What makes an RPG an RPG? Is it the stats? Leveling up with experience points? Health items and loot? The expansive genre spans from real-time action RPGs to turn-based strategy RPGs, and many a debate has been held on what should be included in the list. But by oft-ignored definition, an RPG is (quite obviously and literally) a role-playing game. However, the meaning veiled behind those three unassuming letters is usually trivialized at best, and is frequently forgotten altogether.

Japanese RPGs are especially infamous for ignoring their own genre’s connotation. After all, what makes Final Fantasy XIII more of a role-playing game than Red Dead Redemption? I mean, which game lets you decide whether or not to shoot a bartender in the leg, tie him to a horse, and run headlong off a cliff? (If your answer was Final Fantasy XIII, I would very much appreciate a link to a video of that sequence). Stepping into the shoes of John Marston is much truer to the idea of role-playing than watching Lightning make all the choices for herself. So is “RPG” a useless term? Has it lost any semblance of its proper meaning? Why, of course not! Well, not yet, at any rate.

You see, RPGs are straying farther and farther away from the ancient source that originally granted them existence; namely, Dungeons & Dragons. I won’t go into a long, boring history of the series (mostly because I don’t know it all myself) or even take an obligatory crack at how its participants have no life, but it’s common knowledge that this early pen-and-paper role-playing game gave breath to the crazy genre we know and enjoy. I’m told that back in those days players would craft characters from scratch by forming their personalities, choosing their races, and debating whether a Winged Helm of Almighty Screaming Fury or a Hood of Mildly Spiteful Deception would be cooler for Dorrdarrakk the Dwarf Lord.

Once the game was set up and everything was ready, the players would assume the roles of their characters and set forth on a journey. That is to say, they partook in a bona fide role-playing game. Although I have yet to experience a pen-and-paper RPG for myself (I’d rather leave mathematics to computers that I can later blame for shafting my virtual dice rolls), I have spent many happy hours playing World of Warcraft in the guise of elves and gnomes. There are indeed RP servers in the game, which I use extensively and exclusively. Typing out a character’s every word and illustrating his actions and movements is almost like writing a book, albeit with less quiet solitude and more jerks that think dancing on tables while simultaneously saying “lol” is a regular laugh riot.

When the right people are involved, World of Warcraft can offer a fantastic role-playing experience.

But not everybody wants to make up a story in a virtual sandbox run by (not always intelligent) players. Luckily for them, Western RPGs have been hard at work simulating the classic D&D formula in video games, spawning games that have been greatly inspired by the ruleset. Most notable have been Bioware’s efforts, with fantastic products such as Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins. As long as it fits within their lenient parameters, these games let you create a character however you like, be it a heroic woman who resists the controlling ways of the Jedi or a morally bankrupt Dalish elf who just wants to get by.

However, unlike the totally open-ended pen-and-paper method, a Bioware title becomes the gamemaster to deliver a story that, at its core, is linear in nature. Branching paths and multiple endings are important factors, and you naturally can’t type anything you want as you could in something like World of Warcraft, but a nice list of dialogue options helps you to shape your character into whatever you see fit. The details of your character and his or her decisions are left up to you. In short, these stories can be told with plenty of player interaction and character building along the way.

Yet there’s another Bioware game I have yet to mention. A game by the name of Mass Effect. This futuristic RPG took a more action-oriented approach to the genre, putting the player in control of a spaceship commander named Shepard. Now, the trouble begins with the dialogue wheel. Rather than picking from a list of full responses, this convention only offers a few vague remarks to choose from, and there’s no guaranteeing that Shepard’s spoken reply will be worded the way you intended it to be. The voice acting poses another problem: it becomes impossible to create a unique character. Some people may appreciate the more cinematic approach to a lead protagonist that speaks out loud like everybody else, and ordinarily I’d agree. But in this case it limits the player’s creativity and becomes somewhat less enticing. I can be a mean Shepard or a nice Shepard, a male Shepard or a female Shepard, a reasonable Shepard or a clinically insane Shepard; but I still have to be Shepard.

Wow, look at all those options!

“Okay, yeah, so it’s one game where you can’t dream up some wacko to play as,” you say. “Live with it, you persnickety dumbbell!”

Although I do take offense at your tone, I’ll still explain my reasoning. The trouble is that the majority of RPGs are being attracted to a more action-focused design, one that emphasizes flashy combat and downplays role-playing. And Mass Effect’s brand of gameplay, love it or loathe it, is leading the charge in the industry. Take all the hullabaloo concerning Dragon Age II for example (if you count a relatively minor fraction of perturbed Dragon Age fans to count as hullabaloo). The sequel to Bioware’s award-winning fantasy RPG is adopting the dialogue wheel and voice acted character ideas, forcing the player into the role of a hero named Hawke and claiming to be more (surprise!) action-oriented this time around. Bioware’s first venture into the MMORPG, The Old Republic, is on-board for similar changes as well.

It’s not just Bioware, though: bunches of other RPGs lean heavily towards such tendencies these days, including Fallout, Fable, Gothic and even Dungeons and Dragons itself. The recently announced Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim seems to be the last beacon of hope for the deeper side of RPGs, but even that series is light on character interaction. It would appear that an already too-small gathering of games has dwindled to an amount just shy of zero.

I have nothing against linear plots, fast-paced combat, or voice acted characters, but I do believe that the imagination of players is underestimated. I don’t care to play as Shepard, I’d rather not spend time with Hawke, and if I end up having to travel through Skyrim as a pre-designed hero, I might have to kill someone with a blunt object. Player freedom is more than just making critical choices during moments of truth; it should also include playing the role you want to play. Looking back at the olden pen and paper days paints a very different picture than the current state of RPGs, and I can’t say that I’m entirely pleased with the changes. It’s perfectly possible that I’ll enjoy the quality games that are coming out, freedom or no freedom, but if I can’t conquer the quest of Dragon Age II as Dorrdarrakk the Dwarf Lord, it just won’t be the same.

WoW, Starcraft and Diablo developer (don’t forget The Lost Vikings either!) Blizzard is causing a stir by announcing that their official forums will soon require posters to use their real names when contributing.

The idea behind this move is on the surface a noble one, by cutting out the anonymity of forum posting, they hope to create a more mature and sociable space for communication amongst their legions of fans. Internet forums can often be harsh and cruel places, with people hiding behind amusing nicknames such as xxDeathSLAYERx and venting bile all over their fellow users. Blizzard obviously hopes that people who are representing themselves in a more personal manner will create a more mature attitude for discussion and debate.

However, while their motives may be noble, the change is already proving to be controversial and seemingly unpopular. One of the celebrated facts of the internet is that it allows you anonymity, it allows people to craft their own identity and represent themselves however they please, much in the same way that a game like WoW offers you the chance to craft an avatar.

Personal security and privacy is also an issue, whilst currently if a few forum trolls start a flame war and threaten to burn down each others houses, no-one will bat an eyelid, with personal information being available for all to see, there are concerns about how easily forum users would be able to track each other down, or E-stalk each other. With perhaps the largest gaming community in the world present on Battle.net, there are bound to be a few weirdos or troublemakers in the mix and this change could provide them with an opportunity for mischief.

The official forum thread detailing the changes currently runs at 1138 pages long and 22740 posts. We pity the person whose job it is to read through all that.

Spotted at gamesindustry.biz

Cologne is set to be 300x larger than Edmonton's Championship.

6 months and 3 continents of action are about to wrap up in Cologne, Germany, for the Intel Extreme Masters ((Electronic Sports League) ESL), with a final pot totaling $170,000.

The competition is to take place during CeBIT 2010: the world’s largest trade fair for digital IT and communication solutions which managed to attract over 400,000 visitors and 4,300 exhibitors in 2009.

Gamers from around the globe will once again be drawn to the ring to battle till death in the very PC-centric gaming finale. The competition will duel digitally in Counter-Strike 1.6, World of Warcraft and Quake-Live.

Aside from a chief gaming competition, visitors will also be treated to a bevy of gaming culture, including kiosks of Guitar Hero to hardcore PC demo’s. When the ESL invaded Edmonton, Canada, they had James Cameron’s Avatar running. But not in 3D. So… that was great.

Intel Gaming Hall at CeBIT 2010 takes place in hall 23 from March 2nd to 6th 2010.

Fighting with your parents is far to familiar to many of us. How many times have you heard your mother call to you and order you to “Turn that down, sunny,” when you were younger? Be it a videogame, TV, or music? But we doubt many of you have brought it this far.

On February 11, at or around 10pm, James Swan, a 27 year old man, while playing World of Warcraft, got into a fight with his mother when she had asked him to quiet down as her 3 grandchildren were attempting to sleep. After ignoring her requests, the mother walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder, which sent James into a rage. He then grabbed her by the hair and threw her across the room. From here, she somehow managed to get to a phone and began to dial 9-1-1. In which James got to the phone and ripped it out of the wall, proceeded to push her to the ground and choke her. At around this point the James’ Grandfather came in with a handgun and accidentally shot James in a power struggle after the gun, still holstered, misfired and grazed his left ear.

We believe we could all agree that a more civil solution would have been simply to turn the volume down, put a set a headphones on, or stop screaming at the game, but it seems to be that this particular fight was bound to happen regardless of which game he was playing, though there was no clarification on what the fight was actually about.

Source:

Kotaku.com

Bradenton.com

China’s Licensing bureau and Ministry of Culture can’t quite seem to decide who has the power to monitor World of Warcraft within their borders. Either way, content monitoring of WoW in China will be harsh and territorial. Until the interagency dispute is reconciled, the bureau demands people stop being signed up for the service, while the Ministry of Culture contends its authority and a go for WoW.

Ministry of Culture

This is a power struggle between which agency controls the internet in China, World of Warcraft merely a catalyst. The episode gave rise to public concern over who monitors the internet, and prompts the question of to what extent.

“They see the pie is getting bigger and bigger, so it is no wonder different administrations are fighting over pieces of that territory,” said Edward Yu, president of Analysys International, an internet research firm in Beijing.

Li Xiong

Inter-agency exchanges over power are not new in China, and this one affects the largest industry on the net. The General Administration of Press and Publication released a statement Monday that no license was approved and that game registration cease. The Ministry of Culture, under Li Xiong, stated the games were under their pervue and WoW met its requirements.

Looks like a lot of red-tape.

via The Associated Press