User:Master Thief Garrett/RPG rewrite
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An electronic role-playing game (or RPG) is a video game genre derived from pen and paper role-playing games.
Gameplay elements strongly associated with RPGs, such as statistical character development, have been widely adapted to other video game genres. For example, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, an action game, uses resource statistics (abbreviated as "stats") to define a wide range of attributes including stamina, weapon proficiency, driving, lung capacity, and muscle tone, and uses numerous cutscenes and quests to advance the story. Warcraft III, a real-time strategy game, features heroes that can complete quests, obtain new equipment, and learn new abilities as they advance in level. What separates these from games tradionally termed RPGs is likely, the inclusion of material not normally considered part of RPGs, more than the absence of content that is. However, neither game is considered a computer role-playing game.
Quests might be something as simple as making a delivery or killing some rats, or as complex as destroying a particular foe and retrieving something in their possession while being careful not to harm innocents in the process.
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[edit] Overview
Since RPGs are derived from pen and paper role-playing games (especially Dungeons & Dragons), they use very similar settings and game mechanics. Typically, gameplay revolves around a character or group of characters (a "party") who explore the world and, in order to progress the storyline, battle a variety of monsters (often inspired by mythology or science fiction) and take on a variety of quests.
Characters have a variety of attributes such as hit points. These attributes are usually displayed to the player on a status screen as a numeric value, instead of a simpler abstract graphical representation, such as the bars and meters favored by video games in general.
[edit] Character creation
Before the player has even begun playing, one of the most varying factors of the electronic RPG arises. Games classed as "console", "Japanese" or "Eastern" RPGs typically give the player a choice between one or more characters with some or all of their abilities or behavior predefined, with the only initial customisability being to choose the character's name and, usually, their character class (but only if the game features classes). Games classed as "computer" or "Western" RPGs, on the other hand, typically give the player a great deal of control: in many games players can customise the character's name, gender, appearance, class, and race, the last two having an impact on gameplay while the first three are aesthetic.
Regardless of the type of game, character classes frequently have some specific advantages (such as a Thief being able to detect or disable traps) as well as disadvantages (such as the Thief being unable to wear stronger types of armor). Some games (such as Baldur's Gate) allow players to choose more than one class, but this usually carries some disadvantages to maintain game balance. Some games (such as The Elder Scrolls Chapter II: Daggerfall) also allow the player to choose or create a "background" or "vignette" that defines both the history and abilities of the character. The purpose of the character class (and, in turn, the race) is to determine the player's starting attributes, and the character's development over time. This information is also used to determine what, if any, spells or equipment the player starts with. Some games (such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) also allow the player to create their own class by selecting a limited number of base attributes and abilities. Games featuring such a free-form system may not include the usual restrictions on what a class can or cannot do, and may instead allow players to become a jack of all trades, with their class instead being to determine how they begin, rather than how they end up.
[edit] Character development
Over the course of the game, players are allowed to choose how they want to improve the character's (or party's) performance in terms of attributes, skills, special abilities, and equipment. These improvements are given as rewards for overcoming challenges and achieving goals. The conditions that need to be met in order to earn these rewards may vary; some games are focused on defeating enemies, while others emphasize completion of the quests.
Two different systems of rewarding the player characters for solving the tasks in the game can be set apart: the experience system (also known as the "level-based" system) and the training system (also known as the "skill-based" system). The former system, by far the most common, was inherited from traditional role-playing games and emphasizes receiving "experience points" ("EXP" or "XP) by winning battles, performing class-specific activities, and completing quests, which are then "invested" by the player into the necessary skills. The second system is similar to the way the Basic Role-Playing system works. It was first used in Dungeon Master, and emphasizes developing the character's skills by using them—meaning that if a character fights with a sword for some time, he or she will become more increasingly proficient with it. This system was later used in the Dungeon Siege and Elder Scrolls series.
Both character development systems have their advantages and disadvantages. The experience system allows more flexibility and fairness in rewarding the completed tasks, but is generally unrealistic, since it is entirely possible for the player to spend time brewing potions or doing some other non-combat action and then putting points earned there towards combat-related skills. The training system does not imply any reward for the completed quests, except a material one, assuming that the character trained his or her skills while working towards the set goals. Such systems are sometimes seen as an oversimplification (as seen in Dungeon Siege) and are thus considered a step away from classical RPGs towards the action RPG genre. Many games, such as the Elder Scrolls, series, feature both methods, with individual skill experience points contributing to the character's overall level, and gaining a level in turn allowing the player to increase the attributes that control skills.
In most "computer"-style RPGs, character advancement does not affect the characterization of the player character. Planescape: Torment and Fallout both stand as notable exceptions to this trend for their inclusion of complex quest structures and NPC behaviors that were altered depending on the player's choices, with Torment taking into account the player's predilection for law or order and Fallout introducing reputation-based traits such as "Protector of the Wastes", "Child Killer" or "Gigolo." Other D&D-based games (including the Baldur's Gate and Knights of the Old Republic series) also offered many opportunities to shape the player's character, changing the nature of the game and and its NPC reactions. Characterization changes are more common in "console"-style RPGs; by completing parts of the main storyline the central character(s) will change (and so will NPCs' attitudes towards them), but there are overall fewer optional quests with an impact on the character's standing than in games like Fallout.
[edit] Themes
There is a marked tendency for RPGs to be set in a fictional high fantasy world, likely the result of cautious investment in new genres by the computer gaming industry, although there are numerous exceptions. Comparatively fewer RPGs feature elements from space opera, post-apocalyptic, alien and other science fiction themes. Few take place in strictly historical or modern settings. Several notable exceptions to this trend are Arcanum (steampunk), Vampire: The Masquerade: Redemption and Bloodlines ("gothic punk", set in both historical and a fictional modern times) Starflight (science fiction), Darklands (a blend of medieval German history and legend), Star Wars Galaxies (space opera) and Fallout (post-apocalyptic).
[edit] Navigation
"Console"-style RPGs typically have restrictions on player movement, whether it be rocks or terrain or other such factors. "Western" RPGs, however, emphasize near-absolute freedom of movement; barriers are usually only natural ones (such as magically locked doors or powerful enemies) but as a rule all these can be overcome by the player levelling their skills or gaining suitable equipment, whereas in a "console" RPG there is no way around these barriers until the appropriate time in the storyline.
Because of the emphasis on a large world to explore, many games use a system of maps to help the player navigate through the game world. Since Akalabeth, these games feature characters moving on one or more maps. When the player-character in that game entered a dungeon or city, the view was often changed from a map view to a player view. This representation was also used by many "console" RPGs, including the first nine Final Fantasy titles. Since Bard's Tale II many RPGS now let the player travel in a seamless world with the only disruption being loading times whenever the player enters a new area (although some games constantly load data to eliminate this altogether). The world thus has a single fixed scale, and the map instead becomes like a real-world map, as an aid for player navigation rather than an actual surface the player navigates across.
Some games feature maps that must be viewed on their own separate screen, while others feature an automap that is always visible during normal gameplay. These maps commonly keep track of a character's current location and important destinations. Although these maps generally make navigation easier for the player, some games limit the visibility of the map intentionally to provide additional challenge or more realism.
In some games, the perspective changes entirely when entering certain places. The early Ultima games, for instance, feature a bird's eye view of the world map but switched to a first-person view when entering a dungeon.
[edit] Quest Structure
Role-playing games, more so than any other genre, are famous for having long and involved quests. In particular, many of the most famous and well-regarded titles such as Fallout contain multiple quest solutions and nonlinear gameplay through branching plots, and may even feature multiple endings. Different character builds may approach quests differently, using diplomacy, violence, subterfuge, bribery, or a variety of other methods, often driven by character as opposed to player skill. Many quests are optional, allowing for freedom of choice in defining a character's goals and intentions. In some games, such as Planescape: Torment, choosing one path over another may have moral implications, potentially changing the alignment of the player. In others, such as Arcanum or Geneforge, a set of quests may be mutually exclusive with another set, forcing the player to come to a decision on the possible long term effects. Such quests often affect the player's standing with a particular faction which may help or hinder the player. Thus the player's choices can have profound consequences later in the game.
[edit] Encounters
The nature of enemy encounters varies widely between RPGs. Some early games have random encounters, where by stepping on a randomly selected spot on the map something will occur. A random encounter may be benign in nature, such as finding a friendly non-player character or a wandering merchant, or it may be hostile, such as being spotted by a group of enemies or walking into a trap. Encounters are more often hostile than benign. By encountering and defeating enemies, the group of characters may be rewarded with loot and experience points, just as in many of the simpler traditional fantasy RPGs. Participating in random encounters repeatedly for the sake of amassing these rewards is referred to as grinding. Enemy characters featured in random encounters rarely have any impact on the story. In many cases the encounters are invisible until the player actually activates them.
In recent years invisible random encounters have become scarce in Western-style RPGs and most RPGs with a real-time combat system, with the enemies instead being visible from a distance before the player is forced to interact with them. This way, the player is able to better prepare for the encounter or avoid it altogether (if possible). Some games (such as Gothic) instead use pre-placed monsters that do not respawn, making it entirely possible for the player to eliminate all enemies from a certain area.
Some encounters are not random; they happen automatically when the player reaches a certain point in the story. These encounters are usually important events and may be foreshadowed in some way. The vast majority of these non-random encounters are "bosses", enemy characters of importance who are always more difficult to defeat than any common random encounter. Other scripted encounters may include unavoidable guards, characters seeking the player's attention, or incidents that are critical to the story. Like most video games, RPGs often feature a climactic final encounter, after which the game soon reaches its conclusion.
[edit] Combat
Almost every RPG features combat as one of the main challenges to the player. A good portion of these games is spent avoiding, preparing for, or carrying out fights. Combat is carried out in turn-based, real-time, or, in the case of recent Final Fantasy games, a mixture of the two.
In a classical turn-based system only one character may act at a time. All other characters remain still, with a few exceptions that may involve the use of special abilities. The order in which the characters act is usually dependant on their attributes, such as speed or agility. This system rewards strategic planning more than tactical quickness, albeit sometimes at the cost of realism. A turn-based system makes it possible, for example, to run into range of an opponent and kill him before he gets a chance to act, or duck out from behind hard cover, fire, and retreat back without an opponent being able to fire, which are of course both impossibilities. However, tactical possibilities have been created by this unreality that did not exist before; the player determines whether the loss of immersion in the reality of the game is worth the satisfaction gained from the development of the tactic and its successful execution. Some games, such as Pokemon, do not allow characters to move during battle (other than to run away, exiting the battle entirely), making it solely focussed on attacking or defending within mêlée range.
In a real-time system there are no turn restrictions and characters may act at any time, and as quickly as their abilities allow. Action tends to be more frenetic though sometimes more difficult to control. RPGs that put a stronger emphasis on real-time fighting than on story and character developed are classed as Action RPGs.
A variant of this mode called real-time with pause allows the player to pause the game and issue orders to all characters under his/her control; when the game is unpaused, all characters follow the orders they were given. This system, abbreviated as RTwP, has been particularly popular in games designed by Bioware. The most famous RTwP engine is the Infinity Engine. A similar system can be found in the Final Fantasy series; time can be set to flow normally, or flow up until the start of the Player Characters' next available actions, or paused. When set to normal, it is identical to live action, with emphasis on quick decisions. Set to wait, it effectively has an autopause, and strategies can be contemplated.
Early Ultima games featured a semi-real time system: they were technically turn-based, but if the player waited more than a second or so to issue a command the game would automatically issue a pass command, allowing the monsters to take a turn while the player's character(s) did nothing.
There is a further subdivision by the structure of the battle system; in many early games, such as Wizardry, monsters and the party are arrayed into ranks, and can only attack enemies in the front rank with mêlée weapons. Other games, such as most of the Ultima series, employed duplicates of the miniatures combat system traditionally used in pen-and-paper games. Here, icons representing the players and monsters would move around an arena modeled after the surrounding terrain, attacking any enemies that are sufficiently near.
[edit] History and Chronology
Role-playing video games began in 1975 as an offshoot of early university mainframe computer text RPGs on PDP-10 and Unix-based computers, starting with Dungeon and graphical RPGs on the PLATO System, pedit5 and dnd, themselves inspired by traditional role-playing games. Other influences during this period were text adventures, Multiple-User Dungeons (MUDs) and roguelike games. Some of the first graphical RPGs after pedit5 and dnd, were orthanc, avathar (later renamed avatar), oubliette, baradur, emprise, bnd, sorcery, moria, and dndworld, all of which were developed and became widely popular on PLATO during the latter 1970s, in large part due to PLATO's speed, fast graphics, nationwide network of terminals, and large number of players with access to those terminals. These were followed by (but did not always lead directly to) games on other platforms, such as Akalabeth (1980) (which gave rise to the well-known Ultima series), Wizardry, and Dungeons of Daggorath.
These early Ultima and Wizardry games are perhaps the largest influence on the later console RPG games that are now popular. Many innovations of Ultima III: Exodus (1983) eventually became standards of almost all RPGs in both the console market (if somewhat simplified to fit the gamepad) and the personal computer market. Later Dungeon Master (1987) introduced realtime gameplay and several user-interface innovations, such as direct manipulation of objects and the environment with the mouse, to first-person RPGs.
[edit] Criticisms
Although console and computer RPGs share a common ancestor in the Ultima series, the two have diverged into very separate and distinct subgenres. The emphasis of console RPGs on strong, linear plots and character exposition rather than dynamic worlds and versatile character creation and interaction have created a rift of disagreement for some in the gaming community.
Some computer RPG players argue that it is inappropriate to call console RPGs “role-playing games” because of the inability to influence the outcome of a story. More generally, frequent criticisms of console RPGs are that they involve little skill, are too abstract or unrealistic, or do not offer strong gameplay. This debate does not apply to hack and slashers such as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Dungeon Siege, which share the same qualities across platforms.
RPGs often face criticism from players of pen and paper RPGs. A common reason for this is the fact that many RPGs focus on combat and statistical character management instead of storytelling and thorough characterization. This trend is called powergaming. Players also criticise the fact that the player has limited, pre-programmed control over their digital avatar, rather than unlimited control of a character who may interact with any aspect of the game's world.
These are common criticisms of simulated realities in general; indeed, these criticisms are also directed at gamist and simulationist players of traditional role-playing games. A virtual world might create the illusion of freedom in terms of choice and motion, but even in the most free-form RPGs, a player's actions are limited by the amount of content that a game's designers are able to program. Narrativist RPG players, being used to having no such pre-defined limitations, find themselves unsatisfied with the experience provided in RPGs.
Many gamers feel that it is inaccurate to use the term "role-playing game" to describe games in which the characterization of the game characters is determined by the game designer rather than the players' portrayal of their roles. However, this is a criticism of the term rather than of the games themselves.
Although current technical limitations may not allow RPGs to be as open-ended and free as traditional RPGs, numerous games allow for considerable variation in their content delivery. Many games also feature graphic engines designed to be easily modified by enthusiasts, who with their own variations and ideas may add new graphical content and build their own home-grown setting and stories. Some games such as Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption and Neverwinter Nights also feature built-in "storytelling" multiplayer modes which provide one player all the functions of a gamemaster. However, future developments in artificial intelligence may lead to the development of RPGs which answer all the traditionalist criticisms.
Another major criticism of RPGs is one inherited from their roots in early, combat-focused role-playing games — that their typically strong emphasis on statistics and numbers for many facets of gameplay has diluted "role-playing" into "roll playing." In many cases, it's not clear where to draw the line between player choices and numerical determination. For instance, whether there should be a stat-based skill for information gathering has long been the subject of debate in the RPG community.
For a more in-depth analysis of the East-West divide on the development of computer and console RPGs, see Cultural differences in computer and console role-playing games.
[edit] Variant terminology
Because traditional role-playing games predate them, computer RPGs were given the abbreviation “CRPG” as they increased in popularity to avoid confusing the two. In Japan, however, video game RPGs became widely popular first, so the term “RPG” (in the Latin alphabet) is used for them primarily, while the original versions are given the retronym “PRPG”. Outside Japan, console RPGs are frequently referred to as “JRPGs”, and computer RPGs are sometimes referred to as Western role-playing games (WRPGs [1]).
RPGs which mainly feature complex, squad-based combat systems are known as Tactical RPGs, and may be abbreviated as “TRPGs”. Some prefer to call them “Strategic RPGs”, thus they may also be referred to as “SRPGs” instead. Tactical RPGs feature a strong emphasis on tactical combat, usually turn-based. This subgenre borders with Real-time tactics and Turn-based tactics, and some games are considered to belong to both the RPG and Tactics genres, or be a hybrid between them. Jagged Alliance and Silent Storm are famous Turn-based strategy games that are also classified as part of the tactical RPG genre.
Many games commonly referred to as RPGs, such as Diablo II or Dungeon Siege, are often described more specifically as Action RPGs. This subgenre tends to be faster-paced, more skill intensive and focused on combat, while lacking developed plot and dialogue. Sometimes Action RPGs are also referred to as hack and slashers.
Games that take significant elements from RPGs and other genres, but don't have a genre name like "Action RPG" yet, are usually referred to as "hybrids." For instance, System Shock 2 and Deus Ex are two famous FPS/RPG hybrids. Warlord's Battlecry and Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars are RPG/RTS hybrids. Other games, such as Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators, have so many different genres mixed together (i.e. RPG, RTS, Elite-style trading simulation, TBS, text adventure, SHMUPS) that they defy any meaningful singular characterization. These games are usually simply referred to as multi-genre.
Furthermore, any RPG developed by an amateur developer is usually referred to as an Indie ("Independent") role-playing game. Popular Indie role-playing games include Avernum and Geneforge. Indie role-playing games are not a distinct subgenre but their small budgets usually have a dramatic effect on the game design.
[edit] List of companies
Below is a list of game developers who specialize in or have created notable computer role-playing games.
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[edit] Prominent designers
- Brian Fargo
- Chris Avellone
- David W. Bradley
- James Ohlen
- Jason D. Anderson
- Josh Sawyer
- Julian Lefay
- Leonard Boyarsky
- Richard Garriott
- Timothy Cain
[edit] References
- ^ WRPG - The Online Dictionary.. Retrieved on August 9, 2006.)
[edit] See also
- Adventure games
- MMORPGs
- MUDs
- Roguelike
- Tactical role-playing game
- Turn-based strategy
- RPG Maker
- Simulation game
- List of Computer Role-Playing Games
[edit] External links
- Gamasutra history of computer RPGs
