Wednesday, August 13, 2008

When is a MMO not a MMO?

When it's D&D4e!

OK, I'm being very specific here but 4e is raising very MMO-ish feelings in me.

1. There is a level of 'must play again'-ness rising in my mind. I want to see what happens next, not only in the game but also in the statistical development of the character.Optimising the choices that I make with each level is becoming an intricate process. Feats, Powers, Stats, Skills - its all very relevant and very enthralling for me on a certain level.

2. Builds! I've been running through different builds in my head and on paper and I have began to see different routes that a character could take. I realise now I have made a fundamental mistake with Morn, making his primary stat STR when it should have been CHA. However there are some great synergistic (is that even a word?) combinations of powers coming in the future. Its a lot of fun.

3. ALTS! Gah! One of the things that I have realised over the years is that we tend to play a game once. We rarely return to something we have already played. So this could be it for D&D4e! I only get to play a Paladin. But what about the Warlock? What about the Halfling 2H Weapon Ranger? What about the Eladrin Fighter? I want to make alts! I want to try new stuff out. Its almost tempting to seek a second group to try it out. (Tempting but inevitably flawed and deadly)

I can feel my MMO-senses tingling with 4e. The same feelings, the same thrill on levelling, the same development of powers and the same yearning to explore things from a different angle. Very clever.

6 comments:

AndrewW said...

You think you have it bad, at least you get to play one character!

What do I get? A host of bit part npc's who have barely any screen time and who have yet to really put a dent in you lot.

Next session I swear, I'm making them all with full PC rules and consequence be damned!

AndrewW said...

As I recall I said at the start if people felt they wanted to change things around after a bit of play they could. There is no reason you should feel disadvantaged because of decisions you took before really seeing the game in action.

Also, synergistic is totally a word.

Fandomlife said...

I officially find all this rather alien and strange.

Vodkashok said...

Which bits in particular Ian?

I'm really enjoying the game and the system and I want to explore it more - whats so bizarre about that?

I liken this to the way I react to MMOs. Play more, learn more, examine things more, explore more. Is that so strange?

Neil

Fandomlife said...

I was exaggerating ever so slightly.

I find the levelling interesting in terms of the action scenes it allows to happen rather than the actual choices and builds. The interest in the character build isn’t that high.

I’m also different in that I feel no real need to explore the game through a different class, which is probably an extension of the above.

I’m also still of the view (though I realise this may change in time to a degree) that the classes are so iconic and focused I think if you’ve played a ranger mechanically, you’ve done it. Okay, you can switch to using two-swords instead of a bow, but still. The focus and iconic nature means it’s not that different.

It was also Andrew’s comments, as that’s different to how I view it as well. I actually detest making stats for NPC’s, as I generally see them as items that exist only to relate to player characters rather than be entities unto themselves. I certainly do see the need to create player characters, etc.

Just a difference, not necessarily better or worse. Not alien and strange as wrong, just as in a different view.

But then most of what you mention in the post I never liked about MMO games either - I hate sorting my talents out.

Anonymous said...

I love tinkering with systems and working out how things work together. I loved playing around with wow talent builds, 3.x character builds and now 4e feat and power structures.

Different strokes for different folks.

A