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.