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Message: <blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 5160905" data-attributes="member: 85870">I disagree, but only in the use of the word "instant" here. If you're talking about immediate, nearly instantaneous reward feedback, PnP is NEVER going to touch a video game. Ever. It just can't; the nature of a PnP game itself prevents it. There's no "Boot up in minutes and, oooooh, look at the flashy!" in pen and paper. However--most of the ideas you posit are not what I consider to be instant gratification. They're longer-term, more intrinsic to the nature of the types of challenges that a PnP RPG can present. And to me, these are the types of rewards that can't be duplicated by short-cycle achievements (like finding "phat lewt" in a dungeon when playing Diablo). I think what Celebrim has been saying all along, and I totally agree with him, is that the pen-and-paper gaming industry has to be careful not to sacrifice the longer-lasting, more satisfying long-term rewards simply to try and capture more of the "phat lewt" audience. Not that the demographics are mutually exclusive, mind you, only that it's going to be very difficult to satisfy both halves of the demographic totally successfully. And I also think Celebrim is right in saying that ultimately, the success or failure of the pen-and-paper RPG industry hinges on companies' ability to cater to the long-term reward cycle "lifestyle gamers," than to the short-cycle gamers.</blockquote>