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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PaulofCthulhu" data-source="post: 4762769">Will the "iPhone" (or its kin) Kill D&D? I guess that depends what D&D actually is to you.Is D&D sufficiently rules complex that it desires such computational power in order to ease the administrative burden of running/playing the game? If so, why not just make the rules simpler? It's all a simplified abstraction of some form of reality anyway.I do like the idea of administrative assistants, but more for GM setting background and plot referencing than game mechanics. The other weekend at a convention a friend told me of a recent D&D game he played in where everyone around the table had laptops. As the game proceeded the group got quieter & quieter and more distracted as their focus drifted toward the machines, which acted like little barriers to player interaction.To me the greater problem remains generational. For tabletop to carry on, a sufficient number of new players need to exist to be able to physically get together around a table and play. We have new players, yes, but enough to sustain tabletop groups in 30 years time? I don't know (but I hope so).As Ryan Dancey has commented elsewhere (re: D&D vs. WoW) it's not a question of "Better" it's a question of "Good Enough". Also to paraphrase Gary Gygax: Theatre is best, Films are great, TV is OK & convenient and a lot more people watch TV than go to the theatre.</blockquote>