MMORPGs: The Future of RPGs?

They may not be the future of RPGs, but they'll certainly going to be a big part of it - if not the majority. I think we expected that. Interesting discussion here on Mike Mearls blog.

Do I think WoW is the death of traditional RPGs? No, but it - and the games that follow it - will certainly influence the future of tabletop games. I've got a lot more to say about that in the future when I get some time to write down and organize my thoughts on the subject.

I think the big key is what a particular player wants out of a game. If a game is fun and meets their needs, they'll play it whether it's tabletop or on-line. Otherwise, they'll seek alternatives.

Actually, let me change that - if the game meets their needs, they'll play it. I honestly don't think "fun" necessarily enters into the equation in many cases. Some people tend to have either an addictive or obsessive personality such that they will play a game to achieve some end regardless of whether they're having fun or not. I've seen it in tabletop RPGs, in LARPing, and I feel that's the case with many MMORPG players as well. I know I've put in plenty of time in WoW doing some quest simply because I was in a convenient place in the world, not because I really wanted to. Not to mention the fact that people will often spend hours at a shot in an instance and really regret having wasted the time afterwards.

Of course, that's not to say that WoW is never fun. I'm probably just jaded since I've played it so much (though not nearly as much as some people...). There are a lot of things we can take from the game, however, that can help make our tabletop games better...again, more on that in the future.

It's interesting - wargamers complained about tabletop RPGs, tabletop RPGers complained about CCGs, and tabletop RPGers are again complaining about MMORPGs. And yet we still have wargames...and tabletop RPGs...and CCGs.

Some Cool Links to Things from the Past

Here's a couple of cool links I ran across recently:

R.I.P. Films - This is a collection of old film shorts, things like war reports, industrial propaganda, educational films from the 50's, etc. Many are humorous by today's standards, and I've seen at least one of the films I downloaded on Mystery Science Theater 3000 a few years ago. Still, an interesting glimpse into a part of America's past.

Bound for Glory - Wish I could remember where I found this (Slashdot? Uncle Bear? Don't recall...). Anyway, it's a bunch of pictures from around the US circa 1939-1943. Not a big deal in and of itself, except for the fact that they're in color. Not something you generally see in pictures that old.

Is this Original D&D set worth $4000?

Someone bought this for over $4000!

Now, I like the old TSR, Judges Guild, etc. stuff as much as the next D&D geek, but that's pretty outrageous.

It's not even real wood...

Axis & Allies Minis Sizes

From an ENWorld post:

"The stores in my area are having the same problem with the Axis and Allies minis game. I know at least one store that has given away an entire case of starters and boosters because no one wants it. Wizards made a huge mistake in not making it to the same scale as the DDM and SWM lines. A lot of people would have loved to use the figs for a modern game."

and

"I second the Axis and Allies. I don't know who may be using it in this area, but the fact that it's not built for 28mm scale has totally mixed any desire for me to buy them."

I'm not sure how you could use WW2 minis for a modern game, unless by "modern" you mean "1940's". Also, the vehicles, tanks in particular, would be huge and cost-prohibitive for most people. And let's face it - the people that would play A&A mini's want tanks. Not infantry, not jeeps - tanks. Tanks are badass.

If Avalon Hill* made a mistake with the A&A minis it was not making them proper 15mm scale and to scale with one another. That way they would have appealled to the Flames of War crowd as well. The sculpting isn't nearly as good, but being pre-painted is a very attractive quality to a lot of people. Plus, looking at the preview of the next A&A set, you could get some interesting figures that FoW doesn't have available (Chinese, Polish, and Romanian units aren't available for FoW, and the selection of Japanese units is pretty sparse...).


*: Technically these minis are AH-branded, though it seems a little surreal to consider that AH is a subsidary brand of WotC...