It's been a few years since FFXI released. Is the game now a "true" rpg to you.......

[Winklewil]

I can only laugh at a conversation in which people argue whether or not Final Fantasy XI is a "true" RPG, because the standard of "real RPG" that they're holding in their heads of what makes an RPG "real" seems to be a long line of "random encounter" video games that they've played on consoles.

A "true" RPG involves pencil, paper, dice, a Game/Dungeon master, and an imaginative group of players. The players would literally step into the role of their characters (Hence, "Role-playing game"), going so far as to act out scenes, and speaking their character's own lines. A "true" RPG, in the oldest sense of the term, is Dungeons & Dragons. It's Vampires: The Masquerade.


When the very first Dragon Quest came out on the NES, and when we were all playing Final Fantasy IV with glee on the SNES, they were the ones that were telling the console-players that what they had were not "true" RPGs. In an MMO, you create a character, step into his/her shoes, and literally "live" the world while you play. Truth be told, that's, much, MUCH closer to the kind of game that created the "RPG" acronym than the "half-movie, half-battle system" type of cutscene video games that most of you are thinking of.

Anyone who goes the extra step and literally "pretends" to be their character is playing a "true" RPG. That's a lot easier to do with an MMORPG than it is with Chrono Trigger.

I'm not bashing the console games, mind, but I find the very question itself ironic, when it's clear that most of us seem to be considering the NES as the de facto "Father" of the genre.

 

[Lanien]

I can only laugh at a conversation in which people argue whether or not Final Fantasy XI is a "true" RPG, because the standard of "real RPG" that they're holding in their heads of what makes an RPG "real" seems to be a long line of "random encounter" video games that they've played on consoles.

A "true" RPG involves pencil, paper, dice, a Game/Dungeon master, and an imaginative group of players. The players would literally step into the role of their characters (Hence, "Role-playing game"), going so far as to act out scenes, and speaking their character's own lines. A "true" RPG, in the oldest sense of the term, is Dungeons & Dragons. It's Vampires: The Masquerade.


When the very first Dragon Quest came out on the NES, and when we were all playing Final Fantasy IV with glee on the SNES, they were the ones that were telling the console-players that what they had were not "true" RPGs. In an MMO, you create a character, step into his/her shoes, and literally "live" the world while you play. Truth be told, that's, much, MUCH closer to the kind of game that created the "RPG" acronym than the "half-movie, half-battle system" type of cutscene video games that most of you are thinking of.

Anyone who goes the extra step and literally "pretends" to be their character is playing a "true" RPG. That's a lot easier to do with an MMORPG than it is with Chrono Trigger.

I'm not bashing the console games, mind, but I find the very question itself ironic, when it's clear that most of us seem to be considering the NES as the de facto "Father" of the genre.

That has ... nothing to do with this. RPG type video games and RPG for you people locked in basements are two different beasts, so when asking about whether FFXI is an RPG, it has nothing to do with Mountain Dew and Zeppelin.

 

[Mishaela]

I'd say FFXI is a decent RPG game, yes...but MMORPG or not, I wasn't terribly fascinated by it's plot. Zilart and CoP were decent, but ToAU's stories were awfully predictable (the missions in general) as well as -insanely- lame (the quests giving story behind the serpentgenerals). =/

 

[Clocian]

I'd say FFXI is a decent RPG game, yes...but MMORPG or not, I wasn't terribly fascinated by it's plot. Zilart and CoP were decent, but ToAU's stories were awfully predictable (the missions in general) as well as -insanely- lame (the quests giving story behind the serpentgenerals). =/

Lets hope for the best for the new expansion. It looks to be the best of all three :biggrin:

 

[matchuu]

Tips for mission CS... press enter as fast as possible.

 

[Winklewil]

That has ... nothing to do with this. RPG type video games and RPG for you people locked in basements are two different beasts, so when asking about whether FFXI is an RPG, it has nothing to do with Mountain Dew and Zeppelin.

It has everything to do with it, because the original question posed was "Is FFXI a true RPG?" The answer is yes, by the way, whether or not you mean in the sense that video games have adopted the term, and the overall "real" definition that came before everything else.

It's a misuse of the term to apply it only to hack'n'slash video games, but even if you must, FFXI fits every definition. The point I was making was that if you want to really get into the nitty-gritty of what an "RPG" actually is, an MMORPG actually comes much closer to fitting the bill than does the type of game that people are thinking of when they argue the issue.

A more appropriate question for the sort of argument that erupted would have been "is Final Fantasy XI a 'true' Final Fantasy-type game?"

 

[Jorrd]

considering that i'm coming back to it after a year of not playing puts it up with FF6-10 in terms of replayability/amazing fun. so in that sense i do consider it a 'true' Final Fantasy.