Larian Studios Forums General Chat RPG Chat Do you Changed the way you Play a RPG

I don't replay a lot of RPGs; when I do it is usually long enough after that don't I remember much, or am at least a little foggy on the details. If I do remember the game I try to do things differently (as long as that doesn't result in worse quest rewards, or something) or in a different order.

Usually I will try a different character build when replaying, but if there are a limited number of classes that might not be an option.

For old games I may be slightly more critical of poor graphics than I was the first time I played them, but it would have to be a pretty mediocre game for me to decide to replay and then quit over graphics. What is important, though, is UI. After playing point and click adventure games with context sensitive mouse cursors, etc, I find it very hard to go back to old games which require a toolbar and 15 clicks to do anything.

Non-combat stuff is probably more important now for me that it used to be. Once you play a couple games that do something particularly well, it raises your standards a bit, and may expose flaws in previously played game you didn't notice at the time.

Making a strong character (or party) is still the point of having stats/skills/levels. I don't think I've changed much on how challenging I like games to be.

Given the choice I used to always go with a male warrior / paladin (I was fine with playing a pre-set female character). Playing an Ultima or Dragon Quest game on the original Nintendo, there was a warning in the manual that one of the towns could only be visited by female characters, so I made the healer female. After that I stuck with female healers in party based games.
In the old Larian forum there was a discussion of lead female characters in games, which made me consider my default character choice, so when BD was released I started a female character.
For D2:ED I went though the male and female character customization options; I didn't care for any of the male voices, and only one of the female voices, so that was what I went with.

I never used to pay much attention to game music until around playing DD. After that I saved the music from a couple adventure games, etc, before uninstalling them. I've never been terribly picky about voice acting; usually it is either decent or not bad, rarely great or horrible.

I have not played any recent RPGs, due to an old computer (with RAM issues) and the text size being two small on a few Xbox demos I tried (D2:ED/DKS text was ok; any smaller is too small on my TV). I'm holding off on building a new computer until just before D:DC is released, so maybe then I'll be able to try out games I've recently bought in bundles, etc, or will buy in various Christmas sales, and let you know if my opinions, standards or playstle have changed.

Interesting quizlet, so why not!

To start off, my background with RPGs involved a lot of tabletop gaming before CRPGs even existed, so I was forced to adapt a lot of things I would normally do to play in the vastly more limited environment of PC games. No longer can I do whatever I can think of that I can reasonably justify, but rather must I deal with hard and fast rules that are not subject to either inspiration or interpretation (Though as the inventor of the infamous 'invisible spinning death' move in DD, I should qualify that with 'mostly' :D).

Nonetheless, my original methods of playing RPGs are not really suited to the computer experience. So I changed them to begin with, and will have to note any further changes from within that context

* do you make "in general" still the same favorite build (warrior,ranger, magican, a mix of ... , etc ...

I did start out on CRPGs by trying to play as I would a tabletop game - which meant mage characters first. I quickly discovered this is a bad idea in CRPGs, where the warrior type is usually the best character for learning a new system with. So I have started out with a basic combat warrior type ever since.

* Do you find the graphics now more or less important than before ?

Graphics don't bother me too much. I am just as happy playing a good sprite based game as I am playing something with cutting edge graphics. Story is all. That said, I do expect the graphics to reflect the cost of the game - IE something sprite based had better not cost the same as something like Witcher 2.

* Do you love today combat more than non-combat related things in a rpg (or vice versa) than before ?

No. I always want a character-based story with good plot, good interaction and lots of character development. I also like romance options. If I want something that's pure combat, I'll play an ARPG, not an RPG.

* Is your view/wish about making a demi-god/super strong hero changed ?

No. What matters is not the power of the character, but the level of challenge. A strong character facing strong challenges is no less well balanced than a weak character facing weak challenges. Either can be a lot of fun.

* Do you prefer still the same gender for your hero or is it changed ?

I have no preferred gender for characters overall, and I never have had. Most of my warriors will be male, most of my mages will be female. But there are exceptions to both, and clerics and thieves can be either. I like to have a very broad character base, with each character being distinct from the rest. Gender is a part of that.

* What about your connection with the background music, the voices of NPC's, dialogs, etc .. ?

Unchanged. I pay little to no attention to the music in games, letting it be the background it is designed to be. I have always appreciated good dialogue and good voice acting, and still do.

* How do you like to be in the past and how today: the bad, the good or the ugly ?

I play and enjoy a lot more RPGs made by talented amateurs - people who make free games for the love of the genre itself, or just because they can. It's actually quite amusing that the modern trend for player-repellent DRM by major companies started me off looking at the free games instead of spending money on their products.

I didn't really used to think about the small indie games at all, as I had enough games put out by the big publishers to keep me happy. I missed out on a lot of great games, which I am happily catching up on!

* How do you see "humour" in a rpg in first place and is your opinion changed after lots of hours of gameplay ?

It certainly has its place. Used correctly (As so often in DD!) it can create lighter or more whimsical moments in an otherwise serious setting. It can be great for engaging player interest or putting a totally new spin on things.

I'm not actually averse to the idea of a totally humorous RPG - those exist in tabletop gaming, and there's no reason they couldn't translate into CRPGs, too.

That's me, pretty much.

Interesting little quiz, Joram