Those games provide gratification without requiring an overwhelming or annoying amount of effort on the part of the gamer: they’re fun, accessible, and they have worlds or settings that provide enjoyment on a simple level.

I may be more familiar with the world of The Third Age, and it may produce a bit of nostalgia, but I’m equally amused, enchanted, and engrossed by Fable II’s stereotype-ridden Albion. Maybe I’m making the case for less intelligent, less original games, but I think there’s a place for such games, especially when “epic” and “deep” are often code words for ponderous, overproduced, and underwritten.

So here’s to less ambitious, more accessible games, made with care and passion. To be sure, this is a dangerous path to go down. It’s the kind of thinking that might lead us to more Deus Ex: Invisible Wars, or another Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.

There's something to be said for polished competence and gradual tinkering with familiar mechanics and structures; I agree with Cross that it seems somewhat wrong to adore "a game that’s really just super-competent plagiarism," but there's certainly plenty to celebrate about the familiar when it's done really, really well — 'super-competent plagiarism' or no.

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/11/column_diamond_in_the_rough_if.php [GameSetWatch]

What we're really talking about is pretending. Make-believe. "Role-playing" may bless the activity with a marginally more acceptable moniker, but when we play RPGs we summon our most primitive urges - the ones we've had since we were children - and we tap into something about the human psyche that inclines toward empathy.

We love pretending because we possess an innate desire to understand (to know and to feel) what it would be like to be *this* man or *that* woman. To mold a character through our own choices and to walk in his shoes, with as many in-world consequences and as few real-world consequences as possible, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.

We know all this, and we've known it for a long time...but sometimes it pays to stop and take a another look. Sometimes we're jolted into knowing something in a better way than we knew it before.

It's an interesting look at (a) an interesting pedagogical tool (I am so hoping I can teach seminars on RPGs one day) and (b) a reminder of why (some of us) love RPGs.

The glory of the amorphous hero [Brainy Gamer]

Anders Tychsen has some interesting ideas on how to leverage elements of tabletop RPGs in order to make their digital cousins more compelling (and thus keeping players enthralled for longer). Tychsen points to issues of integration — something many tabletop games are quite strong on, but an area that has seen less work in creating console or PC RPGs — as an area that could use some work, and create more positive gaming experiences:

Tabletop RPGs have for the past 30 years created personalized story-based gaming experiences for players worldwide. Given their likeness with digital RPGs, it would seem there are some opportunities for leveraging these experiences.

Character generation systems can provide sets of cues for the game engine to react to and direct content after, provides a reasonably simple method for integrating soft personality components in a programming environment, is theoretically simple to design and integrate, and can be scaled to accommodate different levels of intricacy and integration.

A personality system such as that observed in many tabletop RPGs has the further advantage that it is modular, it can be designed to change appearance and stats of characters or it can be strictly parametric.

It's an interesting take on what could be done to current games (without too much work) to make them more interesting (and personal) experiences.

Innovations In Character: Personalizing RPGs, Retaining Players [Gamasutra]

Being inspired by concepts is not just a good idea. When your skill reaches a high enough level, it becomes a state of mind. Start by analyzing games in similar genres for good ideas. Dissect those ideas and learn from them. Then jump to similar games in different genres. Pen and paper role playing games and board games are a great next step.

A true epic-level master of concept-yoinking like Shigeru Miyamoto can take gameplay features from abstract activities like gardening. Pay attention to everything you see, from movies to conversations with friends to patterns in the ceiling tiles. Where do designers get the inspiration for new games? It's all thievery.

OK, I'm not sure it's fair to say it's all thievery (it sounds so bad!), but certainly there's a healthy dose of borrowing and reinterpretation. Anyways, even if you're not a tabletop nerd, it's worth a read through - there are some interesting ideas contained within.

The Adventurer's Guide to Thievery [Gamasutra]

We mentioned Michael Abbot (of the Brainy Gamer) and his efforts to put together a great syllabus for his history of RPGs class; as promised, he's now posted the reading list (required readings will be culled from this list, but it's a pretty nice little bibliography for background reading). At this point, it just includes traditional books and articles, but he's planning on expanding it to online and popular media sources, as well as other good ideas sent in by people who are keeping tabs on this project:

You'll find some esoteric stuff here, but every title is germane to the subject in one way or another. I've also included books like Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, portions of which I plan to assign as foundational texts.

So far the bibliography only includes traditional materials (books and academic journals). I'm working on supplementing the list with online and popular media resources devoted to RPGs ...

Here's the list. If I've omitted a title you think should be included, please let me know. If you have a favorite website or online essay devoted to RPGs (history, analysis, special focus on a single game or developer, etc.), please feel free to drop me a comment. I'll be sure to add it to the list I'm working on, which will be posted here in a few days.

It's quite an impressive list, and if you've got room on your list of things to read, wander over and check it out — or add your own suggestions for good go-to sources for a class of this nature.

RPG syllabus - books and journals [The Brainy Gamer]

Games that don't recognize that key fact have what we call a "false depth economy"; a situation in which currency is rapidly devalued until it becomes irrelevant - or possibly even aggravating - to gameplay. Remember putting rupees back into chests in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess? Or ignoring the store in Star Fox Adventures entirely after the first few hours? These are both bright examples of what happens when the economy doesn't work as planned.

I can't argue that good games haven't fallen to this problem before but succeeded nonetheless. Nobody is going to throw down Twilight Princess in disgust over rupee returns. But I can assure you that it's a design problem that every designer wishes they could take back and fix, and one that every player will write down as a negative about their overall experience with a game.

He lays out three principles that ought to be followed — it's a quick article and worth a read if you're interested in game design.

Single Player Economist [Moogle.net via GameSetWatch]

For those who are relatively green to the world of JRPGs, it's at the very least an informative read. One that makes me think I should get around to that cheap copy of Chrono Cross that never saw the inside of a PlayStation.

A Japanese RPG Primer: The Essential 20 [Gamasutra]

Which leads to me my take on the RPG, at least in terms of daily use. "RPG" is a purely historical thing. In the same way "Spartan" doesn't mean "From Sparta" any more, but rather a set of values and beliefs (i.e. Less pillows and bedclothes. Less fancy clothes. Sit-ups now, probably), "RPG" is completely divorced from the meaning of the words. It just means "mechanics derived from D&D" and even games which fulfil the aims of RPGs better than 99% of RPGs (i.e. Elite) aren't. Any attempts to push it further than that is deliberate perversion and demagoguery on the part of the developer.

Which I'd tend to agree with. All categories, game or otherwise, are created for purposes of quick sorting. Key word: created. What do the Kotakuites out there think? Do these categories even matter? And who gets to decide what is - or isn't - X genre, and how?

The Witcher [Eurogamer via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Well, that Oblivion PS3 content didn't stay exclusive for long... or at all, I guess. Bethesda has announced that Knights of the Nine will be coming to the 360 and PC on November 21st, as well as being sold as an expansion pack in stores along with all of Bethesda's other, over-priced microcontent. Content which will include

• The Horse Armor Mod. Be still my heart.
• The Orrery
• The Wizard's Tower
• Vile Lair
• Thieves Den
• Mehrunes' Razor
• Spell Tomes

...and the new Knights of the Nine content, featuring an all-new faction and quests. Natch. Florian Eckhardt

Bethesda Softworks Announces Knights of the Nine [Evil Avatar]

Over at our stinky arch-nemesis IGN's site, they sat down with Todd Howard, executive producer of the upcoming PS3 port of Oblivion. It's pretty sad when even paid mouthpieces can't figure out a compelling answer to this question:

IGN: How different will this version be from the others? If I've played this before, is there a reason to play it again on the PS3?

Todd Howard: Our goal is always to make the game look and feel consistent across all platforms. We design the game we want to make and then make that game available on as many platforms as possible. So, it's the same base game as was released on PC/ 360. The PS3 is benefiting from us continuing to develop our core technology that drives all our Elder Scrolls games. Some of that is noticeable on the screen — like all the new graphic shaders — and some isn't. The best examples are those new shaders we have for how "near detail" and "far detail" blend together on the landscape. You no longer have a harsh line cutting across the two levels, they blend together seamlessly and the distant detail and land looks much nicer.

Other than that, not much new here to report. Oblivion won't use the tilt center and Bethesda has absolutely no clue if they'll over microcontent to Sony players, saying "it's in Sony's hands." In other words, Sony has no online strategy, so who the hell knows? Florian Eckhardt

Oblivion: The PS3 Interview [IGN]

A few months ago, Atari dealt a blow to the Neverwinter Nights mod community. "No more premium modules for you!" they shrieked.

It was a huge downer. The premium modules program by Bioware had long extended the lifetime of Neverwinter Nights and allowed Bioware to keep up with the community by continuing to patch the game long after it would have otherwise become unprofitable to do so. It was basically the death-knell of Bioware support for NWN.

So it was a surprise when I woke up this morning to find an email, saying that Atari had released one last premium module, Wyvern Crown of Cormyr.

Featuring rideable horses, jousting and cloaks, the word is that Bioware was so impressed with it that they actually begged Atari to release it. And so they did, for $11.99.

Great news for the team, as word is that Atari's contracts with all guys working on the premium modules was they were to be paid only when the modules were released. When they pulled the plug, a lot of guys discovered they'd been working for nothing for months. Florian Eckhardt

Wyvern Crown of Cormyr [Bioware]

That cryptic Gamestop product page of yesterday? The one proclaiming a previously-unannounced Knights of the White Stallion expansion?

Bunk.

Quoth Peter Hines, V.P. Of Marketing and Public Relations of Bethesda:

There's no expansion in development called Knights of the White Stallion. That's the name of a quest in Oblivion.

Right now we have no announced plans for any new content, add-ons, or expansions. If that changes, we'll let folks know.

That's an emphatic worded denial if we ever heard one. Panties unbunched, gentlemen. Florian Eckhardt

GR News: Pete Hines From Bethesda Says No Oblivion Expansion [Gamers Reports]

Grain of salt time, boys and girls. According to Gamespot, a product page for an Oblivion expansion pack was briefly up on Gamestop.com. The expansion, called Knights of the White Stallion, was listed for $19.99. Release date? November 21st. It was listed in the PC section of the sight.

Bethesda's not commenting, though the Gamestop page was pulled, lickety-split. What's the content of the expansion pack? Will it be just a repack of all the microcontent, or a proper expansion, a la Tribunal or Bloodmoon for Morrowind? More details as soon as we can copy and paste them from another site. Florian Eckhardt

Retail Radar: Oblivion expansion, Bully and Splinter Cell collector's editions [Gamespot]

So here comes another one, doubtlessly very incrementally better than before! 'The Vile Lair' is "an underwater hideout provides your infamous character with safe haven. Those willingly inflicted (or shall we say graced?) with vampirism will find a means to feed, and if necessary, a means to cure their infliction. Hire evil minions, pray to the dark god Sithis, and a host of other functions await."

There have been some rumblings on forums and blogs that a ready cure for vampirism makes this a pay-to-cheat content back. These people, as usual, are emitting an expanding mushroom cloud of vaporized spittle in their silly overreactions. Still, if you're one of them, you might not want to log into Marketplace and download it now. Florian Eckhardt

The Vile Lair [Oblivion Downloads]

MMO-focused research website The Daedalus Project has a 7-page feature on the hows and whys of those who invest a little more in their adventures than the average PvP server player (who is 14 years old, tipes lik ths lol, wears a black trenchoat and white sneakers, and slyly uses his mom's mascara to darken the peachfuzz on his upper lip).

The conclusion? That the penis-fencing that goes in in PvP realms manifests in different ways when everyone is pretending to be angry at their dwarf wife for /dancing with that stupid macho paladin for a little too long yesterday, and you're nothing without me, and don't make me tell you again!

More brilliant insight after the jump.

Everyone wants to be the greatest, or worst, thing that has ever happened to their particular land of make-believe. Everyone has to be exquisitely attractive. Everyone has to have the best reason to weepily scratch their forearms bloody with their BlizzCon badges:

Entirely too many people seem to want to turn having a tragic past into some kind of contest ('Orcs killed my mother' 'Oh yeah? Demons killed my whole family!' 'Oh yeah? I never HAD a family' 'Arthas ninja'd my thorium!') which is not only obnoxious but also kinda dumb; very few people like to deal with tragedy by using it as a bludgeon against others. [WoW, M, 24]

This sort of pissery and pretention is maddening to the players that value actual character depth and god forbid, originality in the people with whom they seek to form in-game relations. The idea of actual roleplaying in RPGs is eternally tempting, but then I remember these people, grit my teeth, and go back to dealing with the "how i mine 4 fish" style of interaction. Sigh. eliza gauger

Faces of Role-Playing [Daedalus Project]

Peter Moore chatted up a group of journos in a recent interview at Microsoft Studios. What did he have to say before he crushed them with his 24-inch guns? The Msoft exec got some Wii hands-on at E3, dishing that "Sonic was almost built for the controller because it was so intuitive." Moore worried "how thin that's [the controller] gonna wear after half an hour" and dubbed the Wii "a party console." He also mentioned how he was surprised that there were "so many things" on the controller and that it took him a little while to get going. He then added he was a huge fan of innovation.

He also talked progress in Japan with the upcoming Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, saying, "Our progress will be pinned against those two titles." Continuing, Moore stressed the importance of Japanese developed RPGs and pulled the PS3-is-pricing trump card. "Japan is still very much a price sensitive market", he points out, adding that Xbox Live and Live Arcade are keys to capture market share. "Japan is important," but Microsoft is focusing on other markets as well, like India and China.

The exec also talks about the Halo, reminding all that Peter Jackson has only been announced as Executive Producer. "It's Universal Studios' announcement to make," he says. Even though Microsoft did the script, "once you give it to the studio, they become in control." (Read: don't blame us if it sucks.)

When asked where J Allard was, Moore replied that "he's right across the street there. You know, the Live update, we're enjoying, that's J's team... You know, we should probably start working on the next one. And that'll be J... These things take years to develop. That will be J's responsibility as well. He's busy. Don't worry about J." We weren't before, but now that Moore has filled J's schedule until the year 2012, we are. Brian Ashcraft

Listen Here [Gamertag Radio]

Unfortunately, it turns out these claims were lies. The outdoor frame rates are better, which is nice, but the the load times are worse than they've ever been... at least on the 360 version. The sleight of hand, though, is they may seem shorter because Bethesda pulled the 'Now Loading' screens to disguise the fact.

Apparently, this issue can be partially solved by clearing your 360 cache. But the other bad news is that if you've been stuck by a glitch, the patch does nothing to really remedy it: you'll have to start your jillion hour game over. Boo, Bethesda! Boo! Florian Eckhardt

Oblivion Patch Causing Issues [1UP]

The E3 trailer from Final Fantasy XII, English edition, with new scenes and Valley Girl voices.

Best line, from the pretty blonde princess: "You're an air pirate! So steal me!" Wishful thinking caused me to superimpose the word "butt" somewhere in there. FLORIAN ECKHARDT

(via Modern Savant)