7 page article from 1Up.
They have a roundtable discussion about the future of the Single Player RPG.The who's who in this roundtable are:
--Bill Roper, currently of Cryptic Studios
--Marcin Iwinski, currently of CD Projekt
--Alan Miranda, currently of Ossian Studios
--Feargus Urquhart, currently of Obsidian Entertainment
SP RPG's vs. MMO'sMarcin Iwinski: What we are all fighting for is the gamer's time, so yes, MMORPGs do take players away not only from single-player RPGs but also other kinds of games. If you commit hundreds of hours to developing your character in, let's say, WOW, there must be a really good reason for you to stop playing and move to something else -- let's say, The Witcher.
At the same time the experience is different -- single-player RPGs are all about the story and your immersion and the way you experience it. It's like a good book or a movie you can't wait to read or see. MMOs are more of a social-interaction experience, and where they fall short is the story.
Theoretically, then, it should be possible [for both] to happily coexist, but looking at it from the market's perspective, it means more competition-- MMOs are a whole new genre, with many different titles driving gamers attention away [from single-player games] -- and ultimately more marketing money to spend in order stand out from the crowd if you are going mass-market or finding your own niche.
This is where I think Bioware's upcoming SWTOR MMO is going to be VERY interesting - b/c it's going to try and marry the MMO experience (social w/ other players) and SP experience (strong story, choices for quests, etc) into one. This game is going to be a MMO, very story-driven, fully voice-acted, and often offer a lot of choices w/ different end results to the player - which is something you'd see more likely utilized in the Single Player RPG.
Indie RPG'sAlan Miranda: I think the indie-RPG scene can fill in the "old school" RPG niche, where you won't be expected to have full VO, and hence have as much dialogue as you want; where you can have that 100-plus hours of gameplay; or where you don't need to pay for a bleeding-edge graphical engine to ensure maximum cinematic effect. You can still have fun without those things. For example, I tried out the Eschalon: Book 1 demo a while back and had fun with it. It had good exploration and world interactivity.
Also, as an indie developer, you aren't constrained by what a publisher's marketing department dictates is a viable RPG product for the market. History is filled with examples of games or movies that execs/marketing said shouldn't be done -- or if had already been completed were considered garbage -- but which turned out to be megahits and all-time favorites. Indie RPGs may never be able to compete head-to-head with big-budget RPGs in the mainstream commercial marketplace, but they don't have to if they can excel at giving gamers what the big RPGs can't.
ARPG Games like say Mount & Blade have shown that by giving the player an endless sandbox (like Sid Meier's Pirates!) w/ very little voice-acting and the best combat ever done for horseback, gamers will flock to it - even if the graphics are heavily dated. It's bringing to the table something a lot of other RPG's just ain't bringing to the table.
Torchlight is proving that also you don't need full-fledged VO work to succeed - especially if you're an Indie developer. Torchlight proves the classic Diablo mechanic w/ modern graphics is still as addictive as it was when Diablo first came out - Torchlight has the steampunk setting going on, while Diablo had dark-gothic fantasy.
