NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dragonblade" data-source="post: 3699573" data-attributes="member: 2804">I'll tell you exactly what the problem is with RPGs. I speak as a "power gamer" that does not play WoW or MMORPGs.In fact I think the "trend" of power gamers leaving tabletop for WoW is overrated. Most of my tabletop group used to play WoW a lot! Hours every night. Now, most of them have cancelled their WoW accounts and show no inclination of going back. Why? Because they have been there. Done that. They have done every quest. Hit max level with multiple character classes. There is just nothing there for them anymore. Now they are all playing LotR online, and when they get tired of that they will quit that and move on. However, our multiple D&D games involving these players are going strong. We have to turn players away in fact.What keeps them interested in D&D? Its simple, its the fact that there is no computer imposed limit on their character or the things they can do. There is no "grinding" for levels, no raids that become little more than an excersize in resource management.In my experience D&D is fun because you get to hang out with your friends in person. No MMORPG can match this. Ever.D&D is also fun because you have a personal investment in a character that is often an integral part of a campaign. If your character is part of killing a big bad, then he stays dead. It is not instanced ad infinitum for a thousand other players. This ability to make unique and  persistent changes to the campaign is one advantage of TRPGs that MMORPGs by their very nature cannot match.Likewise, I can make any character I want. I can do anything I want. No computer arbiter can ever match face time with a human DM. Just not going to happen.So in a nutshell, I see the following pros to tabletop:1) Freedom of action2) Unique and persistent world experience3) Face time with your friendsI see the following cons to tabletop:1) Bad DMs can create an inconsistent play experience or impose artificial rules restrictions2) complex calculations or resource management can take extra time when done manually3) lack of graphical appealFor MMORPG's I see the following pros:1) neutral computer arbiter ensures a consistent experience and speeds up play2) graphical appeal3) can play any time and stop any timeI see the following cons:1) You can't really play with your friends, unless everyone gets their computers together in the same room and on the same LAN2) Your experience is neither unique nor persistent. No matter what quests you have done, what items your character has, or what class abilities you choose as you level up. Guaranteed that 100 other players out there have the same abilities and stats as you, and guaranteed that thousands of other players have all done the same quests and garnered the same items.3) You can't really do whatever you want, you are confined to the limits of game engine.In a nutshell, I think the cons of tabletop play can be mitigated or reduced, whereas the cons of MMORPG's cannot be due to their very nature. Likewise, many of the advantages of MMORPGs can be incorporated into the table top experience. The threads on using projectors and the NWN engine to make a graphically beautiful dungeon effectively eliminates the graphical appeal problem. Likewise, the dungeon tiles provided by WotC and Paizo also help in that regard.DM consistency is a tough issue to tackle but a lot of it can be mitigated by making the DMs job easier. Reworking high level play so that power gamers feel that they have gotten more powerful, but also providing more tools to the GM, like quick and easy NPC generators to allow them to come up with equal challenges in seconds or minutes instead of hours. Likewise, I think treatises on high level adventure design and how to work with instead of nerfing high level PC abilities is much needed. One big problem with high level play is the burden placed on the DM. Most DMs avoid it altogether because it is such a burden. This leads only to player frustration and is a major reason why so-called "power gamers" migrate to MMORPGs in the first place!!</blockquote>

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