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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1897979" data-attributes="member: 812">WizDru: We disagree on the basic nature of videogames. Which is okay with me, but I didn't want you going away thinking "That darn barsoomcore, he just doesn't get it!"<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />I'm familiar with the vast array of computer games out there, though I don't play a lot, since puzzle-solving isn't my thing. And yes, Silent Hill: 2 is a puzzle-solving game. The puzzles are tremendously complex and the milieu in which they are presented is very engaging and compelling, but you're still solving puzzles, and fundamentally, in any video game, you need to learn to press the right buttons in the right sequence at the right time. There may not be a one-to-one relationship between those button-pushes and changes in the onscreen display, but the principle remains the same. And that sequence is defined ahead of time by the designers of the game, and if you come up with a solution that they didn't foresee, there is no way for you to make it happen. Which, however many stories about bad DMs you care to throw up, is not necessarily true in D&D.I am not saying that people who like these games are lazy and seeking instant gratification. I am not saying that these games cannot be powerful experiences. I AM saying that there is a fundamental philosophical difference between a computer game and a pen & paper RPG -- and that is that the mind of a person does not need to be pre-programmed to handle any situation. It can respond to new ideas and unforeseen actions with creativity and inspiration. A computer game is incapable of doing that, and because of that, all computer games are fundamentally puzzle-solving experiences.This isn't a bash or a dig or a jab or a swipe. I don't think the term "videogamey" is really about this -- it's about the Diablo-style power-ups. Which is, I agree, a misrepresentation of the very wide array of computer game options.I don't have anything against computer games or the people who like them. It's not an activity I spend much time at, but then I do lots of things that other people think aren't fun. It would be a dull old world if we all liked the same things.</blockquote>

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