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Message: <blockquote data-quote="VikingLegion" data-source="post: 7162236" data-attributes="member: 6794627">I think @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6689191" target="_blank">Hillsy7</a> really nailed it in his post - because I read what you just wrote and despair that the two sides could ever agree.  See, the things that you find "essential" in a D&D video game are the things that drive me away.  Let me explain:A long time ago I found a bunch of friends online in a game called Everquest.  We were a tight group that played a bunch of games together, separated by thousands of miles and never to meet face-to-face.  When DDO (Dungeons and Dragons: Online) was announced, I was beside myself with joy.  Finally I can have my video game crew unite together in a game while also enjoying the fantasy IP that is most dear to my heart.  DDO was (is still?) a very faithful interpretation of D&D rules - they satisfied the 3 points you found to be essential.  Let me tell you something.... things like Vancian magic systems and the need to rest to recover abilities works great for a group of friends sitting around a table, eating Cheetos and drinking Mountain Dew, joking around, etc.  It is absolutely horrific for an online group sitting at their terminals in different houses.  If one character dies and we don't have a rez available, he literally has to sit at his computer and stare at the screen until we can get to a "rest shrine" to replenish our spells.  Each dungeon typically only had one of these things, and they are single use - so if you screw up a second time, that character is excluded from completing the dungeon.  Either you press on without him (a crappy thing to do), or you bail out and get no xp or treasure rewards - meaning you and your group of friends might have just thrown away an hour of your weekly gaming time budget and have nothing but frustration to show for it.  The D&D ruleset is great for tabletop, and even single-player turn based, tactically heavy games.  But for online, massively multiplayer, it is a nightmare to incorporate.  DDO was so frustrating for us, it actually caused our longtime gaming crew (10+ years together) to fracture.  2 players quit completely, the rest of us tried out some other games, and it took years for us to eventually reunite in a different game, all because the D&D ruleset was just to clunky to translate properly to an enjoyable multi-user online experience.And I think that's where a big disconnect lies.  To build on the excellent post of Hillsy7 I think this is yet one more area in which we are miles apart.  If I want to play a solo game, then yes I would agree with everything you posted.  The D&D rules are just fine, I enjoy a Vancian spellcasting system where I have to parcel out my usage of spells judiciously, can't blow a Meteor Storm on a handful of goblins.  Resting is fine too, it all goes as part of the strategy of the game.  Single player games allow one person (you or I) to control the entire party, so it's ok if the mage or cleric is kinda hanging out in the back row, not doing much until they are needed.  But in a multiplayer, MMO style cooperative game where each player is controlling just one in-game avatar, that is just not fun.  If I'm playing a mage in a party with other friends, it's very boring to just sit there and save my spells because I suspect a boss enemy is going to be coming up soon.  That's not really fair (or entertaining) to bench a player while the fighter and others are hacking away, doing their jobs.In a perfect world, we'd see 2 games come out:1.  A single player, turn-based CRPG that nearly perfectly emulates the 5e ruleset.  This game allows the strategists and purists to basically enjoy their favorite hobby, only in a different medium and without the need to have a tabletop group.2.  An MMO that takes some liberties with the nuts and bolts of the rules in order to deliver a more enjoyable experience, but still has enough of the iconic elements - spells, items, monsters, locations, etc. to let the online crew romp around in their favorite D&D locations, while still being a fun game.  I'm currently playing Neverwinter on my PS4, and it is *close* to this experience, but yuck on the 4e inspired classes and also I'm a big opponent of the Forgotten Realms timeline jump that basically destroyed the setting.  My dream would be a game that plays like Neverwinter, mechanically, but uses 3e or 5e classes, and utilizes the original launch timelines of several iconic D&D worlds - Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Darksun, and Ravenloft.  About a year ago I posted on just such a game, with a cohesive storyline that linked all those worlds and the ability for players to slide back and forth to all of them, but it got erased, possibly for legal reasons.  I don't think we're allowed to "create" a hypothetical video game that uses Wizbro properties on ENWorld.For the record, I would play the hell out of BOTH of those games, because I enjoy both the solo, tactical experience, as well as the fast paced, massively multiplayer approach.  But I realize I'm in the minority and most players will gravitate heavily to one or the other, but not both.  Therefore, I don't think we will ever come to any kind of meaningful agreement in this thread or in the gaming community in general.</blockquote>

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