I remember a day when old RPG games had either a level cap or a definite ending. From Pool of Radiance to Secrets of the Silver Blades to Final Fantasy the game had a final boss or stage and often had some type of level cap. Today, gamers don’t want it to end, they’d rather have the option to wonder around aimlessly or completing minor quests in order to soak up every ounce of money they spent on the title.
Now even Bethesda is saying “we’ve learned our lesson” from the whiplash of ending their game title and capping levels. Gamers want to go back and re-try content they missed, they want to run side quests and talk to everyone in the world they want to grind themselves to über powerful levels and become a god in their fantasy world. Can you blame them?
You can’t really blame them for wanting to maximize the content, although it’s slightly more evolved than RPG’s of old. Perhaps it was World of Warcraft and other MMORPG’s that brought us to the stage in life where we all want to squeeze every last RPG dime out of the title. As a kid I wondered the world of Hyrule and covered every tile of graphical color, burned every bush, bombed every stone looking for all the content. However, even Zelda had an end with scrolling credits – you didn’t just land on a platform with your master sword and a dream.
Other titles have used level caps to limit you and draw you into the next release of the game. This was popular in the D&D world because the game is designed to target specific levels of difficulty. They may only allow you to gain level 10 because the enemies are no tougher than level 13, allowing the challenge to be good but not overwhelming. If they allow you to get to level 50 they’d have to design the game so all the enemies grow powerful along with you — that’s not always a desired result.
Final Fantasy is a popular franchise that typically allows you to grow infinitely powerful depending on how much time you want to spend repeat killing the same enemies. Gamers aren’t always into the grind, they just want to grind “enough” to make the challenges a little more do-able.
Today, however, with larger storage capacity, larger development teams and the desire to build more value into your gameplay experience titles have dozens of side quests and sub-plots that are totally optional. The result of so many sub-quests results in a player who is much more powerful at the end of those quests compared to a player who sticks to the narrow path of the main plot. So, games much grow dynamically challenging to keep the fun per dollar high.
Do you like your RPG’s to have a definite end and a high but capped level?
… what’s with the disclaimer?
@BF1943 bait and switch
Well, it is a bait and switch move alright, regardless of the EULA. There is no contract that can have clauses that justify wrongdoing. Those clauses would be deemed illegal.
Jonah, EA would have to pay the 15 USD AND the costs for all legal actions. It’s not just 15 USD.
@Modern Warfare 3 makes $775M
You know what’s weird? One host of another podcast (yeah, I do listen around :P) called it a glorified MP map pack. The person was not pleased with the 6 hours short SP campaign, and the fact that the engine was not a leap forward as BF3 is.
Still, it sold 3/4 billion dollars.
Jonah, I played the first MW. It was new, and nice. My brother played MW2. To me, it felt the same like MW, and I lost interest. MW3 to me is a “meh …”.
@Square-Enix officially opens Montreal studio
(tongue in cheek): I think the US administration will notice the revenue from games (see MW3) and decide to increase taxes on game developers.
@QOTW:
My last purchases were done via Steam. So, despite the fact that I like having the disk, it’s digital distribution for me.
Sorry about replying with ‘No DRM’ last week, because honestly I’ve hated every type of DRM that I’ve encountered. I don’t know if it counts as a type of DRM, but a few days ago I received Skyward Sword in the mail and it had a mandatory update for the Wii before I could play it (It warned that it would brick my Wii if it was modded). Not only was it very short, but it also updated my Wii to the latest version without having to connect it to the Internet. I think I could tolerate this kind of DRM, it doesn’t require you to do anything and most importantly it doesn’t get in the way.
@EA targeted for class action suit over Battlefield 3 PS3 bait and switch: That’s just wrong. This shouldn’t ever have happened and I would be angry if this ever happened to me. Pre-order bonuses are almost void in value, and now we have to be careful about stuff like this?
@Modern Warfare 3 makes $775M in 5 days: I both love and hate these figures. I love them because it shows the entertainment business that gaming is a big deal and I hate them because it shows that you can earn lots of money just by adding a few things to a game and releasing it year after year. I think we need more innovations in video games (and not just in the indie market).
@QOTW: As I have previously stated, I buy all my games as physical copies over the Internet. Firstly, it is the cheapest option for me (I can get almost half the price of Steam on release day), and secondly because I love having the boxes, even just to have them there so I can look at them.
Well, today EA made it a happy ending by giving away Battlefield 1943 after all.
As for the disclaimer, Paul now works for Disney Interactive, so he has to make that disclaimer.
Hey fellas,hows it hanging?
@MW3..yes that game is very much overhyped fluff,I cant see any qualities warranting this to be called any more a sequel to modern warfare 2 then “united offensive” was a sequel to the original “call of duty”
I got the game for free,have played it some online,but thinks its kind of sad that Activsion actually gets rewarded for pursuing this sloppy business model.
@EA/BF 1943 : well this got a happy ending of the time of writing so yay..I guess(still pretty lame that EA puts “no sue-sies” in the “nobody reads this anyway” agreement.
@QTOTW Most of my games on PC I buy on steam,same as I prefer to download games on XBL as well,im lazy when im gaming so I dont want to be changing discs or even handling them constantly..UNLESS theres an added bonus for doing just that..e.g:pauls gold remote..(im so getting the version with that thing nowxD)
PS so Paul is working for Disney now?..can you get Donald Ducks autograph for me?
or do the mickey mouse voice and say “HAHHA Im the mascot of a big evil corporation!”:P
Until next time guys,i am listening to every show,just haven’t had the time to comment as im in the middle of moving myself..
@Paul working for Disney, I want to know why they decided to ditch Split / Second, and when will we have another Duck Tales game, since that has to be the best franchise, with Chip & Dale’s Rescue Rangers a close 2nd. (Flashback on the NES game please???)
@Jordan’s awful Monty Python attempt – as a Brit, all I can say is “never again, please”.
@QotW – The Uncharted 3 game I bought last week (from a store), which I subsequently resold and picked of Arkham City (from a store) are probably the last games I intend to actually purchase. I signed up for the LoveFilm service in UK, for which I pay £14.99, and get unlimited streaming to pc and PS3, as well as unlimited rentals of games and movies, including Blu-Ray, with 3 discs being sent to me at any one time. This allows me to have 1, or sometimes 2, main games to work on, with a 3rd disc being shipped back every couple of days. Since signing up, I have completed well over £100 worth of games, not to mention the films I also caught up on.
If I do like any rental enough that I never want to send it back, I can keep it indefinitely until i see the price fall on ebay/store to a satisfactory price.
@Zelda gold Wiimote – I bought my Wii with Sports and Sports Resort bundled, so had a motion plus from day 1 (albeit the plug rather than integrated). I considered buying the new Zelda for the gold Wiimote, but found I was asking myself, when has my Wii EVER had more than just me playing it, so why would I need a 2nd controller? I’m still tempted, because it’s shiny, but I managed to pass the opportunity of the Tri-Force logo GameBoy Advance SP, so I imagine this will fade to a distant memory soon enough.