AEROGP'S PROFILE

I'm not, and I certainly don't roleplay IRL, but I'm trying to learn about it for my own design intents. I find it fascinating.

author=suzuricho link=topic=1247.msg48762#msg48762 date=1228296698
No, I can't go on Smogon. Those guys are a complete bunch of asshats dedicated to Pokemon elitism. Not everyone on there, but the vast majority. I stay clear of those guys simply because they do not follow my ethical code about the series. Yes, I'm so into it that I happen to have an ethical code. You could call that elitism to an extent if you wanted, I'm sure.

Yeah, that definitely sounds WAY more elitist than you make Smogon sound like. And at least they don't force their beliefs onto other communities (it's the players that idolize tiers who do that, as usual, and not Smogon).

author=suzuricho link=topic=1247.msg48762#msg48762 date=1228296698
I do not raise god/legendary Pokemon. I raise WHAT I LIKE, regardless. And I encourage others to do the exact same. If you absolutely love that Darkrai, then please train it. But don't expect anyone to really appriciate you for it. There's nearly 500 Pokemon, and legendaries consist of about I dunno, 30 some odd? Why have such variety if you are only going to look through the top ranked 30-40 critters?

When you play competitively, winning is the most important thing. Originality is superficial and does not lead to long-term success. And please, do not confuse originality with "surprise factor," which can legitimately improve your game when done right. But you're free to play the game the way you want. Just don't go messing around in competitive affairs if you're not going to take it seriously.

author=suzuricho link=topic=1247.msg48762#msg48762 date=1228296698
I'm more into the game for contests, myself. You know how many Smogon people like to make fun of that? "Oh, you're just a girl, you hate battling..." I've been faced with that whole pre-judgement because I'm a girl thing forever. No, it's not because I'm a girl that I like contests! They are just as strategic as battling, I don't give a flying flop what anyone says about it. The planning is even harder, really, to get the biggest ratings with linking moves and such.

Smogon and competitively players have their own agenda, and you have yours. Let it go.

I'm leaning more towards Tri-Stat DX than d20, sorry. =P

I think all the major archetypes have been covered. I've rarely found a use for white mages that exclusively heal. I can get by just fine with a stable stock of curative items and just pouring out more damage output than my opponent most of the time. The healers that can also fight decently are most welcome. The ones that can fight and heal equally well, though, present a conflict of interest, such as in Dragon Quest. "So I got this hero character who deals the most damage, but he also heals the best, and I can't do both at the same time... errr...."

I'm the same as Arcan, I clean when I feel like it. I've been raised to at least make up my bed every day, though sometimes I even forget to do that. The only spot in my room that is consistently dirty is the corner where we keep all our games, utensils, batteries, etc. It's just extremely cramped, and we never feel like organizing it because it leads to putting things out on our back porch, and that eventually leads to 5-6 hours of getting rid of stuff to make room for the new stuff.

I've been tossing around a lot of concepts in my head lately that challenge the way older RPGs have run.

One of them is the distinct separation of storyline and combat. Have you played games like Tekken where cutscenes are "unlocked" and saved to be viewed again later? A system similar to this in an RPG, I think, would be an excelent way to attract the type of action-driven players who aren't particularly interested in storyline. During the usual "order of operations" during gameplay, a specific moment is allocated to view cutscenes "unlocked" relating to recent events. The player can choose to view them then, or ignore them and look at them another time via a menu option. For story-driven players, this would feel somewhat awkward, but for other players it would be like watching a series of entertaining short films.

Furthermore, some of the cutscenes - marked with an indicator signifying importance - can have plot-changing dialogue branches that, if the player chooses to act on his/her intentions before stating them in the cutscene, are defaulted to the player's choice (the dialogue branch would pick an answer that suits whatever the player decided to do). Participating in the dialogue grants benefits only a story-driven player would appreciate, thus granting it merit, but not removing its value in the overall scope of the game. The player could even go against the intent specified, and that would have an effect on gameplay.

These things run on the same principle as whether or not to allow the player to "level-grind," thus making the rest of the game's static challenges easier and more boring. If the player wants to do that, let them. You are obligated to adapt to their playstyle, and not the other way around. The consequences of not doing so are simple: the audience for you game will just be smaller.

As for looting, I'm leaning towards item dropping because it fits into the "business-style" concept my idea is realizing. The items you get can either be sold like equipment, or you can hand it over to your Research & Development (R&D) team and, in a day's time, they'll hand back new equipment. Doing so gives your R&D more "experience," which in turn helps them develop better equipment later. Party strength is mostly influenced by equipment, so there's incentive to participate.