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An Ancient Evil Has Reawakened And Is Threatening The World
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irritantnumber6
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Joined: 07 May 2002
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An Ancient Evil Has Reawakened And Is Threatening The World
   

AND ONLY YOU CAN STOP IT!!!

I love love LOVE RPGs, but I'm about ready for a new plot, aren't you?

I never played Ultima IV, which famously had a more unorthodox goal.

I loved Planescape, in which the uber-goal was to reintegrate your own personality. BUT, you had to sort of save the world in the process as well.

I loved how specific the goal was in Gothic. Get the magic barrier down!

But mostly it's Save the World From An Ancient Evil.

I'd love to see an RPG with a much more finite, down-to-earth goal. Like the one Fallout starts out with -- go get a new waterchip, you moron, we're dying here! But eventually it devolved into saving the world as well.

Why couldn't the uber-goal be to escape from a prison? To win a crown? Or even, to take over a corporation?

I'd like to see a little more imagination in this department, wouldn't you?
Post Mon Jul 15, 2002 9:06 pm
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Windwalking
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Joined: 05 Jul 2002
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Re: An Ancient Evil Has Reawakened And Is Threatening The Wo
   

quote:
Originally posted by irritantnumber6
AND ONLY YOU CAN STOP IT!!!

I love love LOVE RPGs, but I'm about ready for a new plot, aren't you?

I never played Ultima IV, which famously had a more unorthodox goal.

I loved Planescape, in which the uber-goal was to reintegrate your own personality. BUT, you had to sort of save the world in the process as well.

I loved how specific the goal was in Gothic. Get the magic barrier down!

But mostly it's Save the World From An Ancient Evil.

I'd love to see an RPG with a much more finite, down-to-earth goal. Like the one Fallout starts out with -- go get a new waterchip, you moron, we're dying here! But eventually it devolved into saving the world as well.

Why couldn't the uber-goal be to escape from a prison? To win a crown? Or even, to take over a corporation?

I'd like to see a little more imagination in this department, wouldn't you?


I hear ya, dide. Most RPGs are basically about saving the world (or kingdom, land, forest) from some sort of evil, though it doesn't neccessarily have to be an ancient one; new ones work just as well (i.e. most of the Final Fantasy series, Baldur's Gate, etc.). But it really isn't all that bad, considering that they go about it in such vastly different ways that I don't really feel like they're in a rut (for the good games' plots, anyway). And the thing about Gothic is that the ancient evil would really only have a local impact on the colony and surrounding area, so it is more of a local problem than a world-shattering one.

Still, I'm hard pressed to find a game where saving _____ (big area) from ____ evil isn't at least one of the main goals. But people like epic goals, and probably don't want to go through a 70 hour game just to take over Microsoft. Even if it is done really well, gamers will probably shy from a game like that just based on the plot, and that will hurt companies' bottom line, which is their most vital consideration...

I think that something along the lines of becoming king/god/guildmaster may be a decent main goal for a game, and how about something from the bad guys' point of view? How about destroying a rival world/kingdom/land as a goal? Or performing missions as a spy? But I'm not sure how mainstream that would be for the RPG market (which has established unwritten rules that gamers tend to expect), and it's usually about the money for most developers...

- Windwalking
Post Tue Jul 16, 2002 2:14 am
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TheLonePaladin
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Joined: 27 Feb 2002
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if i've said it once i've said it a bajillion times.

YESS!!!!! I DON'T WANNA SAVE THE WORLD AND BECOME MISTER UBER MAN! I JUST WANNA BECOME A REGULAR KNIGHTLY DUDE WHO DOES REGULAR KNIGHTLY DUDE THINGS!!! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK????????????????????

however, in my working with the NWN mod builder, i can see why they do things the way they do. all that non-linear regular "camp-specific" stuff takes a loooong time to do. and it makes for long loading times. SO QUIT WHINING ABOUT THOSE!

it's just easier to do the regular linear "become the uber man" deal.

but as long as i'm not doing the work, i can complain that people should do it!
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Post Tue Jul 16, 2002 4:25 am
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Val
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Joined: 18 Feb 2002
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Knight Sims


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Post Tue Jul 16, 2002 4:33 am
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TheLonePaladin
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YEAH! there ya go...only it should be with the Gothic engine because....gothic had a pretty engine...
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Post Tue Jul 16, 2002 4:36 am
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Windwalking
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Joined: 05 Jul 2002
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quote:
Originally posted by TheLonePaladin
if i've said it once i've said it a bajillion times.

YESS!!!!! I DON'T WANNA SAVE THE WORLD AND BECOME MISTER UBER MAN! I JUST WANNA BECOME A REGULAR KNIGHTLY DUDE WHO DOES REGULAR KNIGHTLY DUDE THINGS!!! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK????????????????????

however, in my working with the NWN mod builder, i can see why they do things the way they do. all that non-linear regular "camp-specific" stuff takes a loooong time to do. and it makes for long loading times. SO QUIT WHINING ABOUT THOSE!

it's just easier to do the regular linear "become the uber man" deal.

but as long as i'm not doing the work, i can complain that people should do it!


I don't think that a game has to be non-linear in order for it to have a completely non-traditional story. Something like being a samurai out to avenge his lord's death could be a story for an RPG, and it could be done in a completely linear fashion (or as linear as a game like Baldur's Gate).

- Wind
Post Wed Jul 17, 2002 4:20 am
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TheRaven
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Joined: 21 Jun 2002
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wouldn't it be cool to take the evil role in a RPG ?

well...you could become evil in some RPGs (Fallout Arcanum Morrowind) but the main task always was a good deed.

or perhaps even leading a party of monsters (like Dungeon Keeper)
Post Wed Jul 17, 2002 5:58 am
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EverythingXen
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Joined: 01 Feb 2002
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Arcanum's evil ending (there are two) was sufficiently evil. ANd you can really leave the world a worse place in Fallout 2.
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Post Wed Jul 17, 2002 1:26 pm
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MoonDragon
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Yeah, fallout2 definately allowed for an evil streak. You could lay waste to the known world, and the ending cinematics would capture that nicely. And aside from trying to save your village, which is not really all that "good" of an act, more of a preservationist thing. All along, there is no good/bad in F2. Only survival. You do things, because if you didn't you die (get GECK/stop Enclave with their gas/kill Frank). I always had a feeling in F2 that I was doing this because my butt was on the line, not because I'm some do-gooder hero that wants to save the world.

Hehe, funny that: in NWN, you can actually ask some quasi-diety how you can bring peace to the world (or some such thing).
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Post Wed Jul 17, 2002 1:57 pm
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MoonDragon
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Joined: 25 May 2002
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quote:
Originally posted by TheRaven
or perhaps even leading a party of monsters (like Dungeon Keeper)

Summon an army of skeletons/fire demons in Gothic. Quite a rewarding experience.
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Post Wed Jul 17, 2002 1:58 pm
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Lintra
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quote:
Originally posted by MoonDragon
Yeah, fallout2 definately allowed for an evil streak. You could lay waste to the known world, and the ending cinematics would capture that nicely. And aside from trying to save your village, which is not really all that "good" of an act, more of a preservationist thing. All along, there is no good/bad in F2. Only survival. You do things, because if you didn't you die (get GECK/stop Enclave with their gas/kill Frank). I always had a feeling in F2 that I was doing this because my butt was on the line, not because I'm some do-gooder hero that wants to save the world.

Hehe, funny that: in NWN, you can actually ask some quasi-diety how you can bring peace to the world (or some such thing).


I remember that "save your ass" thing in the fallouts. I really liked the way it was done. I guess that is why they are near the top of my list of RPGs (if not on the top, it varies by day).
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Post Wed Jul 17, 2002 2:06 pm
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