A flag that tells you who gives you a quest is that it can also be turned off if done right. So for those who want immersion they can play without, for those who don't want to have to talk to every single character multiple times then a sign above their head saying they have a quest for you is perfect.

While I don't enjoy too much hand holding, I think a certain degree helps grease the wheels, particularly in larger open world games. All the Xenoblade Chronicles games point out important characters and quest locations and they are among my favourite RPGs of all time.

I agree about being able to cancel dialogue. What usually happens to me is I accidentally speak to someone I've spoken to before once (or speak to them again on purpose expecting some new result) and then repeatedly press whatever button skips ahead in the conversation to get through it quickly, skip pass the end of the conversation and start the conversation again...
Which is why I also think the "next text" button should be a different one to the initiate conversation one.

I think that in a good game you have enough hints to know where all quests are (at least important ones) so you don't need to check every NPC, even if quests are not given in one place.

As for the shops, it depends how often I have to go there. Usually I only buy consumables, or special components for spells and potions. So it's basically two shops I go on regular basis.

There are other ways to avoid that, and most rpgs I've played didn't railroad you like that; they usually made clear when you were about to take decisions that would advance the plot, close off certain areas etc.

I think the actual problem here is that 1. players even can accidentally engage in conversations (a common culprit is using the same button for advancing/skipping dialogue as for making dialogue choices or triggering dialogue which is just such a ridiculously dumb mistake to make) and 2. that you can have the same long conversation more than once. The latter is in my opinion just really bad dialogue design and seriously hurts the authenticity of RPGs. Asking the same question and getting the same answer multiple times: okay. But having the exact same long conversation several times is just utterly implausible. If the information from such a long conversation is actually important and the player has to be able to review it, just provide brief versions for consequent talks or make it possible to review it in a quest log or diary or whatever.

I find that after I finish an RPG... I question why I was willing to waste valuable alive time, rather than learning or making money. Hahah... but I still like playing them.

I want the opposite. I want organic world, focus on lore, atmosphere, immersion etc.. anything to make it feel like an adventure and not a job or spreadsheet contest.

That said, I'm sure if the game designers are good enough and know what they are doing it could be pulled off but somehow still create an interesting atmosphere and sense of wonder.

I'm very unfamiliar with Hidden Object Games other than the descriptions provided recently on these forums when the genre of games have been added, but… All this talk about having to search for items and quests whether in a store or across the land in RPGs is getting me thinking RPGs are the same as HOGs, just not as flat. Or maybe a much larger picture, too large to fit on the screen all at once, and maybe the opportunity to walk around obstacles to find something hidden. So, RPG = really large, non-flat HOG.

Though, sometimes it seems more like a Hidden Objective Game, as in "What's this all about?".

With that said, it usually isn't worth while buying from stores. Any item worth having is usually out in the world somewhere because nobody wants to part with it. Well, except maybe magic, but even that can sometimes be skipped completely. It should go without saying there's no point selling anything to the stores because there's nothing worth buying with the money.

I guess that it depends on game. I like how it was solved in Avernum series - in major cities there are boards with jobs, so if I need to get quickly cash and/or XP, I've got them right there. But I still appreciate the fact that there are also some "NPC-based" quests, because they're usually building some interesting "side-stories" and it's interesting to reveal them. Unless obtaining some quest (or one of the steps to finish it) is incredibly cryptic, I dislike situations when plenty of interesting "side-stories" are "to well" hidden.

Shops on the other hand... That also depends. I especially dislike situations when I have problems with buying additional portions of ammo/arrows, or other "usable" goods (it's also about things needed to repair equipment). Those things are extremely annoying. Various shops though.. If there are some "merchant districts", where I can easily access all shops, then I'm ok with that. But running from one end city to another between merchants of various goods is surely not a good way to spend time in decent cRPG.

If the search is part of the game, and occurs naturally, not.
If doesn't oblige me to long, boring, walking session, is ok.
If is part of an immersive world and good, realistic world, I could like it.

If I have to actively search for "that" secret room, dungeon or explore every single part of the world just because "I know someone put something out there", no. I just can't stand it.


As a related note, I hate secrets. With all my heart.
It is just a waste of my playing time; searching for secret is the stupidest thing ever; in FPS, adventures, RPGs, whatever.
Secrets meant to be discovered; what a waste of time developers could use to make better games.

That word, "immersive", hurts my sensibility! XD

About shops... the real issue I have with them is that most of the time they are completely useless because you can find better items dropped on the ground.
Armors are particularly absurd, and probably the single modern developer that gets those right is Piranha Bytes: you cannot just pick up an armor from a corpse or some tomb. It makes no sense; good armor should be custom made and extremely expensive, it is almost impossible to wear one comfortably if it doesn't have your exact measures.
Besides, f you kill a guy chances are that his armor is unsalvageable.

Nope. Armour doesn't need to be custom made.

Milan, around 1500, had extensive armoury under the city, enough to equip the whole population in case the main army would be defetead.
Armour, shields, weapons. All mass produced by the time highly skilled (most in the world) armourers of the city.

These are facts.

Aside this, yes. I agree that spending money seems stuppid if walking in the wild, under a rotten leaf, you find tha plat armour just as shiny, more than the armorer.

That is why I like Etrian oddysey. There monster drop parts of their bodies and materials which they could carry(wood, stone) and you need sell it at the town to get better weapons and armors.

Best is, you kill a rat and it drops full plate...

This reminds me of the other end of the scale like Titan Quest.

In that game, most enemies actually have gear pieces on them and everything they wear drops from them upon death. An enemy can spawn with a legendary weapon that can kill you out of nowhere in 2 hits for example. It really makes you look out for the weapons the enemies are holding and if you see anything unusual, you'd better watch out.