Okay, so which is better?
A tough question by any stretch of the imagination, well lets weigh up the two!
Now I'm trying to be fair here, so bear with me as a dice rolling fanatic; but also one of those people who cried when Aerith died in Final Fantasy VII, mostly because I'd equipped the hell out of her and not bothered with the others characters.
So I'll try my best to be fair.
Setting:-
With the sheer weight of RPG books out in the world, there is no shortage on rules and settings for you and your friend's campaigns, one off missions or even re-telling episode 4 of Stargate if you so chose. Otherwise you're pretty much down to your own imagination - especially as a DM. But the unique thing is the setting can be wherever and whenever you like, with no shortage of humour or dark fantasy... the world is what you make it.
With our console counterpart the setting is there, an entire world for you to explore visually, technically and physically - if you move the controller's d-pad you're moving your avatar... you get the idea. There is no shortage of settings and worlds, all from the post apocalyptic to the high Japanese industrial magic revolution.
In contrast you need very little imagination. After all, everything is set out for you. But I find a common complaint is that you haven’t exactly got the freedom to explore. Okay, Bethesda games give you huge maps, more nooks and NPC crazies than you can rattle your sabre at; but there is limit: there is a point where that invisible wall comes down!
Gameplay:-
With our pen and paper RPGs, gameplay varies greatly; not because of the players, but due to the rules and the settings they're attached too. These obviously affect the "pick up and playability." After all, some systems will grind everything to a halt with character creation alone - you should not need 2 hours to create a character unless its 2 hours going "Hmm, broad sword? Axe? Broad sword? Axe..."
Anyway, "rules are rules," and rules are meant to be broken. RPGs in this way do have that degree of customizability, allowing players and game masters alike to be able to keep the game going, and have fun doing so. Game play in this way, in some respects, relies on your group and some quick thinking.
Our console buddies have one great advantage: easy to play in comparison. Granted, you can just blitz the whole game or really take your time and plan.
With games like Fallout 3, you have fair and levelled system, loads of customizability - from characters appearance to perks that affect the game play, and giant world exploration. On the other hand you have a very linear game with good back story and pre-generated characters. Granted some are easier to play than others, but I find there is a inherent problem: GRINDING!
Quite possibly the most annoying, boring and tedious activity of all! And for what? To level up!
Okay, I can understand that yeah, you need to make progressively harder enemies, and Okay, unlike the pen and paper RPGs you can't just have a new adventure each time: you are stuck with no other option but to grind and grind... not all are like this, but we all know which ones they are!
Which semi leads me to my last point,
Playability:-
Seriously, how many times can you play something before you get bored of it, or fancy a change? This I feel is the advantage of pen and paper RPGs: as many settings as you like, each game varied and thousands of settings in which you and your friends can battle through, or you could be really daring and change the rule sets!!
Unless you're stuck in a grinding loop, or are a dedicated player, there’s what, 4-8 hours of game play? Maybe more? And yes, with some you can get different results through your actions and playing style; but it all seems so boxed in. Don’t get me wrong, the worlds are interesting, varied and really imaginative, I appreciate that. And yes, there is the add ons and downloadable content which add to game play settings and the like... but how many times will you play before you go "Oh, I do this, this and this and its done... what to do now??"
After all, console games only really have a shelf life of 2-4 play throughs before its relegated again to the ever growing pile.
It does tend to be a very solitary activity, Okay there the "achievements" to share with your friends online or your mate who’s popped around to steal your beer.
But on the other hand the same could be said for pen and paper RPGs.
After all, there are some advantages, granted most of them hinge on a good DM and having a decent group. It is a very sociable activity, unless it's a fighting fantasy book.
But it only takes one person to spoil the group dynamic, so choose your friends wisely. lol
As I said, a lot hinges on good DM: being able to think on your feet when the players completely negate the campaign you’ve spent last month working on, by going "Nah, I don't want to stay in this pub, let's go raid the bath house."
However there is freedom as your character, granted there are systems where character creation is the game or is so damn complicated 3 hours later you realize you’ve got work in the morning, can pretty much do anything and everything, and the only thing that anchors you to reality is the DM, who will simply penalize your stupidity. On the other hand, a few quick tests made on the spot and you could have the most epic fight scene ever; no doubt Mr. Dare will remind me once again about how he dived into the water and had boxing match with an giant octopus.
It is dependent on your players and their imagination, something console gaming has solved by giving you a visual medium; but hand outs, visual references or as DM your prime role as story teller simply weave a magical mystical world around your setting.
So which is better?
If I'm feeling creative: pen and paper RPGs.
If I'm feeling lazy: console RPGs.
I'll let you decide...
So where does the future lie, kids and kiddies? Well D&D4th edition took elements from both formats of RPG and turned it into a table top game... not necessary what we're after... but until the next technological leap, or until books are eliminated I'm quite happy to roll some dice.
DM
No comments:
Post a Comment