What Makes an RPG?

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Roleplaying is probably my favourite genre of gaming. Classically, the RPG has been based around “save the world” stories, sword-and-sorcery themes, and variations on turn-based combat. In addition, there have also been action-RPGs (where combat is in realtime), strategy-RPGs (where combat is a glorified game of chess), and dating sims (wherein combat is usually absent).

As time marches on, the RPG has become more and more poorly defined by its makeup. Developers have grown the genre out to such extremities that it’s really hard to pin down just what qualifies as an RPG. Many fans would argue that Zelda is an RPG series, while others peg it as an Adventure game. This kind of classic debate has brought up a lot of suggestions as to an RPG’s major foundations. Experience points, level building, focus on characterization, focus on plot, having numeric statistics, and so on. But in all of the arguments I’ve either made or seen made in the past, there’s always one major logical flaw that bothers me: The idea that RPGs have unique foundations.
(more…)

Resolving Negativity

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Okay folks, let’s talk about negativity today. Negativity, even in small portions, can utterly destroy the ability of a group to function. It erodes stability and, like an infection, spreads quickly. It’s why so many people have a hard time functioning at their jobs, and why many of us believe in apocalyptic scenarios. As creative, happy people of one stripe or another, we know how much negativity can do us in at the knees. It can be a bad day at work, a nasty comment by a friend or relative, or a conversation that went down an avenue you didn’t mean it to. Any of these can be a source of negativity, and it’s something we all have to deal with. Negativity breads paranoia, resentment, and a host of other problems.
(more…)

Playing Outside Your Stereotype

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

By now, you may have heard that there has been some protest against the romantic options included in BioWare’s Dragon Age 2. There’s a sufficient amount of, shall we say, homosexually-oriented content involved. And “exotic” sexual content, whatever that means. So much so, that apparently some gamers feel like the “Straight Male Gamer” is being ignored. Others feel like the homosexual content is being misrepresented, and that it should have been pared back. While I can’t really speak for the game’s mechanics, I’d at least like us all to talk about how we as gamers explore sexual archetypes, and what it means to think outside the [sex]box.

Let’s dig in.
(more…)

Socially Responsible Gamification

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Let’s talk about gamification for a moment.

Gamification is, simply put, the integration of certain game-like features into everyday tasks and chores. Gamification can be found in our culture today, and it’s quickly spreading.
(more…)

Excuses, Excuses

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

As a child I was a pretty avid reader, raised until the age of 13 without a TV in the house. I read the entire Lord of the Rings at eight, and most (though not all of Dune) by 10. The Tale of Genji was quick to follow, and then (oddly enough) Cosmos by Carl Sagan at 13. Tintin and Asterix were the rich, european comics in my life, and while I still read things like Spiderman and Green Lantern, American comics were more or less a sideline in my literary education. I liked larger narratives.

When I finally did get a gaming console, I immediately took to RPGs. It seemed a pretty natural fit, and I used to spend days transfixed by one digital adventure after another. My earliest experience with RPGs were Final Fantasy VI and Breath of Fire II for the SNES. Great games, and while I realize now that the stories aren’t complex by any measure, they’re nonetheless entertaining.
(more…)

Relearning

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

Having misspoken recently about a person who is both a dear friend and colleague, I’ve decided to reexamine where I stand with design. My significant other’s also been harassing me with the idea of “settling” and the ills therein.

It feels as though when last spring passed, a big chunk of me went with it. I just don’t feel like the last year has been up to spec where I’m concerned, and I think it’s a good idea if I change that before the new year rolls around.

Probably a good time to head down to Swipe Books and get my head checked by the design doctors down there.