What is Missing in RPGs?

[MinisterJay]

I played my first RPG about 35 years ago. There was something that was just magical about that experience. The game was Dungeons and Dragons. Being a player was exciting, but there was something even more exciting, as that was creating a new campaign as a Dungeon Master.

That is what we are today. We are the modern Dungeon Masters. We make the campaigns. We make the mods. We are the creators of many universes.

I have played a lot of RPGs. As a game developer, I tackle the question, "What is missing in RPGs?" Many of them are almost cookie cutter. We need to go beyond that. Why put this in Theory and Development? It is our job to develop games that gamers want to play. I have seen too many games that have awesome marketing and awesome title screens, but after a few minutes of play, I feel a void. There is something missing...OR many somethings.

What do you find missing in RPGs?

 

[Zebestian]

I feel like that, especially in Japanese RPGs, the aspect of actually playing a role is barely present anymore. Old-school JRPGs kinda did that but that was mostly due to the simplicity they had because of technical limitations. If I'm playing an RPG I want to create my own character, my own persona. I love character creation, even if it's just simple and superficial. It gives me the feeling of me actually being a part of the game instead of just sitting in front of a screen playing it.
Now keep in mind, I do not dislike JRPGs because they don't offer that. Most of the times those games tell the better stories and they can be very engaging too with their lovable characters and all. But what I want to see is a JRPG in the scale of a Skyrim or Fallout. Something like Final Fantasy Online, just less MMO-y. I just want to feel like I'm part of the game, like I'm assuming an actual role - not just the role of "gamer" or "player".

 

[MinisterJay]

I totally agree. Let's say if the goal to acquire the stolen 'The Gem of Kazbahg', let there be multiple ways to get it. A rogue style player may like to attempt to steal it, while hiding in the shadows. A negotiator style player may desire to offer coinage for the gem. A blunt, in-your-face player may desire to slash and hack the way through. Let the player decide how they want to get it, when they want to do it, and if they even want to do the quest after all. Let the player also have options to outright sell the gem, in the underground market if desired. Let them have multiple paths. Let what they do and not do determine what class, if a class is even desired that the character falls in.

 

[Lung Spiders]

How about something unique about the battle system? Even, look at ff6, on the surface it seems just the same as a common jpg, but the magicite system for "character creation" so to speak, and unique options besides attack, magic, items, give it a sort of depth and actual strategy besides spamming attack and fire3. (unless of course you equip offering and genji gloves and ultima weapon and atma weapon, then basic attack does 80,000 damage, but even fun combinations of ultra rare items aren't seen either. it's always just stats.)

 

[lobothegreat]

I fully agree with Zebestian. In modern games, for example, latest God of War or Horizon Zero Dawn, you can select the skills you want to focus on, for example, ranged combat or melee combat. But in the end, it doesn't matter because you learn all skills anyway. I liked how the Star wars games about the old republic did it with a simple class selection (Soldier, Scout and Scoundrel ) because it gets the playstyle little different (if you want).

 

[mobiusclimber]

I think a lot of RPGs are fairly cliched and don't really comment on real life anymore. You see the same characters over and over with the same motivations and personality, the same generic storyline, and nothing that really makes you think too hard. I used to hate that every JRPG had to have an evil religion and usually brainwashed followers... but it was a comment on real life issues. I think of fantasy the way I think of sci-fi: it's a tool for subtly commenting on society, and developers who don't do that are hamstringing their storylines. The big problem is that if you don't think about society and religion and etc etc, then your game isn't going to be very realistic. You have towns but no government, societies halfway around the world that function nearly the same as the starting town, and either no religion or "pray at the shrine/church to save your game." You don't even necessarily have to comment on existing society or religion, but your world should have those things in more than a shallow superficial way.

 

[JazzGotBlues]

Fully agree with the person Above,

Other ways to do this is with real life issues, like lying to your friends, trust issues. Broken friendships and long held grudges. Ofcourse these are the more basic and common onces, but even those can miss inside RPG Games. The basic: Friend take on villian is done already 1 million times, but making the same concept more interesting can really make your game original and outstanding.

 

[Kurito14]

@MinisterJay, I think most of the things rarely happened in RPG games is the story plots in the game that make sense. However, when the game developer deals with real-life issues, some of RPG game developers tells they point of views without taking account of others point of view that they might disagree with. That can make players feel irritated. However, in the game developer would argue that no matter what we cannot please players even we want to.

Plots of many of the RPG games are without affording and logic of why this happen or that happen. Evil is not just conquered the world for fun, and evil does not just show itself as evil to anyone. Good people are not always doing the right things if means their demise. Basic Psychology and Basic Sociology are very important to understand the motivations of humans.

 

[Azdak]

When you say the first RPG you played was Dungeons and Dragons, was that the Sega Mega Drive version, or something like Hero quest on Amiga?

The thing I find missing from most RPG's especial JRPG'S is choice.
One of the best RPG's I ever played was the PC Game Arcanum.
(It came out at about the same time as Baldur's Gate and had a very similar D&D feel)

The reason I love Arcanum is because there are SO many choices.
There are so many ways to complete quests. (Use your beauty, your intelligence, your charisma, your race, your sex, your wits)

I remember talking to some goblins in a factory, and I told them most people have "days off".
(You could have said lots of different things to them, but one of the choices you can pick is about working conditions)
So... Days and days and days later the goblins start a protest!
They all stop working (apart from one scab) and they form a workers union!
(All because I chose to walk into that building and talked to them.)
Then the boss comes out see's the protest and tells you to kill them all. he will pay you lots of gold if you do!
Then you have the choice do you side with the poor goblin workers or the human boss that will pay you.

Sorry I might have gone off on one a little, but it's a quest I will always remember and left a lasting impression on me.
It was my choice, they were my actions and the consequences were all on me.
(I know none if it is real but I genuinely cared about the goblin workers when all this happened)

I hate when I play a game and the person I am playing as does something I don't want to do.
(I hated the attitude and the actions of the main character of Final Fantasy 8 when I first played it for example)