What games do Wizards designers play?

[diaglo]

FWIW, I'm on the design team and I pretty much find WoW as fun and interesting as banging my head against a brick wall.

welcome to my worldwide sig.


diaglo "posts on multiple message boards/bulletin boards/ newsgroups/ discussion lists" Ooi

 

[Obergnom]

FWIW, I'm on the design team and I pretty much find WoW as fun and interesting as banging my head against a brick wall.

Actually, playing WoW was a very strange experience for me (played it for maybe 6 month without reaching level 45...). I had to force myself to continue playing. (Which I wanted to do, in a way, as I really liked the opportunities you have concerning talents and equipment and stuff...) but the game bored me to death. While I might not be immune to the gather-addiction that game promotes, I just can't stand its mechanics for being so slow and repetitive... but I am unable to play a D&D char for longer than maybe 3 month before I get bored, thats why I usually DM

 

[Melan]

quoted for truth.

but i use Tekumel in OD&D so i'm biased.

As everyone should!

(Tekumel would be my theoretical OD&D of choice: similar in rules and spirit, but much better organised!)

 

[mattcolville]

That's my main gripe about mmorpg: the typical player couldn't roleplay if her life depended on it.

I disagree. I think the typical D&D gamer roleplays only a little more than your average WoW player.

I think for the average D&D player, "roleplaying" means "deciding what my character does."

I don't think most players think it means "speaking in character."

 

[Destil]

hello Merric,

"good" is a bit debatable here. I have not tried Wow, but I have tried DDO, Vanguard, Dark Age of Camelot and Guild Wars.

...

In short, they are not a good experience as a whole, and are nowhere near to match the fun you can have with our beloved D&D.

Note that I've noticed a good number of the WOW responses (6 total, I'm guessing, though I haven't counted) mention playing a 6 person static instance-only party. Which sounds like some good old dungeon-crawling to me.

 

[Wayside]

Also A lot of love for "DotA", which I guess is a World of Warcraft thing.

It's from a genre of tactical Starcraft/Warcraft 3 map called an AoS (Aeon of Strife). DotA (Defense of the Ancients) Allstars is currently the most popular example among Warcraft 3 players.

 

[MerricB]

If there is a game that thousands, tens of thousands or even millions of people play, if you're a game designer, you *should* at least look at it.

If you like it, then I see no reason you shouldn't play it.

WoW is not a game that appeals to me, but I see no problem with other people playing it.

Cheers!

 

[jmucchiello]

If there is a game that thousands, tens of thousands or even millions of people play, if you're a game designer, you *should* at least look at it.

While this seems like good advice, there are some really bad games that lots of people play and the only reason I can come up with for why they do is "tradition". Monopoly has many "game design" flaws (not the least of which is that people don't play by the RAW) and yet, everyone has a copy (or knows someone who does) and has probably played it. In the words of Vizzini, "Inconceivable".

And if anyone cares, the main design flaw with monopoly is early exit: If you sit down with a group to play Monopoly, you can go bankrupt in the early going and are no longer in the game while your friends continue playing. As the game continues the number of players continues to dwindle meaning the net fun provided by monopoly decreases over time.

 

[MerricB]

While this seems like good advice, there are some really bad games that lots of people play and the only reason I can come up with for why they do is "tradition". Monopoly has many "game design" flaws (not the least of which is that people don't play by the RAW) and yet, everyone has a copy (or knows someone who does) and has probably played it. In the words of Vizzini, "Inconceivable".

And if anyone cares, the main design flaw with monopoly is early exit: If you sit down with a group to play Monopoly, you can go bankrupt in the early going and are no longer in the game while your friends continue playing. As the game continues the number of players continues to dwindle meaning the net fun provided by monopoly decreases over time.

Actually, I personally think the main design flaw with monopoly is that there are so few times you can actually make meaningful decisions. Player elimination is just a bonus sucky design element.

However, any game designer worth their salt really should have played Monopoly, so as to learn what is good about the game and what is bad about it.

Cheers!

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Off-Topic, apparently you're not supposed to play Monopoloy to WIN, at least that's what I was told after one game I played with family members where I was squeezing them for every dime like a b@#tard.