SMG: In Search of a Game - A Rant

[Hussar]

I agree Mark. I know that online gaming is still pretty primative. The interface needs quite a bit of work in many programs.

But, it never hurts to point out the option at least. As I ranted above, he's pointing people in the direction of usenet groups. Would it have killed him to point to some other options?

I honestly think that many gamers have no idea that programs like Open or FG or whatever exist. It's not like they have a whole lot of shelf space and are widely promoted. IMHO, spreading the word that there are options is a good thing.

 

[crazy_cat]

Playing an online RPG (Neverwinter NIghts) is what got me interested in getting back into RPG's after a very long absence. As a direct result of playing this game I am now regularly playing tabletop D&D again with a group in my area.

Same goes for the scattered group I met playing NWN - several other 30 somethings I met online also got back into tabletop D&D as a result of NWN - and formed local groups in their areas. We keep in touch and we'll likely meet up online to play NWN2 when its released, but I dont think we'd touch text/mesenger based gaming (I know I wouldn't) as it comes a very poor third behind Tabletop RPGs and then visual PC based RPGs such as NWN, IMO.

YMMV, but I don't think I'm alone in having these views.

Tabletop RPGs offer a face to face social experience, if all the PC does as part of computer gaming is roll the dice and add the buffs, then its not for me - I like my graphics and immersive visual effects and some of the best RP based games I've played were actually with NWN as the PC took care of all the mods, dice, reach effects, AoO, movement etc and let us get on with being our characters.

As a bonus using NWN the other players actually looked like the PCs they'd brought along to the game - instead of Mark I saw Ariadne the Elven Wizard, and Claire was actually Ferien the Rogue.

 

[Hussar]

The downside of NWN, is that it's pay, and it's trickier to do some things unless you are really good at writing scripts. For example, the halfling monk/paladin/Pious Templar in my World's Largest Dungeon game would be tricky to do in NWN. Never mind trying to chart out 16 poster sized maps into NWN is far more work than I want.

I'll stick to jpeg images of my PC's, background maps with icons for battles and my typing abilities. Or chat.

Honestly, I don't use a webcamera. I have no idea what my players look like. I only know them through their characters. Besides that, I have a face that is better suited to chat based games.

 

[Mark CMG]

But, it never hurts to point out the option at least. As I ranted above, he's pointing people in the direction of usenet groups. Would it have killed him to point to some other options?

He's only pointing toward Usenet (and messageboards, for that matter) as a place to find gamers for tabletop games, not as a place to play. Perhaps an email or letter from you on the matter will prompt a follow up article with a different focus, one toward online gaming as an alternative?

 

[Allandaros]

I keep thinking the SMG in the title is net-shorthand for Sarah Michelle Gellar, and wondering why she has so much trouble finding a gaming group. Maybe they always want to play the Buffy RPG?

Funny, I thought it was about a gun-happy player who wanted to use submachine guns....

 

[The Hound]

Tabletop RPGs offer a face to face social experience, if all the PC does as part of computer gaming is roll the dice and add the buffs, then its not for me - I like my graphics and immersive visual effects and some of the best RP based games I've played were actually with NWN as the PC took care of all the mods, dice, reach effects, AoO, movement etc and let us get on with being our characters.

I've tried mmorpgs twice, very briefly, but they just don't do it for me like a good tabletop game. Maybe its just my extremely limited experience with them, but there didn't seem to be much role playing going on; they seemed more like first person shooters writ large than anything I'd seen in a tabletop game. I also wasn't impressed by the concept of "quests" that are used - everyone does the same quests; when you complete a quest, it doesn't change anything, the monsters and bad guys and scenario are still there waiting for the hundreds of people who will go through it after you.

Contrast this with the best tabletop campaigns where your "quest" is a complex adventure in a complex world that rivals the plot of a fantasy novel in scope and which, in the end, has consequences that tie into the next adventure. What it boils down to is that the most attractive aspect of tabletop games for me has always been the feeling of being immersed in a collective fantasy novel. That doesn't seem to occur with mmorpgs.

PS: Face to face tabletop is still, and always will be, the best, IMHO, but online is the next best thing and its sometimes the only thing when you're away from your gaming group, don't have a group, or just want to supplement your gaming activity with an extra campaign or two.

 

[The Hound]

To Hussar: The program of which I speak (I'm assuming that you're referring to my sig line) is not a program like the others but a website. The online tabletop feature is actually one part of a larger project involving an online "living game," and will be the first part to be open to the public. More about all that later...

 

[crazy_cat]

I've tried mmorpgs twice...
...PS: Face to face tabletop is still, and always will be, the best, IMHO,....

Agree entirely on the face to face tabletop RPG option.

NWN however is not a MMORPG (I personally cant stand them either)

I played it on a closed passworded server hosted by me or another one of the players, with a party of 4-5 PCs max and a live DM (or sometimes two) controlling all NPCs, Monsters and other effects in a world created from scratch by the DM in the toolset, and customisable on the fly by the DM as we progressed through the world so that it responded to our actions - not a scripted Fedex quest to be seen.

The same possibilities were there as you could have in any tabletop game - and if the system couldnt cope or produce graphics as required we could then just switch to a description from the DM.

 

[Hussar]

The Hound - Color me intrigued. Your web project sounds... interesting.