Emergent RPGs

Hey, Chris here. I've been writing a lot about role-playing games recently, and while I'm by no means an expert, I thought I'd note down here my vision for RPGs in the future, just in case it actually happens. With so many open-world and sandbox games these days, I think the next step in RPGs is games with procedurally generated NPCs, quests, towns, and worlds. When each player has their own unique world and story, I think there will be much more room for attachment and emotion, knowing that you're the only one experiencing your particular world. There would be emergent stories as NPCs with assorted personality traits lived and struggled. You would help a particular individual or kingdom because you wanted to, rather than being assigned to do so by a quest.

The game in my head draws from many existing games, and more-- the procedurally generated landscape of Minecraft, the individually unique and surprisingly engaging characters of Crusader Kings II, the randomly generated boss names of Torchlight, and many others. I don't know how exactly a game like this would be made, but I do think it would be possible. Replay value would be huge, of course. Just see how many times people play Spelunky.

My guess is that within ten years, this post will either seem hilariously misguided or strangely uncanny. In the former case, leave a comment with what is actually happening in gaming. In the latter case, I'll probably be reposting this all over the social media in joyous glee. For the meantime, I'll just sit back and see what happens.