3 ms·
The party seems to be pretty optional, because I don't know many (except maybe OP) who would seriously try to argue that Morrowind doesn't count.
by lolinder 2y ago
The party seems to be pretty optional, because I don't know many (except maybe OP) who would seriously try to argue that Morrowind doesn't count.
- thom 2y agoI'm sure I'm not the only one that in Morrowind onwards (heck, Starfield too), I always drag various followers along for the ride to avoid playing solo. In Oblivion it was weeks before I even started the main quest because I wanted to keep Sean Bean around. I agree this isn't a key definitional point in itself, although I think it contributes to immersion and embodiment within an RPG to have relationships with friendly characters. And I think those are two key points to making a successful RPG: immersion means I believe I am in this world, embodiment means I believe I am this character. They're not discrete things, and there are many ways to serve and balance those goals. Some people's threshold (mine, if I'm honest) is quite high for when a game qualifies to become an RPG, but it seems quite subjective and it's definitely a continuum.
- munk-a 2y agoAs a MUD enthusiast I think there's a pretty big gap between games that use an interesting story and meaningful choices vs. a game that is literally just role-playing. I think the labels "Choices matter" and "Character progression" are good for capturing the newer versions of roleplaying games while leaving the noun roleplaying for actual RP. That said RP can and is done in a variety of multiplayer engines, I've seen it in Warcraft 3, Neverwinter Nights, WoW, Minecraft and a bunch of other games - but in those cases it's essentially just folks ignoring the actual game mechanics to just use it as a roleplaying platform.