RPG jumps into the mainstream... what next?
- Thread starter Krug
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Agamon
Adventurer
JCLabelle said:
Yeah, I'm not sure EQ's 300,000 users is going to outnumber the number of people playing NWN. EQ just has so many things that makes it difficult for a casual gamer to play (monthly charge, incredible sys reqs, "keep up with the Jones'" play-style), whereas NWN is much like most other games in that you just install it and play.
How many people that play NWN play it as a pseudo-PnP game is the big question.
Heap Thaumaturgist
First Post
You get munchkins in PnP RPGs, but the thing about PnP munchkins ... it takes at least two to tango, there. Usually five to seven.
There's a whole generation of people who have grown up with the ability to shirk the artificial structures provided by video games. They've been told: "This is how the game is played ... but if you do -this-, you don't have to play by the rules anymore."
So they do. You had Diablo, then you had Diablo trainers and PKers and cheaters dropping in every magical item they could think of ... because they could, and there's a juvenile obsession with being beyond the rules and/or being the best within a given structure.
I think getting a million 14-17 yr old hard core computer gamers to ever play PnP is a task. Within a week I'm sure my little brother will have his NWN character to 20th level with a vorpal sword, full plate of fortification, etc etc, without ever having even played a character to first level. That's just how they are. ... Actually he's 20 now that I think of it, but the mentality is the same, at any rate.
Same token, though, I think people with the right mentality and mindset could be tempted to the dark side through NWN. I have a friend who is an avid computer gamer and quite mature about it. A bunch of the guys want to get a D&D group together, but we think this guy will be a stumbling block because he has some odd idea that D&D is somehow "worse" and "more dorky" than playing computer RPGs for days running.
It's like coaxing the heathens down from the trees. Gotta do it slow.
--HT
There's a whole generation of people who have grown up with the ability to shirk the artificial structures provided by video games. They've been told: "This is how the game is played ... but if you do -this-, you don't have to play by the rules anymore."
So they do. You had Diablo, then you had Diablo trainers and PKers and cheaters dropping in every magical item they could think of ... because they could, and there's a juvenile obsession with being beyond the rules and/or being the best within a given structure.
I think getting a million 14-17 yr old hard core computer gamers to ever play PnP is a task. Within a week I'm sure my little brother will have his NWN character to 20th level with a vorpal sword, full plate of fortification, etc etc, without ever having even played a character to first level. That's just how they are. ... Actually he's 20 now that I think of it, but the mentality is the same, at any rate.
Same token, though, I think people with the right mentality and mindset could be tempted to the dark side through NWN. I have a friend who is an avid computer gamer and quite mature about it. A bunch of the guys want to get a D&D group together, but we think this guy will be a stumbling block because he has some odd idea that D&D is somehow "worse" and "more dorky" than playing computer RPGs for days running.
It's like coaxing the heathens down from the trees. Gotta do it slow.
--HT
TalonComics
First Post
I don't think NWN is going to convert the masses anymore than any other Bioware game has. I'm also interested in seeing the reviews of what NWN is really going to be capable of before announcing it as the sliced bread of CRPGs.
In all honesty I'm curious more about what the Everquest RPG is going to do than NWN.
Btw, you all have missed the 3 million plus customer base for the MMORPG Lineage. Granted it's mainly Koreans but it still advertises itself as the largest player base in the world for a MMORPG.
I guess call me cynical but I just don't see NWN making that much of a difference. :/
~Derek
In all honesty I'm curious more about what the Everquest RPG is going to do than NWN.
Btw, you all have missed the 3 million plus customer base for the MMORPG Lineage. Granted it's mainly Koreans but it still advertises itself as the largest player base in the world for a MMORPG.
I guess call me cynical but I just don't see NWN making that much of a difference. :/
~Derek
Black Omega
First Post
NWN is a good step toward better online RPG's. It does run the risk of too high expectations. I've heard quite a bit of "It will draw in a huge number of people and change even PnP roleplaying forever". I seriously doubt it will do this.
The 'munchkin' element will like it to a degree. They don't even need cheats. I recall in part of a demo a designer said you could have a 20th level character with a +5 vorpal blade in seconds, just enter in the character. No one might let you play it on their server, but that's a different thing.
The bit I'm curious to see if how NWN is so great for RP. As far as I could tell, you are still simply typing in what you say. Which is something MUSHers have been doing for more than a decade and is basically how you RP on EQ and the other MMORPGs.
The 'munchkin' element will like it to a degree. They don't even need cheats. I recall in part of a demo a designer said you could have a 20th level character with a +5 vorpal blade in seconds, just enter in the character. No one might let you play it on their server, but that's a different thing.
The bit I'm curious to see if how NWN is so great for RP. As far as I could tell, you are still simply typing in what you say. Which is something MUSHers have been doing for more than a decade and is basically how you RP on EQ and the other MMORPGs.
Black Omega
First Post
Though a fairly high percentage of DnD players will need to buy NWN and actually use it, for NWN to pass up EQ. It would be great for NWN if even 33% of those 3 million buy NWN. It would also make NWN one of the best selling computer games of all time, if not the best. But until that happens the player base of DnD doesn't mean the same thing as the player base for NWN.
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