I was discussing this topic with a few peers the other day and was wondering if there are as many people getting together with their friends to play pen and paper, face to face RPG's,or are we in a life that is so busy, hectic, and encouraging in its need for immediate gratification, that video games are the only thing we do these days. I know I've touched on this at least once before, but the audience has grown and I believe that I have more insight on why we do what we do.
I am going to a friends house this evening to play a game and am looking forward to it. I haven't played a face to face P&P game for over a year and did not realize how much I missed it. There is something special about seeing friends in person and sharing food, drink a few laughs that video games cannot compete with. Now, I am not condemning video games because I play them too. Its too easy to play 'em due to the facts that they are so fun and stimulate your senses like nothing else. Am I right?
But there is a dynamic to the P&P RPG's that video games cannot capture: human input. It is the best and most incentivizing reason to play RPG's with other people--human intervention and human reason. It makes the games so much more fun to me.
What are your thoughts?
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The answer is . . . yes. I love both PnP and MMO's ^_^ If it were possible to play PnP all the time, I would. Its far more fun, but takes planning on everyone's part. But MMOs are simply convenient and you can pick up any time. I am in 3 different PnP campaigns at present. One is bi-weekly, the others are monthly.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest difference is how limited choices in MMOs are, compared to PnP in which you can do almost anything you like, including avoiding fights and still winning.
Thanks for the reply! Your points are spot on and yes, you echoed my point about the human interaction. In a video game, you have very rigid and specific goals and in a P&P game, the DM can alter things on the fly...kind of like a good game-day coach that can make adjustments if need be!
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