out then the rest of the game leading up to it was worthless. Also it is where most of the Game part of the game comes from. If your game has bad combat I will need very good reason to play it.

Exploration is important because, following my previous point, RPGs offer more than wargames do. They offer reactive worlds that we can interact with, tear apart and break over our knees. Gothic 2 is a good game; would it be good if we didn't have the opportunity to stumble across a secret cave somewhere and retrieve some legendary gear far before we were supposed to? Exploration is very, very important, but only if the systems, combat and moment to moment gameplay justify it. Otherwise it's just Assassin's Creed levels of time-wasting skinner box garbage. Maybe some of you have time for that, but I don't.

Systems are important for self-evident reasons. Good combat in a game not completely twitch-based relies on solid systems. Every moment of interaction with the game environment that involves more than basic twitch skills is entirely based on the player interfacing with the game systems. If they are not robust enough, the engagement fails.

Moment to moment gameplay is probably the most important element because it's what you're actually doing. At the end of the day, we're playing games, entertainment, kids' toys. Developers need to understand how to get the kinetic moment-by-moment feel right. They often do not. I would rather attribute this to incompetence. The original X-Com managed moment to moment gameplay perfectly. One sat through the alien turn with a feeling of absolute dread. Every step that the chosen rookie made had weight, because he could be gunned down from the shadows at any given frame of animation. RPG developers do not understand how this works. RPG developers do not seem to have grasped the basic lesson that a game tried to teach them over twenty years ago. They should.

 

[nomask7]

Running-away-from-monsters-scared fag. My preferred CRPG experience ever since I tried to play through Gothic 2: NotR as a noob (I succeeded too, mostly by running away from monsters scared).

 

[Gregz]

Why are CnC and Story faggotry scoring so low if our #1 is Planescape?

Spoiler

Edit: A few hours later...

Spoiler

 

[yes plz]

Above all else when it comes to CRPGs I'm more of a questwhore.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

The problem with this kind of poll is that it looks at these elements in isolation. Now, you may very well have certain people who value one or two of these significantly more than the others, but for myself, and I suspect some others, it's more about the total package. I love a good combat system, but I don't like RPGs that revolve entirely around combat (e.g. ToEE or Icewind Dale). I love good exploration and writing as well, but it depends on what else that game has. So there isn't a simple formula, but it's more about how to maximize your strengths and minimize your weak parts. A game like PS:T has great writing, and it has a TON of it, while it has very little of its weak combat, so the overall product is very enjoyable to play, while Arcanum, which also excels writing-wise and in some other ways does not marginalize its weak combat and instead forces the player to constantly engage in it, making the total product much less entertaining. The first two Gothic games don't have particularly great C&C, but that doesn't really detract from their gameplay for most players, and neither does the lack of a story in NetHack. So it's really about how the whole thing comes together for me.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Combat.

If the combat sucks I typically don't like the game unless its name includes Vegas or Torment in it.

 

[Transfiguring Roar]

Story, system and CnC.

Would also pick exploration.

 

[Duckard]

There's overlap between a lot of these. For example, moment to moment gameplay plays a role in the combat, as do the various game systems. Honestly, I don't really favour one over the other. It really depends on how the game handles these things in combination, and the degree to which it plays to its strengths. I mean, Bane and Torment are both good games despite being very different. But I voted for systems, exploration, and moment to moment gameplay.

 

[Jaesun]

This shit again?

 

[Metro]

Fucking storyfags. Go play an adventure game.

 

[Mustawd]

Why are CnC and Story faggotry scoring so low if our #1 is Planescape?

I think there's a lot of people who actually enjoyed Planescape immensely, but it's not really their cup of tea otherwise.

 

[Cynicus]

Every child knows that a solid game/character system is the hub around which all quality CRPG's revolve.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

I like hairy guys...uh, you mean RPGs? Probably exploration with some combat. I don't care if the story is dumb or just an excuse plot if it gives me an interesting world to play around, and entertaining combat attracts me more than the other stuff.

 

[kazgar]

i'm a kingcomradefag but can't see the option.

 

[Ismaul]

So many *fags missing from this poll. Basically all options except Storyfag are gameplay related / gamist. OP is a gameplayfag and can't see beyond his fagginess.

What I'd vote for: Worlddesignfag.
This is what makes Fallout 1 > Fallout 2 for exemple. The world in much more coherent, less gamey. Also what makes Arcanum great.

Fucking storyfags. Go play an adventure game.

Good writing and story is required to make C&C matter. Otherwise you can have stupid C&C such as:
--[Intelligence] I see you fight the good fight with your voice.
--Oh I see you're intelligent here have a cookie.

 

[Doktor Best]

Fucking storyfags. Go play an adventure game.

Fucking combatfags, go play a shooter/strategy game. Fucking systemfags, go play a chess. See how retarded that argument is?


@topic:

Depends on the game and what its trying to achieve. I can forgive a Divinity Original Sin its weak plotline because it clearly was only a sidekick feature to the great exploration, combat and character development, i can forgive a Witcher 3 its mediocre twitch combat because it has excellent writing, quest design and cnc. For me an rpg is great if it emphasizes its strengths while not distracting from them with trivial half thought through gameplay mechanics, and if it engages the player to make interesting decisions. It doesnt really matter if those decisions are based on character development, combat, or the plotline as long as they make me think about them for a while, asking myself if it was the right one to make.

For me thats the beauty of rpgs, that its such a varied genre with so many different core aspects.

 

[Trip]

I'd say systems (of interaction, of character-building) and CnC make up a huge part of the "story"-feel for me, so I chose them over storyfagginess, since they contribute to a lot of other stuff as well. (Such as competitive challenge, also a cool thing.) Sorry to say, but RPG stories in isolation, meaning plots, background info, etc. are usually poor and often poorly executed. But when they're well executed, it's usually a matter of interaction systems, CnC and environmental design, hence my third choice: exploration.

Basically, I do want a great story out of my RPGs but I think a game has to wield the particular advantages of its medium to achieve that. (And these are not NPCs waxing philosophical or infodumping all over me, for instance.)

P.S. Lots of fuzzy boundaries between the choice options, btw, at once frustrating to choose and interesting to think about.

 

[CyberP]

Basically, I do want a great story out of my RPGs but I think a game has to wield the particular advantages of its medium to achieve that. (And these are not NPCs waxing philosophical or infodumping all over me, for instance.)

For a storyfag you're pretty cool.