Xaxaxe wrote:I realize that this might come close to off-topic at a collecting forum, but I feel that, as collectors, most of us are genuinely interested in the evolution of D&D as a game. So, with that in mind, I think it's noteworthy that the D&D brand will officially enter the world of massively multiplayer online games on Feb. 28. Here's a link that covers most of the important details:http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ddonline/index.htmlAlthough I sincerely doubt I'll ever be playing Stormreach (for one thing, the big Apple logo on my computer won't allow me to), I am intrigued by the different directions the game has taken in the last 30 years. I'm sometimes amazed that it all started with a couple of guys assembling boxes in a basement ... and now, many editions and literally hundreds of products later (including numerous computer games), here we are with the ability to play a form of the D&D game online with strangers from all over the world. That's a long, long way from the days of pizza and Mountain Dew at mom's dining room table with four or five of your buddies ... Finally, I'm curious if any Neverwinter / Baldur's Gate / Torment players have any interest in D&D Online? I don't feel that it's really my cup of tea, but I'm curious as to what others are thinking.
Xaxaxe wrote:I am intrigued by the different directions the game has taken in the last 30 years. I'm sometimes amazed that it all started with a couple of guys assembling boxes in a basement ... and now, many editions and literally hundreds of products later (including numerous computer games), here we are with the ability to play a form of the D&D game online with strangers from all over the world. That's a long, long way from the days of pizza and Mountain Dew at mom's dining room table with four or five of your buddies ...
Xaxaxe wrote:I am intrigued by the different directions the game has taken in the last 30 years. I'm sometimes amazed that it all started with a couple of guys assembling boxes in a basement ... and now, many editions and literally hundreds of products later (including numerous computer games), here we are with the ability to play a form of the D&D game online with strangers from all over the world.
deimos3428 wrote:A sufficiently advanced AI could handle the plot generation, dice rolling, and interfacing with all of the human players, the only remaining requirements normally supplied by a DM.
deimos3428 wrote:(See prescient quotation by EGG in signature.)
faro wrote:deimos3428 wrote:A sufficiently advanced AI could handle the plot generation, dice rolling, and interfacing with all of the human players, the only remaining requirements normally supplied by a DM.Yes.... Is still very much a hurdle to be properly overcome, IMO.(Or even the near-seamless integration of human GMs within such otherwise computer-mediated MMORPGs).
New York Times wrote:Mr. Pirozzi added: "Like in one campaign I was running, the players were fighting and I threw the 'South Park' kids into the fight and I had stats for them and everything. You can't have that kind of flexibility in a computer game."
Xaxaxe wrote:It's my understanding that D&D Online does, in fact, begin with a "meet-in-the-tavern" sequence. To steal a line from Chandler Bing: "Could that BE any more of a cliche?"
Xaxaxe wrote:So I'm sailing through the NYT article, and finding it a pretty good read, when I suddenly find myself saying "uh-oh":New York Times wrote:Mr. Pirozzi added: "Like in one campaign I was running, the players were fighting and I threw the 'South Park' kids into the fight and I had stats for them and everything. You can't have that kind of flexibility in a computer game."Uh ... thanks, Mr. Pirozzi. Like that doesn't set back the "We're Not All Complete Geeks" movement by about five years.The fricking South Park Kids?
faro wrote:Xaxaxe wrote:I am intrigued by the different directions the game has taken in the last 30 years. I'm sometimes amazed that it all started with a couple of guys assembling boxes in a basement ... and now, many editions and literally hundreds of products later (including numerous computer games), here we are with the ability to play a form of the D&D game online with strangers from all over the world.Unfortunately dnd on Plato (1975-late 70s) was only one-player, even though they could've built a graphical multi-user, networked environment from the start. Those took another year or two to develop; and even then, without the graphics at first for the publicly-accessible ones (such as the good ol' Essex MUD... ).