Convince Me That I'm Wrong About RPGs

[WildSeraph]

You should really take a look at Fallout:NV, while there are certainly some builds that work better than others, absolutely anything, even unarmed or a Charisma based character, can be deadly with the right perks.

Why is it that all of the games recommended to me are the ones just out of my reach? My computer's processor can't handle NV, and I'm NOT playing it on a console. I can't aim at all with a controller.

The games i mentioned aren't out of your reach. ( Baldurs Gate 1 & 2 , Planescape:Torment, and i'll add Fallout 1 and 2 to those )

CLASSICS !!

I'll be sure to check as many of those out as I can.

 

[CleverCover]

You know the great thing about RPG's.

You can play them a million different ways. The person that was telling you that you have a shitty character has his own way of building stats. Tell the person to fuck off.

If you die, you can always reload from your last save. You can rethink a strategy and come back from the jaws of death to victory!

If it's an MMORPG, then you can find a character and a group and quests that work with the skills you make. It isn't only the Tank, Mage, and Rogue characters that make a group. It's a blend of them.

In most MMORPG's though, it takes a lot of math and patience to build a super character. A LOT.

I suppose it depends on how much you care. Do you care?

 

[zehydra]

RPG's are supposed to be Role Playing Games. If you are playing the game bizarrely, only to get best possible stats and skills in the game, then you have defeated the point of the game. The point of the ability to customize your character is not to create the best possible character in terms of stats, but the most fun character to play as.

OP, if you have people criticizing your style of single-player gameplay, then tell them that they need to open up to realizing that there is more than one way to play RPG's, and that turning an RPG into purely a stat grind doesn't make it "Fun" or in any way "the right way to play".

To finish: You don't play video games to win them, you play video games to play them.

 

[Faladorian]

-snip-

That's not the RPG's fault, that's the RPG-playing community's fault. People get really dickish if you don't play an RPG just like them, even though the entire point and premise of an RPG is to be your own person.

If youre doing well with what you have, you shouldn't give a shit what people say, theyre just being annoying

 

[kickyourass]

In every single one of them, somebody's complained that I was doing things completely wrong. I've been forced by others to start over, no matter how well I play, even if it's a single-player game!

This statement almost perfectly points to where your problem lies. If you play the entire game based on what OTHER PEOPLE think and not what YOU think, it's no wonder you're not having fun cause you're playing for other people not yourself. Next time you come across an RPG that has skill trees like Dungeon Fighter or what ever, don't listen to other people as much, trust your own instincts when it comes to your character and their skills. Figure what works for YOU, not what works for some "Simulator" someone whipped up, if you do this I can guarantee that you will have a million times more fun then you are now.

If you do his and you're still aren't enjoying the games then maybe RPGs just aren't your thing.

 

[Plurralbles]

well... yeah. If you dont like it, dont; play.

U Mad Face.

If they made every build viable then there'd be a lot of crumby cheese to deal with, and that sucks.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

If your winning the game, your friends are probably just annoyed that they put so much effort in to customization and a noob breaks the game by playing sensibly.

It's the story that's meant to matter. The combat is just something to get through (although it shouldn't feel that way; not a massive fan of the genre myself).

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

If what you're worrying about is getting character builds wrong in RPGs and then that spilling over into other genres then do what I do and stop caring what's right or wrong. Certain character builds are going to make things difficult, but they'll also make things easy.

Those number crunchers fail to include your skill and what you enjoy using. If they say that an unarmed weapon is the best yet you can't hit a super mutant with a super sledge then you aren't going to pick that. A lot of people who play MMORPGs forget that games are for fun and end up trying to beat everyone else's class.

Seriously, if you like your character build then keep it. If you get stuck then start over. I had 3 character builds in FO2 before I even looked like getting out of the temple of trials. Even after that I started over again and again because I was getting stuck. Morrowind was no different either, a few character builds to get going and I'm off. Just play for enjoyment and you will get to the end.

 

[kingcom]

See I'm one of these crazy people who thinks RPGs should be about roleplaying. You know, you choosing a role and playing it, using the skills and specializations (or generalisations for that matter) based upon what you think is suitable for your character. A lot of RPGs don't give you that option but they exist. I say it to most things when peopel ask about cRPGs so I'll say it again, Baldur's Gate.

 

[starwarsgeek]

Min/maxers can be annoying. Try to ignore them, and don't seek out their advice unless you are having a lot of trouble with a game.

Take Pokemon for example. In the competive scene, you've got tiers, and certain ways to raise your pokemon. They limit your options, but you'll be torn apart if you don't go along with it.

However, any of the many, many, MANY combinations of pokemon (species, type, gender, attacks, and stats) can work for the single player, and--most of the time--battling friends socially. You can play how you want to play...when I was six I beat Blue version using only my starter.

Unless it's online or incredibly difficult, you won't need a guide for how to raise your character(s).

 

[bushwhacker2k]

Well, first of all not all RPGs' worth can be measured to a skill tree or stat build, some don't even use stats or skill trees.

Second, I like skill trees because it adds a lot of variety and customization, for interesting characters but it sounds like you're dealing with a lot of unbalanced or just poorly made ones. If done correctly (Deus Ex ) then you can enjoy the game even if you don't have the perfect build. If a game requires you to have a very specific character build then it's probably unbalanced.

 

[mireko]

If you'd called the thread "Convince me that I'm wrong about MMORPGs", then it would actually make sense.

Most RPGs don't have this problem.

 

[StBishop]

You sound like me after my friend pointed out that my Dragonage character was the worst he'd ever seen due to my hatred of planning anything and my theory that the more passive abilities i have the better... I stand by my shitty character to this day and so should you good sir!

I also refused to change my party's armour as it would destroy their individuality, damn the armour bonuses to hell!

You're doing it right.

Max out passive bonuses, max out con, get enough Stamina/Mana (Willpower) to have your sustained abilities going and just auto attack.

I also kept Morrigan in her outfit, had Sten use his sword until the end, had Alistair wearing Cailan's armour and shield and Maric's sword, and I used the Aeducan family Shield through until the end of awakening (played noble dwarf).

OP there's nothing wrong with how you're playing. Honestly, I always tell my mate their builds suck, but it doesn't matter, because they like playing differently to me. My build sucked epic balls in Oblivion, I got one hit by a murder fish (or what ever those things are called) at lvl 11. But don't worry about shit like that, find work arounds and enjoy the story. Some RPG's will be hard (I found Oblivion hard due to the excessive level scaling) and others you'll find easy (people whinge about DA:O being hard, but my first play through was on hard mode and I thought it was pretty balanced, some bosses were really easy.)

The thing is, you're over thinking. There is a "Perfect" min/max build, there's no denying that, but you don't have to play to min/max. I sometimes get close to min/max perfection in D&D and I still don't have the most fun out of everyone there, because I stress too much about mistakes. What you need to do is play, how you want to, and ignore all the bullshit, and enjoy the game.

Also,Pokemon isn't simple any more. It's way complex.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

try playing disgea if you want to complain about character building/leveling. The max level in that game is 9999 so in terms it's over 9000. I will say one thing to each his/her own if you don't like doing stat building in the games then don't play them It's as simple as that This why I gave up on online rpgs along time ago.

 

[Grigori361]

snip

Not your personal army, councilor or anything else thanks.

 

[theheroofaction]

Here's a tips for you to enjoy you RPG: stay away from the "tactics" section of the forums. You'll just run into people who want everybody to conform to "the ultimate build" and you don't want to listen to that


Oh and the "ultimate builds" usually just suck for everyone but their designers

Don't let anyone tell you how to have fun

 

[StBishop]

Sounds more like the people that you have problems with. I've been playing rpgs and (usually) playing them wrong for a long time, and just like you, I've gotten along fine in them. There are just people who don't like playing with faulty characters, but that's part of an RPG's appeal to me. If I have a perfect character, then there won't be enough challenge to keep me interested. It makes more sense to do it my own flawed way.

Yeah, I'm not sure if my problem is with the games themselves, or with the people I'm around making me feel like it's a problem with the game. But so many people can't be wrong, right? I mean, I understand that doing things like only raising attack is a bad idea, and everyone should know that. But when an entire IRC channel is convincing me to restart a game because I put things up in a balanced way, I can't help ut feel like I'm seriously making a mistake.

I have this argument with my girlfriend about Final Fantasy, she's been playing FF games since 7 and my first game was 10, after 10-2 was already out.

I tell her she's wasting her time by levelling everyone, evenly, she should make the main character lvl 99 ASAP and level a couple others about the same rate as each other. But she won't do it.

It's just one of those things. Neither of us is wrong, but we both have different play styles so it loooks wrong to us.
Incidentally I was the shit that told her she was wrong until she stopped playing when I was home. I now STFU when she's playing games.

Also, it seems to me you've come here because you like these games, you know that, but you feel that all these people bringing you down, telling you that you're doing it wrong means you shouldn't play. Seems like you just want confirmation either way as to whether to give up or slug on through the crap you get from mates.

I say slug through it.

Tell them to STFU or GTFO. I have had to tell mate the same thing at times, they usually don't leave.

 

[Chibz]

I know a LOT of you are going to abhor me for saying this, but I feel I need to say it.

So, I was talking to some people about Dungeon Fighter Online, an MMORPG, and we were on the subject of Skill builds. Now, I'm not an expert at this game, and I simply asked what skills were good to get for one of the game's classes. I was directed to a "Skill build simulator", that crunches exact numbers for every level of every skill in the game! Using this, I discovered that my build was "terrible", yet I've been getting by pretty well with it.

Apparently, you're NOT supposed to base your stats and skills on what you use often and what you don't! No, every single aspect of customization this game comes down to whether the simulator likes it or not. This got me thinking about other RPGs I've played. In every single one of them, somebody's complained that I was doing things completely wrong. I've been forced by others to start over, no matter how well I play, even if it's a single-player game! I then began to ask myself questions: Why is it that, if I don't do everything PERFECT, I've screwed up? How can so many people (every RPG fan I've ever met) care so much about what a computer or walkthrough says? Why does everybody else get all of this Skill and Stat and Equipment stuff, yet I always "ruin" my characters completely? And most importantly: How many RPGs have REAL customization? Do RPGs really have billions of customization options? Or do they have three or four "options", and a billion fuckups?

This has turned me off from the entire RPG genre. And, in case you haven't noticed, a LOT of games these days have Stats and Skills and all that jazz. I don't want to go the rest of my life unable to enjoy these games. So please, Escapist. Convince me that I'm horribly, horribly wrong.

EDIT: It's not just people I play with that are unimpressed with me. I've found "Easy" games seriously hard, and I'm positive some of it is actually because of my decisions. Maybe I just think differently from everyone else, but a stat build in a game that I thought was pretty solid has, more than once, made it a LOT harder. It can't be ALL others' fault. I'm seriously bad when it comes to RPG elements, even in simple games like Pokemon.

In all fairness, these aren't really "good" examples of the RPG genre. The RPG genre never transferred well over to electronic gaming. It's too restrictive, far too limited. With too few real roleplaying opportunities.

If you want to try a "real RPG" talk to me about D&D sometime. Once you break the proverbial chains of playing on computer, you feel so free...

 

[Jennacide]

>RPG negativity thread
>sees example as Dungeon Fighter Online
=|

Where to begin?
1) Most RPGs are not like that. And it's really only MMOs where the minmaxing being the only option really happens. Goes on in every MMO. But I've yet to see an offline RPG where this is a huge problem, the only thing close would be Titan Quest. Where you can still beat the game with whatever you want, but it will start to get brutally hard if you just take skills on a whim. (But there are skill resets for a reason)
2) Play any of a myriad of modern RPGs. Fallout 3 and NV don't care how you play, there is no perfect build, just what you enjoy. Persona 3/4 have no perfect team setup or Persona combos. In almost every FF there isn't a perfect team.(10 being a major exception, as over half the members became utter trash compared to Tidus/Wakka/Rikku)
3) There are so many variants in the RPG category, first find one you do like.
Tactically minded? Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age: Origins, Vampire the Masquerade
Visceral skill based combat? Risen, Demon's Souls, ME2 (depending on your class. Soldier = faceroller)
More old school? Shin Megami Tensei series, Dragon Quest 9

You can't take one game and judge a genre. Especially not an MMO, let alone a fucking Korean MMO.