A Matter of Scale (CRPGS)
Was talking to someone over on FurAffinity about Final Fantasy, and something that I think would make the game line much better...
Professions
One of the things that killed FFXII for me, was the lack of variety. As you progressed through the game, your characters became more and more alike. It doesn't take too long to make all your characters able to use any weapon, any armour, and any spell, regardless of where you start. I think what might have been better, was to have you pick a profession for the character once they join your party. The "job point" map could still exist, I thought the concept was cool, but rather than have everything overlap, each job map could be tailored to a profession.
All professions have access to the same armour and weapons to unlock, but the way the characters use them would vary depending on the profession. Perhaps mages could channel spells through weapons (with each weapon having a different allowance, depending on type of mage). A warrior might get sword-tech, while a monk might get something else. Perhaps bare-handed, a monk might get punch-arts, while a mage might be able to heal / inflict conditions by touch. If you wanted, all characters could be the same profession, but this way they don't all become this blob of similar abilities whether you wanted them to or not.
Scaled Encounters
You ever get annoyed at having to wade through creatures you could blow through in one hit, and have to run across a region you've been through a hundred times for the sake of story? Well, if they scaled the critters, it might help some. The way I see it, the game would be interesting if the creatures were always near your level. At level 1, they'd be 1 to 5. At level 5 they'd be 5 to 10. At level 10, they'd be 10 to 15, etc. As you level, monsters level, and as they level they pick up new abilities. This way, every region has their 'normal' encounters and their 'challenging' encounters, the critters are always worth decent XP, have decent drops, and you might be interested in passing through older areas just to see what the creatures can do. Also, if a region has to be visited again for story purposes, you don't have the players groaning over having to blast through piddly little things to interrupt their trip -- you can have the monsters be something the players can focus on. This would also mean for those games with 'pop up' encounters, you could actually space them out a bit more, rather than having the player pestered every three steps. ;)
I think both of these might help with most CRPGs people have to deal with. :)
Professions
One of the things that killed FFXII for me, was the lack of variety. As you progressed through the game, your characters became more and more alike. It doesn't take too long to make all your characters able to use any weapon, any armour, and any spell, regardless of where you start. I think what might have been better, was to have you pick a profession for the character once they join your party. The "job point" map could still exist, I thought the concept was cool, but rather than have everything overlap, each job map could be tailored to a profession.
All professions have access to the same armour and weapons to unlock, but the way the characters use them would vary depending on the profession. Perhaps mages could channel spells through weapons (with each weapon having a different allowance, depending on type of mage). A warrior might get sword-tech, while a monk might get something else. Perhaps bare-handed, a monk might get punch-arts, while a mage might be able to heal / inflict conditions by touch. If you wanted, all characters could be the same profession, but this way they don't all become this blob of similar abilities whether you wanted them to or not.
Scaled Encounters
You ever get annoyed at having to wade through creatures you could blow through in one hit, and have to run across a region you've been through a hundred times for the sake of story? Well, if they scaled the critters, it might help some. The way I see it, the game would be interesting if the creatures were always near your level. At level 1, they'd be 1 to 5. At level 5 they'd be 5 to 10. At level 10, they'd be 10 to 15, etc. As you level, monsters level, and as they level they pick up new abilities. This way, every region has their 'normal' encounters and their 'challenging' encounters, the critters are always worth decent XP, have decent drops, and you might be interested in passing through older areas just to see what the creatures can do. Also, if a region has to be visited again for story purposes, you don't have the players groaning over having to blast through piddly little things to interrupt their trip -- you can have the monsters be something the players can focus on. This would also mean for those games with 'pop up' encounters, you could actually space them out a bit more, rather than having the player pestered every three steps. ;)
I think both of these might help with most CRPGs people have to deal with. :)