D&D 5E (2014) Why D&D Can't Have a Good Video Game

[gyor]

D&D can have great games, look at the upcoming Kingmaker game for pathfinder.

The issue is gross mismanagement by corporate ******.

 

[Ristamar]

I honestly just don't think D&D is very translatable into a video game context, unless it's a campaign book type of thing, and even then it will be limited. The beauty of actual D&D is being able to say or do anything, and have my actions be refereed by a real human being running the game. It's just not something that can really be replicated in a game setting in any meaningful fashion, I don't think.

I think it's even more complicated than that.

The iterative design of video games and their respective expansions/sequels don't mesh well with the slow pace at which D&D evolves as a singular tabletop ruleset. 3.x may have come close, but I don't think most people want to go back to that.

The experience of each video games in a series is largely insular, owing little to what came before or may come after. The original Mass Effect, for example, did not change with the evolution of the series as ME2 and ME3 were released over the next 5 years.

D&D as a system, on the other hand, must be cognizant of how any new official content released could effect all of the existing product on the market and how it may influence future content.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Hmm..

We play D&D exclusively using our computers.

I'd argue that D&D already exists as a computer game.

Heck, as a mulitplayer, co-op experience it's the best we've played - the graphics and community are awesome!

As for 'video game', it's an interesting example of how folks have become conditioned to associate a certain level of aesthetic and technical sophistication with a medium. What's the difference between a computer game and a video game? Does it matter? Do we need X quantity of art assets, Y game play loops and Z levels of empowerment to make it a 'video game'? If it's PC exclusively, does that change things compared to a game that is console exclusive? Or are these all mediums and elements for gaming as a whole? hmm..

One of my personal bugbears is the belief that a 'role play game' must have levels, classes, hit points to be 'D&D'. It's an interesting topic that I've discussed with my students a fair few times. Sure, I have played Baldurs Gates I & II, Icewind Dale, POE, Neverwinter and all that jazz -- I enjoyed those games to varying degrees but they always felt like a poor piss poor imitation of what we do every week using our PCs, Discord, Photoshop/Illustrator/Google and our heads. Saying this, Divinity Original Sin 2 is shaping up nicely and will feature a DM/GM mode!

Anyway. If the criteria for 'video game' is, 'digital art assets and automated systems handled by a computer' then I'll throw a vote for Vermin Tide - it's pure hack and slash madness, a beautifully grimdark setting and a lovely co-op experience. That, to me, is an example of a game that makes great use of the current level of gaming technology to provide an experience best suited to the digital medium - and perhaps more importantly, one that is unique in the sense that we cannot create it easily without using a computer.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

"Easily" might be a bit of a stretch. Also, that game is about 25 years old. As [MENTION=87009]Valetudo[/MENTION] stated, it's hardly representative of their current work given how the Final Fantasy franchise has evolved. The D&D license would be like a creative straight jacket on the series.

Their current work has forked a bit, but they're still putting out games that use the classic formula. Dimension was from this decade, and it's probably the best in the series. The sequel for that came out in 2015, though it hasn't been localized yet.

It wouldn't be much work to apply the D&D license to their next game. Just rebrand dragoons as sorcerers, white mages as clerics, and set the whole thing in Greyhawk.

 

[Zardnaar]

D&D can have great games, look at the upcoming Kingmaker game for pathfinder.

The issue is gross mismanagement by corporate ******.

Well may pay to wait and see what the game is like (Pathfinder Online cough cough, Sword Coast Legends).

 

[Valetudo]

Their current work has forked a bit, but they're still putting out games that use the classic formula. Dimension was from this decade, and it's probably the best in the series. The sequel for that came out in 2015, though it hasn't been localized yet.

It wouldn't be much work to apply the D&D license to their next game. Just rebrand dragoons as sorcerers, white mages as clerics, and set the whole thing in Greyhawk.

WHAT? You cray cray. Ebberron is way more final fantasy than greyhawk.

 

[Valetudo]

Well may pay to wait and see what the game is like (Pathfinder Online cough cough, Sword Coast Legends).

Lets be honest, SCL sucked because the developers sucked. They had no place making that game.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

WHAT? You cray cray. Ebberron is way more final fantasy than greyhawk.

Final Fantasy doesn't usually have magewrights, and there's no real equivalent that they could just re-skin. Greyhawk has the Barrier Peaks, which directly inspired the flying fortress and killer robots in the first Final Fantasy game.

You could make a Final Fantasy style of game in any D&D published setting, but it's easier to focus on the worlds that have fewer playable races.

 

[schnee]

Nethack is an awesome version of Basic.

I like Sword of Fargoal, it's got the 'scary as hell dungeon crawl' thing down pat.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Nethack is an awesome version of Basic.

I like Sword of Fargoal, it's got the 'scary as hell dungeon crawl' thing down pat.

Oh good old Nethack.

Like other's i quite like Pillars of Eternity, and Divinity: Original Sin.

I would be stupidly happy if Obsidian could make another D&D game. Neverwinter Nights 2 was good. It's expansion mask of the Betrayer was even better.

Oh, and the little Adventure pack by Ossian Mysteries of Westgate was my favorite. I thinks I'd enjoy a game by them too.

I think it *can* be done. Not sure if it will come to pass though.