Concept Give us your opinion - Style & Genres

[pLeet]

I was wondering what you guys (and more generaly what nowaday ORPG's players) are fans of.

I think that it could be a good topic to give ideas of what the AGD community are more likely to enjoy, and might give inspiration for anyone passing by.

So instead of asking it here and there, I decided to create this topic with a small multiple answers poll :

 

What kind of style and genre do you like the most / would you like to see more in ORPG games ?

 

There will be a couple of pre-generated answer in the poll, but I encourage you to add anything that might miss in the comments down below.

If you could also explain your choice(s), that would be even better !

 

I personally love Medieval / Steampunk genre. Having some anachronism laying around, with technologies that are yet to explain but available through use of artifacts and good old engineering powerd by coal, steam and lava. I'm not a huge fan of magic in the other hand, but it can go well with my previous choices. I do understand people have a thing for Dragons and other similar creatures, although I find it cliché and stereotipycal to use in such games. I tend to avoid them as much as I can.

 

And you, what is your opinion ?

[Chronos]

Personally? I'm quite a big fan of exploring the concept of the Megaman Battlenetwork games as an ORPG. 

 

The idea of having a normal social overworld and then diving into location based ''related'' areas with a combat avatar you can switch around and customize just seems interesting, and you can add features for all kinds of players in both ''sides'' of the game, as well as have wildly different locations in your game as they dont nessecarily need to be connected or make sense if you give it a "VR" spin rather than how Battlenetwork did it.

 

Not really a specific genre per say, but just going by genre is fairly generic and can go any direction.

[pLeet]

Thanks for your participation @Chronos !

I didn't know this game, I've checked it out quickly on YouTube, seems pretty cool indeed - maybe a little too childish imho. It kinda reminds me of an old mod of HL2 available on steam called Dystopia in which players fight in a standard FPS game most of the time, but objectives can only be taken by jumping in a virtual reality world in which "hackers" can only fight with malware, virus and such things.

 

8 minutes ago, Chronos said:

Not really a specific genre per say, but just going by genre is fairly generic and go any direction.

This is exaclty what this topic is about : getting a maximum of ideas, opinions and feedback from each members. If the comment is well structured and bring something interesting I'm good with it event if it's a bit off topic !

[Sethis]

As for me, i'm really not picky as long as the content is original - both gameplay and lore. Graphisms come last, as long as it's intelligible and somewhat coherent.

 

What i really need is immersion, and a mean to stand out from the whole (or a least, the feeling of), either by a carefully crafted main quest which make me feel like i'm not the 72.438th "Chosen One" to go kill some random monster whom terrorize the outskirt of some nameless village, or a smart, heavy and permissive gameplay which allow a great level of personalization without generating too much unbalance (yeah, what if i want to play a good necromancer/druid with undead animals, uh ?).

 

Freedom in the narrative is not mandatory, but branching stories with meaningfull choices are usually a good, solid feature that leave impact on the player (at least, it works on me). For exemple, being allowed to make compromises, or sacrifices, to get something other players wouldn't dare to get (a class with heavy pro/cons, a unique item, a gamebreaker skill ...), anything that (radically ?) change the gameplay, for better and worst, something that make me feel like i appropriated the game, i accomplished something.

 

Last but not least, a great community is essential. Not only must it be friendly and open, but i'll go even further by saying that the entire game design should converge to playing together, like, actually playing in groups, sharing, helping and doing some epic stuff together. Not being able to make everything by yourself is, imo, a key aspect of this vision, especially in combat. Specialization and complementarity should really be promoted by the system itself.

 

- - -

 

More on the topic, i'm not attracted at all to games inspired by Series / Anime / Video games or generally, existing universes.

Firstly, because in some (most ?) of them, we actually play as the main characters, and i can't bear to see twenty versions of the same Naruto / San Goku / whatev' in the same game. Besides, those games are rarely innovative, the gameplay mimics (often poorly) moves from the source (same old Rasengan/Kamehameha/etc, you get the idea) and stick too much to the original story, which tends to be disappointing because of the sheer amount of work necessary to adapt correctly the content to another media.

I'd rather play a game inspired by a universe, with original content, and where the characters from the original universe are barely mentioned in the lore, or at least, incarned by NPCs. But this leads to my second point : if games can be too close to some original universe, the other way around is true also, and games too personnally adapted are not a good thing either, mostly because Series / Animes / etc can be a sensitive subject for people and everyone have their own explanation about this or that, their own expectations etc. (-> "Who's stronger, San Goku or Superman ?").

 

Yeah i know, i'm a pain sometimes ...

 

 

Quote

TL;DR : I'd like to get the feeling i have when playing tabletop RPG ... quite the hurdle, right ?

 

[Giligis]

Personally, when I see a 2D project all I'm looking for in a genre is originality and well-made gameplay. I'm a fan of many genres as long as its pulled off right. I think originality plays a huge part in a genre, almost as if any genre could be good, it just needs to be well-thought and then well-built. 

[pLeet]

Thanks @Sethis and @Giligis for exposing your point of view about the topic !

 

58 minutes ago, Sethis said:

branching stories with meaningfull choices are usually a good, solid feature that leave impact on the player

That point may be interesting to remember for actual and next projects : non linear stories are the best ! I mean, giving (or forcing) the player into making a heavy choice, leaving an impact (ether in the lore/story itself or equipment/spells that can no longer be available) give some originality to your game, and depth in the story. Good point on that Sethis !

 

1 hour ago, Sethis said:

the entire game design should converge to playing together, like, actually playing in groups, sharing, helping and doing some epic stuff together

I can only agree with this sentence. Players should not only group to defeat X dungeons & boss to get a chance to drop THAT item you need. This logic should be expanded futher : for example putting a level cap to all players on the server that can only be removed (or temporary disabled) by gathering X ressources. Not only your buddies, party or guild is involved, but the whole server ! 

 

1 hour ago, Sethis said:

i can't bear to see twenty versions of the same Naruto / San Goku / whatev' in the same game

I totaly feel you on that one. That's the number one reason I've never played any game like that. Plus the lack of liberty and thrill since we basicly know everything the serie / anime has to offer (story, "classes", and so on).

 

24 minutes ago, Giligis said:

it just needs to be well-thought and then well-built

What do you exactly mean by that ? What could push you toward that project rather than this one ?

[Giligis]

Generally what I mean is that if a developer puts the time and effort into a game, no matter what genre will usually keep my attention and provide good entertainment. I like genres with a bit of originality, take Last Day on Earth for example, its a mobile game thats much like Sims, Fallout, The Division, in a post-apocalyptic theme. The way they executed the game makes it feel like its totally own genre and because of the effort (like constant updates) creativity, it makes for an awesome game. 

 

Originality sticks out like a sore-thumb. You get a feel for the game and it would be a considerable difference. I'd say thats what would draw you towards THAT project rather than THIS one. The feeling that you've never done it before in a sort of way. Captures what you are loking for. 

[jcsnider]

Don't care about genre. Give me a good story and some freedom to make my own choices. Allow my choices to impact the story even in small ways. 

 

Allow me to steadily progress in that story. Dont force me to deviate from my story to grind skills I don't care about.

 

Have other stories waiting for me if I get tired or complete the one I'm on. Again, I don't care about genre, but if I lose interest in the storylines or if the game starts to feel more like a job or a chore then you'll lose me forever. 

 

Make more Skyrims and less Runescapes!

[Sethis]

7 minutes ago, jcsnider said:

[...] if the game starts to feel more like a job or a chore then you'll lose me forever.

 

Absolutely ! but it seems quite a task to balance between meaningfull content (which take time to make and implement) and random crap / breather / fluff / repetable quests / etc to lenghten the longevity of the game (and allowing player to break from the serious stuff from time to time).

 

11 minutes ago, jcsnider said:

Make more Skyrims and less Runescapes!

 

Funnily enough, i wouldn't have thought of Skyrim at all when speaking about content and meaningful choices.

Sure, you can go at your own pace, you're pretty free to go everywhere, do whatever you want but that's all ... i was really disappointed by the lack of content, big places to explore filled with intersideral void or the other crap randomcounter creep, copy-pasted caves and ruins etc.

Well, honnestly i had fun, the game was beautiful too, and with some well-made mods no doubt it would be one of the greatest game ever but as it is i can't help finding it lacking. 0.02$.

[Skaveron]

I don't care much about genre either. Fantasy and scifi are just two sides of the same coin in my opinion. Mostly, I like depth and freedom. A big, well written world with a lot of lore to play around with and different concepts to explore.

 

Primarily though, I like Weird. I like things that break current conventions and the reversal of tropes. I like the unknown and things that don't have or need an explanation. I like good necromancers and evil angels. I like bloodthirsty princesses that kidnap monsters.

 

I like challenging the norm, is probably what I'm saying.

[pLeet]

Again, thanks @jcsnider and @Skaveron for your participation !

 

13 hours ago, jcsnider said:

Give me a good story and some freedom to make my own choices

 

6 minutes ago, Skaveron said:

Mostly, I like depth and freedom. A big, well written world with a lot of lore to play around with and different concepts to explore.

Freedom and deep story seems to be the most highlighted criteria in every comments.

At first, I was worried about the graphics more than the story itself. I might need to change my priorities then !

[Richy]

Give me story... I need to feel my character and feel the world around me. I need to know why I'm there and what I'm doing, why am I doing it? I am more single player based, if possible, I'd like each class to come with it's own story, joint into a main conclusive storyline. As a Knight should be the protector of the Queen Arianna, but an Archer is the hunter of the woods and takes orders from none, and a Mage with the sacred arts from the Mistress Lizabeth whom He/She worships. Each find a path together to keep peace within the world, but an evil spirit creates a Dark Knight to take Queen Arianna from her throne, a Hunter to vanquish the Archer and a Warlock to destroy the temple of Mistress Lizabeth, and the three classes join to defeat the evil spirit if even possible??? Bwahaha...

Something like this, I'd like.

 

I like puzzles, as it gives the game more of a lock to an underworlds, I don't see how anyone can go into a cavern and not be faced with moving a few rocks to get to another area, or having to find a switch for a locked door. I like freedom too but I hate freedom that makes me feel like I'm a God that can just fly through areas. I like seek and finds with the event system, search in a crate to find something that is required later in game, stuff like that interests me, and it makes a player spend more time exploring and less time trying to reach level 99 to say MORE UPDATE PLX.

 

Economy, omg. Please give me an economy that doesn't take eternity to acquire gold. I understand that bats and skeletons won't drop gold, but at least create loot (Bat Wings, Skulls) that can be dropped to be picked up and sold at a shop for a reasonable amount of gold. I hate games that are so greedy and yet so inflated with their items in shops. A fish shouldn't cost 100 gold if you only get 1 gold per Skull! Like I'm gonna sit here all day killing 100 Skeletons to get a fish that only heals 25 HP. I like skills like fishing, but even then: When a fish is sold for 25 gold!? I dislike greedy economies, it drags the game to an unnecessary level. I do however like multiple currencies, not just a limitation to gold, but in an open world, perhaps each town has it's own commodity for trading, but it has to be done right, for example:  100 Gold = 1 Platinum, 500 Gold or 5 Platinum = I Titanium. Give an option to trade in commodities for commodities.

 

Graphics, I'm a big fan of High Fantasy pack that LH used. I kinda get burned out seeing the same cartoony graphics that RPGVX and RPGXP has. I like some custom cartoon graphics, but I'm still not that big of a fan of them. I don't discriminate on a game using such, I'd still try one out if it interests me in other ways.

 

TL;DR? I like single player separate stories joint into a main conclusive story plot with puzzles, a right economy and realistic looking graphics lol.

 

 

[pLeet]

Thanks @Richy and thanks all of you guys.

This topic is only 1 day old, yet is already a huge source of ideas and personal feedbacks and opinion. This will definitly help me and I hope the others as well. 

 

Keep on the sharing ; having all kind of opinion is the best way to get a better understanding of today player's needs and tastes !