Yesh.

Deus Ex was pretty good. It tended toward the Cyberpunk meshing of Sci-Fi with Noir, but the transhuman element was beautiful. Building a better person, onward to building a better human race.

I liked that in Crysis 2, as well.

1. REAL politics and espionage. You can't find that in almost any game.

2. In depth and varied gameplay. In the perfect scifi rpg you have a ton of other games included. Flight sim, mech sim, dynamic economy, etc.

3. No rules. Every location has its laws and every action has its consequences but you can overthrow/kill/destroy anything you want. To sum it up, anarchy.

True, but in the context of a video game as we are discussing here, I would say the Hollywood definition applies.

RPG with character but also be able to fly/pilot an upgradeable ship (or fleet) in engagements. Basically level you person and ship, be able to enter stations/other ships and walk around, take them over, etc. The fun stuff.

Isn't it sad how big budget game producers are following the lead of hollywood? They can still make a good game (1 in 15) and hollywood can make a good movie (1 in 30) but their business practice and the damage done to stereotypes and genres is disgusting.

I'm a big Star Trek fan (TNG being my favorite), so I'd like something similar to the tv show...

Various crewmen with their own area of expertise (Doctor, Engineer, Science, Security)

Various ranks (Ensign, Lieutenant, Commander, etc) indicating how skilled they are in their area of expertise

Away Missions and on-ship situations

Ship vs Ship combat as well as people vs people combat (although not everything needs to end in death...knockouts, surrendering, and escaping should be prevalent)

Different options for mission/situation solutions (Diplomacy, Deception, Brute Force)

Sandbox style exploration with an occasional mission given by the head of the Federation

...all this just off the top of my head. And this too. ;-)

The ability to find our Earth out amongst the stars... so that I can lord over everyone how much better it is than their pitiful existence before activating my hyperdrive engines in the atmosphere and leaving a smoldering rock.

Talk about the ultimate revenge of the nerds. :D

Firefly.

A game set in the Firefly universe would be awesome. I love the brief glimpses of history and back story that is given in the series and the movie and would love that to be expanded.

Freelancer although probably not quite a a RPG technically came very close for me, the only thing I would have added would be a little more planet and faction personality.

Something based on Iain M. Banks Culture series.

Not directly related but this just reminded me how awesome it was to stand on our moon and look back at Earth in Mass Effect.

Ha! That was what inspired my post.

I'd like for there to be some strong 4x TBS elements in a sci-fi RPG. The game would have a few campaigns where players follow the stories of main characters while they do their thing. But the core of the game would be 4x TBS ala Civilization and Galatic Civilizations. Except that players have greater freedom to customize characters, ships and stations. + level ups, gear, and learned abilities... all that good RPG stuff.

I wouldn't mind the exclusion of intelligent alien races. And have "factions/civilizations" based on characteristics of the players chosen leader. ie: empire, colonial, piracy, militaristic... So players can pick a pioneer minded leader or space piracy or a fleet commander etc. Player then plays the game from that perspective (affects their factions traits, game events, ++)


I'd also like to play a traditional RPG based on the Firefly TV series (you might have seen the movie Serenity... if not then DO!)

Yes, it is truly sad, but unlikely to change. Much like the movie industry, the big budget publishers will continue to produce mass-appeal crap (for the most part) while the indie publishers will put out products that are creative and unique, but lack wide appeal (again, for the most part).