RPGs and video games.

Table top pen and paper role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons have complex stat based rule systems simply because die rolling, and math are the only fair way to work out what happens in an imaginary world. Without them these games would devolve into the I shot you/No you didn't debate most of us remember from from when we were children.

Enter the video game translation of RPGs. Oddly enough the numerical systems are usually very transparent, even including something as archaic as a to hit roll. In a virtual environment that can simulate the player, and his foe, their relative positions, and animate their actions a die roll to determine if an attack connects is superfluous. It is very strange to see the words "miss" pop up after I have shot an enemy, or struck them with a sword, and have no damage done.

RPGs are all about the character progression, but most video game RPGs go about this in the wrong way. Player skill should be taken into account. Instead of having a low combat statistic automatically determining that your character has missed a low combat statistic should be reflect in low damage, or a slower attack. Even if you connect you do less damage than someone whose character is more advanced, and it is harder to pull off with slower, more limited maneuvers.

Stat requirements also drive me crazy. I try to pick a lock in Fallout 3, but my skill isn't high enough. I should still be able to attempt picking the lock because it requires the successful completion of a minigame. It should just be harder. I may be warned how difficult it is relative to my skill, but automatically locking me out (no pun intended) is unnecessary.

The fact is RPGs in video games define their genre through stat based character progression, but go about it in a way that makes more sense with pen and paper rules. This has been gradually changing with locking picking becoming a minigame rather than a die roll, but vestiges of this old way of doing things are still there, holding the genre back.

I'm not suggesting stats be eliminated from video game RPGs. That would upset the fans, and remove progression, but they need to be integrated into the gameplay in a way that takes advantage of the particular strengths of video games rather than holding on to old ways of doing things.

Other genres have experimented with progression of sorts borrowed from the RPG genre. Even Call of Duty lets player earn experience to unlock new abilities these days. Crackdown is an action game, but has stat based progression in a simple form. RPGs seem unwilling to similarly experiment with lessons from other genres, and this is to their detriment. Western RPGs like Fallout 3 have made some steps in this regard, but JRPGs in particular are the crocodiles of video games. They have evolved very little over time.

The genre has yet to reach its potential.