Can there be RPGs with no goal?

Leviticus Cirrrealus Titanium · 2006-07-30T08:35:10

Most RPGs have a single goal: save the world or save the princess. Everything is pre-scripted so matter what you do it gonna happen when you get to that point. Every body has spent 6 hours killing trolls in the forest to level up but when you get to the castle gates that's when the wizard's troop starting marching toward you. But how about something different (well I'm hoping it's never been done before) how about you're just a person. And you pick what you want to do. Farm, fight, be a lover, a thief, royal cook. Whatever. You're a person in a world that's ever evolving. Things are happening everyday. Battles go on as you milk the cows. Or your village is under martial law while going to do your apprenticeship at a blacksmith's. Even while training for special forces, your mother dies and your home gets sold to the merchant. Now of course there will be pre-scripted events. Wars will happen at certain times. NPCs will have certain goals and do certain things when particular conditions occur, etc. But for the player, it seems dynamic. You're just a person who gets to pick what he/she wants to do. You don't have to save the world. You don't have to care about the world. You could be the guy the hero walks up to and asks "Where's the elder's hut?" Hell, you can go to the other kingdom, be the bad guy, rise up through the ranks, and raid your former kingdom. Do you think this is too much for a game to handle? Can this (upcoming) generation of games handle that sort of "dynamicism"? Please discuss. [Edited by - Alpha_ProgDes on June 29, 2006 11:30:44 PM]