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Anonymous10/05/25, 12:15No.3854185Im Making an rpg - What tropes/things do you dislike in rpgs and wish for different?
Sup. im makin an rpg, inspired by jrpgs like earthbound, deltarune/undertale and mario rpg. and if there is one thing i hate its tropes or wiered features n stuff, what are things that you dislike in most rpgs youve played like tropes or features? Your answeres will be very helpfull so i can avoid these
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Anon10/05/25, 12:57No.3854200
i Love rpgs. But i don't know anything about how they be made. Numbers go up. Maybe the go down. why not sideways?
We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams.
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Anon10/05/25, 13:04No.3854207
to the anon above this post - either you think in the 4th dimension or ur high lol, words cannot descibe my fucking confusion confusion
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Anon10/05/25, 22:21No.3854418
>what are things that you dislike in most rpgs
These games
>earthbound, deltarune/undertale and mario rpg
and any games inspired by them.
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Anon10/06/25, 00:58No.3854489
>What tropes/things do you dislike in rpgs and wish for different?
I'd be in the minority here, but I dislike having a massive party. If I had to choose between a lively world of characters and just one I'd rather spend 100 times longer getting to immerse myself in a single character or narrative rather then then playing 100 short unique quests.>I am also making an RPG, here are some questions for vrpg:
-What is your favorite RPG and why do you enjoy it?
-Is there a "most important element" of an RPG?
-What do you think kills most indie RPG's?
-Where is the line in the sand for what gets qualified as an RPG. Battle Mechanics? Narrative? Perspective?I'm in a similar boat with making a game.
I worry that people wont like the style or story.
The idea I have in my head is very stylistically unique and unlike a lot of other games on the market. I've been working on a rendering pipeline and tools for years and feel like it might not grow to the scale I'd like. I wonder if going smaller scale with an arcade title or a puzzle game might be a better first dip into game development...
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Anon10/06/25, 01:05No.3854495
Decide if you want heavy character investment or a large cast. The worst is when an RPG gives you a ton of characters but disincentivizes you from using them.
>earthbound, deltarune/undertale and mario rpg
Don't worry about making something for everyone, because you won't.
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Anon10/06/25, 01:32No.3854513
Same here I'm also a dev working on a turned based rpg. How would you guys improve turned based combat and make it more fun? Timed attacks are really fun, but what else can be added?Advice I'd give as to what kills most indie rpgs, too many indie rpgs try too hard to be quirky like UT/DR and add useless party members for added fluff. Focus on what makes your world special rather than trying to be like those that came before you.
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Anon10/06/25, 01:54No.3854521
Make a shounen-type game. There's almost none that aren't about jerking off the pre-written plot, so playing in your own is (somehow) niche. Aura Clash gave me a hunger for more.
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Anon10/06/25, 04:04No.3854574
Include the option to create a full custom party of generics.
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Anon10/06/25, 08:44No.3854638
>tropes
Hi esl sar. You sure you understand what trope means? Tropes aren't "bad" or "good", they just are.
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Anon10/06/25, 08:57No.3854641
Party size is important to me.
I want four. Not one, not two, not three, not five, not six, FOUR. no more, no less. You can start as one guy and gain your party, swap out a party member every now and then for story reasons, go without someone for a bit, but at the end of the day, your game should be 4 niggas in a row.
Second is buildcrafting/party setup. I want to be able to customize my party meaningfully at almost any point in the game even mid-dungeon, through whatever systems are available. FFIII/FFV job system? sure. A really in depth equipment and weapon system where gear aren't just blocks of stats but tools with upsides and downsides? cool with me. Doesn't matter, just give me the ability to make each playthrough different gameplay and strategy wise.
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Anon10/07/25, 01:30No.3855126
Wicked Silksong fanart bro
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Anon10/07/25, 06:28No.3855258
>Sup. im makin an rpg, inspired by jrpgs like earthbound, deltarune/undertale and mario rpg
*deep sigh*
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Anon10/09/25, 11:27No.3856288
Itt: the biggest greaseballs you know recoil in agony at the thought of someone enjoying Nintendo rpgs.
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Anon10/10/25, 02:49No.3856697
I hate being railroaded. If I'm forced into making "decisions" I don't want to make and have basically no agency over the story, I'm apt to drop the game almost immediately.Another thing I hate is sequencing. Its a horrible mechanic. Just have everybody attack in the same order in turn.
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Anon10/12/25, 06:37No.3857599
doesn't matter. make it how you want. that is artistry.
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Anon10/14/25, 22:37No.3858749
Make it a bullet hell turn based fusion, i dont think it will be derivative of deltarune, it's not a gimmick that you should be afraid of stealing, its just generally a smart design choice that's fit for being iterated on
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Anon10/16/25, 18:52No.3859777
add a non human party member that is actually major to the story and the party instead of just being there and that you can romance
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Anon10/16/25, 22:44No.3859855
Also working on an RPG and it's very much born out of various small frustations I had across different games.>Fake Choices // Missing Choices
It's bad in the story, but far more prominent in gameplay. I'm talking about things beeing balanced so poorly that you feel like an idiot for picking the cool thing, or when the RPG systems have been "refined" to the point removing most of your options. You know the deal: on paper there is a lot of weapons/skills/items, but they're distributed across the level curve so that you will have at most three available at at time.
Right now I'm playing a game where, 8 hours in, there are only two choices of weapon upgrades: one that boosts wind attacks, one that boosts earth attacks. Not only has the wind one higher stats, there are no earth attacks available at this point in the game. So of course everyone gets the wind one and by the time earth attacks become available, that sword is outclassed by higher level ones.>Presumption of Familiarity // Anti-Exploration Design
This is mostly for D&D derived games: systems set up in such a way that you should know all your choices at character creation, where in hour 40 you realize you made a fatal mistake at hour 2. Pick Favoured Weapon Katana, no such weapon in the game. Made a wizard, all story relevant loot is for fighters. That sort of stuff.
I like figuring things out as I go along and react to cool stuff I find, and this kills it.>Item/Trash hoarding
Natural loss aversion makes us overly cautious with consumables ant too often items are just replacement spells. When the game is easy we ignore them, when it's hard we save them for an encounter that never comes. Similar thing for materials: Crafted loot is often useless compared to some hand-placed endgame items. When it is the core progression, you eventually hit some bad luck and need to stop.
Take away that fear of loss or make items an optional choice with stuff like an Alchemist class.
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Anon10/18/25, 00:09No.3860260
Here's an idea I had for mine but you can use it.
Make all alignments rewarding as long as you follow them.
Most people RP as goodish but will break alignment easily for rewards.
They will also easily RP out of character for rewards if they depend on dialogue.My idea is to reward consistent in-character choices.
If you RP your class-alignment, down the road you get some kind of massive rewards.>i hate its tropes
tropes aren't inherently bad
almost all RPGs are based on the most ancient trope humanity has, which has existed even before writing didthe hero journeytropes are invaluable if you want to make something worthwileI suggest reading some Karl Jung and learning what the basic "tropes" of the human psyche are, which he calls "archetypes"E.g. the wise old man (mentor)
the trickster
the shadow
the outsider
etc.to make a good RPG you first need to master these tropes
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Anon10/18/25, 01:34No.3860291
Big damage numbers suck and start to be meaningless over time.
Going from doing 2 damage at the start of the game to doing 10 damage by the end feels way more impactful than starting off doing 20 damage and ending doing 12389003 damage.