Competitive RPGs

[Depression Moon]

I've been thinking for a while about the competitive scene of video games. Their communities and successes and have noticed that I never hear any mention of RPGs in these scenes, with the exception of Pokemon.

I know it would make sense for competitive RPGs to be smaller considering for the most part RPGs are single player experiences. From what I hear about MMORPGs is that they have both Player vs Environment and Player vs Player experiences. Is the PvP in these games balanced? What I had in mind wasn't real-time like those games, but the more traditional turn-based style like in JRPG. Would a job system like FFVs work for a balanced competitive game?

I would like to see at least a couple of games dabble into this. What are your thoughts?

[Del Murder]

I've always wanted to put my RPG parties up against other people's versions of them, especially in games like FFV where you can make your characters take very different paths.

I remember playing against my brother in the old PSX version of Tactics Ogre. Was there a head to head mode in that game or am I making that up? It was fun, whatever it was.

[NeoCracker]

I'd love to see Ogre Battle with multiplayer. trout would get insane.

[Agent Proto]

I think there was a Fire Emblem game for the DS that allows you to save your rosters and use them against another player in a battle.

[Bolivar]

I'I remember playing against my brother in the old PSX version of Tactics Ogre. Was there a head to head mode in that game or am I making that up? It was fun, whatever it was.

I'm not going to look it up but I vaguely remember hearing that. I know the new PSP version as well as War of the Lions have it. Valkyria Chronicles 2 does as well, but I heard in that game, and I'd imagine in those other two as well, that it all boils down to tough stalemates whenever you have two competent players together. The Sega rep said that it happens in a good way, but, then again, he's a Sega rep. (I'd be willing to find out in Tactics Ogre with whoever on this site is down)

Still, I think the Valkyria Chronicles formula could have an impact on the competitive RPG ideal. The third game shied away from co-op and versus multiplayer, but that was an outsourced studio so perhaps the main Sega team hasn't eliminated the prospect. I think it could work on dedicated networked devices like PS3 and/or Vita, especially if you had players assume different Attacking/Defending roles for each skirmish, as opposed to just "your best vs. mine."

[Depression Moon]

I've always wanted to put my RPG parties up against other people's versions of them, especially in games like FFV where you can make your characters take very different paths.

If a game had a vs mode with gameplay like FFV I was thinking in order to make it balanced while still being fun is to remove character levels. This would prevent many matches being lost or won simply because one player was on a siginificantly higher level than the other. I also think that removing the ability to equip abilities from other jobs because given some jobs mixing two abilities on unrelated jobs could create something overpowered. Also have everyone have access to the same items during battle. This would prevent matches from going on forever if two people have an inventory of 99 phoenix downs and megalixirs.

The vs mode should also have all the weapons for every job class available from the start, so that if you're the kind of player who just wants to play the multiplayer you don't have to go through the single player just to unlock everything and not to mention that would also make it easier for tournament organizers.

I can already see some jobs probably being not that useful for competitive play. If it's using FFV's job system then the following jobs will hardly see any play:

Geomancer
Berserker (Being unable to control a character would be a heavy setback for competitive play)
Dancer (Too random)
Chemist
Thief (They deal too little damage and stealing could be practically useless, unless it allows you to steal directly from a player's in battle inventory)

My personal team would be:

Mystic Knight (decent damage, high mag def, and consumes less MP than a Black Mage)
equipped with a str increase accessory

White Mage (healer, buffer)
equipped with an auto-haste accessory

Time Mage (hastega, graviga, meteor)
equipped with an auto-regen accessory

Red Mage (all around average stats, has access only to low and mid level black and white magic, but can dual cast)
equipped with a Ribbon

[Jiro]

Fire Emblem (7) had a multiplayer mode but it was just straight up arena style fights. It was cool enough though, but you can hax the trout out of that game.

I would love to see multiplayer, competitive multiplayer, in a game like Skyrim. I mean damn, that would be fierce. But again, you can hax the smurf out of that game.

[black orb]

>>> No thanks, Im a lonely antisocial gamer who wants his traditional turn-based JRPGs single player and offline..