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[justanobody]

Originally Posted by Scribble

What is it about P&P games that causes this difference?

Well many things. Start with a video game is usually a single player game. When all your characters die, the story ends. You do have the choice of restarting in the beginning such as the oldest of ggames prior to save points, but then you have lost all those quarters you put in trying to get your high score.

Also if you just can "load" a game at the last place in a PnP game then what real threat is there? What story is there?

In a video game you pay $60 these days for a scripted story that you can follow some of several ways, or just one story. You pay the money for the game to see the whole story and fight all the things along the way. Having to start all over there would be a loss of money.

When you play a PnP game, there is no real loss. You character dies, and you can continue with a new one.

Red Wizard has died, Red Valkyrie has joined.

You haven't really lost anything because most tiems you are brought in the game with similar abilities relater to where you left off.

The biggest thing is the story doesn't need Mario to complete the story in a PnP game because the NPC scripts are not finite, the animations do not require it to be the same person, and all those other things that a computer requires to be programmed and scripted in advance based on that one character that saves and reloads.

is it the DM aspect?

Not at all.

Do you accept the "save point" more in a computer game because the computer can't come up with "consequences" on the fly? Or because the computer can't handle another adventurer joining the game, and taking on a "new" adventure based on the old?

Not really. I accept it because the amount of money I paid for the video game to see the story told with those characters. Some times the character or even a member of his party dies and cannot be brought back. (see Aeris)

These are the stories I paid for and want to see even if there was a way to bring them back to life in the original Japanese version.

Other adventurers can join based on the old, or for many other reasons.

It is the two ways the stories are presented that is the driving force mostly.

PnP offers you to create the story while most video games are really just visual novels you get to push buttons to get through the story and act out the combats yourself rather than actually decide what story you want as you go like PnP games.

Or is it something else?

Um... I might have alreayd answered this part....

Does anyone out there use an idea like "save points" in their P&P D&D game?

Not a snowballs chance in hell would I play in a D&D game with "save points". If I screw up and get my character killed...c'est la vie!

I brought that one into the world and I can make another one that looks just like him, and better.