JVisgaitis
Explorer
We've kinda touched on this in a variety of threads before. With the new info on the front page and RyanD's comments on a convergence of tabletop RPGs and computers, what would you like to see in computer support for D&D?
Wizards Digital Initiative
- Thread starter JVisgaitis
- Start date
Wraith-Hunter
First Post
HTML Linked versions of suppliments. Similar to the Sovelier SRD.
thedungeondelver
Adventurer
I read this as "Western Digital Initiative."
"We can talk hardware geekery here? Who knew!"
JVisgaitis said:
A D&D world digitized and interactive BUT still pen & paper.
OK, what I see is either a new campaign world, or say the Forgotten Realms, given its own web space. Within these pages would be all the necessary supporting material - an overall map that one can zoom around and make close up maps for games. Hot links for dungeons and hot spots that take you to other maps, etc. Important NPCs with the character sheets ready to be printed out. BEYOND that however, each person signs in a gets to *post* their character. That is, you transcribe your pen & paper character to an online database. Specially important are the character's background and where he/she is, what she is doing, etc. Then that character is part of the world, and other DMs can pull those characters for NPC purposes when it is appropriate. For example, if Miriam the Efeminate, an elf bard, usually spends his time (according to his background) at the Smelly Boot Inn in Shackford as a part time performer, part time bounty hunter, then if I'm running a game close to Shackford, and I need an NPC to a plot hook, then I can have them meet Miriam at that Inn. And maybe post in Miriam's space what happened with him there.
If it is a new campaign world, maybe they could take contributions as to new dungeons or towns, and add them to the online world.
Just an idea.
Saba Taru
Explorer
I've been watching these types of threads for quite some time, and for some reason, this one crystalized something that had been nagging me for a while.
To me, the convergence of the Digital Age with Pen-and-Paper (P&P) RPGs is the (relatively) old idea of a Text Based MUD. Sure, the MMORPGs like EQ and WoW are the next generation text muds and owe a lot to them, but the original, unadulterated text MUDs (maybe with ASCII map support) are an awful lot like P&P RPGs. Text MUDs are, to me, the best of P&P RPGs mixed with the good bits of Neverwinter Nights (NWN) (user created content) and the imagination. For the record, I do know that MUDs came before NWN, but NWN did take the online gaming community thing in a new direction.
Now I'm not saying that a MUD wouldn't require a learning curve (what software doesn't?), a huge amount of initial development effort and ongoing support, and to modify the codebases or add in code snippets does require some programming knowledge (as expected), but the parallels are astounding. People are talking of websites with links to integrate information into their P&P games. With the proper legal permission, I could take any piece of digital information (or paper for that matter) and convert it to the MUD environment.
In a MUD, I control the descriptions, the quests, the random encounters, the traps, the surprises, and the loot/experience. I can make NPCs talk, dance, or hand out items as required. I can be the "voice of god" in that the players can hear me anywhere in the game but may never see me. I can control what the players see, hear, or encounter. I can even control where they are allowed to go at any given time. Easter eggs and the like suddenly become viable and are a lot of fun to discover.
I know, I know. If MUDs are all that work, why not play an existing one or go to a graphical one like WoW or stick with good old P&P? Graphics sort of ruined the mudding experience for me. I like reading and I like using my imagination. MUDs still let me do that whereas games like EQ and WoW don't. MUDs also let me control who I let in to the game and who gets denied access. in the MMORPGs I have no choice but to interact with the masses, most of which I tend to not get along with, but that's another rant for another time.
An example of just such an endeavor is the Rasputin codebase based on the CircleMUD code. The guts of the MUD are based on the D20 system, and work just like a P&P game in terms of game mechanics. The tedious part is already done. All you need to do is add the world.
Yes, I have a MUD that I work on in my spare time. I use Fantasy Grounds in the meantime to get my RPG fix (we don't all live close enough any more to play face to face), but ultimately, I do believe that I will be a total MUD convert.
So let me take all this to the next level and propose a hypothetical situation.
Say that I am a game designer and have created a MUD based on my own campaign world (as if that doesn't sound familiar
). I have a website with tons of information and the like for people to see and reference while they "play" in my world. I have servers set up so that a GM may run an "instance" of the game with just his players or they may play on a "general" server where anyone is allowed to connect and play. Maybe, instead of servers I have the sofware available for download, much like the MUD codebases do. Or maybe I do a combination of both. Who knows? Anyway... I allow GMs and players to submit ideas for inclusion on the general server (with proper credit given, of course!). I also allow GMs/players to add in additional content (with the proper game and programming knowledge) to their downloaded copies in order to customize the game. Maybe I also allow, for a fee, the GMs/players to submit ideas to me and let me create a custom world/codebase just for their use/download. Any content that makes it to the general servers will get ongoing and additional support and content. Did I miss anything? Keep in mind, that I'm not worried about solvency or feasability at this point.
It's kind of scary how much that is starting to sound like a NWN/WOW/EQ hybrid, isn't it? Maybe I should step away from the keyboard for a while... Yeah... That's it...
Any ideas, thoughts, gripes, disagreements, etc?
Saba
To me, the convergence of the Digital Age with Pen-and-Paper (P&P) RPGs is the (relatively) old idea of a Text Based MUD. Sure, the MMORPGs like EQ and WoW are the next generation text muds and owe a lot to them, but the original, unadulterated text MUDs (maybe with ASCII map support) are an awful lot like P&P RPGs. Text MUDs are, to me, the best of P&P RPGs mixed with the good bits of Neverwinter Nights (NWN) (user created content) and the imagination. For the record, I do know that MUDs came before NWN, but NWN did take the online gaming community thing in a new direction.
Now I'm not saying that a MUD wouldn't require a learning curve (what software doesn't?), a huge amount of initial development effort and ongoing support, and to modify the codebases or add in code snippets does require some programming knowledge (as expected), but the parallels are astounding. People are talking of websites with links to integrate information into their P&P games. With the proper legal permission, I could take any piece of digital information (or paper for that matter) and convert it to the MUD environment.
In a MUD, I control the descriptions, the quests, the random encounters, the traps, the surprises, and the loot/experience. I can make NPCs talk, dance, or hand out items as required. I can be the "voice of god" in that the players can hear me anywhere in the game but may never see me. I can control what the players see, hear, or encounter. I can even control where they are allowed to go at any given time. Easter eggs and the like suddenly become viable and are a lot of fun to discover.
I know, I know. If MUDs are all that work, why not play an existing one or go to a graphical one like WoW or stick with good old P&P? Graphics sort of ruined the mudding experience for me. I like reading and I like using my imagination. MUDs still let me do that whereas games like EQ and WoW don't. MUDs also let me control who I let in to the game and who gets denied access. in the MMORPGs I have no choice but to interact with the masses, most of which I tend to not get along with, but that's another rant for another time.
An example of just such an endeavor is the Rasputin codebase based on the CircleMUD code. The guts of the MUD are based on the D20 system, and work just like a P&P game in terms of game mechanics. The tedious part is already done. All you need to do is add the world.
Yes, I have a MUD that I work on in my spare time. I use Fantasy Grounds in the meantime to get my RPG fix (we don't all live close enough any more to play face to face), but ultimately, I do believe that I will be a total MUD convert.
So let me take all this to the next level and propose a hypothetical situation.
Say that I am a game designer and have created a MUD based on my own campaign world (as if that doesn't sound familiar
). I have a website with tons of information and the like for people to see and reference while they "play" in my world. I have servers set up so that a GM may run an "instance" of the game with just his players or they may play on a "general" server where anyone is allowed to connect and play. Maybe, instead of servers I have the sofware available for download, much like the MUD codebases do. Or maybe I do a combination of both. Who knows? Anyway... I allow GMs and players to submit ideas for inclusion on the general server (with proper credit given, of course!). I also allow GMs/players to add in additional content (with the proper game and programming knowledge) to their downloaded copies in order to customize the game. Maybe I also allow, for a fee, the GMs/players to submit ideas to me and let me create a custom world/codebase just for their use/download. Any content that makes it to the general servers will get ongoing and additional support and content. Did I miss anything? Keep in mind, that I'm not worried about solvency or feasability at this point.It's kind of scary how much that is starting to sound like a NWN/WOW/EQ hybrid, isn't it? Maybe I should step away from the keyboard for a while... Yeah... That's it...
Any ideas, thoughts, gripes, disagreements, etc?
Saba
JVisgaitis
Explorer
No one else?
thedungeondelver
Adventurer
I for one find a few useful apps handy to have from time to time, especially for random wilderness encounters. I've got the DUNGEON MASTER'S ASSISTANT Vol. I & II (which still run great even under XP...be interesting to see how a couple of 20-year-old DOS apps run under Vista); I know some AD&D 2nd EDITION DM's who swear by the CORE RULES COMPENDIUM CD's.
I'd think DMing one's way through 3rd edition and onward, as the rules grow more complex, would be much easier with tools like those.
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