[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by RLacey

If the puzzles had to tailor themselves to the character, then I suspect it would encourage designers to have more of the riddles and code-breaking style puzzles of games such as Knights of the Old Republic - which have their place, but would make for a pretty boring game if they were the entire substance.

Not exactly what I meant. The puzzles would be extremely varied, that is, there would very many different kinds, and not just typical adventure game puzzles. If the player had the policeman try to solve a cypher puzzle inloving a security code and numbers, he naturally couldn't do it. But the computer geek could access it and the puzzle would open up to be solved, the challenge is still there. Also, not all puzzles would be inventory based or stereotypically adventure-ish. There could also be mysteries to solve based on hidden clues found in people (dialogues), places, and things.

For those wanting to retain statistics, you also have the issue of quite how many statistic types you could actually have if you removed combat from the game - whilst you could split up the intelligence, wisdom and charisma statistics found in RPGs, I'm curious as to how, specifically, people feel that this could be done.

I'm curious myself. Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines will reward you based on your mission accomplishments, not your combat skills. I plan on getting it when it comes out.

As for 'levels and levels of side stories', this may simply confuse gamers rather than help them, as they would then be unsure of what puzzles they actually need to be solving to progress.

Well, I'm playing KoTOR right and it is not confusing me. In fact, I'm treating those side stories precisely as if they were mini adventures. Why don't you have Bioware make an adventure game just like KoTOR?

However, my biggest gripe would be with the inventory system.... People don't like having to go back and pick up items, aside from the design problems that can be caused if the player is able to drop objects. As for trading objects for other objects, this is already done in the context of some game puzzles, and if taken further, surely it would end up being a relatively pointless exercise. What would you trade them for, if there was no combat, and therefore no need to expendable items?

Well, I don't mind travelling back and forth, and I'm sure some others feel similar. In fact, sometimes when I do I discover something new that I missed the first time. That's the thing, allow the game to be subtle enough so that you have these options, that you could have a reason to go back and look harder, have the game reward you for that. Besides, you could do it like Fable and have the option of warping back instantly to key places you've already been to.

As for trading and selling, that would depend on what kind of gameplay and story setup you have. With my example of the characters trapped in a sinking ship, a trader or store would be silly, of course. Instead, the game allows a limited inventory system, it would be up to the player to scout the environment, map (ship's blueprint), and potential explorable areas to gauge what items s/he could do without.

I'm not sure that combining the RPG and adventure genres in the way that you have suggested would work. Not only are there many people who play RPGs specifically for the combat, who might be disappointed by a game that didn't have any, but there might also be adventure gamers who dislike the freeform nature. Despite what people have suggested in the past, I remain unconvinced that the RPG and adventure genres are any more closely related than, say, the FPS and the adventure game, or the strategy and adventure game...

I disagree. I think that there are people out there who would enjoy this fresh take on the genres. I for one happen to love the story heavy adventure, but the [Action/]RPG gives me the free form flexibility of exploration I crave that typical adventures can never offer. So a hybrid seems natural enough for me. I mean, hey, Deus Ex did it by combining all 3 (adventure + FPS + RPG), so did Beyond Good & Evil. And of course, the classics like Quest For Glory as TigerShard mentioned. In fact, I feel like I'm playing KoTOR very much like an adventure game, I want to find out my teammates' personal histories, and I even feel I'm being the 'Mom' or therapist to them by listening to them.

The thing is, once you combine the two, STOP THINKING OF IT in typical conservative adventure game mindset. It's practically a new subgenre of adventure.