Oblivian wrote:
I think what Geo is saying is that there are no true RPG's, I mean Morte, and the other you mentioned does not follow a story. Most RPG's such as Zelda follow a unique story, with a unique set of monsters, or whatever its about. I have not played LexyMUd, Cerulea, or Haven. Anytime I am on they are down so.. But the ones up 24/7 are not true RPG's, in my opinion.
Zelda isn't classified as RPG. It's considered action adventure.
An RPG that forces you into a linear story is hardly an RPG in the sense that I play RPGs. The thing that makes a tabletop RPG so exciting is that it's so open ended. The Gamemaster has no idea how the players will react to the scenarios he puts forth. The interaction between gamemaster and players creates a unique story that none of them could have made on their own. The best part is that the players can shape the story!
With a linear story, the game never really reacts to your actions. No matter how you play or what you do, Aeris always dies at the same place in FFVII. I never considered Final Fantasy games "true" RPGs. (I'm not saying I didn't like them. I'm a big fan of the series.)
The nature of the true RPG seems to be clouded by the opinion of the player. It's easy for people to point out what they think isn't an RPG, but much harder to define exactly what is an RPG. For most people, RPG means an immersive fantasy that they can lose themselves in. It can be a predifined or custom made character. It can be traditional fantasy, space opera, or a modern setting. It can have a scripted storyline or be open-ended. As long as you forget for a short time that you are sitting at the keyboard of your computer and feel like you are in the world of the game, that is immersive fantasy.
From a technical definition of role playing, almost any game could be called an RPG. In Tanks, I take the role of a soldier in deadly combat. If I really get into the role and play up the character then I am role playing. If I pretend I'm Micheal Jordon on the basketball court, I'm role playing. (I wish I could match his skill rolls though ;)
Role playing isn't a style of game, it's a style of playing games.
(Heh, it seems I'm great at marking useless distinctions today in the forum.)
You just brought me back to the moment in one tabletop RPG I used to play. Cant remember its name, you got to choose between one of like 20 races to be, none of them human, as far as I recall(Fox, Ape, Etc). Also around 30 different Professions. I was an Ape Elementalist. We were in a tavern, and I was checking to see if someone was cheating, so I fired off a harmless little wind spell. Of course, by chance I rolled a 12(out of 12) and blew everyone up against the wall, got us wanted, and we never got the treasure. In return, we ended up in an endless void, and had to go about finding the start so we could dispell it. Ahh...the great days of tabletop rpgs...I miss em! One problem with computer games, unexpected moves are either "illegal"(Ie, cant be done) or bugs, which for me removes some of the roleplaying experience.
Alathon
Whats the main goal/plot?
LIVE!
SURVIVE!
BECOME A KING!
The ultimate goal is to become the king of a continent, and control it to your people's satisfatory, but your not striving for that goal the whole time you play it, the game isnt even all about that idea above, its just about playing the game, and setting smaller goals(getting that special sword, becoming a grandmaster mage, marrying that special someone).
And Eternal World usually enforces Role Playing at many times.
--FIREking