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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 438261" data-attributes="member: 158">To rip this thread from the jaws of trolldom..."Telepresence" will be a nebulous concept, at least for some time to come. I seriously doubt that within the next 20 years we will see a total evolution of gaming on computer past making the interfaces easier to use, allowing more intuitive apps to be used by the participants, and by allowing screen presence to be more realistic. Basically, the near future I predict will see every PC having the basic capabilities of a small hollywood studio, simple enough for even basic users to set up and configure. We have capabilities for this sort of thing within reach now, but not at a consumer level. While I do see some social aspect to games such as Everquest right now, I do not see it altering the basic social party paradigm that is the center of RPG'ing right now. In truth, think about this: The internet and MMORPG's cause the majority of computer-savvy individuals to become MORE isolated, not less. We must be careful not to let online "reality" be confused with actual reality. Online, we put on a facade more completely than anything we can HOPE to manage in real life. You can't even know the "real me", and I cannot hope to know "the real you" online, because there is no body language, appearance, extemporaneous conversation, etc. that clues you into what kind of a person I actually AM.The social aspects to tabletop gaming cannot be completely modeled by a computer, and vice versa. You cannot be as immersive at a table with props, as you can by having a carefully constructed game world laid out before you onscreen. Consequently, not being able to go out together "after the game", and not being able to enjoy social parties and other events together hampers the game experience. When people think of computer replacing tabletop play, they often forget the externalities to the gaming sessions that actually make up part of the session. It's like trying to call imitation grape flavoring "grape" - everyone who has ever drank actual grape juice knows there is not a direct comparison between the two! If someone tried to peddle grape snowcone syrup as actual grape juice to me, I would ask them, "Who are you trying to kid?????"However, there is room in this world of ours for grape snowcones AND grape juice. One complements the other, one needn't SUPPLANT the other, and cannot! Unlike a more clear-cut case between, say, clothesline-dried linens, and linens that used a dryer and fabric softener, where there is not a difference significant enough to matter (and yes, I have used both), the differences between tabletop and crpg'ing will not supplant one another until a Matrix-style virtual reality (minus the Agents) comes into being.</blockquote>

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