D&D vs. WoW
- Thread starter Quasqueton
- Start date
wedgeski
Adventurer
Just in answer to a few other points: voice comms with a MMORPG is easy via a secondary channel like Skype or Messenger, I do it all the time; you *do* get to 'pick your friends' on-line in the same way you do around a table, you can ignore people you don't like, as well as build guilds with people you do; you *do* have to work with other people's schedules on-line when you're trying to organise high level raids and other joint ventures. Thusly the lines aren't quite as distinct as perhaps some people might think.
The simple act of sharing a space with your friends is something that f2f RPG's will always have, and MMORPG's will always lack (although as it happens I've played WoW with three party members in the same room as me, it was great fun). MMORPG's *are* however a social event, even if voice-only and/or text-typed communications create a different kind of party feeling than a game of D&D. A weekly game of WoW is in fact one of the ways I stay in touch with a distant buddy.
What f2f games give me that MMORPG's lack is the freedom to wonder what crazy adventures I'm going to get into next, and never quite knowing for sure where things are headed. There is an inherent predictability to a computer game which is not as satisfying.
There are no complex problems or wacky solutions in a MMORPG. The answer to most problems in a game like WoW is to use few, repetitive tools in known combinations against predictable enemies; the answer to problems in D&D can be almost impossible to predict (although admittedly Magic Missile tends to be the answer to a lot of questions directed at a mage
). Programming languages and tools, and the hardware that runs them, are going to have to change considerably before a computer game can encompass unpredictability and open-ended problem solving in any way that even comes close to what a few gamers round a table can come up with... but it will happen, one day, and I wouldn't be surprised if social gaming models are used as a basis for some of those changes.
I've never lost a player to a computer game: our roleplaying sessions are too few and precious for that to happen.
Computer games and RPG's fill two different niches in my spare time, but the two past-times still offer sufficiently different experiences that neither one excludes the other.
The simple act of sharing a space with your friends is something that f2f RPG's will always have, and MMORPG's will always lack (although as it happens I've played WoW with three party members in the same room as me, it was great fun). MMORPG's *are* however a social event, even if voice-only and/or text-typed communications create a different kind of party feeling than a game of D&D. A weekly game of WoW is in fact one of the ways I stay in touch with a distant buddy.
What f2f games give me that MMORPG's lack is the freedom to wonder what crazy adventures I'm going to get into next, and never quite knowing for sure where things are headed. There is an inherent predictability to a computer game which is not as satisfying.
There are no complex problems or wacky solutions in a MMORPG. The answer to most problems in a game like WoW is to use few, repetitive tools in known combinations against predictable enemies; the answer to problems in D&D can be almost impossible to predict (although admittedly Magic Missile tends to be the answer to a lot of questions directed at a mage
). Programming languages and tools, and the hardware that runs them, are going to have to change considerably before a computer game can encompass unpredictability and open-ended problem solving in any way that even comes close to what a few gamers round a table can come up with... but it will happen, one day, and I wouldn't be surprised if social gaming models are used as a basis for some of those changes.I've never lost a player to a computer game: our roleplaying sessions are too few and precious for that to happen.
Computer games and RPG's fill two different niches in my spare time, but the two past-times still offer sufficiently different experiences that neither one excludes the other.
mattcolville
Adventurer
The two are so different, I can't imagine MMOs ever literally replacing real RPGs.
An RPG happens at exactly the pace determined by the group. Not so an MMO, which happens in real time. An RPG exist solely in the imaginations of the players. Not so an MMO. A campaign is created by the actions and imaginations and will of the players. Not so an MMO.
RPGs can focus on any element of the world the players and GM agree to focus on. Not so an MMO.
There are lots of things MMOs do that RPGs can't or shouldn't, my examples are only one sided because of the way the question was asked.
An RPG happens at exactly the pace determined by the group. Not so an MMO, which happens in real time. An RPG exist solely in the imaginations of the players. Not so an MMO. A campaign is created by the actions and imaginations and will of the players. Not so an MMO.
RPGs can focus on any element of the world the players and GM agree to focus on. Not so an MMO.
There are lots of things MMOs do that RPGs can't or shouldn't, my examples are only one sided because of the way the question was asked.
MoogleEmpMog
First Post
MMORPGs
Theoretically, these could teach us about such happy fun fuzzy things as a viable persistent business model, something P&P RPGs arguably lack.
They also produce some very interesting societal cooperate-vs-competition models that P&P RPGs could use to give their strict anti-competitiveness a little nuance. Other than that, I'm no great fan of them, and am far, far more concerned with their infection of:
Single-Player PC RPGs
These provide graphics and sound to back up the gameplay and effortlessly deal with complex rules. Learning to mimic the simple interface would speed up P&P gaming immensely, and probably make it more fun, but of course the process is anything but easy. Ideally, a very flexible program could be used to track combat and other statistical information while processing input from the GM and players, but that's software well beyond the present state of the game. Simplifying the rules would of course assist this process, but some of the best elements of PC RPGs come from the extreme complexity they can process. In terms of enhancing the video or audio element, I'm not certain there's much room for improvement.
Theoretically, these could teach us about such happy fun fuzzy things as a viable persistent business model, something P&P RPGs arguably lack.
They also produce some very interesting societal cooperate-vs-competition models that P&P RPGs could use to give their strict anti-competitiveness a little nuance. Other than that, I'm no great fan of them, and am far, far more concerned with their infection of:Single-Player PC RPGs
These provide graphics and sound to back up the gameplay and effortlessly deal with complex rules. Learning to mimic the simple interface would speed up P&P gaming immensely, and probably make it more fun, but of course the process is anything but easy. Ideally, a very flexible program could be used to track combat and other statistical information while processing input from the GM and players, but that's software well beyond the present state of the game. Simplifying the rules would of course assist this process, but some of the best elements of PC RPGs come from the extreme complexity they can process. In terms of enhancing the video or audio element, I'm not certain there's much room for improvement.
Quasqueton said:
A Judge/DM/Referee i.e. human being playing all the monsters and NPC's so that they react like challenging creatures instead of robots. Players that help create a story instead of just reacting to one.
I dunno. Never say never I guess.
Quasqueton said:
The ability to play whenever you have free time instead of whenever you and four or five of your friends have free time.
davidschwartznz
First Post
Computer Roleplaying Games require the player to roleplay to the same degree that Action Video Games require the player to be active.
What MMORPGs lack most is the players' ability to affect the game world. Sure, you can kill the Big Bad Dude, but ther are fifty people lined up behind you waiting for their turn to kill him too. No matter what you do, your faction never gains or loses territory. However, given the massive numbers of people involved (it's right there in the acronym), I don't expect to see a dynamic MMORPG any time soon.
What MMORPGs lack most is the players' ability to affect the game world. Sure, you can kill the Big Bad Dude, but ther are fifty people lined up behind you waiting for their turn to kill him too. No matter what you do, your faction never gains or loses territory. However, given the massive numbers of people involved (it's right there in the acronym), I don't expect to see a dynamic MMORPG any time soon.
DonTadow
First Post
Table top games offer the ability to role play with realistic conversation, actions and conditions. Few things are preprogrammed allowing the game to actually be created as you play as opposed to having set options from the beginning. Very rarely have I played an mmorpg and felt like i was the character. I was essentially Don playing a game talking to my buddy about when the next drop wil ltake place. Table tops offer a variety of character archtypes such as the lonesome fighter, crazed mage and rebel cleric. MMOrpgs have the tank, the healer, and the nuker.
You don't lose players to a mmorpgs. If a player choose mmorpgs over a real game then he prefers mmorpgs more than rpgs. No loss there. The two offer two completely different types of fun.
You don't lose players to a mmorpgs. If a player choose mmorpgs over a real game then he prefers mmorpgs more than rpgs. No loss there. The two offer two completely different types of fun.
Queen_Dopplepopolis
First Post
A couple of the players in our current game have recently become WoW freaks. They leveled to 60 within a month easily and now - when we play - they spend a significant portion of our gaming time talking about WoW... and, I participate in the conversation frequently and sometimes I even start it, but this last weekend it definately got a little silly... made me feel really bad for our DM. *scrunches up nose*
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