Chrono Trigger - 18 Years Later

[Jmustang1968]

We shall come up with a new name for the CRPG. Then no one will confuse them with role-playing games again. I had been using that term because it was accepted, but it's clearly more trouble than it's worth.

Its quite easy to continue to use rpg. It is understood what it means in context when referring to video games. While labeling and organizing genres are helpful, inevitably the lines get blurred.

[Violent By Design]

We shall come up with a new name for the CRPG. Then no one will confuse them with role-playing games again. I had been using that term because it was accepted, but it's clearly more trouble than it's worth.

Its quite easy to continue to use rpg. It is understood what it means in context when referring to video games. While labeling and organizing genres are helpful, inevitably the lines get blurred.

Indeed, the point of genres is just to identify of stuff that has similar characteristics. It doesn't really matter what an RPG is in a non video game context.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Sure, but I don't want to have to try and parse passages like this again:

shouldn't we then be defining what makes a video game an RPG versus an "RPG"? And at what point to video game "RPGs" actually begin to become RPGs as opposed to just strategy games

"role-playing game" refers, essential, to a rule-facilitated storytelling style. The CRPG as we know it doesn't need anything to do with a story, and thus is defined apart from it. The name we use now couldn't be more wrong.

I think I've demonstrated pretty well that prominent stories, while common, are not an essential element of the CRPG.

@Ack there's your answer.

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I suggest "3LGG - 3 layer growth game" - as the new acronym.

[Ack]

Sure, but I don't want to have to try and parse passages like this again:

shouldn't we then be defining what makes a video game an RPG versus an "RPG"? And at what point to video game "RPGs" actually begin to become RPGs as opposed to just strategy games

"role-playing game" refers, essential, to a rule-facilitated storytelling style. The CRPG as we know it doesn't need anything to do with a story, and thus is defined apart from it. The name we use now couldn't be more wrong.

I think I've demonstrated pretty well that prominent stories, while common, are not an essential element of the CRPG.

@Ack there's your answer.

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I suggest "3LGG - 3 layer growth game" - as the new acronym.

Actually, I think you're missing the separation between my two paragraphs. I was discussing what set Chrono Trigger apart from other types of strategy games, as opposed to RPGs, like Ultima Online or MUD.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Earlier, you seemed to be talking about the characterization of units under the player's control.

But yeah, let's talk about that.

[Sload Soap]

3LLG just doesn't have the same ring as RPG though. Sounds like a phone company.

[dsheinem]

http://kotaku.com/what-happens-when-you ... 1522545991

http://bossfightbooks.com/products/chro ... p-williams

[GamerMON]

Um....
Was chrono trigger taken off the google play store? It was obvious that square enix was done supporting it. But damn.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Sorry I haven't added anything to this thread for a while; I've been mostly busy and my free time has been monopolized by Julius Caesar and Danganronpa. It's not like I've abandoned my theory or anything.

I just had to comment on this book because there's no way anyone can write two hundred valuable pages about Chrono Triger's plot or its worlds' societies. Sure, a lot of people liked those, but CT was never a Silmarillion or even Star Trek. It was fast and loose with anything that didn't matter to the main characters' actions, as it well should've been. Law and religion were barely mentioned in passing. How can Williams write a treatise on them?

The rest of this book will be about the difficulties of telling a time travel story, random nonsense about "genre conventions," and translator interviews, which might have been interesting if there was anything to CT's dialog in the first place (it's all about the sprites and music). You're much better off reading the blog of an anime fansubber, H-game translator, or light novel localizer.

But maybe, if the author was a genius-

From the Magus dilemma to the courtroom scene, find out why many consider this game the high point in the entire role-playing genre in this in-depth examination of Chrono Trigger, a ton of fun and a true work of art.

lol try making sense of that sentence.

Also, why pre-orders for an ebook? It's one thing to order a paper book once it's written but before it's printed. Shouldn't the digital edition be available then? Who is preordering a book that isn't written yet?
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I can do better. Why don't I just write a book on CRPGs? I have some novels to finish, but that would be easy to bang out. CRPGs are by far the easiest type of game to analyze; if you can't handle that you shouldn't be writing about games.

[GamerMON]

Gonna guess you arent gonna get the $20 print edition.