Why D&D Is Better Than World of Warcraft

[Li Shenron]

1. Try to craft the rules in a way such that someone can always try to do something (especially some nonmagical combat action). Relevant feats etc. may negate heavy penalties, but someone should always be able to try. 3e did a pretty good job of this out of the gate - disarms, grapples, sunders - although as splatbooks came out there tended to be more "you can only do this if..." feats and abilities.

2. Though there need to be rules to balance it, encourage players to create their own spells, magic items, craft their equipment, etc. I saw way more player-created spells in the 2e era than I ever saw in the 3e era.

3. Teach people some damn role-playing. OK fine, so sure, if people don't want to get into that they don't have to, but increasingly the "examples of play" read a lot more like "I rolled 8, did I hit?" than "I hack furiously at the wererat!" I own something on the order of 1000 RPG products and there are many games that, just in their core rules, set a stage that promotes role-playing. Again, without that D&D is always going to lose out to some computer thing that can "automate" the rules.

4. Discretionary XP awards. In 2e these were all over the place, for role-playing and for creativity. In every 3e game I've ever played it's strictly done by table lookup. Change that.

5. DM creativity. 3e did some good things in making some hard and fast rules for monster creation, encounter creation (CR/EL), etc. That allowed people to create within guidelines that helped their game to work. Keep that concept, and expand on it.

6. Stress player impact onthe world. From their actions driving up/down local prices, to having 'reputation' that affects who's heard of you and what they've heard.

All are good points.

I think my approach would be to leave space for imagination. Apply "point of light in a darkness world" to the rules as well. Avoid defining mechanics too much that they become a contraint rather than a tool.

Alas, that's not what the vast majority of gamers want. They want rules to define as much as possible, fearing lack of balance and boring argument with the DM. Thing that ANYWAY we get in every edition, no matter the amount of rules increases. But as it increases, it happens more often to fall into the trap of "if there are no rules for it, you cannot do it".

I always quote the same example: my first game ever played (DM) in 3ed. As soon as I see Rapid Shot, I picture Legolas from the LotR movie, shooting two arrows simultaneously. "You can't do it" is the reaction of the average gamer "because the feat doesn't say you shoot them simultaneously". Then comes Manyshot in the revision, that says the average gamer was right, you couldn't do it and now you can. But we were already doing it

 

[Incenjucar]

Not if you're playing on-line!
Also, DDI subscriptions could conceivably cut into the money available for pizza...

The most damning anti-4th edition arguement: it means less pizza!

To stay on topic, the total lack of pizza is what keeps me away from WOW!

But think what all those lost calories will mean for our PR!

 

[Gort]

Speaking of calories, I always thought they ought to make an MMO where your progress in some way is linked to an exercise bike or a treadmill or something. To beat up that orc you have to pedal until you burned off a hundred calories.

Of course, after six months the reports of ultra-fit MMO addicts whose hearts have become so big they exploded from too much exercise will start to roll in...

 

[Mephistopheles]

Generally speaking, I get more free pizza playing D&D.

Will fourth ed improve on this for me?

I'd recommend picking up the Deft Swindler power to upgrade your pizza mooching ability to a per encounter refresh.

 

[KoshPWNZYou]

This is like all those sci-fi forum threads comparing Star Trek and Star Wars ... a series and a film. D&D and WoW are even more disparate than that.

It's totally subjective. If you don't like academic things like reading and mathematics being involved in gameplay, WoW is better for you. If you don't mind that and you prefer a more malleable gameworld with more freedom of choice for your character (in other words, you like deep role-playing), D&D is better for you.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I'd recommend picking up the Deft Swindler power to upgrade your pizza mooching ability to a per encounter refresh.

How do you know when an encounter's over? Someone orders more pizza? Someone uses the washroom? I need specifics, man!

 

[HeinorNY]

I think rules-lite games that encourage roleplaying and creativity don't sell.

Storytelling games are boring because they are not really RPGames. They don't have some of the components that classify an activity as a game. They don't have real rules (they have "guidelines"), they lack on competitivity, and they are not really about taking a role, but telling a story. They are just storytelling.
I'm very happy that nowdays, those game designers have the honesty to qualify their products as "storytelling games" (like Cthulhutech). They are not RolePlayingGames, and IMO, they aren't even games.
RPG is D&D.



D&D is better than WoW when we think about possibilites. WoW is an static game, that changes slowly at every patch. D&D is a new adventure every session. But each one has its appeal, and you can be equally happy playing both.



Oh, I almost forgot it, of course D&D is better because it relies on imagination, and WoW doesn't.
It's better to play D&D than WoW the same way it's better to read a book instead of watching TV.

 

[Dausuul]

Rules-light games rely very heavily on the gamemaster. If you have a good GM, they're a blast. If you have a mediocre GM, not so much. That's one of the strengths of D&D; even a mediocre DM can fall back on the standard-issue dungeon crawl and produce something entertaining if not engrossing. A bad GM, of course, will kill any game, light or heavy.

Storytelling games are boring because they are not really RPGames. They don't have some of the components that classify an activity as a game. They don't have real rules (they have "guidelines"), they lack on competitivity, and they are not really about taking a role, but telling a story. They are just storytelling.
I'm very happy that nowdays, those game designers have the honesty to qualify their products as "storytelling games" (like Cthulhutech). They are not RolePlayingGames, and IMO, they aren't even games.

Excuse me? Just because a system doesn't go into exhaustive detail on how to handle every conceivable situation doesn't make it not an RPG.

RPG is D&D.

Um... no.

 

[Wayside]

Oh, I almost forgot it, of course D&D is better because it relies on imagination, and WoW doesn't.
It's better to play D&D than WoW the same way it's better to read a book instead of watching TV.

You have a pretty narrow view of imagination. And it isn't better to read a book than it is to watch TV.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

WOW doesn't do D&D better than D&D. It does all of the boring stuff D&D can skip.

I think you are close to it, but not quite there. What World of Warcraft can do that D&D is not as good at is not the boring stuff. What it does better are any of the elements that humans tend to suck at.

- Rules application: No need to figure out if your flanking or dazed, or your current bonus to hit. No errors about how many healing potions you have left.
- Getting a Game to Actually Happen: No having to wait on players who may cancel at the last minute. Has your gaming buddy moved a few timezones away? No problem, he can still game with you.
- Combat: Ties into rules calculation, but combat is much easier to handle when it is fully automated. Movement rates are handled quietly. Spell durations automatically tracked. No initiative screwups. Monsters wont forget that they have a cool trick handy.

Rules application may be 'the boring stuff', but it is so pervasive that it also gets into the good parts of the game. Contrary to the views of a significant portion of the game, combat in D&D is actually fun. Or at least meant to be.

There are a few key things that D&D simply does better though.

- NPC interaction: Yes, if you really want to kill that shop keeper, it is easier to get your DM to let it happen than it is to pull off in a video game. Or to talk down the hostile orcs into being your allies.

- Plot execution: In a video game, your either on a pretty narrow track (single player RPG) or the plot is not really something you can typically affect directly (MMO). In a D&D game, things are more fluid. The DM may try to keep you on a pretty narrow / manageable track, but ultimately, if you do not like the adventure, you can leave halfway through and keep the same in game narrative going forward.

- Better Anti Griefing Measures: In a PVP, if someone decides to harass you, you either have to deal with it, or call in a GM and issue a complaint. If the guy sitting next to you at the table wants to try that, you can feed him his teeth.

- Intangibles: This one is arguable, but I simply think that having a good game of D&D is more fun and more rewarding than having spent a good night raiding in an MMO.

END COMMUNICATION