KYLAILA'S PROFILE

I can see that, and I'd agree (I liked Verge for his flaws). I do think the rich often get tagged as 'have it alls' when that is far from the truth, though. Also hi there~

You've definitely inspired me in how I interpret and value art, in realizing what is possible, and how valuable the unpleasant can be... but I feel I haven't quite translated it into making something. I'm afraid I'd have to disappoint you if you crave something truly thought-provoking, but then I haven't really looked back over the games I made. I'd pick Sorceress to Be if I had to choose one.

My poetry would be a bit closer, but poetry's poetry.
That said... damn, that really does hit home. Maybe I should. I'd feel proud of that if I did something with actual meaning in it. There are a number of experiences which aren't quite pleasant that I could well work into something.

Why, thank you : )
Oh absolutely! That's why there's so many flavors of games out there to begin with.

I mean, I find most quick-time-events horrid, but I admit to really enjoying Shadow Hearts combat-hit-spinning-circle-thing. Most of the time I don't even think it's the mechanic itself, but the fact it's just randomly tossed into a pool whether it makes sense or now.
I quite like low-HP enemies for this one (me loves some dungeoncrawling), and figuring out how to most efficiently defeat a new group of enemies is a lot of fun to me. Some people find it the most boring thing in the world - me? I really like it, and exploring new corners of the map just as much.

Yeah, I think it's just that often text is overused - especially full text slides, I much prefer in-game text showing the flavor than "EPIC STORY IS COMING whoooo~ in way too many slides. One line can work though as a THIS IS STORY, GAME HAS STORY, END. If you make it short. (tho I remember your trailer to be really nice Pat!)

Music tho, getting good music is key, and emotional response is key. So thanks for the reminder for folks, LBR : D I have seen sooo many dull trailers, it's a bit of a bummer, 'cause it just doesn't reflect the games most of the time.

Oh I didn't mean Berserk, but Berserk certainly DOES do it too (and yes, it still remains amazing, hahaha). I didn't even realize as it wasn't my focus there.. welp. There we go. The Farnese turnaround was completely unnecessary lol.

The question I have with this is - what kind of RPG are we talking about?
Usually, for most Diablo-type RPGs, hell the genre as a whole, level requirements are a normal thing for various reasons: and it is capitalized on as the stat distribution on your character is as much a requirement to wear stuff as your level is.

1. you gain loot randomly, and while very low in chance, you can get some amazing stuff relatively early on

2. you need different stats to wear different things, so as to encourage going for a certain class rather than a jack-of-all-trades

3. your entire progression in the game is tied to slaughtering hordes and hordes of enemies, almost non-stop - level ups will come eventually EVEN IF LOOT MAY NOT (remember the random?), so it is worth keeping around and fun to look forward to

4. min maxing and cranking up gear, keeping what suits you and tossing/trading the rest is really a game mechanic in those games - and part of the fun for those who enjoy these things! (like me : D) Also a reason to keep limited but plentiful inventory space.


Now, while not wrong in itself, usually what many traditional RPGs are based on is that you need to traverse places to get somewhere, dungeons etc. And you usually only need to do it once. And there is both a portion of optional chests and content, as well as the base line - you will get some stuff by default or dropped by a boss who you HAD to beat. (no random recurring quests or stuff like in, say, Grim Dawn, or faction hunting, or boss hunting for loot)
That does give you a general idea for balancing if you traverse it once and add some extra fumbling around.

There are also RPGs (like Devil Survivor) and other tactical RPGs where the fights are predetermined for the most part, and thus offer a very good idea of which level your party will be, roughly. (while offering infinite training battles for those who need to boost their party - you can also finish the game with only doing these to get new skills and ZERO grinding).

Which type are you talking about? I assume classical RPG? If you speak generally it ignores the synergies that you can add additionally. Level requirements would be like a simple trick to implement that can be nice as long as you are not forced to grind to use that particular weapon in that next particular bossfight.

And I know with all my nitpicking on other parts of the article, (also already done above by so many) I can see the basic idea. So err, long rant END.

LockeZ
Both of these problems can be solved a lot of ways, but one of the more enjoyable ways to solve them is to make it so that leveling up doesn't actually grant you a lot of power, it mostly just unlocks the ability to gain power in other ways. This pushes the game's primary methods of gaining power to being rewards from the game's primary content - bosses, dungeons, treasure chests, crafting systems, etc. This makes all of these things feel rewarding, because they give you almost all of your actual power.

I wholeheartedly agree with this, I just can't see why and how equipment level requirements are the one and only solution to this. These things you mentioned and wish to see the power on usually (crafting, dungeons, other main content) already are the main source of power. I see them in many many many games. Nothing new is really added here or explained directly. I would love to see you expand on that and talk about the various ways this can be done beyond saying "hey loot is important, and so are new weapons".

That the sole means of power in most RPGs are levels alone I find is only partially true. There is a reason feeling overpowered is a satisfying thing, because one may feel it is a result of their own genius build, which does indeed need more input beyond "passively leveling up" - you being strong because of your effort is still a thing. There IS input beyond this though - namely skills, items, and the use thereof, as well as different party members. A lot of RPGs have various team members to choose from, who have different skill and stat sets. Who then also have different synergies.
I remember finishing Radiant Historia 20-30 levels below my brother's safe file. And I had to improvise, a lot, but that's what made it satisfying. To beat it without grinding - not because of some loot or weapon differences (or requirements), but because I had to change the team to a slower more supportive kind to still beat the end boss. You can argue this is skill rather than mechanic differences, but it's still a way of gaining power that is encouraged by the existance of the various team members. When you hit a roadblock you may try changing party members before going off to grind.

LockeZ
And by making the level ups unlock the ability to use equipment, you grant the player clear short-term one-time goals, which drastically improves their experience. With obtainable short-term one-time goals, their experience point bar feels less like an endless treadmill and more like a single target, which makes that level up highly enjoyable and satisfying when they hit it. The sense of relief and satisfaction from reaching such an achievement is great.

This is true as an additional thing to look forward to while playing the game normally. I don't think this makes grinding by itself more enjoyable, though.
It's only grinding when you feel you have to do it as an extra, unreasonable effort in order to proceed, really, otherwise you call it battles. And I quite enjoy my simple battles in dungeon crawlers and never bore of them as they are a simply sideshow of proceeding and managing your resources while doing so.

Basically, I think it'd be nice to hear you elaborate it a bit more, because you only barely touch how it comes down to equipment, or why that's the easiest or best thing to add to alleviate that problem and grant extra incentives.