We're in a bit of a lull in our RPG world, even gaming in general. It's a time of yearly anticipation. The crazy Christmas season is long over, and the spring should start seeing some new games sprout from the ground, so to speak. Until then, we're given time to reflect on what the genre is up to, and where it should be heading in the future.

Gathering villagers

Recently I've talked about how the game worlds of CRPGs should make us feel more physically "present". I've had some interesting debates and discussions with readers about the subject and I realized that although what I was asking for was interesting it might be far too demanding on developers. I was also reminded of the sad fact that we RPG gamers are far from being the majority of the gaming community, even though we forget it because we are so vocal. That started me thinking…

I found myself comparing gaming genres to cities and villages. Action games are like cities - think New York city with bustling streets and people walking around day and night, a city that never sleeps, with millions of inhabitants. There's always someone somewhere playing an action game, and there's always something happening, good or bad. CRPGs would be more like a village. We get a new game from time to time, rarely more than one or two at once. When they arrive they get all our attention. We gather around that stranger like the new flavor of the day, and we start noticing every little fault in it, every little thing that's unusual in a not-so-positive way.

CRPGS, I think, are more scrutinized by the public. Since we are fewer, and because we usually have enough time to finish one game before the next comes along, we pour all our attention on that game, and it's history is followed by most of the community even before it actually comes out. We crave for the next game more than anyone else in any other genre. Action game fans may crave for the next Doom title, but they have many others to bite into and distract them while they're waiting, which isn't always the case for us RPGers. Sure, RPG gamers do play games from other genre when there's no RPG. But we rarely let ourselves be totally distracted by them. No wonder we get so passionate.

Passionate is as Passionate does

Because of this passion, and because RPG gamers often find themselves with more than enough time to really dig into the new title available, how does that affect a developer? Do they know their game will be more scrutinized than others? Do they care, or does that change the way that they work on a game? I have never heard a developer compare working on an action title and an RPG title. Sure, I've heard them say that it's usually longer, more involving for some departments. But how does it really compare? Knowing that the game you are making might get crappy reviews and get trashed by the community means you won't sell enough copies to survive must have an impact on production.

When Daikatana came out it had an impact on the makers of that game. It was a huge disappointment for many gamers, but the studio itself survived and went on to create much better games (Anachronox for one), it still was given a second chance. People quickly forgot about Daikatana. Would such a thing be even possible for a developer that mostly creates CRPGs? Except for a few exceptions, Bioware being the best example, I don't think it could. Heck, even studios that have made other types of games in the past are sometimes marred by their high-profile RPG failures. Funcom just announced a selection of new upcoming games this week, and the general comments in the community were sounding like : "Run for the hills! Funcom is making some more crap!". Weren't they the ones who created The Longest Journey? Wasn't that a highly critical success? Funcom burned themselves with AO and they are still paying for it even now… People only seem to remember the bad exception, don't they?

It's like living in a small village where one mistake means that you're now the evil element of the community and fingers are now forever pointed at you. Well, maybe not forever, but it will take something big to change people's minds. If Bioware's next high profile game (Knights of the Old Republic not to name it) is a failure, I wonder if people would stop buying their games in the future…

Focused on RPGs

Even a company like Blizzard is never out of danger. Already some people are whispering that they haven't created anything really new since StarCraft. After they've created a StarCraft 2 (I'm not saying they will), if their next game is Diablo 3, do you think people will start whispering louder? I personally don't think so. Why? Because most of Blizzard's games have strong ties with the action genre, the big city of gaming if you will. And like in any major cities in this world, people make it an art form to ignore everything and everyone else. Whatever does not interest them will be passed by on the street without so much as a sideways glance, and so will it be with those who comment on Blizzard's lack of new blood. People will play this hypothetical Diablo 3, then toss it away and never complain unless it's truly bad. Blizzard's reputation will not be diminished because of it. If Diablo was only an RPG, and not and action-RPG, then maybe things would be very different…

It all comes down to scrutiny. RPG games are the focus of any self respecting RPG gamer as soon as they come out, even when a given title doesn't necessarily appeal to them. If it has that most important "RPG" tag on it, a game will get our general attention. With that in mind, I'm starting to wonder if we, as a community, are not a little too demanding and too conservative, even a little threatening to developers. I wonder how many game creators had great ideas for an RPG that never saw the light of day because they're just too frightened to face the harsh community. Or maybe it's the same everywhere and I'm just being blind…