Character mood and RP encouragements

SpittingTrashcan · 2001-11-27T12:20:23

Good forum readers, With two posts in one day under my belt, it seems I just can''t keep my ideas to myself. If you don''t feel like hearing it, ignore me and I will go away. The thing that bugs me about CRPGs and MMORPGs is that they fail in many cases to live up to their title of "role-playing games." The core concept in the original pencil-and-paper RPGs was that one took on the persona of a person _who isn''t you_ and attempted to live their life. This meant in many cases declaring that one''s character was doing something one would never do oneself. However, in CRPGs and MMORPGs people rarely bother to pretend that they are playing a role. Rather, they are playing a game, and they are playing to win. In CRPGs this means completing the game with the most optimized character and best equipment, and in MMORPGs it means optimizing one''s character, obtaining perfect equipment, and then puttering around being bored. I can understand the fun factor, being a fan of FFVII and Diablo II, but it''s somewhat unfulfilling in a philosophical sense. So what causes people to Role-Play? In pencil-and-paper games it was usually the spirit of the game, reinforced by a game master who rewarded good roleplaying. CRPGs don''t have a GM, but they do have something else: a perfect calculating system which can track a player''s every action. My idea is to use this power to cause a player to _want_ to RP, because it is the way to advance. Here''s the core of the idea. When a character is happy, he learns faster, works harder, and advances at a much better rate than when he is unhappy. What makes him happy? Well, what makes you happy? When a character is created, the player decides what the character likes and dislikes. When the character is doing something involving one of his likes, he''s happy. When he''s doing something involving one of his dislikes, he''s unhappy. Eventually any activity, no matter how fun, will become boring and the character will become unhappy, and want to do something else. Now this is the tricky and difficult to implement part. A character can _justify_ doing something he doesn''t like by linking it in his mind to something he likes or wants. This linking can be accomplished by the player, Pavlov style or through some other method. An extremely simple example: Joe doesn''t like hard physical labor, but he does like being paid. He''ll work harder and longer if he knows he''s being paid more... This also makes stats like Charisma useful and popular, especially in a multiplayer game. Being around friendly and attractive people makes you happy. Bards who can keep workers entertained with music or the like could be well-paid depending on the increase in productivity they produce. Even hardened warriors may bring a musician along to cheer them to battle. Mental endurance also becomes more of a factor, if a character with a good will can stay happy even under stressful and difficult circumstances. People expecting to work or fight long and hard will probably attempt to improve such a statistic if it exists. Hopefully the final result is that people do what their characters want, because it is more useful to them than trying to go against the wishes of their characters. Note that things such as "killing" or "increasing my level" should NOT be on the list of acceptable likes. I''d appreciate any comment you have, but I''d particularly like feedback on these lines: 1. Has this been done before, and where, and how well does it work? 2. What are the expected/known problems? 3. What changes could be made to make it more rigorous? 4. How could it mesh with other ideas/existing concepts? Thanks in advance for your time and thought! You can''t have "civilization" without "civil".

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by SpittingTrashcan November 19, 2001 11:44 PM

23 comments, last by SpittingTrashcan 23 years, 1 month ago

MSW

151

November 21, 2001 11:57 PM

quote: Original post by krez
because getting drunk and having sex is only fun in real life; role playing it is just silly!

--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)

I think you are missing my point...do some "role playing"...put yourself in the shoes of those players who do little more then socialize in a MMORPG...they don''t seem all that interested in these wonderfully complex RPG battle systems we keep comeing up with...or how powerfull they can develop thier charactors...or even the magic systems "hardcore" RPG players can''t live without...yet these same players buy the game...connect online...and basicly run around chatting out-of-character...why?

Imagine for a second if some company were to develop a game directly for these "social players"...Something they can enjoy...wouldn''t this draw such players away from the MMORPGs they currently play...and obviously, wouldn''t this help solve your "people arn''t role playing" problem?...without even haveing to develop more complex ways to deal with these "out-of-character" players?

I guess not...something so *wierd* and *unusual* as a non-midevil fantasy RPG could never, ever be any fun...it''s just to silly to even consider, and must always be discouraged

My deviantART: http://msw.deviantart.com/

krez

443

November 23, 2001 02:11 PM

quote: Original post by MSW
I think you are missing my point...

nah, i''m just flippant by nature...

quote: Imagine for a second if some company were to develop a game directly for these "social players"...Something they can enjoy...wouldn''t this draw such players away from the MMORPGs they currently play...and obviously, wouldn''t this help solve your "people arn''t role playing" problem?...without even haveing to develop more complex ways to deal with these "out-of-character" players?

i think i should put a magic spell in my game that causes someone to lose their connection, and be transported directly to an AOL chatroom

quote: I guess not...something so *wierd* and *unusual* as a non-midevil fantasy RPG could never, ever be any fun...it''s just to silly to even consider, and must always be discouraged

damn straight!

--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)

--- krez ([email="krez_AT_optonline_DOT_net"]krez_AT_optonline_DOT_net[/email])

TechnoHydra

122

November 26, 2001 09:50 AM

"I guess not...something so *wierd* and *unusual* as a non-midevil fantasy RPG could never, ever be any fun...it''s just to silly to even consider, and must always be discouraged"

MSW I hope that was just sarcasm or a joke...

MSW

151

November 26, 2001 06:36 PM

quote: Original post by TechnoHydra
"I guess not...something so *wierd* and *unusual* as a non-midevil fantasy RPG could never, ever be any fun...it''s just to silly to even consider, and must always be discouraged"

MSW I hope that was just sarcasm or a joke...

yep!...it was sarcasm...I was trying to point out the one dimentional view so many RPG game developers SEEM to have...I''ve sat in one to many meetings where people end up discussing the *fun* possabilities of haveing a knap sack simulator, four elements basied magic system, forceing characters to eat three square meals a day, highly detailed combat systems, and what not...but then try to change the subject to "what is the gameplay like?"...and all they can come up with is "players just roam around killing monsters, collecting treasures, and saveing the princess...you know, just like Diablo, etc...".

My deviantART: http://msw.deviantart.com/