Oblivious

The talk of the town (town in this case being quite large since it covers the whole internet) in the game media world right now is the hugely successfull computer roleplaying game Oblivion. Although I haven't looked into it for verification, I have heard that it sold over one and a half million copies just the first week. How's that for a success story?

As someone, I forgot who, pointed out to me: "Hey, compare that to normal record sales for a large artist, or the sales for a new movie. In all that amount of sold cd's or tickets is considered an extremely huge success. Now, compare the pricetags.". This rant isn't going to be about prices on games, but think about it for a while.

What I really wanted to rant about is a completely different subject, related to rpgs and how they are developed for computers and consoles.

See, the game has gotten a lot of feedback. And I mean a lot. And it all differs, there's tons of good criticism, as well as a load of negative. Both constructive and destructive opinions are being aired. And, heck, everyones entitled to their own opinion. But what really gets to me is when some people start to talk about things they don't understand. Criticising game mechanics without understanding the game balance, and the reason and purpose of the mechanics. Or, like in this very case, not understanding the game at all.

In dozen upon dozen of threads on forums I've read complaints about Oblivion not being a rolepaying game at all. Yes, you read right. The mind boggles, doesn't it? Sure they have a point if they compared to real roleplaying, as with the theatrical roleplaying or the popular pen and paper roleplaying games. A computer game can never truly simulate that kind of experience and "gameplay", at least not with todays limited technology standards.

But that's not what they are saying, no. The claims are that Oblivion is not a real rpg, because it's not linear. Because it doesn't give you the direct answers and feed you with a silver spoon. The same people, and they line up by the thousands, of course claim that they're better of playing hack'n'slash games like Gothic, Final Fantasy, Diablo or Dungeon Siege, because all that's left in Oblivion is monsterbashing, and compared to those games Oblivion "sucks" since it has crappy rewards and a slow unsatisfactory fighting system.

Take a long deep breath.

I cannot help but wonder if these people have played the same game I have, because their line of reasoning is alien to me. Oblivion is in my opinion the most successful adaptation of a rpg on the digital media to date. The game allows free exploration, and it puts the narration of the game in your hand, the choices are yours and yours alone. And it's all about what you think your character would do or react to in any given situation. The game questions your morality in many cases, and it keeps you on the edge all the time. That is, if you roleplay the game. Which of course should be what an rpg is all about. But no, the game doesn't take you by the hand and play your character for you, as with most generic, so called, "rpgs".

So where are these people coming from? Why do they think Oblivion isn't an rpg? MY guess after reading all these discussions are summarised in two words: Character development. See, the idea is that when you roleplay a game, your character develops with the challenges. For many gamers, as opposed to roleplayers, this is all about levels, attributes and items. I'd like to call it the "Dungeons & Dragons"-disease. These people aren't interested in actually roleplaying, and therefore they don't grasp the idea. They just want to play their games, not roleplay them. Get better stats, better items and more gold, like as if that was a purpose in itself. But Oblivion doesn't do that, it almost prevents that kind of mindset if you are to enjoy it. Oblivion isn't a game that you "beat", it's a game that you experience, and that experience will always differ from character to character, game session to game session.

There's been a bad trend in crpgs lately. They have become more and more hack'n'slash focused, more and more about monsterbashing, item farming and stat-raising. The epidemic mmorpg trend doesn't help that either, since those are the very premises that kind of games are based on. My hope is that Oblivion will be the renaissance for the genre. Like Baldurs Gate was almost ten years ago now. Because it's about time the trend of shallow gaming is turned.