I admit it...

[Bloodsparrow]

I played some serious amounts of FFIX let me tell you. I also grew up playing games like Zork (and other Infocom Games) as well as Riddle of the Sphinx, Zelda, Ultima Exodious, DragonWarrior, Text MUDs, and on and on. I didn't start playing actuall Face to Face, Table top RPGs until I was 18. And I was very very "Videogamey" in my first session.

Whenever the DM mentioned ANYTHING, I would automaticly want to fiddle with it. You know how in a game, if something is ment to be interacted with it sorta stands out? Or in a text game like Zork, only the really importent stuff is described in serious detail? I was totally in that mindset and it took a little while to know that I didn't have to fiddle with every little thing... But the thing was that I could fiddle with every little thing. As opposed to say, Monkey Island, where I could only fiddle with the poisoned meat and the deadly parana puppies.

Playing Monkey Island on a computer, there's only one way around the deadly parana puppies, feed them the poisoned meat you've been lugging around with you for about a quarter of the game, trying ANYTHING else will result in a "you can't do that with those". But playing Monkey Island as a "Meatspace" RPG, there are billions of ways to deal with those yapping little terrors.

And I don't think anybody can argue that the settings of games like FF are bad, or that the genre itself is bad. (How bad can it be when it brings new people like you to help keep our hobby alive? )

But, when you're sitting at a table, with your dice, a pad, and a pencil, you want choises. And a CRPG (computer or console) doesn't always provide that. Not that it's a terrible thing in a video game, it's something we've come to expect, and improvements are being made in that regard, but a CRPG has to end sometime. Where as lack of freedom is a bad thing in a table top RPG, and it only has to end when people stop being able to get their schedules in order.

 

[Desdichado]

I oughta start a poll about what brought us into gaming. Was it CRPGs, fantasy novels, movies, wargames, etc.? I'm curious if a lot of people started the hobby through CRPGs or not. I got into it because of fantasy novels, myself.

 

[Henry]

You don't, but I do. There were several instances of that in a Neverwinter Nights campaign I played in recently. Heck, we spent one session sitting around telling improved stories.

Hence my comment about Multiplayer Online RPG's - it's getting there, and the reason you can do it with Neverwinter nights is because it functions on the pen-and-paper model. I play it myself, and my beefs with it are that it's still not as fast as an in-person DM.

 

[garyh]

I oughta start a poll about what brought us into gaming. Was it CRPGs, fantasy novels, movies, wargames, etc.? I'm curious if a lot of people started the hobby through CRPGs or not. I got into it because of fantasy novels, myself.

Heh. First exposure to fantasy was Dragon Warrior for the NES. Later, I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Then I bought MERP, ICE's old Role-Master-based LotR RPG. Only later did I get an AD&D 2e PHB.

I think nailing down one thing that got me into RPG's would be a bit tough, as it likely would be for others.

One thing I'd like to point out is that tastes can vary wildly, even for one person. I'd dig a tabletop game styled after any of Dragon Warrior, LotR, Diablo, WarCraft, Star Wars, superhero comics, Wheel of Time, or even *gasp!* Forgotten Realms. There's no need to pigeon-hole people into being a video-gamey player, novelly player, or whatever.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I think I started table-top RPGs and console RPGs at around the same time... so really neither introduced me to the other.

BTW, Ultima IV kicks major butt. I'll still have a soft spot in my heart for Crono Trigger as well.

All I'll say about the console vs. table-top argument is this: they're different. We're talking apples and oranges - they're both fruit, but they're quite different. While some may prefer one to the other, in reality one is not better than the other.

 

[Allanon]

Oh, c'mon! Sure, really good DMs might be rare, but you don't need the Ultimate DM to compete with CRPG stories. CRPGs are written by normal people too, y'know.

You're right there Joshua, but I was referring to Henry's post who claimed that PS:T wasn't giving him enough freedom because (see other post). And my response to that was no DM will give you THAT much freedom, so why expect it from a CRPG.
The Fact that Piratecat coped with his party not doing the Modron March is commendable, but even he would have to resort to railroading like actions if his PC want to veer off as much as Henry would have liked.

 

[Alzrius]

Gellion, have you seen Deathnet, the d20 Modern mini-game in the Polyhedron section of Dungeon #105 (on sale now)? It's not a CRPG, but rather, a tabletop RPG set inside a computer! It's a somewhat ironic blend of the two, and is quite enjoyable in that respect (assuming you have a DM who runs it right, anyway). Check it out!

 

[hong]

But, when you're sitting at a table, with your dice, a pad, and a pencil, you want choises.

Actually, I want to kill monsters and take their stuff.

 

[Gellion]

Gellion, have you seen Deathnet, the d20 Modern mini-game in the Polyhedron section of Dungeon #105 (on sale now)? It's not a CRPG, but rather, a tabletop RPG set inside a computer! It's a somewhat ironic blend of the two, and is quite enjoyable in that respect (assuming you have a DM who runs it right, anyway). Check it out!

I have heard of it, but i do not have ready access to either Dungeon, or D20 Modern. But from what i have heard, it seems pretty cool.

I never realized this topic would sort of snowball after only two nights, most of my thread sink down into oblivion.

 

[Desdichado]

I think nailing down one thing that got me into RPG's would be a bit tough, as it likely would be for others.

One thing I'd like to point out is that tastes can vary wildly, even for one person. I'd dig a tabletop game styled after any of Dragon Warrior, LotR, Diablo, WarCraft, Star Wars, superhero comics, Wheel of Time, or even *gasp!* Forgotten Realms. There's no need to pigeon-hole people into being a video-gamey player, novelly player, or whatever.

No attempt to pigeonhole players in any kind of type, just to see what influences led to them having interest in D&D in the first place. It's quite possible that many people had multiple paths that could have led them in this direction, but certainly in my case that's not true. D&D, when I came across is in the very early 80s, was the chance to tell my own stories that were like the fantasy novels I was reading (and enjoying immensely) at the time.