DRPG feel in a CRPG

[GMMichael]

Before coffee (I know, I know), I had a thought: wouldn't it be nice to settle into a computer RPG with the same feeling that you get from settling down at the dining room* table for a night of role-playing with friends?

Then the problems crept up on me. What the heck does that mean? How would it work? Is it possible?

My next thought was that a discursive RPG is always more flexible than a CRPG: your imagination is the limit. So the DRPG feel is going to benefit from open-world design. For starters.

What else might make a CRPG feel (but obviously not be) like a DRPG? What games have you played that aroused such a feeling?

*I'm adding "dining room" to my list of things that the D can stand for in DRPG.

 

[Reynard]

Besides the infinite possibility* that you mention, the defining feature of the Dinner Table is the camaraderie -- and that means the CRPG has to not just allow but really facilitate co-op gameplay (preferably drop in, drop out). If it can also accomodate a GM figure (playing the opposition, whatever) even better. There have been a few attempts at this, from Neverwinter Knights to Legends of the Sword Coast and none have really managed it.

*or the illusion thereof. We all know things aren't unlimited, because there is a world and potentially adventure with built in limitations.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

I think it might feel closest to sid's Civilization.

The reason I say this is not the adventure part, but the 'other players' part. Civ is one of those types of games where you feel like you are playing a game with other people, not just in-character AI like Elder Scrolls. (note modern AI, AI as in what old game used to consider it)

So I think maybe a cool way to execute this would be to use turn based 3/4 game like Baldurs Gate. And then assign each of the other characters to a 'Person" (which could be fulfilled by PC).

That would give us the adventure. And then in turns you could 'chat' with and negotiate with the other "players".

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm having a mental blue screen of death over the fairly obscure term "DRPG" -- which already applies to computer RPGS -- being turned into a synonym for "TTRPG."

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[Sossij]

I feel like eventually this will just morph into a very advanced VTT that does all the math, dice, movement, and stuff for you. Some of them try very hard to do that.

 

[payn]

DRPG?

 

[Piperken]

Then the problems crept up on me. What the heck does that mean? How would it work? Is it possible?

My next thought was that a discursive RPG is always more flexible than a CRPG: your imagination is the limit. So the DRPG feel is going to benefit from open-world design. For starters.

Vestigial memories of attending LAN parties playing Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn arose when I read this.

It was a very unsuccessful herding cats experience. :3

 

[GMMichael]

Besides the infinite possibility* that you mention, the defining feature of the Dinner Table is the camaraderie -- and that means the CRPG has to not just allow but really facilitate co-op gameplay (preferably drop in, drop out). If it can also accomodate a GM figure (playing the opposition, whatever) even better. There have been a few attempts at this, from Neverwinter Knights to Legends of the Sword Coast and none have really managed it.

Yeah, the player-who's-a-GM has always intrigued me, and I suspect that games that are a bit further from D&D, like Arma 3, come closer to succeeding with that effort (the mode is called Zeus).
The camaraderie might be there in lower-player-count games, but I don't think it has much chance in WoW or ESO.

I think it might feel closest to sid's Civilization.

The reason I say this is not the adventure part, but the 'other players' part. Civ is one of those types of games where you feel like you are playing a game with other people, not just in-character AI like Elder Scrolls. (note modern AI, AI as in what old game used to consider it)

So I think maybe a cool way to execute this would be to use turn based 3/4 game like Baldurs Gate. And then assign each of the other characters to a 'Person" (which could be fulfilled by PC).

That would give us the adventure. And then in turns you could 'chat' with and negotiate with the other "players".

So the other characters are or are not players? I'm confused.

I'm having a mental blue screen of death over the fairly obscure term "DRPG" -- which already applies to computer RPGS -- being turned into a synonym for "TTRPG."

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Then I'll pull the plug for you when you encounter the "PC" abbreviation conundrum.

I feel like eventually this will just morph into a very advanced VTT that does all the math, dice, movement, and stuff for you. Some of them try very hard to do that.

That's why I'm asking about the "feel" of it. You can animate, illustrate, and automate as much as you want, but which games make you think "this feels like opening up a rule book and setting out my dice" more than others?

 

[Reynard]

The camaraderie might be there in lower-player-count games, but I don't think it has much chance in WoW or ESO.

I'm not sure that's true, given how MMORPGs ate so many TTRPG groups in the early 00s -- WoW in particular.

 

[payn]

I'm not sure that's true, given how MMORPGs ate so many TTRPG groups in the early 00s -- WoW in particular.

Yeap, I played DDO and Eve for years because of the folks I ran with more than the game. I stopped playing TTRPGs during that time and it was a common discussion amongst gamers. It was the lack of creative output and desire to share that with folks that got me out of the MMO scene and back to the table