Interesting reading guys. I''m an occasional poster over on the Elderscrolls forums and am posting in response to a post there by Nazrix. I hope it''s alright for a nondeveloper to join the discussion?

The non-random ''seemingly'' random event that shapes the destiny, and complications, of a player character in a CRPG is an interesting idea but I wonder if it isn''t just another way of obscuring a toggle in a linear plot.

One thing that I''m waiting for, as a player, is for roleplaying games to catch a clue from simulations games. If you look at some of the mosting interesting sims you''ll find them set in dynamic worlds where wars are raging regardless of what the player-pilot does. In some cases one is allowed to direct the course of the war but in many the player is just one pilot in a squadron dealing the best he can with genuinely unpredictable events in a consistant if dynamic setting.

An interesting thing happens here. The more imaginative players being creating their own stories from the events and encounters in the game. You''ll find millions of ''you are there'' logs of missions/adventures written in-character and often with more skill than short-stories turned out by what we might think of as traditional roleplayers.

Admittedly in most ways the boundaries of what''s being simulated are alot narrower in a flight sim, bound to cockpit or briefing room from the player''s point of view, than what one might expect in a roleplaying game. On the other hand, compared to the ''combat'' simulated in roleplaying games what''s presented in a flight sim is infinitely more complex (dealing with physics, weather patterns, issues of logistics and strategy, AI tactics in three dimensions and realistic airframes/weaponry, etc...).

What I''d like to see are roleplaying games where the slate is entirely blank plotwise and one plays the simulation of a role that''s player created but also suitable to the setting. A real roleplayer can always make his own story if the setting and NPCs respond properly to his behavior. Pretty soon the feedback between cause and effect will shape a character''s destiny, conflicts, and storyline as the engine adapts to that character. This is similiar to the idea that Daggerfall tried to shoot for but by modelling economics and emotions one can take it a step further. Imagine a database of the 22 plots (and there are only 22 I believe) waiting for NPCs with the right persona and relationship to the character to be integrated into the character''s sphere and then dynamically generate missions around that storyline and those NPCs.

I''d rather the engine to be paying attention to my character and how I play him rather than forcing me to pay attention to it''s details. I''ve refered to that as the tyrrany of the plot before and, while overblown, it''s rather how I feel. A truly modern RPG tends to devote pages to character concept and how that effects the freedom to play a role as well as how storytellers should base their stories around the natural interests and inclinations of the player created characters. Anything else seems artificial and a bit forced. The same I hope would be true of the CRPGs of the future.

Yes, I ramble but I don''t post often.