For this weeks Poll Position, I asked for your help in picking a topic for the poll. There were some real good suggestions made but I am going to give the nod to The Atomic Punk for suggesting "Traditional or Pen and Paper RPG's vs MMORPG's". So this is what I want to know, given that they are two totally different experience, which of the two do you prefer to play? Please take a moment to vote for your favorite, and comment below with your reasons for your pick. As a bonus I would love to know which games you have played in the past?
Myself I have played:
Pen and Paper Games: AD&D 1st edition, AD&D 2nd Edition, Heroes Unlimited ( a superhero rpg ), RIFTS, Palladium Fantasy, Mechton, and Vampire the Masquerade.
MMORPG's: Everquest, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy XI, World Of Warcraft ( for a very short time ), Shaiya, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and DC Universe Online.
All in all while I enjoy both experiences I have to say that if I had to pick a favorite I would go with the old school pen and paper rpg's. There is just something about getting together with some real good friends around a table that you lose with MMORPG's. to throw in a little bonus answer my favorite game of all the pen and paper games I hav e played would have to be RIFTS.
yeah, gotta give it to the oldschool.
Just a more fun experience – not limited by fixed programming and having a laugh with friends
I’m WAY more into the traditional pen and paper RPG than the MMRPG. Thats not to say that MMRPG doesn’t have its place because it does. However…
Nothing will replace my Pen and Paper. I guess thats the ‘tell’ that reveals my age? Like just about every gamer, I started with D&D. I quickly moved on to Heroes Unlimited / Paladium/ TMNT / Rifts and White Wolf. Then the flood gates REALLY opened and it was D.C. Heroes, War Hammer Fantasy, ShadowRun, Star Wars , DeadLands, Toon and what I’ve really been into recently as a story but havn’t played or GM’d enough of…Blue Planet.
Theres a few books I own that I havn’t played yet…lol. Ghost Dog and Army of Darkness. A few of my buddies really got into Earth Dawn , but I havn’t had the pleasure of doing so yet.
I’m lucky enough to have married a gamer geek chick myself, thus the…’investment’ I have made in books, supplements and dice has never been eye balled or “poo poo’ed”.
I picked PnPRPG’s over MMORPG’s for two reasons:
1: In PNPRPG’s, you’re free to have your character do whatever your character is capable of, because the GM is right there to respond to your actions in real time. In MMORPG’s, as with all video and computer games, the actions you can take are limited by what the devs can anticipate you wanting to do.
2. In PNPRPG’s, the interaction between you and your fellow players often works to make the game more fun. In MMORPG’s, at least in my experience, interacting with other players is, at best, a necessary evil, because most interactions involve others either trolling you or attacking and killing your character without provocation.
Thanks, Kaldath. Definitely Pen and Paper… should start calling it “Quill and Parchment” to really show my age.
Old school gaming takes a lot of imagination. Which, in my opinion, is more satisfying. Sure, you work your brain and sharpen hand-eye coordination with MMORPGs. However, you are essentially trapped in someone else’s world (Warcraft). Even though they are ever-expanding, you’re still inside, dare I say, a “corporate bubble.”
With Q&P (feel free to use that), you have unbridled control whether as a GM or a player. If you’re an NPC… well, sucks to be you. Face time is very important. Sitting on a couch talking into a headset just doesn’t do it for me.
My favorite Q&P RPGs are D&D, Champions (Hero System), Shadowrun, and GURPS. Yes, GURPS! I’m alternative to alternative.
I don’t even play MMOs. I’ve had no interest in it. On the other hand, a few of my friends and I still get together for some tabletop RPGing. The community has spoken truly: there is far more imagination and versatility to the traditional pencil-and-paper route.
I must say that the few systems of ‘Q&P’ (thanx, AP) that upgraded so you have the option of automating any standard character sheets and creations WERE an improvement. But custom character creation, bending the rule books, putting systems together that traditionally DON’T work together, finding the patches from random sources, and, best of all, bridging any agreement gaps by awarding ‘cool points’ make those canned things boring. It can require a truly mature group to not power-game, to negotiate fairly, etc.–But those ARE the people I prefer.
–I really miss gaming.
i played wow for a bit. several of my co-workers and rl friends had a guild. skull squadron. but we kinda all faded off. i only played really cuz a friend of mine worked for blizzard and gave me a 1-year free card. but ive played table-top for 25 years.
in ttrpg you dont have to listen to racist and homo-phobic remarks the whole time.
I really like both. They each offer a different experience and require radically different sets of skills, so they satisfy different parts of my gaming desires. I really can’t choose.
@Kaldath: On a side note, you play DCUO? Hero of Villain? When are you on?
Hero ( US PC PvE server ) though I do have one villain I don’t play that character often. I am a very casual gamer and usually only get on the game during my days off from work ( Mondays and Tuesdays ) though the time of day and length of time spent on varies. Also I may not play every week for example I was so burned out and in pain from work last weekend that I spent most of my two days off in bed letting the body heal. I recently started a new character on DC trying to learn the new Quantum Power that I named Temporal Angell.