ALL THE RPG'S

[Renegade_Turner]

So, who's excited for Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns, Torment: Tides Of Numenera and Cyberpunk 2077?

Also I'll give Project V13 a mention because it'd be awesome if they pulled it off but considering the staff and their bouts of screw-ups and bad luck in the past I'm not holding my breath nor am I going to put money into it.

How do Wolfire feel about Kickstarter pages to fund games? Preorders might seem like more or less the same thing, but with a Kickstarter page one person could contribute a few hundred if they so wish. Do the guys on the team here see that as being a viable option in the future?

Also, if I'm forgetting any upcoming RPG's or just cool less-well-known projects in general, throw them here so I can have a look see. I see a big year in gaming coming up. For me personally, anyway.

[Freshbite]

I've never heard of any of those titles, but they don't seem to be what I look for in games anyway.

Regarding Kickstarter, I know that atleast Mr. Assaultman has a biased opinion about it. Personally, I'm more or less "meh" to everything new.

[Renegade_Turner]

A classic fantasy RPG that's a homage to Planescape, a post-apocalyptic RPG done in a classic/tactics style that's a sequel to the 24-year-old game that inspired the Fallout series, an FPS/RPG hybrid set in the Cyberpunk 2020 universe, a sequel to the original SNES Shadowrun RPG and the completion of the once defunct Project V13 that was meant to be the sequel to Fallout 2. None of those interest you? =o

[Freshbite]

Post-apocalyptic and Steampunk / Cyberpunk settings can go rot for all I care. I'm not so sure about Shadowrun, I don't really know about it. I am, however, afraid to try something new. Out of the list, I would have picked Torment. I still haven't got a chance to play the original after I purchased it, but the thought has atleast crossed me.

I'm not an intense gamer. I enjoy a good story (Bioshock, Zelda-games, Bastion), puzzles (Portal, Braid, Antichamber) and really fun (a requirement) multiplayer experiences (Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Killing Floor). There are few games that I can say are "good games" without excelling in any of the three categories.
Some games that does apply though are the Halo-series, Skyrim and Guitar Hero, among others. Those are the general "Fun-But-I-Don't-Know-Why" games. Gameplay value.

Anyway, when it comes down to it, besides the multiplayer part, I might get just as much entertainment out of picking up on a good book.

[Renegade_Turner]

Heresy!

[Endoperez]

Planescape: Torment has an amazing story. It's not a challenging game, though, as long as you know that you can't die so you're better off focusing on social characteristics.


When you said that really fun multiplayer is a requirement, did you mean that multiplayer is necessary, or that only multiplayer you're interested in is the really fun sort? If it's the latter, I have to agree - HERESY!


I haven't kickstarted any of those, but I know about all of them except V13. I wonder if all of these will be finished and released, though...

[Renegade_Turner]

Yeah the V13 one is on another thing called InvestedIn, which I don't really understand considering all the major successes since Tim Schafer did it have been on Kickstarter. The notable successes have hit 3 million odd dollars like.

I share your worries, or skepticism, on whether they'll all get released. The InvestedIn page for Project V13 was littered with comments that ranged from cautiously optimistic to skeptical to downright mean. They seem to be getting nothing of abuse since people lost faith in them because of their previous failed projects. If you hadn't already looked it up, it's Black Isle Studios but to most people that's only in name since the only remnant of the original developer studio by that name is Brian Fargo as far as I'm aware.

Also, the funding campaign is apparently to raise money for a "prototype" to be developed that they can show at games conferences and other such media events (I assume) in order to be able to lure more funding/staff and actually get the game out.

The 10 dollar contribution that they proposed gets you a pass onto a backers' forum and gets you some sort of badge on it.

Now, to me, that sounds extremely shaky, especially considering their past failures with Fallout Online and such like. So, as you can imagine, people are basically going "Wait, you want us to pay money for a prototype and then possibly shell out more money in the future to fund the actual game?"

That's my taking of the whole scenario anyway, from what little I've read about it. If anyone knows any more about it feel free to correct me if I've gotten any of the details wrong or left out important ones.

[Freshbite]

Heresy!

If it's the latter, I have to agree - HERESY!

The latter, but how so? I would agree that I do not follow the general public when it comes to modern gaming; I'm glad I'm not being considered your "average gamer", but I don't think my opinions deviate that much. Do they?

I realise that I might just have failed to pick up on your sarcasm.

[Renegade_Turner]

They're just settings that I really enjoy. Post-apocalyptic worlds make for neat character interactions in general. And I generally love cyberpunk's storylines or intrigue, corruption, betrayal and mystery. They get my goat, as the saying goes. And you say to hell with them made me call you a heretic. It was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but also kind of true. You heretic you.

Also I'm confused. Multiplayer is an absolute requirement or one of the things that could draw you to a game you wouldn't otherwise be interested in? Because some games I've played have had really AMAZING single player and really TERRIBLE multiplayer but I'd still rate them as games because multiplayer is more of an add-on to me. That's why I don't rate games like Halo or Call Of Duty as much, because their single player modes have such boring plots and unconvincing characters, and they rely on their multiplayer modes, which are admittedly better and more fun. But they don't make a game for me.

[Endoperez]

To me that's just as absurd as saying you can't listen to music, watch a movie or read a book without having friends over so you can talk to each other about the song or whatever as you're experiencing it.

RPGs especially translate poorly into multiplayer games. The competitive aspect removes much of the story and one's ability to experience the game world.

[Jaz]

I'm mostly excited for The Witcher 3 as I've become a major fan after picking up both of the already-released games quite cheaply recently. The Witcher 3 boasts a ton of new features and an awesome open world campaign. It's also going back to monster-hunting focused roots.

The Torment project and Project Eternity also look very promising.

You should also check out Age of Decadence. It looks extremely promising, though it hasn't really got a high budget currently and I'm not sure if it will ever actually reach it's final release. I am hopeful though of course
It's only really for hardcore RPG gamers though. It's very difficult and every decision you make has the chance to be lethal.

[Renegade_Turner]

RPGs especially translate poorly into multiplayer games. The competitive aspect removes much of the story and one's ability to experience the game world.

Agreed. The only RPG that's "multiplayer" that I've ever actually found to be compelling are pen and paper ones that my friends have GM'd. It doesn't seem to translate well into video games. A notable example is The Old Republic. If KOTOR doesn't even translate well into a compelling multiplayer experience then there's not much chance for anything else. This is obviously only from my view, of course, because that's the one game I thought might actually snag me.

I think it's because RPG's are so dependant on immersion and world-building. You have to be immersed in the setting. And when MMORPG's write story they have to leave it so vague because there's so many different people that're going to be playing. So no matter how much you progress in them, the world isn't really changed, because they can't change the world for one person and not for another because that would be immersion-breaking. And just wouldn't make sense.

And then you're left with this nagging feeling in the back of your head that this world, this story, isn't just for you. In comparison, a lot of others like Deus Ex, System Shock 2, KOTOR and Fallout all seem to do well in creating that illusion.

This Youtube video I'll embed here actually hits on some of the points for why single player RPG's can do so well whereas MMORPG's would run into snags. It doesn't even address MMORPG's but I just think that what he talks about brings to mind difficulties MMORPG developers run into:

I'm mostly excited for The Witcher 3 as I've become a major fan after picking up both of the already-released games quite cheaply recently. The Witcher 3 boasts a ton of new features and an awesome open world campaign. It's also going back to monster-hunting focused roots.

Ahh, I didn't even know they were working on a new one. The same guys who made The Witcher and The Witcher 2 are the guys who're making Cyberpunk 2077, so that might be of interest to you.

I'll have to look up Project Eternity and Age Of Decadence, not familiar with those.

[Freshbite]

Before I continue, I'd like to mention that I've mainly been talking about games in general, not RPGs in particular.

They're just settings that I really enjoy. Post-apocalyptic worlds make for neat character interactions in general. And I generally love cyberpunk's storylines or intrigue, corruption, betrayal and mystery. They get my goat, as the saying goes.

I generally find the genres hard to immerse myself in. The settings are dry and dead, and I found myself displaced.

And you say to hell with them made me call you a heretic.

Not necessarily to hell, specifically. I just find enough interest in it to even give such games a shot.

Also I'm confused. Multiplayer is an absolute requirement or one of the things that could draw you to a game you wouldn't otherwise be interested in?

The sentence would probably make much more sense if you removed what's in the parentheses. But I did mean that the multiplayer games require a fun element, something that adds up when playing with your friends. As with Magicka, or Battlefield.

Because some games I've played have had really AMAZING single player and really TERRIBLE multiplayer but I'd still rate them as games because multiplayer is more of an add-on to me. That's why I don't rate games like Halo or Call Of Duty as much, because their single player modes have such boring plots and unconvincing characters, and they rely on their multiplayer modes, which are admittedly better and more fun. But they don't make a game for me.

I find that multiplayer in games that also has a campaign of sorts are generally disappointing. The focus in development rarely make both modes equally amazing. There are a few games though that have done this just right. (Halo 3.)

To me that's just as absurd as saying you can't listen to music, watch a movie or read a book without having friends over so you can talk to each other about the song or whatever as you're experiencing it.

Yeah, but that's the thing. I usually don't play multiplayer games, because I find them not as interesting as I would a deeply immersive story-based game, or a mindcranking puzzle game. When I DO play multiplayer games, the game has to have some form of synergy that works well with me and my bunch of friends that play it together. There has been a lot of League of Legends through the years now, but I personally feel that it's too competitive for my taste.

RPGs especially translate poorly into multiplayer games. The competitive aspect removes much of the story and one's ability to experience the game world.

I don't really fall too much in love with RPGs, very few ones have actually managed to grasp me. Skyrim was the last of a few.

[Assaultman67]

... Regarding Kickstarter, I know that atleast Mr. Assaultman has a biased opinion about it. Personally, I'm more or less "meh" to everything new.

Yep.

Edit: it rustles the shit out of my jimmies.

[Grayswandir]

I always considered Skyrim to be more of an Adventure game and less of an RPG.

I'm hoping Cyberpunk 2027 and Shadowrun Returns will be good. I've heard of the other two but I never played the classics of them so I can't really say I have an opinion on them.

The last RPG I've actually finished was Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Endless Frontier.