Can we please stop calling D&D Insider an MMORPG

[Kesh]

MMORPG/WoW? Check.

Videogamey. Double check.

Anime? Hrm, well, hrm haven't seen that one yet.

Has anyone started calling the D&DI anime yet? Cuz, if not, then I wanna be the first. I've never set a trend in my life, but I've always dreamed of it.

yeah, someone in the Tieflings thread made the comment that "tieflings came from [ianime[/i] shows." Which started the whole "artwork looks like anime" and "Bo9S? They're making 4e into Anime D&D!" stuff.

 

[Kesh]

No, because they're purely text-based.

You've obviously never logged into a MUD. MUDs were the original MMORPGs, before all this fancy-schmancy 3d graphics. Why, in my day…

 

[jdrakeh]

The only "double-standard" is in claiming that one kind of multi-player modem-based RPG experience is an MMORPG and the others mysteriously aren't.

That's exactly the double-standard I'm talking about.

You and others are claiming that the DI (and, by extension, D&D4e) is a MMORPG because it allows one to play a tabletop RPG online. My point was that, using this rationale, all tabletop RPGs are MMORPGs because that option has existed for them since the year 2000. People, yourself included, are pigeonholing the DI as an MMORPG because it presents an option that has long been available for all tabletop RPGs.

The DI providing the option to play D&D 4e online makes it an MMORPG? Fine. But you can't sit here and claim that while also claiming that OD&D, AD&D, etc aren't MMORPGs, because that same option has existed for them since the year 2000 (this is when WebRPG was first released). Why are the DI and D&D4e MMORPGs while GRIP and Traveller aren't? Or OpenRPG and Champions? Hmmm?

If anything, the DI is playing catch-up to pre-existing technology so this whole "OMG! They're turning D&D into a MMORPG!" argument doesn't carry much weight with anybody who has had an internet connection in the last decade. It's a deliberately offensive knee-jerk response to D&D4e designed to categorize those looking forward to the new edition as something 'less than' the exaggerated stereotype of the traditional gamer.

Let's call it what it is -- TROLLING

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I spent about four hours grinding in TiVo last night. It was awesome.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Those are text-based, not graphical, so that's a real difference. I feel, therefore, safe in answering "no."

Then you haven't seen most PbP or PbEM games.

Text does fill the brunt of things, yes, but maps, and visuals are EXTREMELY common.

So it is graphical, just a different kind of graphical. Just varying degrees, as you've said.

 

[Ripzerai]

. My point was that, using this rationale, all tabletop RPGs are MMORPGs because that option has existed for them since the year 2000.

No, you still don't seem to be understanding the argument.

I'm not saying that 4e is itself an MMORPG. It's a tabletop RPG. But if you play it in a virtual environment, it is.

Similarly, 3e (or Vampire, or GURPS, or whatever) isn't an MMORPG, but if it's played on a server where a bunch of people can interact, it is.

People, yourself included, are pigeonholing the DI as an MMORPG because it presents an option that has long been available for all tabletop RPGs.

No, I specifically said it wasn't. There are many parts of the DI that have nothing to do with MMORPGs. However, the DI contains an MMORPG element if you choose to use that option.

The DI providing the option to play D&D 4e online makes it an MMORPG? Fine.

Okay, then, we're agreed.

But you can't sit here and claim that while also claiming that OD&D, AD&D, etc aren't MMORPGs

Darn, I think I've lost you again. The things you've just listed are rules, not platforms. They certainly can and have been MMORPGs in the past (the original Neverwinter Nights was an AD&D-based MMORPG), but they aren't MMORPGs in themselves. Just like 4e.

With that in mind, are we now on the same page?

this whole "OMG! They're turning D&D into a MMORPG!" argument

I don't think anyone's made that argument. You're confusing unlike things.

1. D&D. This is a set of RPG rules. It is not an MMORPG.
2. D&D Insider. This is a website that contains articles, forums, and a "virtual tabletop." This is not an MMORPG.
3. The Virtual Tabletop. While it's being used by DMs and players, this is an MMORPG for all intents and purposes. It doesn't matter if they're using 4e or 3e or GURPS or RuneQuest, it's an MMORPG. This is about the platform, not the rules.

 

[jdrakeh]

I spent about four hours grinding in TiVo last night. It was awesome.

TiVo has nothing on my cell phone GUI! C1NGUl@r R0X0rEZ Th3 duN9e0n, y0!

 

[Asmor]

Then you haven't seen most PbP or PbEM games.

Text does fill the brunt of things, yes, but maps, and visuals are EXTREMELY common.

So it is graphical, just a different kind of graphical. Just varying degrees, as you've said.

Right, what's the difference between the DM sending out/posting pictures of the battlefield every round, and using a virtual tabletop to show the battlefield?

 

[Ripzerai]

Then you haven't seen most PbP or PbEM games.

Text does fill the brunt of things, yes, but maps, and visuals are EXTREMELY common.

So it is graphical, just a different kind of graphical. Just varying degrees, as you've said.

It seems a very different experience, but if you want, we can define a play-by-post game as an MMORPG. It seems an odd idea, but if that's what you want, I'll go along with it.

 

[jdrakeh]

Right, what's the difference between the DM sending out/posting pictures of the battlefield every round, and using a virtual tabletop to show the battlefield?

Unreasonable fan hate? Just a guess