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<blockquote data-quote="Thornir Alekeg" data-source="post: 5049783" data-attributes="member: 15651">So what is the role of the DM and how does their function and responsibility define a game as a role-playing game? Do players roleplay for the DM, or do they roleplay for everyone?DM's have the knowledge of the adventure to give to the players.&nbsp; In a more linear style game, that knowledge could be stored by a computer and given to the players as needed - not really any different than a DM reading the appropriate section of a published adventure path.DMs determine the actions of the opponents.&nbsp; With suggested actions given, the players could take on the decision making process for the opponents.&nbsp; Sure, they could make the opponents act stupidly and make an easy win, but some I'm sure would rather make decisions that make the game fun and a challenge.DMs adjudicate applications of rules when it is not clearly defined.&nbsp; This could easily be done by a consensus or voting system.&nbsp; Heck, most rules discussions I've encountered turn into that anyway.&nbsp; The only difference is the DM gets final say.DMs give out hidden information based upon players' questions or actions - this is more difficult to replace a human successfully, but a limited method is possible using decision trees.DMs make stuff up on the fly and customize games to the players.&nbsp; I don't see that being replaced by a computer, but not every game has a DM who does this, and not doing it does not in my mind make the game no longer an RPG.I'm sure there is more, but my lunch break is over.&nbsp; What else does a DM do that either a computer or the players working cooperatively cannot do?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thornir Alekeg, post: 5049783, member: 15651"] So what is the role of the DM and how does their function and responsibility define a game as a role-playing game? Do players roleplay for the DM, or do they roleplay for everyone? DM's have the knowledge of the adventure to give to the players. In a more linear style game, that knowledge could be stored by a computer and given to the players as needed - not really any different than a DM reading the appropriate section of a published adventure path. DMs determine the actions of the opponents. With suggested actions given, the players could take on the decision making process for the opponents. Sure, they could make the opponents act stupidly and make an easy win, but some I'm sure would rather make decisions that make the game fun and a challenge. DMs adjudicate applications of rules when it is not clearly defined. This could easily be done by a consensus or voting system. Heck, most rules discussions I've encountered turn into that anyway. The only difference is the DM gets final say. DMs give out hidden information based upon players' questions or actions - this is more difficult to replace a human successfully, but a limited method is possible using decision trees. DMs make stuff up on the fly and customize games to the players. I don't see that being replaced by a computer, but not every game has a DM who does this, and not doing it does not in my mind make the game no longer an RPG. I'm sure there is more, but my lunch break is over. What else does a DM do that either a computer or the players working cooperatively cannot do? [/QUOTE]

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