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CRPG Elements, What's Most Important To You?
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RPGDot Forums > CRPGs General

What's The Most Important Element Of A CRPG To You?
Overall Interesting Story/Plot
25%
 25%  [ 7 ]
Complex Character Development (race, profession, attributes, skills etc.)
25%
 25%  [ 7 ]
Object/World Interactivity & Item/Spell Creation (i.e. baking bread, create or enchant weapons etc.)
10%
 10%  [ 3 ]
Sophisticated NPCs (complex dialog/AI, daily schedules etc.)
17%
 17%  [ 5 ]
Party Based Game (Player Controls More Than One Character)
3%
 3%  [ 1 ]
Guilds/Factions (ability to join guilds/factions and gain rank)
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Complex/Numerous Quests (game is quest-oriented, and quests are not fed-exish)
10%
 10%  [ 3 ]
Recognized Rule System (i.e. D & D, Greyhawk etc.)
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Complex Physics System (i.e. burn down a house, roll a barrel down a hill, watch it smash on a rock)
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Continuous World (no levels, no level loading)
3%
 3%  [ 1 ]
Elegant/Sophisticated interface (easy and fast access to large database of info)
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Complex Day/Night & Weather System that affects world/NPCs etc. (i.e. tornado blowing through town, NPCs hide)
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Ability to create or use fan-based 'mods.'
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Housing (ability for the player to acquire/earn/create an in-game house and decorate it with stuff)
3%
 3%  [ 1 ]
Total Votes : 28

Author Thread
Lintra
Elf Friend
Elf Friend




Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES
   

This is a tough set of choices .. I went for story, but character developement, world and NPC are also *very* important to me.
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Post Fri Feb 06, 2004 1:08 pm
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MageofFire
Griller of Molerats




Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 1594
Location: Monastery of Innos
   

I chose sophisticated NPCs because I find I am much more immersed in a game if the NPCs are believable. However, you can't just say that one RPG element is more important than the others. If you go out of your way to make a game with your specific element "to the max," then you would sacrifice other necessary good RPG elements.
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Mediocreties, I absolve you!
Post Sun Feb 08, 2004 1:26 am
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TheMadGamer
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 487
Location: Southern California
vote vote vote
   

I was hoping to get a bigger response. I plan to use these results for a specific purpose that I will share with you all at a later point in time. But if I can't get a good statistical sample, I'm dead in the water.

Alternative: I could post another poll with the same list, but the question would be, 'which CRPG element could you live without?'

Would this be a better approach? Do you folks think I might get a better response re-phrasing the question?
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The Poster Previously Known As NeptiOfPovar
Post Wed Feb 11, 2004 5:54 pm
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Joeman
Protector of the Realm
Protector of the Realm




Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Posts: 254
Location: USA
   

I like humour, sex, and violence.
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Post Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:08 am
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Blacklight
Head Merchant
Head Merchant




Joined: 20 Oct 2003
Posts: 66
Location: A void of utter Darkness
   

Ouch. Tough, tough choices.

I went for "Interesting story", since, well, a good story is the basis for every good RPG. Pfew.

It'd indeed be easier to list what I *could* do without.

It doesn't have to be a "Party Based Game", I don't need "Housing" (it's cool, but not necessary ), an "Easy Interface" (while quite handy) is also not a necessity, no "fan-based MODs" either, no "Recognized Rule System" and no "Complex Physics System".

Okay, so, what is left is what I feel is MOST important in an RPG. I filtered out the things that are very nice to have, but not *that* important. Or something.
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Evil is Life in its purest and most naked form.
Post Mon Mar 01, 2004 1:05 pm
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DarkWeaver
A Dark Prince
A Dark Prince




Joined: 07 Dec 2003
Posts: 517
Location: The Netherlands
   

The most important thing for me is the story.
Post Mon Mar 01, 2004 2:17 pm
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Chekote
Where’s my Banana?!?!
Where’s my Banana?!?!




Joined: 08 Mar 2002
Posts: 1540
Location: Dont know, looks kind of green
   

quote:
Originally posted by Lord_Brownie
I am an explorer, so I want a huge world with differnt regions (dessert, forest, snow capped mountians), and huge dungeons. The more regions and area types the better.
LB


Same for me, and since it wasnt a choice, I couldnt vote. Sorry...

P.S. I like especially realistic geology, like the cliffs and caves etc in the Gothic series.
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IMHO my opinion is humble
Post Mon Mar 01, 2004 2:27 pm
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TheMadGamer
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 487
Location: Southern California
   

quote:
Originally posted by Blacklight
Ouch. Tough, tough choices.

It'd indeed be easier to list what I *could* do without.




Agreed. I'm plannign to remake this poll using the 'could do without' angle. But I wanted to give this thread at least a month, it is providing some good details for me.
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Post Mon Mar 01, 2004 5:18 pm
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Larinson
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 19
   

I voted for the NPC option. It was a tough choice between that and a strong story. My favourite CRPG ever was PST and that had both! But I tjink that if you can bring characters in the game alive then it can make up for just about any flaw in the game - if you believe the NPCs in the game are 'real' and have 'real' emotions then it draws you back. A perfect exmpel of this for me was a side quest in PST where you had to get a girl (Echo, I think) her voice back. The way that she was portrayed and characterized made me stop doing everything else in the game whilst I tried to complete that quest. It was only worth 1000 XP or something, but the reward came from helping her, not from getting any tangible benefit. I haven't found that in many games at all (that said, I did recently feel a pang of guilt sending my Commanche helicopter on a suicide mission to reccy some terrain in Command and Conquer Generals....). So, to sum up, let's all lobby for a game with NPCs as good as PST!
Post Sun Mar 07, 2004 6:58 pm
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Everclearules20
Head Merchant
Head Merchant




Joined: 21 Feb 2004
Posts: 58
Location: Texas
   

(I voted for Character Development)

Things I couldn't do without:
1: Complex Character Development
2: Interesting story
3: Sophisticated NPC's
4: Complex/Numerous Quests
5: Elegant/Sophisticated Interface

Things I could do without (Though they're still great additions):
1: World Interactivity
2: Party Based
3: Guilds/Factions
4: Recognized Rule System
5: Complex Physics System
6: Continuous World
7: Day/Night cycle, Weather Effects
8: Ability to mod
9: Housing

I absolutely love having parties and good character development when I play; I like to find different ways and different tactics to make up my party. It REALLY adds to the replayability of games for me. Though I can do without parties in rpg's...

The story doesn't matter that much to me, but what's an RPG without a story? My only problem is when playing the game again, I have to sit through all the movies and text again. Yes, most games alow you to skip it, but it still takes some time...

World Interactivity is also really fun (unless it's forced). Having all the extra options adds alot to the game in my opinion. When it's forced however, such as eating food, it gets somewhat irritating. Sure it may be realistic, but having to run back to town to buy food when your at an exciting part lessens the fun.

Sophisticated NPC's are also really important; the world seems empty even if it has thousands of NPC's, when few of them are unique. They make the game alot easier to get immersed in.

Guilds and Factions are a great addition, though I wouldn't say they are absolutely needed. It's a nice way to get away from the main quest, and get involved with a guild of your choice.

Complex and Numerous quests are needed for me to enjoy a game. If I am having trouble with a certain quest, I want to be able to go on to another quest to improve my character(s). I'm more likely to loose interest in a game that forces me into a certain path, and whenever I have trouble I have to keep reloading and trying again. However, if all or most of the quests are 'kill this monster' or 'get me this item', I also loose interest. Many and unique quests would be great, but extremely time consuming for the game's creators, so a balance between the amount of quests and the uniqueness of quests is the way to go.

Recognized rules system has very little to do with how good an RPG is to me. In the end though, I believe new systems are always more interesting (though risky). A recognized rules system, to me, means it is the same gameplay as any other game with that system. It may have a few more spells and skills, which are often just variations of previous spells and skills, but in the end it's the same feel. In the end it's just a different story, which I'm less inclined to buy untill it's in the 10 - 19 dollar range.

Complex physics systems are always fun to watch, especially if it adds different tactics for battles, etc... I don't really care either way, though if I had to choose I'd say go without. I don't have the money to spend on a great system, so keeping the game's requirements low is better for me.

Continuous World, again, is fun to run around in, but since my computer isn't great, I could do without. It does make the game more immersive though. Not having to wait for a loading screen is also great.

Elegant and Sophisticated Interfaces (as long as it is organized well) is a great addition to me. As I said earlier, I love customizing and creating different types of parties and characters; so being able to see a bunch of stats on how my characters and party is doing, what an item or spell does, etc..., is very important to me.

Day/Night cycles, and Weather effects are somewhat important. It makes the world seem more realistic, especially if there are certain events depending on it (NPC's going home and shops closed at nights).

Ability to create mods is a great addition to a game, especially if it allows you to just change minor things as well as making Total Conversions. Though I would still buy a game if it didn't have the ability to make mods.

Housing isn't that important to me, though it certainly is a nice reward for hard efforts. In the end, it will more than likely just be a place to store items and rest for a while before going on to the next quest.

Another thing (not on the list) that is really important to me, is having a demo (though that can be said for all games). I want to know how (and if) a game will run on my system, as well as seeing how the gameplay is before spending money on it.
Post Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:45 am
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