Tim Cain, a legendary co-creator of Fallout, recently shared his seasoned perspective on common RPG design flaws. He specifically stated that developers should avoid a few overused and universally annoying tropes. Poorly written non-player characters are his primary grievance. Why do so many NPCs rely on a single, grating personality trait?
Tim Cain’s Guide to RPG Rehabilitation
Caine also doesn’t like it when every other character is purely sarcastic or judgmental, finding it particularly tiresome. To make this even more frustrating, the player’s dialogue options typically provide no way to challenge or rebut this attitude. That’s why the co-creator humorously advocated for a classic, cathartic solution: letting the player simply eliminate the irritating character. With this direct approach, he believes that players can effectively vents the pent-up rage these NPCs inspire.
Next, Cain tackles RPG’s dreaded escort mission. He questions how these quests remain so relevant despite being notorious for their clumsy companions who constantly get stuck. Do developers genuinely believe players find them enjoyable? According to the co-creator, a designer must have either never played an RPG before or is wildly optimistic about their own creation. His proposed antidote to address this issue involves giving players more control. He suggests putting the NPC in a drivable vehicle makes the experience much more tolerable.
The Escort Quest’s Long-Overdue Intervention
Cain then circles back to another NPC sin: the exposition dump. Players are often forced to engage in long, unskippable dialogue with these characters. He wonders why developers don’t rely on better alternatives like audio logs or in-game books, which have existed for decades. Instead, they seem more focused on using this tired method in their RPGs. That said, who actually enjoys being held captive by a lecturing NPC?
While Cain’s advance is sound, whether any escort mission has ever been truly great has been heavily debated in some circles. Perhaps the lone exception is Resident Evil 4, which masterfully integrated its companion into the core gameplay. Fittingly, RE4 should be the benchmark for all other games. When developers create an escort quest, they should first ask if their RPG is as good as that classic. If it’s not, then they should seriously reconsider the entire idea and start again.
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