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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fast Learner" data-source="post: 439144" data-attributes="member: 649">What I mean by "telepresence"Some clarification of my opinion:The kind of telepresence I'm talking about -- truly immersive -- is probably at least 20 years away, quite possibly as much as 100 years off (it's so hard to predict technology). I'm talking about the kind of telepresence that is distinguished from reality only by the fact that you can do more than you can in real life, but not less.Will you (generically) ever prefer it to real life gaming? Probably not. But to understand technological changes you have to consider social changes at the same time. For a current example, there are young people today -- my daughter is one of them -- who would prefer to chat with friends on the computer over talking to them on the phone. You can chat with multiple people at the same time, you can "show" them things on the web, etc. There are almost no people over age 50 who would prefer this, and not many over age 35. With each new generation comes a group of people who effectively "assume" certain technologies as natural, normal, and preferred. Every group of teens is confused as to why their parents think a particular traditional thing is good, and are completely befuddled as to why said traditional thing might be "better" than something new. And with each new generation born an older generation dies.This is how technology becomes "assumed" into society, and how older traditions -- such as pnp roleplaying -- fade away.It's possible that no one reading this thread will ever see computers take over roleplaying, it's true. But it's extremely unlikely that computers won't eventually take over the hobby. Just as almost no one born 100 years ago could ever have imagined in their wildest dreams the internet, nuclear bombs, and biotechnology. so too are we limited in our understanding of how things will change. The idea that computer-based RPG will "never" supplant people getting together is just such a limited view.</blockquote>

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