Salvaging Games – D3, POE, TL & Other Buddies

(originally posted on US D3 forums: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7810090952?page=1#0)

I saw a thread today (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7789208894) that gave me some brainstorm reactions, now i`m writing ideas down.

I´m not trying to fix or change any actual games` mechanics, this is not a QQ or flaming thread. The intention here is to look deeply into some game`s cores, find it`s materials and
mix them in a attempt to understand what could make an ARPG be the ultimate one among all the others!

These are my first thoughs, and I hope you can share / flame / troll / argue / congrat about the topic!

Graphics & Ambience: Immersion heavyly relies on visuals to work well, and every game has it`s main porpouse. Graphics also relies on personal preferences, and designer`s artistic interpretation, so every game has It`s charm!

- D3: Smooth movement, colorfull effects, lots of particles and very detailed models;
- POE: Old-school style remade with modern engine, brings back good memories for older players and offers a great approach to the classic titles, like D1 and D2;
- Akaneiro / Borderlands: One cool modern approach to graphics is an technique called Cel-Shading, that can also be seen in the most recent Street Fighter game. At first glace, it may seem as another cartoony visual, but after giving it a real look, you start to feel something different. It brings some twisting to game`s mood;
Torchlight 1 & 2 / Bastion: Cartoony / hand-draw graphics are great to make the game feel casual, even if it may not so easy to beat. This can be used to bring some audience that, otherwise, would not feel attracted to the game;
(One of the most debated topics on D3 is how it`s "cartoony" (but yet modern) graphics feels wrong into the game`s context, making them comparing it to others titles, like D2 and POE. However, this same "cartoony" visuals does not seem to upset Torchlight or Bastion players.)

Music: Another important thing to define general mood in a game and bring immersion. D2, Warcraft 3, unreal Tournament and Bastion, are my favorites in terms of music, theses titles did make tunes that really catch, you could even play them to a non-gamer and it would say "woah, what band / compositor is this?"

Game Mechanics: Now, to business! RPGs/ARPGs nowadays, as in any other genre, has it`s own model and there are lots of games out there built on these principles. Let`s say the basics: leveling, stats, gear, character progression, skills, warrior-mage-archer roles, etc. Also, RPGs aim to give feeling of progression and power, and the player must always continue to play in order to achieve the next level or upgrade available.
There are lots of systems out there, some of them tries to innovate these old features, some of them implements the same old style, but in a well presented way, that it even feels fresh and new.
- Crafting: very common concept, it`s basically a system that focuses on upgrading and customizing character`s gear. D3 implements a salvaging concept, where the player can break itens down into it`s core materials, in order to craft new ones. Also, POE uses a similar though, because gear is traded by small components that can be used to improve other itens. I would like to see a mix of these two systems, where gold is removed and changed by Material Currency. There would be a blacksmith to either upgrade or improve gear, based on these materials found.
- Skills: D3 on development stages and POE (and now, TL2 but not as much), both bring some interesting concept: Skills that are used to fight and skills that actually change other skills or game`s mechanics. That´s a good way to make a character feel unique, and adapt to different situations. I would like to see POE`s passive tree, with even more rule-breaking skills, that can drastically change experience. Also, the unique design for each active skill variation on D3 makes it stand out of the obvious design tricks, such as change effect colors.
- Leveling: Experience Points System is an iconic RPG feature, it`s common to hear someone saying "this game also have some RPG elements, such as level and exeperience points". But pure linear level progression can result in boring gameplay after too much time. Feeling stuck ate some point can be a reason to a player drop a game and never come back. Torchlight`Fame is a parelell leveling system, in which a skill point is granted after each Fame Level. Skill leveling in POE and lots of other games is another way of paralell leveling. Torchlight 2 does the same, but instead of skills, it allows to level some itens. Paragon Levels intention is great, to gradually change grom farming gear to power gear. One thing, this could be set aside normal leveling, instead of sequentially progressing through both systems.

I would like to see a mix of all these systems. Even if the players are stuck for 12 hours at the same level, they will always have something to expect, constant upgrade, but from different sides.

Story Telling: At old-school style RPGs, you just talk to NPCs, wait them to finish their story, get the quest, then go out to acomplish game goals. Two games makes a different approach in this matter: history is told while in middle of the action. D3 actually mixes the old style - stand in front of NPCs, "stay a while and listen" - with a more dynamic one - you can hear pleople talking when the character gets closer. Also some lore is explained in jornals found through the game. It`s audio-recorded, so there is no need to stop fighting and looting in order to learn more about backgound history. Bastion also gives it`s contribution to dynamic story-telling, the game has a narrator, and main character`s feelings and thoughts are told by this narrator.

Freedom: Some games give the player all freedom possible (e.g: GTA). Some other games have a strict linear world, everything happens inside the script. However, freedom, choices, open-world, nowadays these are almost obligatory features in a game and always presented as a differential. Some are illusory, some are real, and depends of the game`s proposal. Will it be a story or a simulator? I find the old Fallout 2 to be a good example of open-world / choice freedom /alternative ending and still have a decent storyline sequence.

Well, for now, this is a start, covering just some basic subjects from many in game development. I hope you help to increase this list so we can discuss even more detailed matters!

o/