The ultimate rpg doesn't rely on a combat system. People tend to forget this (or disagree with it) but it's still true.

Foomer wrote:

The ultimate rpg doesn't rely on a combat system. People tend to forget this (or disagree with it) but it's still true.

This is why I love RPGs over all other games cause they tend to make me think cause on most RPGs you have to do one thing to make another thing happen then another etc.. just to make something like a level open up to be played or something like that and I just love sitting down with a good RPG and playing it for hours and having fun. I mostly like Zelda type games cause Zelda for NES was the first RPG ZI ever played and it just stuck to me.

This is why I love RPGs over all other games cause they tend to make me think cause on most RPGs you have to do one thing to make another thing happen then another etc.. just to make something like a level open up to be played or something like that and I just love sitting down with a good RPG and playing it for hours and having fun. I mostly like Zelda type games cause Zelda for NES was the first RPG ZI ever played and it just stuck to me.

Actually, Zelda was more of an action/puzzle game than an RPG, though it borrowed RPG elements. Unfortunately, there has been a great deal of confusion as to what constitutes an RPG. Technically, a role playing game requires you to take the part of a fictitious character and try to take actions from the viewpoint of this character. Now, this seems broad, but what most people forget is the *from the viewpoint of this character* part. In Zelda, you do not behave as Link, you behave as a person playing a Nintendo game trying to beat its puzzles. You never stop to worry about the fact that the bad guys have slaughtered innocents or the horror of facing a dire evil wizard who commands godlike power. Nope, you just hit A and B, swinging to get more Rupees. Even games like Diablo aren't true RPGS- they're just click and slash resource accumulation games (much like a slot machine). It is inconsequential where your character comes from or his motivation; all that matters is points and getting better 'items' (numerical modifiers). The Black Isle games (Planescape, Baldur's Gate) are primitive RPGs in that they are rather arbitrary and don't let the player have a great deal of input on the storyline, but they at least develop a character (though the player is still largely powergaming). Indeed, the only products that truly approximate a role playing experience are the multi-player online games such as UO and *shudder* Everquest. Unfortunately, they make the mechanics too obvious so players *still* end up just playing numbers games for the most part.
A chat room is actually a semi ideal role-playing environment because of its freedom (though an arbitrator/GM/DM/immortal of some sort is probably necessary).
Of course this in no way implies that the other games are no fun (I enjoyed D2 immensely!) simply that they are not truly role playing games. When (and if) I release Destiny Online, I hope it will encourage role playing but I am not under the illusion that it is a true role playing game. Simulation is probably more accurate, the difference being that sims are artificial systems designed to experiment with, usually to maximize return.

-James (the long winded, level 10/1 fighter/law student)

Leftley wrote:

A chat room is actually a semi ideal role-playing environment because of its freedom (though an arbitrator/GM/DM/immortal of some sort is probably necessary).

Just don't try this around BYOND anytime soon; you'll never be able to weed out all the 12-year-olds who love to jump into chat-based RPGs and that sort of thing... then immediately announce that they happen to be gods, smite everybody, and gloat about it.

Yah heh, sad, sad
Alathon

That's when the admin can use a silence command:-) IE the player sees "You say:blahblah" but no one else sees anything. Eventually he'll just get bored because no one is paying attention (which is what these types crave.) and will go away.

-James

Yes, but such a game on BYOND would end up getting these types in a continuous, firehose-style stream. It kinda spoils the mood when every three seconds you see

HyperDBZ-SuperGoku: "I use my ultra-ultra-ultra saiyan powers to kill u all, ha ha ur all dead."

or some very similar variation thereof.