Person vs. `Puter

Are Tabletop RPGs CRPGs?

  • Tabletop RPGs are CRPGs. I will elaborate in the thread.

    Votes: 7 9.1%
  • Tabletop RPGs are not CRPGs. I will explain below.

    Votes: 70 90.9%

jdrakeh said:
Now that is a discussion with merit.

Video games are, by their nature, typically prescriptive (not always, but typically) when it comes to resolving action -- they provide players with X choices (X being a finite number) and the player chooses what to do, after which the CPU and program determines whether or not the player is successful.

By default, table top RPGs typically (yes, I'm making that distinction again) don't provide a finite number of choices that a player must choose from, rather, the player can attempt to do anything that they like and then the Dungeon Master must determine whether or not they are successful.

Or at least that's the ideal. A crappy DM can really bungle that last bit and, IME, they often do.

Human perception is finite too. The key does not lie in volume or quantity but quality. Humans react to specific stimuli patterns that present themselves in reality in a way that no logic computer will ever be able to emulate.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

"I want to stay in town and do something other then chase the big bad"
"Ok!"


"I want to stay in town and do something you aren't programmed for."
"..."
"Oh right, computers can't talk, nor can they change their own game programming around what I want."

No, they aren't the same. Anything a computer game can do, D&D can do better, assuming we aren't going to be asinine about it or assume we have the MOST POWERFUL, AWESOME COMPUTER IN THE WORLD compared to the WORST DM IMAGINABLE.
 


CRPGs have hard and certain limits, RPGs really don't. I can't decide I want to move to a small village and become a charcoal burner in a CRPG but I can in an RPG. Of course having the DM not beat me to death with a Mt Dew bottle might be a tricky matter.

In an real RPG I can keep playing after I tell the king "get stuffed I don't want to save your daughter" and there is some game afetr that.

I can join the big bad boss on level 8 of the Black Tower, help him take over the kingdom and have him assassinated so I can take over the reigns of power.

In a real RPG I can dig a hole anywhere I want to dig.

In a real rpg I can mix up a few liquids and sell some magic potions to some rubes and hopefully make it out of town in time to enjoy my Ill gotten gain somewhere else.

CRPGs never say "Wow, that's a great a Idea!" or "Really, you think that is wise?" and run with that idea and it's outcome for many a game session afterwards.
 

The distinction is much more blurred than is being made out. Crpgs are created by humans. The adventures, NPC dialogue and range of action have all been determined by a human, acting in much the same role as the GM in a ttrpg. And the state of the game isn't fixed, I can download patches, mods, even request a human programmer to write more content, create new maps. Which he may or may not do. So where are these 'hard and certain limits'?

And ttrpgs aren't unlimited at all. There are many, many constraints. The physical laws of the game world. The abilities of my PC. The game rules. What the GM thinks is plausible. What the other players want from the game. I would strongly question whether 'become a charcoal burner' is a real choice in 99% of games. I'm supposed to be an adventurer. Likewise if it has been agreed that all the PCs are to be good guys at the start or the other players and GM simply don't want to go in that direction with the campaign, I can't join the boss of the black tower. Again, the presence of others acts as a limit on my freedom.

If we're merely talking about potential, rather than actual freedom here - what might be possible in a ttrpg with the right players and GM and preparation - then crpgs have *exactly* the same freedom. If a game has been programmed to allow me to become a charcoal burner, whether at the start or subsequently then I have the freedom to do so. Obviously most crpgs won't let me do that. But neither will most GMs. So where is the distinction?
 
Last edited:

Doug McCrae said:
The distinction is much more blurred than is being made out. Crpgs are created by humans. The adventures, NPC dialogue and range of action have all been determined by a human, acting in much the same role as the GM in a ttrpg. And the state of the game isn't fixed, I can download patches, mods, even request a human programmer to write more content, create new maps. Which he may or may not do. So where are these 'hard and certain limits'?
In tabletops the gm interacts with players and players interact with the GM. It is a dynamic creative process for everyone due to our human interaction. No logic algorithm can match this.

Doug McCrae said:
Again, the presence of others acts as a limit on my freedom.
No, it provides the necessary environment so your creativity can reach its max.
 

Olgar Shiverstone said:
People are perfect Turing machines.

I was going to say... all this talk of "world's most powerful computer"! It's called a "Homo Sapiens", dude. Electronic computers are like infinitely autistic math wizkids. Not a recipe for a good DM!
 

If they were questions, CRPGs would be multiple choice and Tabletop RPGs would be essays.

But more importantly, the term CRPG is a misnomer. What is the difference between Grand Theft Auto and Elder Scrolls anyway? Aside from the engine and setting that is. They both let you walk around in a sandbox world doing things that the game lets you. They both let you "interact" with characters in a storyline to advance a plot. They both let you customize your characters stats (well at least one of the GTA series did). And they both let you kill people and take their stuff. Seriously, it seems completely arbitrary as to why one is called a CRPG, and the other isn't.
 

Doug, again, stop comparing the world's greatest computer to the world's worse DM.

CRPGs fall apart when you say "I want to do something not in your programming."

Ironically, CRPGs used to be about trying to reach the level of tabletop games. Nowadays, it seems that's fallen to the side.
 

ProfessorCirno said:
Doug, again, stop comparing the world's greatest computer to the world's worse DM.

CRPGs fall apart when you say "I want to do something not in your programming."

I really think you're ignoring the number of circumstances and occasions where TRPGs do exactly the same thing.
 

Remove ads

Top