D&D Online (mmorpg by Turbine)

[Vinen]

That is why a good DM is required, where his word is law. He can modify the rules when needed. The person who DM's the campaigns I usually play in at College is never afraid to say no, or if we try to do something overpowering make it backfire.

And as one of the previous posters said, yes if you are going to make a online DnD, it better only be based slightly off it, because its going to be more unbalanced then FFXI even if they stick to the way that the classes are set up in DnD PnP.

[Ukerric]

Originally posted by Sylas
wonder if they will be using the 3.x edition Harm spell, go go cleric DPS.

If classes are anything like 3rd ed in this MMO, then all clerics groups are the only way to go.

About every serious encounter in NWN had immunity to Harm (and a couple others) built-in.

[Nar]

Originally posted by Merauk
D&D has always had a problem in that it does not scale to higher levels very well. This IMHO is a problem with all level based gaming systems (EQ included). The only way to really balance a game is to create a fixed bottom and top which a skill based system allows for. When you have levels where progression is continous it just becomes impossible to balance everything out.

D&D brought the entire concept of what we all take for granted today (MMORPG) into reality. For that it deserves props. But there are a lot better systems out there (Harn being my preference, though RoleMaster with some modifications is very playable as well).

No kidding. Its pretty sick when you can take a sword stab in the face and shrug it off. Go go HP scaling.

[Samus Aran]

I"m starting to think that nothing will compare to or be able to emulate dnd without the ability to have a true DM. And i'm not talking this nwn queer shit either...

[Merauk]

Originally posted by Vinen
That is why a good DM is required, where his word is law. He can modify the rules when needed. The person who DM's the campaigns I usually play in at College is never afraid to say no, or if we try to do something overpowering make it backfire.

A good DM is essential in any PNP game regardless of the system (and so are good players). When that DM has to spend half his time monkeying with the rules as opposed to working with the story and player interaction that is a problem in my mind. It also is frustrating to players to not have a firm understanding of what is possible and what isn't possible because the rules are in a constant state of flux to account for things that just don't work.


Everybody tinkers with whatever PNP system they use to a certain extent to make it work for their needs. D&D though requires far to much work in order to make it work right IMHO though.

[Vinen]

Originally posted by Merauk
A good DM is essential in any PNP game regardless of the system (and so are good players). When that DM has to spend half his time monkeying with the rules as opposed to working with the story and player interaction that is a problem in my mind. It also is frustrating to players to not have a firm understanding of what is possible and what isn't possible because the rules are in a constant state of flux to account for things that just don't work.


Everybody tinkers with whatever PNP system they use to a certain extent to make it work for their needs. D&D though requires far to much work in order to make it work right IMHO though.

Very True, least its not as bad as that Anime based one BESM or something, friend bought the book for it once and I read thought a little of it and was just like yeah...................., its so broken its not funny.

I personally cant even think of a ruleset for a PnP RPG that is horribly broken right now.

[Nar]

Originally posted by Fattyfat
I"m starting to think that nothing will compare to or be able to emulate dnd without the ability to have a true DM. And i'm not talking this nwn queer shit either...

Yep, no matter how imaginitive a system is programmed to be, it will always miss that human element that creates new and interesting ways to do the same old spells, and nor would it be able to accurately react to things like a person can.

[Iannis]

I hate Timestop. Why did they make that spell.

[Callon]

You might want to check out http://www.webrpg.com/ for a virtual PnP gaming program. It's a decent little java app.

[Fabinusar]

Originally posted by Nar
No kidding. Its pretty sick when you can take a sword stab in the face and shrug it off. Go go HP scaling.

I've always preferred the system Shadowrun had in place for measuring the character's condition. Biggest problem with Shadowrun was the number of dice used to resolve things - sometimes it just got to be too much. (imagine rolling the equivalent of a fireball everytime you wanted to do something, but not adding them up - heh).


Timestop was often banned on NWN persistant world attempts. Nothing like someone several zones over halting everything that was going on.

[Andric d'Regor]

Originally posted by Fattyfat
SPeaking of DnD, are there any programs or utilities that create a pen/paper environment to play over the net. Maybe with the help of Teamspeak and such a utility, I could start playing again... fyi: i hate java.

OpenRPG ( http://www.openrpg.com ) does a decent job of it and handles dice rolls etc.

[Callon]

I really don't understand WotC and Turbine. There are several well-established campaign settings like Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Planescape, etc. Why the fuck do they need to invent another cookie cutter high fantasy game world intellectual property? Granted the people behind the game world have great track records, but still.. Seems like a golden opportunity to push an already established IP (or revitalize an ailing IP) instead of something totally new.

The rumor I've heard here, at least in part, is licensing. Eborran was created as part of a design contest run by WoTC and is wholely owned by them. It has some resemblance to the living arcanis setting (www.livingarcanis.com), but I guess that's here nor there. Ed Greenwood has some licensing agreements going for using the Forgotten Realms. It would cost WoTC more to use the Realms. The same may very well go for Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance setting and Gary Gygax's work (he did Greyhawk, right?).

The main thing here is $$$. Will it pay off for WoTC or would they have been better off spending a bit more to use the very well developed and recognized Forgotten Realms setting? *shrug*

[Masamunae]

Originally posted by Nar
I should probably qualify myself by saying I've played since 1985 or so.......

So you should probably realise that DnD isn't a MMOG right? Including class balance into a P&P game is borderline retarded, unless your GM is a rules nazi, in which case you should punch him in the mouth. In a P&P game, I can do things like cut a guys head off. Last I checked, I can't do that in a MMOG.

If you don't like the way a class works, you change it. You can add new feats eh. It's even in the rules. If you're the GM, go to town. If not, then come up with some ideas and pass them by your GM. Or even do a search online for them.

Christ, if you've been playing since 85, I shouldn't have to be explaining this to you. P&P games are never perfect ruleswise, that's why you have a GM to pass rulings and not a processor in a server in some basement halfway around the world.

[Nar]

Originally posted by Masamunae
So you should probably realise that DnD isn't a MMOG right? Including class balance into a P&P game is borderline retarded, unless your GM is a rules nazi, in which case you should punch him in the mouth. In a P&P game, I can do things like cut a guys head off. Last I checked, I can't do that in a MMOG.

If you don't like the way a class works, you change it. You can add new feats eh. It's even in the rules. If you're the GM, go to town. If not, then come up with some ideas and pass them by your GM. Or even do a search online for them.

Christ, if you've been playing since 85, I shouldn't have to be explaining this to you. P&P games are never perfect ruleswise, that's why you have a GM to pass rulings and not a processor in a server in some basement halfway around the world.

You are assuming that we did not modify or change things to balance them. Of course we did. The entire point I was trying to get across, which was hit a number of times in this thread afterwards, was simply that D&D is broken. A direct conversion using the PnP rules to a MMO is bound to fail.

[Shadowrunner_01]

3rd+ ed. DnD is broken. 2nd ed. I believe was balanced well.

Shadowrun is an excellent system, Earthdawn (another game originally done by FASA) is nice aswell.