Do you prefer "on the road" or "stronghold" RPGs?

[endtherapture]

So the big AAA RPGs of the next gen are The Witcher 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition, and they will have very different play styles, but one thing that isn't usually discussed in RPGs is whether you prefer being "on the road" or having a "stronghold". Dragon Age has Skyhold, The Witcher is a game where you're going to be a wandering monster hunter on the road. In a game like Skyrim you can set up a home base or decide to just be wandering, in Baldur's Gate you also tend to be on the road.

Which do you prefer?

I'm honestly not sure, whilst I do love having my own stronghold or castle it can cause the game world to feel segmented and makes you spend you a lot of time in your castle rather than out in the road. I think I prefer the feel of being a wandering nobody instead of having the power and influence of having a giant castle at my disposal. When you have a castle and knights at your command it's weird that you can't take them adventuring with you and are instead left with a small party.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Interesting distinction.

I like having a main hub to call home. That doesn't necessarily make you lord of anything (like in Skyrim). Disgaea: Hour of Darkness makes fun of the fact none of your vassals will help out their Demon Lord on his excursions. In Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories your main hub is just your starter town, identical to Laharl's palace in the first game. Sometimes the concept can stretch to "starter towns" you keep heading back to. While nobody looks back when they leave their very first Pokemon town, places like Traverse Town in Kingdom Hearts (or Hollow Bastion in KH2) become a recurring place in your travels, because they have the biggest - if not only - stores and there's always stuff to discover and unlock and often the plot needs you to go back to move the plot forward. In Tales of the Abyss, "home" is Baticul even if there's nothing to distinguish it from other towns and cities, except for the fact it's where you start the game and it has an important role in the plot.

What I'm saying is, I'm having trouble distinguishing main hubs like castles from certain starter towns (or the only town in the game, like Diablo or Baroque). But generally I like the idea of having a place call home, as well as owning part of it.

 

[ninja666]

I very much prefer "on the road" type, especially when it's an open world RPG. I like the feeling of being on a constant journey, discovering new places, and the satisfaction of finally finding a town with an inn to sleep in after roaming in the darkness for a good amount of time. It's especially distinctive in games that don't offer any type of fast travelling, like Morrowind.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

On the road for me. Keeps things fresh and just feels more "adventury". Whilst politics has it's place, the basic premise of an RPG is of high adventure into the unknown.

Something which I dislike about a lot of modern RPGs is that the world is so well known to everyone.I want my RPG, especially open world ones, to have a massive air of uncertainty about areas your yet to explore or visit. Too often it feels as if the entire world is fully known to everyone.

 

[vledleR]

Stronghold.

I'm a man of organization, and I like to know when and where to go, planning excursions, come back to offload gear/treasure etc.

 

[Frission]

It really depends. Baldur's Gate II had their own strongholds and Neverwinter Nights 2 also had the castle halfway in or so.

Both works depending on how they're implemented really.

 

[Gennadios]

Stronghold. I'm a citybuilding/sandbox fan as well as RPG player, so I like it when my character has a home base. Doesn't have to be a stronghold per se, an ever improving base camp with support staff will suffice.

 

[endtherapture]

It really depends. Baldur's Gate II had their own strongholds and Neverwinter Nights 2 also had the castle halfway in or so.

Both works depending on how they're implemented really.

Strongholds aren't avaliable for most of the game in Baldur's Gate though. I found my stronghold and then by the time I'd done abotu half the quests I was off to Spellhold and Underdark, and then you're in the end game.

A mix is quite nice to have, like the camp from Dragon Age Origins or the Ebon Hawk. Like a moving base.

 

[Something Amyss]

I really don't think I care, so long as the game is fun.

 

[lowtech redneck]

If its done well (like in Suikoden II) I prefer stronghold games, but only if exploration is not impeded. Basically, I prefer to have both experiences rather than one or the other. That said, I also enjoy the thematic and story possibilities of 'on the road' games, and wouldn't want all games to include both elements in my ideal world.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It depends on how heavily story/character focused the game is.

Games like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout have a story, but the main focus really is the wandering around, discovering new places, and getting into adventures on the fly. A game like that doesn't benefit much from having a hub, except to sell your loot.

Dragon Age and Mass Effect on the otherhand kind of need that hub environment for you to catch up with everybody in your team.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Both have their own merits when done right, so I don't really have a preference. I've also run D&D campaigns in both veins, among other genres. I'm not necessarily easy to please, I just diversify my tastes so as to experience the range of things available.

 

[Auberon]

More on the road, though fittingly glorious home is always great in the vein of strongholds and Skyhold once I actually get there.

 

[Elfgore]

I'm a bigger fan of on the road. Really get's the sense of adventure going. Constant danger isn't something you need to worry about when you sleep within a massive fucking castle. A Lot less random stuff would occur too.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

I like both really, so I really like the moving strongholds of Kotor and Mass Effect where you take your place with you.
I have yet to see such a concept in a pure fantasy world though.
I wonder what that would be..
In a Steampunk world it could be a train or a zeppelin or even a submarine/boat.
In fantasy it could probably be.. a.. house on wheels? or the usual teleport I suppose.

Each type has their place and I wouldn't want to see every RPG implementing such a feature.

 

[Bad Jim]

I very much prefer "on the road" type, especially when it's an open world RPG. I like the feeling of being on a constant journey, discovering new places, and the satisfaction of finally finding a town with an inn to sleep in after roaming in the darkness for a good amount of time. It's especially distinctive in games that don't offer any type of fast travelling, like Morrowind.

Morrowind has tons of fast travel options.
-Divine & Almsivi Intervention
-Mark/Recall
-Guild guides
-Silt striders
-Boats
-Propylon Chambers
-Boots of Blinding Speed
-Shrine to Stop the Moon

Also, while you cannot own houses, there are a number of abandoned houses you can occupy, and you can get a stronghold if you follow any of the Great House questlines far enough.

 

[ninja666]

Morrowind has tons of fast travel options.

I meant it in a way it doesn't have fast travel option, like the other Elder Scrolls games, where you could just pick a city from the map screen and get instantly teleported to it.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

definitely stronghold, not that I don't play on the road rpg's, as I don't judge beforehand, but I do tend to enjoy stronghold rpg's more that have a "home" or ship or something, like in neverwinter nights 2 or better yet, dragon age awakening, I loved having the keep and building it up, seeing progression and in the end it made a difference.

That said, strongholds can be done wrong, like having events that are timed without you knowing (going back to your castle during a certain period of time to trigger an event, which won't happen if you keep doing whatever quest you were doing at the time and then you miss out on it.) Sometimes the game doesn't even warn you about these tidbits so it can be frustrating.