Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra

The problem with RPGs is that all the best gameplay is front-loaded. by Jerry Whorebach 09/26/2013, 10:15pm PDT The most mechanically interesting part of any RPG is always character creation. Once you've come up with a party build and a leveling plan, all that's really left is a bit of early-game resource management to get them on their feet, after which you invariably settle into a hundred-hour deathmarch of bad action or bad strategy. Could someone make an RPG work that was nothing BUT character creation? You might play a kind of Professor X figure, and the way you'd solve quests would be by selecting and training a team of disposable heroes perfectly suited to the task at hand. Instead of collecting experience and loot, you might collect promising youngsters and favours from powerful people. Maybe Jean Grey's parents would be willing to give you their psychic daughter if you bust their not psychic but legitimately crazy son out of the nuthouse, or the old kung-fu master could be honour bound to train your disciples if you can defeat his in some kind of proxy battle where the two of you play a very dramatic game of Chinese checkers while the kids slaughter each other. Maybe a more traditional Arthurian Legend or steampunk roboticist theme would be more appealing, I don't know. It just seems like something I should be able to find on Kickstarter.

The problem with RPGs is that all the best gameplay is front-loaded. by Jerry Whorebach 09/26/2013, 10:15pm PDT     Disagree. Most RPGs are godawful boring until you level past the early game NT by fabio 09/26/2013, 11:06pm PDT     Re: The problem with RPGs is that all the best gameplay is front-loaded. by Ice Cream Jonsey 09/26/2013, 11:26pm PDT         Re: The problem with RPGs is that all the best gameplay is front-loaded. by Ice Cream Jonsey 09/26/2013, 11:29pm PDT             Does Magic: The Gathering count? You can't really beat deckbuilding. by Jerry Whorebach 09/28/2013, 12:44pm PDT                 Oh duh! Etherlords 2! by Mischief Maker 09/28/2013, 9:37pm PDT             Soren Johnson recently discussed Spore's character creation on his blog by Jerry Whorebach 10/04/2013, 4:42am PDT     Planning the op in Rainbow 6 was the best part NT by Entropy Stew 09/27/2013, 12:53am PDT     That game already exists, but you may be dismayed at its genre. by Mischief Maker 09/27/2013, 12:16pm PDT         If we're including that genre, might as well point out that Crusader Kings works by fucking newbie 09/27/2013, 8:00pm PDT     I've wanted something like this forever by E. L. Koba 09/27/2013, 7:04pm PDT         Middle Manager of Justice by Cannibal Dave 10/17/2013, 11:35pm PDT