What on earth does "video-gamey" mean?

[blargney the second]

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Seriously - video games are a HUGE and diverse collection. How is calling something "video-gamey" supposed to mean anything? You might as well just be calling it "thingy" for all the specificity it entails.
-blarg

 

[TimeOut]

Usually when people say "4e feels video-gamey" they mean "Hmm... I never played World of Warcraft, but somebody told me that 4e is so totally like it. Better write it down."

Or they see easier, less complicated (not less complex) gameplay and since that is usually associated with the aspect of transferring games or other media into video games, they assume that it is a Bad Thing and was the main inspiration for 4e.

 

[blargney the second]

Hmm.
1) 4e is video-gamey
2) Baldur's Gate is a video game
3) Baldur's Gate is D&D
4) Therefore 4e is D&D.
QED&D.

Did I get it right?
-blarg

 

[delericho]

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

It's shorthand for "they've changed the look and feel of the game in a manner that I do not like," with a specific emphasis on "and they've incorporated specific elements or features that I'm most familiar with from video-games", where 'video-games' most commonly means 'WoW'.

It's much the same as saying "4e is not D&D to me". It's really hard to articulate a concise and sensible definition of quite what D&D is, beyond "I'll know it when I see it", but the statement still conveys meaning. (In this case, "they've changed the look and feel of the game in a manner that I do not like, by removing elements that I associate with D&D and/or adding features and elements that I don't associate with D&D".)

 

[Mostlyjoe]

http://rpgworldcomic.com/ - Perfect example.

 

[Wormwood]

In my experience, video-gamey means "more fun than war-gamey"

 

[hong]

In 4E you can double jump.

You can DOUBLE JUMP.

But you have to be 22nd level.

 

[Tsyr]

Hmm.
1) 4e is video-gamey
2) Baldur's Gate is a video game
3) Baldur's Gate is D&D
4) Therefore 4e is D&D.
QED&D.

Did I get it right?
-blarg

Actually, Baldur's Gate isn't particularly videogamey. It tried to stick as close to pen and paper rules as it could.

The things I think people (including sometimes myself) mean about it being more videogamey:

1) Everything is about combat now. Now don't try the "I still roleplay!!!!" dodge, that's not the point. Look at the wizard for a good example of this. Wizards were durn fun to play if you wanted them to be. You got all sorts of neat spells in with combat spells. Now, wizards are blasters. By contrast, bards are gone (Yeah, to return, if you wanna pay more for them), because they aren't as strong a combat class. Like it or not, the mechanics seem to be way more combat focused now.

2) I think the powers system draws a lot of these complaints. "More Abilities = More Fun" seems to be the growing trend in MMOs... Fighters in early MMOs were like fighters in past versions of DnD. They hit stuff with sharp things. Now fighters in current MMOS don't hit things with sharp stuff, they perform "Dance of the Seven Blades" or "Lunging Doomsday Thrust". The focus on the "class role" seems to be kind of the same thing.

3) Agro control abilities. Meh.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

2) I think the powers system draws a lot of these complaints. "More Abilities = More Fun" seems to be the growing trend in MMOs... Fighters in early MMOs were like fighters in past versions of DnD. They hit stuff with sharp things. Now fighters in current MMOS don't hit things with sharp stuff, they perform "Dance of the Seven Blades" or "Lunging Doomsday Thrust". The focus on the "class role" seems to be kind of the same thing.

Or is this just a general trend in gaming? That maybe computer-games first picked up, but is just a kind of evolution in general gaming sensibilities?

"We don't want to just hit enemies with pointy things, if the wizard gets to blast them, teleport, contact otherworldly creatures and flies around. Let us at least "dance" around the battle-field..."

It might even be happen outside of gaming. The Matrix was a pretty successful action movie - but was the action the standard "Hulk Smash" fight, or did the "Fighters" have special abilities?
Or Last Samurai? Was this "ordinary" sword-play, or more? And what's with all those superhero movies these days?

(We could even go back, to the "swash-buckling" movie era - how simple was the sword work there - there might have been less over-the-top action, but over-the-top witty dialogue was common. So maybe that's not actually a trend, but just a shift. And the Fighter is in D&D is finally getting there where the fiction has always been?)

 

[TimeOut]

1) Everything is about combat now.

True. But I think that combat should be the most important part of a rpg system. You shouldn't need rules to create a great non-combat experience. But usually you need combat rules. Mainly because it will soon degenerate into some sort of "I kill the orc with my big sword!" - "But..." - "No but! I kill him totally awesome dead!" shouting contest otherwise.

This obviously depends on your preference and style of play.

2) I think the powers system draws a lot of these complaints. "More Abilities = More Fun" seems to be the growing trend in MMOs... Fighters in early MMOs were like fighters in past versions of DnD. They hit stuff with sharp things. Now fighters in current MMOS don't hit things with sharp stuff, they perform "Dance of the Seven Blades" or "Lunging Doomsday Thrust". The focus on the "class role" seems to be kind of the same thing.

At least for me, it is more fun to have more and different options.

3) Agro control abilities. Meh.

I think that is a worthwile concept to import into a tabletop rpg. I even think that the 4e rendition of this concept (via marking) has gone not far enough.