what CRPG are you playing?

[WaveMan]

I gave up playing paper RPG's around a decade a go, about the time I started playing CRPG's, Baulders Gate (one of my all time favorite games), Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Night's, Plansescape Torment, then I found Dragonage and was captivated and now I am into Pillars of Eternity. I even went as far as getting the Enhanced versions of BG and IWD.
I have to say I prefer playing CRPG's rather then RPG's as the computer versions are more immersive and the play style more to my liking. I also like the fact that the rule set is fixed and not open to interpretation by either the players or GM.

I am right into Pillars at the moment, with the recent expansions (March of Winter part 1), I am finding it a real challenge (especially sense I am doing my first Path of the Damned run through's).

So what CRPG's are you playing and what are your thoughts on them?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Does Endless Sky count?

[WaveMan]

not really mate.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

The end of Fable 3 was kind of bogus.

[WaveMan]

so is anyone playing Pillars of Eternity on the forum? I would love to discuss it with other players.

[Owen E Oulton]

That's a computer game, not a role-playing game. I hate it when jumped-up video games claim to be "role-playing games". They're not. "Role-player" is even an insult in many computer gaming circles. Online computer games are just a cash-grab, and calling themselves RPGs is false advertising and band-wagon jumping. D&D was very lucrative in the 1970's and text-based computer games used the term misleadingly to get a cut of the money then available. Graphics-intensive arcade games and then their computer counterparts jumped on and have corrupted the term.

[WaveMan]

By your definition and in your opinion, by mine it is a CRPG (computer rpg), many were based on D & D rule set with the engine just taking on the role of the GM and the screen replaced the map/miniatures, besides how is it different if a group gets together and playing a multi-player session, each on a laptop, and each say, playing Baulders Gate to a group getting together playing a session of paper D & D in the Forget Realms (BTW where Baulders Gate is also set)?

Plus if you look at the wiki definition, CRPG's are just another version of of the traditional RPG.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

If you don't like the subject why bother posting in the thread?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

The last CRPG I liked was Dear Esther.

[Cpt. Lundgren]

I'm currently replaying Knights of the Old Republic I and II. I haven't tried Pillars of Eternity, but a workmate talked quite warmly about it, so I might give it a shot when it becomes cheap enough.

The last one I played through was Jade Empire, and I still haven't finished Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (got stuck at the end battle). Then a few others in various states of play-through, some I haven't touched for over a year.

That's a computer game, not a role-playing game. I hate it when jumped-up video games claim to be "role-playing games". They're not. "Role-player" is even an insult in many computer gaming circles. Online computer games are just a cash-grab, and calling themselves RPGs is false advertising and band-wagon jumping. D&D was very lucrative in the 1970's and text-based computer games used the term misleadingly to get a cut of the money then available. Graphics-intensive arcade games and then their computer counterparts jumped on and have corrupted the term.

I agree that CRPG's and TTRPG's are two quite different beasts, just as live action roleplaying is quite different from the tabletop version. But there is also quite a bit of overlap between them.

Then, it is a bit sad that most people tend to think about computer games, kinky fun in bed, running around in a forest with pointy ears, or even rocket propelled grenades, when hearing role-playing or RPG. Tabletop/pen-and-paper tend to not even enter their mind.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

I really liked Jade Empire; the environments and monsters were cool, I liked the simplicity of the interface and the reduction of fiddly equipment crap to deal with. For some damn reason BioWare completely abandoned that angle when they did the Mass Effect series, which seems to primarily consist of noodling over too many gun choices in the middle of combat taking place in identical loading docks.

[WaveMan]

I haven't tried Pillars of Eternity, but a workmate talked quite warmly about it, so I might give it a shot when it becomes cheap enough.

Pillars is quite good, and takes me back to the days of Baulders Gate type CRPG's. Once you get a hang of the engine (and now the developers have integrated a working AI) it's very playable. Expansion packs are coming out by the end of February which I am looking forward to.

[WaveMan]

the other game I have spent around 1000 hours playing Dragon Age Inquisition (and have probably spent equal time on Origins and DAII)

[C5]

My favourite CRPG (or whatever you want to call that kind of game) of all time remains Fallout 2. I'm still stuck somewhere in Fallout: New Vegas, but playing it made me start and complete another Fallout 2 game last year. Despite being almost 20 years old, it still manages to captivate me (I don't know how much nostalgia factors into this).

I played only once Planescape Torment, but I'm keeping an excellent memory of it. I still consider sometimes trying to make it work on Windows 7 and play another game.

I never managed to complete Vampire the Masquerade: Blood Lines, which is a pity because I found it was very faithful to the World of Darkness universe (the tabletop version of which I have often played and is still among my favourite). Plus, it contained at least one reference to the Beatles.

I have played and thoroughly enjoyed The Witcher 1 & 2 (the reason I have not played the 3rd instalment yet is that I fear my computer is not powerful enough for it). It was a nice change to find a game where the "good" and "bad" choices were not evident, and sometimes neither of the choices were either. Also, it has gorgeous graphics (oh, and some sex as well, but that's not my selling point).

All in all, RPGs are probably my favourite types of computer games, at least when they give a decent amount of control to the player over his behaviour and interactions (i.e. interacting with NPCs is not a matter of clicking on questions to ask and on a button to impact their reactions - like in Morrowind for instance, although the immersion was excellent in that one). I would not compare them to actual RPGs, because the range of possibilities in a tabletop RPG is simply not the same - a RPG with a good GM is always a delight, as you know you can take any tangent you want to the main story and the game will continue. Also, I've yet to find a good Star Trek or Doctor Who CRPG (there is probably a way to roleplay in Star Trek Online, but I never found it).

[WaveMan]

Also, I've yet to find a good Star Trek or Doctor Who CRPG (there is probably a way to roleplay in Star Trek Online, but I never found it).

This is one of the disappointments for me, I would love a CRPG based on Trek (based on away team exploration, not just another ship battle simulator)

I would not compare them to actual RPGs, because the range of possibilities in a tabletop RPG is simply not the same - a RPG with a good GM is always a delight, as you know you can take any tangent you want to the main story and the game will continue.

while I agree mate, there is many similarities between TTRPG's and CRPG's, as Cpt Lundgren said there is much overlap. I would also point out that the GM can gently (or not so gently) guide their players to the way the session needs to go, you can get wild cards but overall is not the plot of a TTRPG module laid out and defined before the game starts? Players are given many choices but often the plot requires specific player decisions to get to the final scenes of the game.

[Owen E Oulton]

The problem with calling computer games "RPGs" is the issue of role-playing. I maintain that a computer cannot run a role-playing game, as AI is if possible, many years off. Without a trus intelligence running the game, at least one that can pass a true Turing test, it cannot respond to people actually playing their role. People make illogical and often non-sequitur decisions. There are subtle nuances that a computer is not equipped to deal with. The use of the term Computer RPG is a simple and dishonest marketing ploy. GMimg a game is an art, not reduceable to an algorithm. You can call them what you want, but that does not make them what they are not.