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The gaming genre of RPG is by far one of the most popular, followed, and lucrative there is. There are many different reasons why people play RPG games. Some people like the achievement side of things; some will play an RPG for the story and lore; some may even love the community side of things when they play an MMORPG. There is one aspect, however, that appeals to fans of RPG games that we’re going to take a look at under the microscope a bit closer today and that is customisation. In nearly every RPG game, when you select a character, you are given the power to customise your character's look, abilities, and race. This customisation really appeals to some players, as it allows them to create a unique digital identity to play the game.
Controlling your own destiny
In nearly every RPG game, there is a levelling system. And in some of the latest RPGs, there are skill trees where, as your character levels up, it progresses, meaning that as you progress, your character becomes its own unique identity. The aspect of personalisation in RPGs is also hugely lucrative for developers of this genre of game. Microtransactions are big business for game developers, and vanity items in a lot of RPGs earn these developers a lot of money. It is so lucrative that a big focus is indeed on this aspect of the game, sometimes netting them more revenue than the initial game sale. RPGs have also influenced many online slot games and other areas, including merchandising. There are plenty of RPG themes present in legit casinos in the US reviewed by Casinos.com.
More value for money
The aspect of control that you have over your characters journey and destiny is one that is unparalleled when compared to other genres. Being able to personalise your character does indeed provide the player with more control, whereas the ability to control your character's progression provides the reward mechanism. And this ability to change destiny also means that the game takes on a whole new angle. You aren’t just playing one game with a linear gameplay mode; instead, there are thousands of different ways that your character can play the game. This in turn provides more value for money to the player and builds loyalty amongst the fans of the game.
Choose where the story leads.
There are also some RPGs where you can control the story and quests. Traditionally, RPG’s would offer a story mode whereby you would be forced into a response to a NPC’s question. Whereas there are now more options where you can choose one of a few different responses to the question, and from there you may follow a different angle of the story, and it’ll lead your character in a totally different direction. Although credit has to be given to the developers of RPG’s games with this magnitude and level of personalisation and customization, the complexity of some RPGs now, when it comes to the intricacies of the design of the game itself, is really impressive.
What other genres have been influenced by this?
And the influence of personalisation has also spread into other genres. For example, in sports games such as FIFA, there is a huge aspect of personalisation when it comes to being able to design your own player or create and manage your own team. This again presents and increases the level of control that the player has over their team and their team's destiny. And this is just one example; there are many games now in each and every gaming genre. Allowing this level of control also surprisingly provides the player with an option to be creative, which in games like Minecraft we have seen can lead to some pretty impressive innovations.
Enhancing the player experience
A lot of players are drawn to the aspect of personalisation within video games, particularly RPGs, as it allows them to enhance the overall gaming experience that they get from the game. It means that they can choose different areas of the story or the world to explore; they’re not being forced and restricted into one certain storyline.
In Summary
To conclude everything, personalisation plays a huge part in the success of RPG games. To such a point that this has then spilled over into other gaming genres, as we have covered today. Going forward, a lot of games will steer away from linear gameplay or story mode and instead aim to offer the player that level of control. And this will also be the case as personalisation also brings more revenue and income to game developers, as microtransactions within games that allow players to buy vanity and cosmetic extras start to become more popular and players spend more to personalise and create their own unique identity.
