On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 05:39:50 GMT, Abraham Evangelista
<daken@verizon.net> wrote:

>On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 13:51:51 -0500, Rob Browning
><pluvius3@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 03:06:12 GMT, Abraham Evangelista
>><daken@verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:08:26 -0500, Rob Browning
>>><pluvius3@hotmail.com> wrote:

>>>>Because of this, portable
>>>>games are supposed to be quick to play and enjoy during the time you
>>>>spend on the subway or a ten-minute coffee break.  
>>>
>>>To a lesser extent I agree with you.  Some games are a little bit time
>>>consuming, which might hurt their viability on a portable platform. 
>>>
>>>But that's nothing that a save file can't fix.   
>>
>>It is if you don't allow the player to save where ever he wants, which
>>is the case with console RPGs.  
>
>Is the case with POORLY PROGRAMMED console RPGs which won't fare any

Just about every console RPG is like that.  I agree that a number (but
by no means all) of the portable RPGs have memo saves, but that
changes the style of the game and thus goes to prove my point.

>If you're going to put a game on a portable, make the concessions
>necessary to make it work on that format!  Thankfully, most RPGs are
>pretty good about that.  Classic arcade, and platformers sadly, fare
>less well.  But games designed with intent for a portable format
>rarely make that mistake.

And, of course, the problem is that Dragon Quest was never designed
with intent for a portable format.  Doing so now changes the tone of
the series.

>>And besides that, save files still
>>don't fix the problem of not feeling like you've accomplished anything
>>after your ten minutes of play.  Not many console RPGs can give you
>>that sense of accomplishment in that short amount of time.
>
>That's more a question of pacing, and obsessive behavior.  If you're
>the type that likes to grind levels, I suppose longer sessions work
>well.  Personally I hate to grind, so a battle or two here and there

I don't like grind either, but most console RPGs require it to a fair
extent.  Certainly DQ does.  Even having to deal with the boring
random battles between Point A and Point B counts as grind.  It pads
the game out, thus requiring players to spend more time in order to do
anything meaningful.

>Of course in contrast, if a player is the type looking for quick
>gratification, RPGS are probably not the best choice in genre anyway,
>right?

They're not the best choice in genre for a system which is designed
for quick gratification.  Exactly my point.

Rob
ploovTeHSPaeMBLoKuR@charter.net

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