Dave Noonan on WoW

[Charwoman Gene]

World of Warcraft: In message board traffic, I see a lot of comparisons between D&D and WoW. It's a discussion that fascinates me. As a guy whose job it is to pay attention to how gamers think, I live for situations when people draw connections between two games like that. Especially because it says as much about the observer as it does about the two games.

Here's what I can add to the discussion: I can tell you who's actually playing WoW. Among the guys who are writing the D&D game right now--which is about a dozen of us, give or take--it's a sure bet that everyone has played World of Warcraft. Oh, wait, maybe not Rich Baker--but he's played a fair amount of City of Heroes. Some tried it, declared it a busman's holiday, and moved on. Others got up into the 50 or 60s.

But I'm the only one on the RPG side of the office with a level 70 character. And I'm also the guy around here that waves his RP freak flag the highest. I'm Mr. Social Challenge. I'm the guy who assigns his players backstory homework assignments. So anyone with preconceptions about WoW fans who play D&D...all I ask is that you adjust those preconceptions to include me.

I'm an unabashed fan of the game. If you told me two and a half years ago that I'd play one computer game to the almost total exclusion of all others for the next three years, I'd stop buying you beers and get you home before you threw up on something. Yet that's what happened, and I'm not quitting anytime soon.

I could talk about Warcraft's gameplay, story, and all that. (Executive summary: I think it's really good.) But part of the reason I've stuck with it is that when Warcraft arrived, I had a one-year-old kid. Now I've got two young kids, and while I have a fair amount of free time in my life, it's almost all in a quiet house after 9 p.m. Warcraft is a pretty good game, given that constraint. That's why I run a West Coast guild devoted to late-night raiding and PvP. It's when I'm available.

This "lifestyle constraint" is why you can bet that when we get a digital game table for D&D, I'm going to be dual-booting my trusty Mac late at night. The computer aspects of 4e aren't for everyone. But us late-night, stuck-at-home guys are going to appreciate it.

And for those of you with young kids of your own, it's fun to read "Goodnight Thoon" to your toddlers instead of "Goodnight Moon." Hmmm, I could see a whole line of D&D-themed board books. But Not The Displacer Beast, anyone?

Daily Work: This morning, I'm working on playtest material for a future iteration of the playtest. I'm going to work those groups pretty hard, I can tell you that. To repeat our answer to the "How do I playtest?" question:

1) Get yourself a stable group of D&D players. They don't have to be experts or anything. But when we send you stuff, you're gonna need to actually play it.

2) Get hooked up with D&D Insider, and watch that space like a hawk. When we need tables, you'll see it posted there first.

---

 

[Glyfair]

Beat me to it.

 

[Festivus]

I have been doing exactly what he describes (in terms of the virtual game table) since October 2005 using Fantasy Grounds. I can tell you that without it, a weekly game would be impossible as I have two youngsters too.

Put me (and my regular Thursday group) in line for that playtest on the virtual tabletops.

Now, I'll have to go dust off some of my Sanrda Boynton books to see what I can get inspiration from for that new book line

 

[Glyfair]

Stephen Schubert has challenged somethings about this post in his blog:

In other news, apparently Mr. Noonan thinks he's the only guy with a level 70 WoW PC around here. I guess since I don't raid or pvp regularly, my mage isn't a *real* level 70 (I run dungeons with friends once every other week or so). I did jump off the bandwagon a couple years back when my daughter was born, but got sucked back in by Burning Crusade - at least for a while. But WoW remains on the list of other stuff I like to do with my friends, along with things like boardgames, movies, BBQs, and football. At the top of the list, of course, is D&D.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Now, I'll have to go dust off some of my Sanrda Boynton books to see what I can get inspiration from for that new book line

Blue Slaad, Green Slaad
Barbarian Hippos Go Berserk
Dinosaur's Blink Dog

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My pbp campaigns are almost entirely married guys (and a married woman) with jobs and all the rest, and pbp is "when we can play." The virtual tabletop has appeal for the same reason.

And yeah, this week, I've been playing WoW with the sound off/down with a baby in the bassinet beside me. (I raided Kharazan last night that way.) The convenience factor of MMORPGs is so, so much higher than that of standard tabletop games. I don't think the virtual tabletop will totally solve that problem -- I'm not really interested in a random hour played at a random virtual table with a random person -- but it'll make quick "we all have time for a game for 90 minutes" games a lot more doable, no matter where in the world we may be. (One of my players lives on the Yucatan Peninsula, for instance, while another lives in Canada and a third is in Australia.)

 

[Glyfair]

David Noonan has fired back:

Steve Schubert points out that he has a level 70 WoW character, too.

To which I reply: Alliance doesn't count. For the Horde!

(For the record, I don't touch WoW and have no idea what it means. I just think the interchanges are entertaining)

 

[Charwoman Gene]

David Noonan has fired back:



(For the record, I don't touch WoW and have no idea what it means. I just think the interchanges are entertaining)

Horde are Orcs and their Allies.
Alliance are 12-yo leet speaking crybabies.

 

[Shadeydm]

Usually this sort of WoW banter is between those who play on PVP (Player vs Player) servers and PVE (Player vs Enviroment) servers also referred to in some circles as Care Bear Servers. On a PvP sever players of opposing factions can attack each other on a whim. On a PVE sever both parties must agree to fight before the two opposing factions of players can attack each other.

 

[Masquerade]

Horde are Orcs and their Allies.
Alliance are 12-yo leet speaking crybabies.

Hehe. My (Alliance-loyal) friends who play WoW say quite the opposite.

I haven't touched the game myself, but I do fancy its undead race.