Are RPG's dying out?

[TPiddy]

I suppose if the OP is talking about your traditional turn-based RPG ala old-school Final Fantasy, I could see his belief that they are dying off, because most of us don't really want to sit around and watch stuff happen, we want more involvement. I got turned off of Final Fantasy because it largely turned into a movie and I felt less and less like I was actually playing something.

the Shooter / RPG hybrids are becoming more and more popular, and who can forget the KOTOR series for the original XBox.... Then you have Diablo-Style RPG's like Baldur's Gate, Sacred 2 (which was pretty bad btw) and Dragon Age.

I think RPG's in general, whether they are JRPG or not, are simply evolving, so you can't really clearly define what qualifies as an RPG anymore. Blue Dragon was a decent JRPG and I remember playing Dragon Quest 8 when it came out in Canada a while back, so there are still decent entries in all categories, it just so happens that First Person style RPG's are dominating the market right now like Two Worlds, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Oblivion, etc.

 

[Gebi10000]

not only are they not dieing out ,lot of people are going from rpg video games to pen and paper.

 

[GonzoGamer]

?NOO are u serious there are still great rpgs out there fallout was rated the top game of the year if u watch xplay i dont see that as it dieing out but i think everyone here is going to tell u they arnt dieing out

Yea considering that the goty for most publications last year was an rpg (if not Fallout 3 than Fable 2) I would say the genre is pretty safe.

 

[metalmmaniac]

I miss the turn-based RPGs. They are definately dying, it was my favorite genre too.

 

[JoshGod]

Rocket Propelled Grenade? they're more common than ever!!
anyway what abot the upcoming dragon age origins, mass effect 2... erm theres a new fallout in the works... well there arnt too many afterall. did there used to be more? i suppose compared to shooter they are. (base on consoles not pc's). now i think of it more develepors are going console as pc games are torrented a lot. and rpgs are more for pc. so i suppose you brought it on urself torrenters. sorry for those that dont torrent.

 

[syndicated44]

I would say older style rpg's are dieing out. Ones that required more skill and were deffinatly harder. Gothic series comes to mind. And no I dont think RPGs are dieing they are just changing.

 

[Obrien Xp]

If you consider mmorpgs as rpgs then aion was just realeased, and there's a bunch on the way. If I wanted to role-play in the true sense then I'd get a few friends over for some good ol' D&D.

I personally can't wait for Gw2, the guild wars series has been the only rpg style comp game that I've ever seriously played.

 

[Ryuk2]

Not on my watch.
RPG is getting very popular with the whole FPS RPG's and MMO's, so no. Gothic 4 is going to come out and there are some hints about new elder scrolls game. Fable games are popular. People seem to talk about the old RPG titles a lot.
But it's hard to make a good RPG and they need more polishing and balancing than other games.

 

[Serenegoose]

RPGs are hugely popular, they're just experiencing a bit of a fusion period, where people are experimenting with seeing how it works when combined with a different genre. Sometimes it works, I definitely think fallout 3 and Mass Effect have been promising experiments in combining with FPS and third person mechanics, and the Witcher has been an interesting evolution in the more 'pure' aspects of the genre. Certainly the emphasis on graphics has made immersion easier in my experience, and that's important. But I have been having a real hunger for a traditional, more stats than you can shake a stick at, turn based RPG, where I can create a character from numerous races and classes, and play them how I want to. The emphasis on playing the 'invariably human sword guy/girl "hi I'm a capable tank and magic user but I've never heard of the world "specialist" before"' is a little grating. But no, RPGs aren't dying out, just diversifying.

 

[happysock]

Oblivion, fallout 3, mass effect are 3 I can think of off the top of my head maybe fable 2 if your into that sort of thing

 

[jebus4you]

has any1 mentioned fable or fable 2? Juat because yahtzee said they sucked doesnt mean they werent a good rpg damn it1

 

[uk_john]

I think the fact that games like Bioshock and Mass Effect have been mentioned as RPG's show the genre is dying. It's just that many console gamers don't really know what an RPG is. They think as long as you have an inventory and can have conversations with NPC's, it must be an RPG.

Of course, for those of us playing RPG's for 20 years plus, we go by the dictionary description:

"Video-game RPGs involve intricate plots and character development as characters advance through a large number of statistics, items and abilities. Players must usually choose which of several possible combinations of these things to acquire for their character in order to advance, and if possible, win the game".

Until the advent of 'next gen' consoles,about 5 years ago, an RPG was only called an RPG if it allowed you to create a character using skill and attribute points and then use those points to allow for certain weapons, armour and magic.

After next gen consoles came along and games like Jade Empire and Mass Effect came along, with none of these character stats and yet being called 'RPG's' confused the issue. Today, this leaves us with posters above calling games like Bioshock RPG's.

To me, a 20 year plus PC gamer, RPG's are dying. We are getting more Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Alpha Protocol type 'RPG's' and fewer Morrowind, Baldur's Gate and The Witcher type RPG's.

It also disappoints me that companies, as soon as they move away from fantasy ad&d style RPG's move away from hardcore RPG's. Look at Bioware. Baldur's Gate,Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age all fantasy ad&d style RPG's and all hardcore, then we move to Japan and we get Jade Empire an RPG with hardly any roleplaying character elements and then we move to space, and again, no character stats to speak of.

 

[Woodsey]

Not a decent RPG in years? You sir should have your hands removed, as they don't appreciate what fantastic RPGs they can play.

 

[mobsterlobster]

Do you reckon the new Final Fantasy installments will revive this genre?

No, because they're in the wrong genre.
JRPG =/= RPG.

Shouldn't that be "JRPG ⊂ RPG"?

i.e. the set of JRPGs are a subset of the set of RPGs. After all, you still play a role...

But in that sense, Micro Machines is an RPG, cos you're still playing the role of a little car racing round a table or a garden or something.

 

[squid5580]

Dying? No. Evolving beyond the traditional take turns hitting each other? Yes.

 

[axia777]

Man, RPG's are thriving. Demon Souls, White Knight Chronicles, Oblivion, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Dragon Origins, Alpha Protocol, and the list goes on and on. That is also not counting all the MMO's that are making a metric ton of cash too! RPG's are here for the LONG haul.