The Wii May Be the Bane of Roleplaying

[RFisher]

Live action roleplay meets video games.

At the risk of being a "me too": Both of these things represent antitheses of what I get out of pen & paper role-playing games.

Heck, everytime I see a Wii ad, it merely reinforced for me that it's exactly the opposite of what I want from video/console/computer games.

 

[Dykstrav]

I remember hearing people say this kind of stuff when Final Fantasy II came out for the Super NES. When was that? Like 1991 or so?

A guy I work with has an ongoing thing with me about World of Warcraft. I've played it, and quite frankly, I got tired of it after about a week. He used to play D&D and has forsaken all things pen-and-paper because WoW is so good. But somehow, I'm being an anachronistic, stone-aged jerk because I still actually roll dice and move miniatures on a table for something a computer can do for me. He thinks that he can convince me that WoW is superior and nobody plays D&D any more, we have the same discussion about it approximately twice a week.

I actually like video games but they just don't hold my interest very long. I have a game cube and a PS2 and a fistfull of games for them but tabletop RPG's still interest me more. I admit that a big part of this is probably because I sit behind computer monitors and in screening rooms so much in my work.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Not that I'm dissing computer/console games. The Wii is the first console in years I'd actually consider buying, but I play lots of MMO's, most CRPGs, and really like turn-based strategy computer games. It's just a hamburgers/hotdogs thing with me. I like em both, but in different ways.

 

[Anti-Sean]

Oh man, do I love my Wii. I'm worried that two of my players in particular are going to try to get their characters killed off early during tomorrow's game so they can play with it.

I'm not worried about it replacing pen and paper RPGs, though, as swinging a controller around is far too close to actual physical activity for most gamers I know

 

[WizarDru]

Half of my group is currently involved in hunting down their own Wiis to match the DMs. But it hasn't scored nary a dent in the weekly game. They provide entirely different fun experiences. Each one provides it's own advantages and disadvantages.

And Zelda: Twilight Princess is the best Zelda game ever.

The only thing that can kill of an RPG is when people aren't having fun, or aren't fun in the correct proportion to the effort involved in having it. The Wii is no greater threat to D&D than Magic: the Gathering was.

 

[Catavarie]

The Wii might become the greatest exercise equipment ever. I'm reminded of all the stories you would hear of teenagers that started playing Dance Dance revolution for hours on end at the arcade and lose 50 - 100 pounds. Just because they would finally get the exercise they had been missing. Now the Wii can bring that into the home. Now if they follow Microsoft's lead and release a dev kit for cheap, imagine having all your combat take place with actual movement and having it be visually stimulating as well. It could quickly replace miniatures at the game table.

 

[Gez]

Think I'm kidding? Check out Wii Have A Problem

Some people are still quite skeptic, though.

 

[F5]

In a way, the Wii is MORE immersive than any tabletop RPG I've ever played. When my wizard character casts a spell, I don't actually perform verbal and somatic components. When fighting a troll, I'm not actually running around my friends' living room, swinging a simulated axe over my head. Tabletop RPGs, even with minis involved, are almost completely taking place in the realm of the mind. Console and PC games (especially now with the Wii) are blurring the line between the fantasy game and the real world. Two completely different experiences, I think, and therefore not a threat to each other.

The only threat I can see from the Wii is as a time-sink...who's got enough time in the day to play through a few levels of a console game, and STILL get to that nights tabletop game on time?

 

[AuraSeer]

At least with a tabletop RPG you won't accidentally throw a remote through the front of your television.
Think I'm kidding? Check out Wii Have A Problem

Most of the people on that site wouldn't be RPG players in any case. The first time they picked up a d4, they'd accidentally fling it across the room and put the DM's eye out.

 

[Crust]

The joy of RPGs (for me, anyway) is the wide-open sense of wonder and possibility. No saves and reloads, no hint books or cheat codes, no levels or zones, and no patches and bugs.

...and no doors that can't simply be broken through, no locks that, somehow, require a key to be opened (drives me NUTS with NWN2... It's OPEN LOCK! No key required... Oh, the DC is 99... how typically ridiculous), no forced conversations, no invisible walls, no respawning monsters, and on and on...

I agree. Nothing beats the real thing, and certainly not a system that boasts an update on the Power Glove/U-Force. Moving my arms to play a video game? Shhheah right! And pointing and shooting at my TV was fun when I was 10-years-old playing Hogan's Alley and Duck Hunt... for maybe ten minutes total. I could see it being kewl with a massive flat screen, but I can't afford those. And if the controller slips... Well, we've all seen the results of that. I've transcended the console anyway. No console can stand up to PC games.