Knights & Knaves Alehouse

The CRPG Book Project is a collaborative, non-profit effort to create a free, easily available ebook on the history of Computer Role-Playing Games.

Our goal is to gather all the knowledge currently spread across countless websites, books, forums and minds in a single, accessible and visually pleasing tome – for free. We share the Internet Archive’s belief that “access drives preservation”, so we want to demystify gaming history, offering a reliable and attractive resource for people seeking information – or just a fun game to play.

The project began in 2014, after the RPG Codex published its Top 70 PC RPGs list, featuring small fan reviews on each game. The reception was overwhelming, so came the idea of expanding the list into a full-blown book, covering the entire CRPG history.

For this we are reviewing over 400 games from 1975 to 2015, while also providing articles on the genre, mod suggestions and hints on how to run games on modern hardware. All written by fans, AAA developers, indies, journalists, modders and industry personalities such as Chris Avellone, Ian Frazier, Scorpia, Ferhegón, Richard Cobbett, Brian ‘Psychochild’ Green, Durante, George Weidman and Tim Cain, among others.

At least that’s what I used to think. Now it seems to me we’re facing basic literacy issues. These eager players are willing to try something new, but in the case of a game like Ultima IV, the required skill-set and the basic assumptions the game makes are so foreign to them that the game has indeed become
virtually unplayable.

And as much as I hate to say it - even after they learn to craft potions, speak to every villager, and take notes on what they say – it isn’t much fun for them. They want a radar in the corner of the screen. They want mission logs. They want fun combat. They want an in-game tutorial. They want a game that doesn’t feel like so much work.

rogatny wrote:I wonder when that Ultima review was written and whether things have changed among crpg players since Minecraft came out. Or maybe Minecraft is a different enough genre of game that its influence hasn’t crept into crpg fandom.

MageInBlack wrote:at night while lying in bed and my wife plays that stupid fruit tetris game on hers. I don't care what she says its called. I see tetris...with fruit...and explosions.

MageInBlack wrote:I stumbled across this today. I am going to throw it on my iPad and read it at night while lying in bed and my wife plays that stupid fruit tetris game on hers. I don't care what she says its called. I see tetris...with fruit...and explosions.

LINK

The CRPG Book Project is a collaborative, non-profit effort to create a free, easily available ebook on the history of Computer Role-Playing Games.

Our goal is to gather all the knowledge currently spread across countless websites, books, forums and minds in a single, accessible and visually pleasing tome – for free. We share the Internet Archive’s belief that “access drives preservation”, so we want to demystify gaming history, offering a reliable and attractive resource for people seeking information – or just a fun game to play.

The project began in 2014, after the RPG Codex published its Top 70 PC RPGs list, featuring small fan reviews on each game. The reception was overwhelming, so came the idea of expanding the list into a full-blown book, covering the entire CRPG history.

For this we are reviewing over 400 games from 1975 to 2015, while also providing articles on the genre, mod suggestions and hints on how to run games on modern hardware. All written by fans, AAA developers, indies, journalists, modders and industry personalities such as Chris Avellone, Ian Frazier, Scorpia, Ferhegón, Richard Cobbett, Brian ‘Psychochild’ Green, Durante, George Weidman and Tim Cain, among others.

MageInBlack wrote:I am going to throw it on my iPad and read it at night while lying in bed and my wife plays that stupid fruit tetris game on hers. I don't care what she says its called. I see tetris...with fruit...and explosions.