check this out: (url="http://"http://www.macgamer.com/features/rpg101/rpg101.html")http://www.macgamer....101/rpg101.html(/url)
While I've been into these games for almost twenty years, I still found it an interesting read (and a trip down memory lane!). I'm curious to find out what some of you thnk about MG's definition of a "Role Playing Game."
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People who claim the sky is falling obviously aren't aware the earth is falling, too.
Quote
Originally posted by chill_rx:
**Yeah, while that is a great article , I really think the cliche list they have can help to avoid some of the pitfalls while
creating our RPGs...
**
Not all cliches are pitfalls, and some are unavoidable. Plus, Pitfall was a killer app for its time.
Saphfire
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Quote
Originally posted by saphfire:
**Plus, Pitfall was a killer app for its time.
**
that was the worst pun I have ever heard. congratulations, my hat goes off to you.
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Do not follow me for I may not lead. Do not lead for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.
-Jedi
Why thank you, I've..I've never felt so honored in my life...seriously, I'm speechless.
I'd like to thank my parents for always supporting me (sniff), I'd like to thank Bob, my agent, and, all those senseless deaftones that bought my recor...what? This isn't for my music? I don't have to take this, I'm going home!
(Performances every hour, on the hour)
(Attribute the preceeding to caffiene high and temporary (maybe) insanity.
Saphfire (What's my name again?)
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Quote
Originally posted by saphfire:
Not all cliches are pitfalls, and some are unavoidable. Plus, Pitfall was a killer app for its time.
Heh, you're a funny one. I'd like to see a cliche RPG be released while coldstone, one that intentionally had every cliche in the book in it. Those are funny. 
Hey, glad to see people liked the article. Although the byline says it was by Corey (now fixed), it is actually one of mine.
A lot of the cliches/complaints people note about RPGs are stabs at the realism of the game. People says shops are open all the time and shouldn't be, but obviously having shops close randomly would just be a pain. Why not have shops open during the day and closed at night? Well, how do we work with day and night? Is there simply a timer? How do we visually represent it? At night, does your character have to sleep, and does that restore HP? If you don't sleep, are you negatively effected? You don't want to just sit there and watch your characters doze, but should you be able to jump forward in time? How do night and day effect the way the story events unfold? And on and on. These aren't unanswerable questions, but if good answers can't be found, it's much easier (and more sensible) to rest on convention, even if it means following a cliche.
Writing a game based on cliches could definitely be funny, especially if the characters themselves were caught up in trying to write the story so that it properly follows conventions which sometimes conflict.
"Wait, you're the character who betrays the group to steal the orb? I thought I was that character! Okay, I'll plan to betray the group, but I'll be won over by their virtue and shiny white teeth. Even though my plot will be uncovered eventually, I'll defend myself as a true member of the group and end up saving them later in the game."
"But I get still get to betray them?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. I won't think they're cool until later in the game. Right now I think they're all major dorkwads."
I think the best thing about Coldstone is that there's no pressure to create the next LOTR. You don't have to drop $100k to license the engine; making a Coldstone game doesn't have to represent several years of work, though it certainly could. While Coldstone could give birth to a new classic, I'm really looking forward to the parodies and "King's Quest"-type games where people have fun with the RPG genre. Don't try to write for the Literary Canon if you aren't a novelist. Find your style and see where your personality and interests take you!
Nathan
