Nostalgia

Recently I made this post over at the NWN2 forums.

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First, let me say this:

I am a gamer. A true, I've dedicated my life to it, often at the expense of 'real' things like school, or work, honest to god, gamer.

FPS, RTS, RPG, MMO, PnP, Solitare, Chess, Monopoly, online, off-line, if it's cards, dice or chits (the three of you laughing can stop now, since you probably still have your mud die). I love them all.

Let me start by dismissing a myth.

Role Playing Games have nothing to do with the story.

I'd like to repeat that because it's vaugely important.

Role Playing Games are not now, nor should they ever have been about the story.

They're about playing a character, and dealing with their reactions and interactions in a fictional setting. STORY tends to push them (meaning the characters) to the background, water down the experience, etc. When you look back at all these connected stages of a good game you have a story, but the story itself, is nothing but a happy accident.

Want proof?

Ultima VII.

Go on, what was the story of Ultima VII? You can tell me the setting, you can tell me what was happening in the game world, but you can't tell me the 'story'.

What was the story in Diablo II? You can tell me that. Because even with some random side things to do, it was a very linear, one way to win, connect the dots STORY. Which character you played, how you talked to townfolk, etc, was laid out in advance, and you played the parts between the lines of the story. But what your character did, didn't really matter.

What old school gamers complain about, when you take another stat away, or reason to roll the dice, is that you're taking away an aspect of that character's persona. Like removing the mole from Cindy, the difference between you and the next character became a little less, and the reason to share the story that's come to be your character has faded away. After decades of taking things about because they're hard has reduced
'role playing' to reading a book while having blob a hit blob b for x damage.

Those stupid little things we old gamers complain about like, food, money types, or carying 5 sets of plate mail seem silly. It's a game after all. "It's meant to be fun, not hard."

No. Not realy.

There was once a golden rule of game development: Easy to learn, difficult to master.

Now, it's easy to learn, easy to master. We don't want people spending to long on a game, because they won't buy your next one. You know the one where the next point haird, sexually ambigious 12 year old boy with an oversized sword is saving the world from a demon.

Role Playing is stats. Very, very much so.

The situations in the world, give us a reason to use those stats. That's the setting.

The openness of the world, gives those stats a chance to be used, and help make our character feel like something different. Those are the chapters.

How we react with our stats and character becomes a story.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's snowing. Which means it's time to walk up hill to my friendly local game shop (FLGS).

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So, if you don't know NWN2 is on it's way, shame on you.

But I think it's worth repeating that games are getting dumber, and that is a Bad Thing.

The first against the wall...

I fear we're about to have a revolution in gaming.

And not in the good way.

More and more developers are growing weary of the media giants forcing them into certain development standards, motiffs and work environments.

Some are encouraging the industry to sell out, and take what they can get from hollywood, while others plead us to not go gentle into that good night.
I, myself, am torn. I look back fondly at the giant manuals, reams of graph paper, and almost non existant graphics that games used to have, and were able to hold my attention for MONTHS. I remember spending over a year trying to find every last piece of a puzzle for "Deathlord".

Yet, when I go to put those games back on my PC, I feel this sense of being underwhelmed. With games like Warcraft, Age of Empires, or Battlefield 1942 it's hard to look at chess as a comparison for a war. Icons moving across a grid just doesn't capture the sensation that 30 mounted troops marching against a battalion of spearmen does.

But we are loosing out to media giants, that want us to play games in our living rooms on propriatary systems, that they can force us to upgrade more often.

The number of game titles is dropping, rapidly, while the number of gamers is growing. Look at your local software store, if you can find it still, and see what I mean. Gamestop just bought EB, and previously, they had purchased Babbages, which had purchased Software Etc (or was that last one the other way arround).

The geek centric store is going away, and our games are being replaced by action figures, Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and quick play, never loose your place games that center around a sexually ambiguous 12 year old boy, whit pointy hair and a sword twice his size.

Because it sells to the kids.

But the age of your average gamer isn't 16 anymore. It's more like 26, and climbing as our parents die off. The average age of a Neverwinter Nights player is 35. (Yeah, supprised me too). The point is, it's not a juvinile market, and we're letting them make it one. We need to stand up for ourselves.

I think the developers are about to do so themselves. You can only take so much before you just say "ENOUGH!" Forcing to change systems, unheard of development cycles (under a year for a fresh IP with new content?), and having to drone through the same old crap again, isn't just borring for us to play, it's borring to make.

But risk is bad in business, and profit is good. A small profit off a sure bet, keeps you in the bussiness, while a loss, no matter how small, on a great idea, will drive you out.

What can we do?

1) Wait for price drops. One of the issues facing developers is that if the publisher doesn't see profit immediately, the title goes off the shelf, and away. Buy increasing the amount of games you buy in the second run, publishers will understand that there is a viable market out there of people waiting for the release to calm down.

2) Read reviews. Investigate your game before you buy it. But not in a review mag/site that earns it's revenue through gaming advertisements. Believe it or not many slant the reviews based on who's advertising in them. Epinions, or any site with user reviews is a far better concept of how good/bad a game really is.

3) Get involved in the pre-release community. Most upcomming games have boards and means of contacting the developers directly. If you find out a game is comming out soon, go to the board, read what's happening, and then cut the hype in half for a more accurate picture. After lurking for a week or two, post your ideas, concepts and suggestions. Here is a perfect chance for you to start organizing what you want from the ground up.

4) Don't be affraid to take a chance on a sleeper game or on a game that really bends the rules. Yes you should wait until it drops well in price, but the attempts at people improving and remaking X-Com is not because it recieved critical acclaim, it's because people took a chance on it and found out it was a really good game.

5) Don't buy HYPE games. Catwoman springs immediately to mind. Movie tie ins are almost exclusively bad. (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King being the noteable exception).

6) Build your own. Seriously, get involved. Dorm/Bedroom game development is dead. Dorm/Bedroom MOD development is a great way to push the boundaries. Most good developers know that a healthy mod community keeps their game on the shelves, and will provide you the tools to make those mods.

7) Don't settle. If something sucks, review it. If it's great, review it. Big name publishers are always going to try and make "Me Too" games. Small time publishers will do so to try and get their first hit. You helping increase or decrease a games sales are one way you can have a hand in stearing the industry.

Everyone gets a vote in america, regaurdless of Age, Race, or Nationality. The only name on the ballot is "George Washington". So vote, just do so wisely.