I got back from a Dungeons & Dragons session a few hours ago, and it provided some insight into just how far behind computer-based RPGs are. Let me give you an example: in World of Warcraft, you might cast a dizzying array of pre-prepared spells in a precise order, so as to inflict the most amount of damage on your terrifying foes. But at Nick’s place today, our new fighter suddenly dropped into JRPG mode as he ran circles around what our DM, Jen, portrayed as a terrifying, violent, and most importantly, hungry dungeon-dweller, and what Jon described as “Aaah, fuck.” Trailing his sword along the stone floor, he launched into an aerial spin and whipped his sword round straight into the vile creature.
And promptly missed.
You see, the beauty of role-playing games is the free rein they offer you over your character and his actions. Eve Online, while a sexy beast, will not let me park my ship, wander over to the nearest diner and hit on the pump-adorned waitress. Your cleric (who, in our case, spends more time hitting things with his massive hammer than actually, y’know, helping people) can’t sneak into our party leader’s tent while he sleeps in Warhammer Online and set fire to his hair because he divvied up the gold unfairly. Nowhere else can your resident bard – that’s me – charm an innkeep so well that not only does he obtain all the information you desire, but also three lovely wenches for the night.
Thanks, by the way, Jen.
OK, it’s not all shiny. It’s a little bit of a pain having to roll for everything, and it does make it easy to metagame. It’s tricky, separating your knowledge from your character’s, and takes a while to achieve the balance you need to have fun whilst still maintaining a believable universe. Oh, and levelling up by hand is a bitch. As someone who dislikes computer-based RPGs because it’s too much about the statistics and not enough about going out and bashing in the heads of goblins with my pet mace, Lilah, I’m still not happy that I have to know my character’s exact charisma score every time I want to play my goddamn lute. That said, I love the fact that in this game, though my friends may hate me for it, my career choice of a professional lutist is more fun than being able to juggle any number of broadswords.
This was my second ever session of a tabletop role-playing game, and it’s easy to see why so many still stick with them even when a computer screen offers so much in visual detail, endless content and the ability to connect with people all over the planet. I think it’s the level of freedom a pencil-and-paper game offers over the online equivalent. I may be able to hook up with friends in Guatemala and topple beasties of all shapes and sizes in Age of Conan, but I can’t trip up a friend and push him into a room because I’m afraid I’ll be pelted with more poison-tipped bolts than you can shake a kobold at.
01:27
The pen is mightier than the controller
by Samir
I got back from a Dungeons & Dragons session a few hours ago, and it provided some insight into just how far behind computer-based RPGs are. Let me give you an example: in World of Warcraft, you might cast a dizzying array of pre-prepared spells in a precise order, so as to inflict the most amount of damage on your terrifying foes. But at Nick’s place today, our new fighter suddenly dropped into JRPG mode as he ran circles around what our DM, Jen, portrayed as a terrifying, violent, and most importantly, hungry dungeon-dweller, and what Jon described as “Aaah, fuck.” Trailing his sword along the stone floor, he launched into an aerial spin and whipped his sword round straight into the vile creature.
And promptly missed.
You see, the beauty of role-playing games is the free rein they offer you over your character and his actions. Eve Online, while a sexy beast, will not let me park my ship, wander over to the nearest diner and hit on the pump-adorned waitress. Your cleric (who, in our case, spends more time hitting things with his massive hammer than actually, y’know, helping people) can’t sneak into our party leader’s tent while he sleeps in Warhammer Online and set fire to his hair because he divvied up the gold unfairly. Nowhere else can your resident bard – that’s me – charm an innkeep so well that not only does he obtain all the information you desire, but also three lovely wenches for the night.
Thanks, by the way, Jen.
OK, it’s not all shiny. It’s a little bit of a pain having to roll for everything, and it does make it easy to metagame. It’s tricky, separating your knowledge from your character’s, and takes a while to achieve the balance you need to have fun whilst still maintaining a believable universe. Oh, and levelling up by hand is a bitch. As someone who dislikes computer-based RPGs because it’s too much about the statistics and not enough about going out and bashing in the heads of goblins with my pet mace, Lilah, I’m still not happy that I have to know my character’s exact charisma score every time I want to play my goddamn lute. That said, I love the fact that in this game, though my friends may hate me for it, my career choice of a professional lutist is more fun than being able to juggle any number of broadswords.
This was my second ever session of a tabletop role-playing game, and it’s easy to see why so many still stick with them even when a computer screen offers so much in visual detail, endless content and the ability to connect with people all over the planet. I think it’s the level of freedom a pencil-and-paper game offers over the online equivalent. I may be able to hook up with friends in Guatemala and topple beasties of all shapes and sizes in Age of Conan, but I can’t trip up a friend and push him into a room because I’m afraid I’ll be pelted with more poison-tipped bolts than you can shake a kobold at.
Tags: D&D, MMORPGs, RPGs
Categories: Comment
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.