Design: Principles - Roleplaying (Part 2)

While I was going to respond to the comment in yesterday's post, I felt that they deserved a little more attention, so I'll expand on my thoughts here.

First of all, I probably should have been more specific in defining my boundaries of roleplaying. While I've not played Storm of Zehir, the consensus from people who have is that it's not a story-driven experience like NWN2 or Mask of the Betrayer.
Everything I've read leads me to believe that it's more of a sandbox game. Something akin to Sid Meier's "Pirates!", where there is a plot, but the world and the player's advancement and fame/wealth are the linchpins of the gameplay. That's not to say it's a worse game, it's just different.

The categories I defined were what I felt are key elements of a story-based RPG. This would have to be my favourite type of RPG, as it can make players fall in love with their character and the NPCs they travel with. That kind of emotional attachment is something that will last long after a player has finished playing, and inspires a great degree of nostalgia years later. It's the very reason so many people still feel so strongly about Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. Whether it was Minsc's antics with Boo, a cautious romance with Jaheira, the desire to hunt down Jon Irenicus or simply to bring the end of the Bhaalspawn war, there were hooks to draw the player in emotionally.

That kind of immersion and motivation is exactly what I was referring to in creating an experience for players. There should be that same attachment as when reading a book, that you don't want it to finish, that you want to be able to continue on and keep have experiences with these characters.

And that's my point about the ability to replay a good RPG. It should be like an excellent book that you want to go back and read later on, except that you know that this time you can influence the story in a different direction.

I feel I should address the issue of Planescape: Torment. It is an excellent game, but if anything, its failing is that the story is too strong, hence getting through the game again in a different method almost feels like it would be a betrayal to the essence of the story. But more accurately, much of the suspense and drive of the game comes from a desire to work out what is happening and how it can be fixed. When you've completed the game once, those two aspects are missing, which makes a repeat play that much harder, as you lack those two driving factors.

The trick is to balance the strength of the story against the strength of the characters, so that even if you know how the story unfolds, the characters of the game make the journey a fulfilling experience, even when you know all the twists and turns of the plot. That's why I could replay Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Mass Effect, NWN2 OC and MotB (though to a lesser extent), but why I couldn't replay NWN1 or PS:T. The characters made the journey fun, even though I knew the ultimate destination.