It's too early for me to talk about the exact nature of what we're doing, so all that comes next is hypothetical & I make no promise it'll be in the final game, but this is what's keeping me busy for the moment:
Imagine that it's the ambition of our next RPG (don't you just hate that name ?) that it'll feature a lot more serious content (still brought with a touch of humor), touching upon topics not touched in RPG's before, forcing you to make choices which you might not necessary like.
The inspiration for this is that you are a hero who gets supernatural powers, and that that role gives you the opportunity to "solve" problems which otherwise can't be solved. The solution for these problems often calls for some kind of judgement where you'll need to figure out what's right and what's wrong, and sometimes choose between two wrongs. Typically, RPGs present this in a way where the path is clear, but imagine that that's not the case.
As an example - take Sophie's choice - copying this from
www.friesian.com"In the novel Sophie's Choice, by William Styron (Vintage Books, 1976 -- the 1982 movie starred Meryl Streep & Kevin Kline), a Polish woman, Sophie Zawistowska, is arrested by the Nazis and sent to the Auschwitz death camp. On arrival, she is "honored" for not being a Jew by being allowed a choice: One of her children will be spared the gas chamber if she chooses which one. In an agony of indecision, as both children are being taken away, she suddenly does choose. They can take her daughter, who is younger and smaller. Sophie hopes that her older and stronger son will be better able to survive, but she loses track of him and never does learn of his fate. Did she do the right thing? Years later, haunted by the guilt of having chosen between her children, Sophie commits suicide. Should she have felt guilty?"
Now imagine that you get to play a RPG where you need to make these kind of choices. The impact of the choice can't be made clear right away, and for sure, in the example Sophie has no way of knowing if she chose right. Nonetheless, I find that just reading the question can occupy me for an entire evening, thinking about it.
In the definition of gameplay Sid Meier once gave, where gameplay is defined as "a series of interesting choices, this would count as "gameplay", but telling you the consequences up front or at the moment you're making the decision would probably ruin half the "fun" (My example is probably a bit too horror like to be a good one)
Still, to me, having a RPG in which I need to deal with these kind of situations would immerse me far more than "We need to find the sacred shoes of queen Hellonia. But keep it a secret from king Arthur" after which the player has the option to go talk to King Arthur or not. Non linearity they call that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
Your thoughts, as always, much appreciated.
Lar
P.S.
Would you want Karma Points or something along those lines as Nemisis hinted ?
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