So, now that we have defined the standards an RPG must meet, are there any games that pass muster? Yes, indeedy!
In just the past few years, gamers have witnessed the beginning of a renaissance in true role-playing for the computer. With the advent of online gaming via the internet, multiplayer RPGs have become some of the most successful online entertainment ventures in cyberspace. Ultima Online, Everquest and other online-only persistent worlds provide an opportunity for gamers all over the world to meet each others' characters in rich landscapes for real-time quests, conversation, and original activities and content the likes of which have never been seen before. But the Internet isn't the only hot spot for gamers looking for RPG fun on the computer. Baldur's Gate took 1999 by storm, providing the first AD&D computer experience since SSI's products, and catalyzing a real revival in the computer RPG scene. There are many new releases on the horizon, including Baldur's Gate II and Neverwinter Nights. Baldur's Gate pleased players with excellent character customization -- gamers could insert whatever pictures, sounds and voices they chose into a directory to personalize their avatar. Neverwinter Nights will go even further by allowing players to create their own online adventures and connect them to other original modules.
One of the most exciting upcoming prospects isn't a D&D setting at all. Nihilistic Software and Activision will be bringing White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade to the computer, and it may well revolutionize the RPG genre with its Storyteller tools. Prerelease reports suggest that the game will really be two games in one box: a single-player adventure game featuring a complex story about a vampire named Christof, and a multiplayer Storyteller game, in which players may design their own chronicles and have up to eight people playing in them! Like the pen and paper game, players will be able to choose clan, generation, Disciplines, and other customary options in multiplayer mode.
Unlike the pen and paper game, players may have an especially rich role playing experience because of skins. For the first time, each player will constantly interact with other characters that actually look like the player's concept. In other words, you won't have to imagine what Jennie's Brujah or Todd's Nosferatu looks like -- the skin each has created will accurately reflect the character's appearance. Indeed, your character's countenance is only limited by your artistic talent (or by how chummy you are with someone who's good at making skins) and your imagination. Additionally, the game will include tools that power users can utilize to create chronicles, such as a level editor based on QE Radiant. It will also support Java for those who wish to code new effects, and the very few who have access to the high-end graphics program called Maya can customize their character's appearance even more by creating new models.
In light of the rich history of the computer RPG, and the recent developments that have brought it out of stasis and back into active evolution, it's reasonable to theorize that things will only get better. As more and more households get high-speed access, persistent-world RPGs may become the dominant game standard. Also, as technology continues to improve, it's likely that NPC AI will progress to the point that it becomes more difficult to discern whether your character is interacting with another human or with a computer-generated model. Pen and paper gamers have sometimes suffered from a stereotype that they confuse fantasy with reality. As computers get closer and closer to holodeck-level simulations, it's reasonable to think that everyone playing may eventually have the same problem -- but finding out who's who will definitely be an entertaining problem to have.
For different viewpoints on the RPG genre:
Jeff Vogel's Grumpy Gamer column "Role-playing? Forget about it." 1/3/2000 at Computer Games Online http://www.cdmag.com/Home/
Chris Nahr's article "Re-defining game genres" 1/31/2000 at Desslock's RPG News http://desslock.gamespot.com/
A journalist in a former life, this is Banshee's first article for womengamers.com.
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