Previously, while I was out browsing Gamespot for the usual old games I play, I kept coming across all sorts of references towards this game called Dragon Age: Origins. That made me recall this ranting spree my brother went on for several weeks, regarding this game called Dragon Age: Origins. At some point he asked me for my original Baldur's Gate collection. Something to do with the makers from Baldur's Gate making a new game called Dragon Age: Origins. Those factors combined made me crack at some point and decide to look into that game. Usually I try not to mess with newer games, as I can't play them anyways and so I get frustrated marveling in their glory. But since the buzz around it was so big and my brother's opinions about games are fairly correct 9 out of 10 times, I just had to go take a look.
What I saw there was nothing extraordinary as all the hypes mentioned, but then again, hypes usually tend to set you up for imminent let downs. I did however see a new BioWare game and I've always enjoyed playing those frantically. More so, the whole reason I bought an Xbox, days prior to the next-gen release, was because I was playing a small bit of Jade Empire and KotoR II at a friends house. It got me hooked so badly, I couldn't think about anything else. I just had to go out and buy me those games. My addiction was so acute, I even had to go out of town to find a copy of Jade Empire there that very day.
The following weeks, I spent all day and night going through just about every possible playthrough in both games. And the best part was, it didn't even get dull.
That is the reason why a new BioWare game might not be the most surprising new game made, but it does deserve looking into. It's basically the same formula in a new package, but it's one hell of a winning formula. For those of you gladly battling alcohol addictions, consider it like a new beer. It's just some beer, but beer is always awesome and you'll always have some room for it.
Back to my original point: After weeks of hearing from all sides how good this game was, I formed a cunning plan. As my brother has a job and I don't, there's an 8 hour window where the Xbox is used as an expensive paperweight and I could step in to save the day. And by saving the day, I mean usurp his console and basic hospitality by raiding his house while he is gone. I pitched him this idea of interim gaming and he was cool with it. The only thing I had to do was to wake up on time for him to go to work and leave me in his house. That time, however, was 5 AM! To my amazement, it is possible to wake up in time, given the proper motivation. After 26 years of getting late for just about any morning appointment I have ever had, there I stood in complete zombie mode at my brother's door.
And so began my job as a professional gamer. Starting at 5 AM, I would take a 5 minute, snack break at 8 and have half an hour for lunch at 11, followed by a quick snack break around 2 PM. Like I said, I was taking this seriously; this was my job, not some silly toy!
During these weeks of intense gaming, I discovered a few things.
For one, gaming makes you exceedingly lazy, yet productive towards your game. You'll pool all your non-game related tasks into 1 single sweep of actions. For instance, you'll combine going to the bathroom, drinking, following up daily tasks such as mails, cooking and eating all into one and do them in less than 10 minutes if possible. Because everything you do will make the clock tick closer towards that deadline where you have to return to your mundane life, instead of rocking it in Ferelden.
Secondly, this setting of professional gaming will make you plan ahead, even when not actively playing. I was, for example, planning what I could eat the next day while playing and what dish would take the least time to prepare and then consume, while still being nutritious. A trait that wasn't too healthy, I think, as I would usually eat pasta, sandwiches or reheated food, but nothing else. And usually I take time to cook some nice dinner; but not anymore! There was questing to be done and I had a Blight to stop!
Also, any common courtesy you might have had, swiftly went out the door. I'd wake up barely in time to show up at my brother's (hey, it's still 5 flippin' AM!) and on bad days, I'd forget most of my food and drinks. And instead of wasting time to go fetch them, I'd just loot his fridge and cupboards. Once the game was on, there was no brother or hospitality, there was only the Grey Wardens and my nemesis the Archdemon.
But the main reason I'm writing this, is because throughout my second week of gameplay, I started wondering something. That's after 40 odd hours if you're keeping count, by the way.
I wondered how huge gaming companies would market games such as these to a big audience. Granted, there's a nice following of fans for any game that has references to Baldur's Gate. But I'm guessing this game has a huge budget and even if it's brought out on all platforms, it has to sell to a large amount of people to return that investment. Sure, there will be revenues also to be had in related merchandise. But that can't topple it, can it?
The reason why I wondered this, is because I can't perceive Dragon Age being played by a large amount of people. I mean, even if you play professionally, like I did, for 8 hours a day, it will take you about 2 weeks to complete one playthrough. the other playthroughs might be a little faster, but will still take in a sizable amount of time. Most people don't have that much time to spend everyday on video games. Kids have to go to school, do homework and possibly have some other hobby. Adults should have a considerable larger amount of responsibilities, such as work, college, groceries, housekeeping and other hobbies. Pensioners might have a butt-load of time, but do you see them picking up Dragon Age and going all epic on you? I'd have to see it to believe it.
And if you don't play for at least 4 hours a day, it would just take way too much time to ever have a chance at completing it. That might be fine to try that once, but I don't think you'll enjoy failing at games for long. In all, you won't be picking up an RPG you can't make time for.
So how would a casual gamer be convinced to pick up Dragon Age or any other adventure game? It's fine if you're a hardcore gamer. You know you don't have a date on Saturday and you'll be in your dungeon hacking away at the Darkspawn, possibly taking a break to pwn n00bs on some online game. But someone with friends, hobbies and essentially a life can't really afford to stow themselves away with their console to play out some fantasy with magical creatures. If nothing more than the lack of time, you'd quickly get stigmatized as some sort of nerd. Or a brand I usually get: a no-lifer.
That's right; enjoying video games means you lack the skills to go out and live your own life. Funny how that applies to only certain games and it doesn't apply to other things like films and books. Even more odd to me, as I think books and films can only direct you to one scripted ending in one track. Whereas in games, you'll have to work your way towards it and in cases like Dragon Age: Origins you'll have multiple outcomes based on your decisions during your experiences. That means that every action will affect the outcome and have different consequences based on those prior actions. Kind of like real life?
Surely, sir, you must jest? No, I do not jest! Get your head out of the prejudice box that generations before you have placed gamers in! Think for yourself! Is that so hard? Video games have advanced exponentially since PONG and we have, at the very least, added a few more lines to the screen...Excuse me for the rant, it needed saying.
I'll grant you the fact that if you're going to play a role-playing game, you're going to have to put some serious effort in it. And yes, that will diminish the time you'll have left for other things, if you are interested in the game enough. But is that so bad to have a heartfelt interest in something? Why is it necessary to berate gaming? I don't see society scolding people who passionately read "The Catcher In The Rye" and I'm quite sure that book takes a while to finish as well. Although, in all fairness, people might have protested it in the fifties, but certainly not to such great lengths. I'll kindly leave the whole "games make people to bad things" argument aside (for now).
But the moment someone picks up an adventure game of any sort that takes place in some fantasy world and takes more than 5 hours to complete, people have the sudden notion you have no life. Because you have no interest in "normal" things. I don't recall being asked if I did have other interests though.
I think that is why racing, sports and other games are so much more popular and RPG/Adventure games are shoved into the nerd corner. They're just a lot more accessible to a large crowd. No real thinking or effort is required to enjoy a good racing game. You can pick it up for 5 hours or 10 minutes, whichever works best for you. Whether you're playing a quick match against Barcelona or trying to win the championship, you can play as long as you want, blow off a little steam and then go on with your natural life. Also, there's no need to read up on a lot of background and story or adapt to anything; you know all there is to know already. You know Henri and all his mates and what they do best; just put on the game and go!
It's that accessibility and recognizability that appeals to the masses. But it's also the factor that makes it acceptable to do as a pass time. You can do it, because everyone does it, that's normal. Nothing cooler than tuning cars or beating the living crap out of someone in a quick bout of Tekken.
Although I largely disagree with that statement myself, I don't think role-playing games as we know them now will change that opinion. Even if you raise the recognition towards it and make everyone participate in a more modern form of RPG, you'll still need some sort of knowledge of the background before playing. More traditional stories, like in a faraway, Middle Ages setting however, will need more work to be able to include everyone. Because, even with all other factors taken care of, you'll still need to put in the hours and putting hours on games equal nerd, we've established that by now.
I, however, enjoy the frequent time I spend whisked away in Ferelden fighting for either good or bad, but mostly good. That's just the kind of person I am. I can always come back another time and do a thoroughly evil playthrough a second time around, for giggles. Usually though, I'll try to make the right decision or the one I find best at the moment. Surprisingly, in Dragon Age: Origins, that might not always be the best way to go. A nice twist I might add, it makes you think outside the box a little. Good choices aren't necessarily good and vice versa. It made me think of a mission in Grand Theft Auto where they'd lead you to doing something the mission did not call for and still have a positive outcome. That made me think people should implement that a lot more in games and have people do things their own way.
It's yet another argument I have for keeping me locked in the game for a long time, because it feels lifelike and it's an epic adventure. What more could I ask for?
Who wouldn't want to live out an adventure like that?
And maybe that's how companies would appeal to a large audience. Focusing on how awesome your adventure will be and how it's so real, you'll think yourself there. Without mentioning the time needed to the larger audience, you'll have more people wanting to experience the trip. At least, that's how I think they could market it, because that's what it's all about: the experience. Only, that brings back one of the original problems, that is the time needed. Like mentioned, you might trick people once or twice, but if they don't put in the time, they'll stop coming back at some point. Also, you'll again revert to the stigma of a dungeon dweller, playing hours on end instead of boozing it up with mates. Or trying to pick up chicks, whilst trying not to vomit in their cleavage you're immersed in. You know, the simple things in life.
Perhaps it might fancy a few by mentioning it's worth your time investment to see it through. Seeing your efforts come to fruition and all that. Or by appealing to it's customized ending or perhaps enticing people to save the world, doing the right thing. Marvelous graphics, lots of flash; all seem plausible solutions, but can't really deadlock me into believing a casual gamer might want to pick it up. If someone has the answer to this question, I'd sure like to look into it.
Until I've figured that out, I've come up with a possible solution to make role-playing games accessible and acceptable by the masses:
Instead of making elaborate epic adventures, which are really compelling and use all their space in storytelling and durability, you make them short and fast. Doesn't sound like much on the first sentence, does it? Hear me out.
Normally you have one set world, with many regions, creatures, etc. Instead of doing that, you save all the disc space on creating a completely random world each time. And in addition you try and randomize as much you can concerning equipment etc. Let's say you make 3 tiers that way, so more traditional players can still pick up on it. But you don't want to stretch it out too much, you want as much room for creating a unique and thrilling experience each and every time. A problem with some games is that they want to be too much of all possible options and end up being poor in all areas.
Let's say 1 playthrough could be done in less than 10 hours and is filled with action constantly. Of course you'd need to keep some short cut scenes for each playthrough and preferably as many endings as you possibly can. Even if they differ in only one area or so each time. That way you're certain you have a large array of endings to keep the player coming back. If you don't focus on having realistic graphics, you could do a lot this way.
One more problem you'd have to take care of is the traditional level system. In a game that takes less than 10 hours, it'd be ridiculous to have your character level 30 times or so. So I propose having a simple upgrade system you can use. Perhaps even so simple you can activate it while playing and don't need to go to a character screen, but not necessarily. It would however keep you in the action screen.
The action on itself will more than probably work best in hack and slash method, but I don't see why you can't implicate as much skills and spells in there, if they're all custom to a wide array of characters anyway. Don't forget, each playthrough is completely different in area and story, so taking a different character each time won't become boring. It will feel like a completely different game each time.
In short I'd make it an experience that resembles a few existing games. You'd take the random levels such as in Diablo or in much lesser extent the Disgaia series, if you're familiar with them. You'd take the unique experience of such as Gran Turismo for your character, customizing it a different way every time with loads of possible characters to choose from. A battle system that resembles that of Final fantasy 12 and action packed like a mass zombie game. Cell shaded or more cartoon-styled graphics to keep the framerate up and the disc space low. It might not work in a medieval setting, but I think games like Odin Sphere and such look amazing, even in 2D and they probably take a lot less room to create.Customized cut scenes and endings as many as you can muster; at least 300 cut scenes, each about 10 seconds or so and at the very least 30 endings. Depending on the length possibly a lot more. You don't need an ending of 5 minutes and a credit reel of 30 minutes. That can all be done quickly, if you want.
Voice acting? Why not; Dragon Age: Origins seems to have a massive amount of voice overs and still has room for a giant world. Just think of what that could mean for my idea! I think the voice acting will be much more efficient to keep the action flowing, instead of having to read a boring text box.
If anyone has heard of such similar games in existence, feel free to pass me a line, though I doubt it would be done in the extent I'm envisioning it, as I have such a large view on this game. It felt a bit lengthy to jot it all down though. I think these types of games would open the door for the casual gamer to gradually get cracking on an epic adventure and join us in our nerd world. It would be awesome to puke in a woman's cleavage at a bar, while you were discussing how you tried to free Morrowind from it's evil burden.
Until then, this boy with a leg tattoo of Dungeons and Dragons will bid you good day.
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