Tuesday, April 13, 2010

What's Old is New Again



I have been reading through my Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) 4th Edition books and I have to tell you it feels like coming home. For me, as for many of us, D&D was my first real experience with what we consider "gaming" today. I was introduced to the game while I was in the 6th grade by a classmate while attending school in Lafayette. He had all these miniatures of knights, wizards and monsters. I remember him showing me how he painted them while his dad painted model cars. He said they were for use in this game he and his older brother played. Reaching onto a shelf in his closet he showed me a red box with some adventurers on the cover. That was the first time I saw D&D, and I was fascinated.

We soon got our friends in on our D&D games and we all were hooked. Many a lunchtime discussion was had about the benefits of being an elven archer or a halfling thief. Way before the internet or texting, it was our discussions at school that sustained us through the week till we could finally play again on weekends. Ah, such good times! All I wanted to do was play the character I had just painted. My first character was an elf named Silverleaf, who had his arrows fletched with leaves that had fallen from a magical tree deep in the enchanted forest. Or some such craziness. I still have some of the miniatures from that era, in a box somewhere. Most were painted by my cousins and, sadly, I have no idea what happened to mine. So many great memories of hanging out with friends and slaying monsters were made while playing D&D. It was my gateway drug to a larger world of gaming goodness that I am still happy to be a part of to this day.

Over the years, I would continue to play, though no where near as much as I did as a kid. I saw the game evolve, spawn numerous expansion books, and become the originator of what we know of as roleplaying games today. Until recently, the last time I played was in 2001 or so. It was 3rd edition, and the d20 was king. The game was fun and the myriad of player options was staggering, but it did give rise to some jankiness. I know power gamers will be power gamers, but man, the munchkin crap some of these guys pulled was amazing. The rules, while fun, could get complex. While they did provide depth and customization, almost too much, 3E would drag out game sessions with rules, rules lawyering, and drawn out combat. After reading D&D4E, those days are (hopefully) gone. However, munchkins do get to twink out in 4E ,but not as badly as they once did.

In preparing for my role as Dungeon Master for our 4E game of D&D, I feel like I am getting back to my roots, as it were, when it comes to gaming. Revisiting old scenes of my memory every time I read about Eladrin or studying up what exactly a shaman can do. Mechanically, the rules are very simple yet deep enough to allow creativity. As an exception based game system it will be impossible for me to know all the specific interactions, but thankfully I do not have to. And when they come up, it is pretty much cut and dry what happens. And in a short time, I am sure my game group and I will have the rules pretty much nailed down. But just getting back in the universe populated by dragons, sorcerers, and fighters is just so nostalgic for me. I love the archetypical fantasy setting D&D games invoke. This is some great stuff! I am hoping to bring my enthusiasm to our gaming sessions and make some new dragon slaying memories with my good friends. Despite the low tech of roleplaying, nothing is better than getting around a table with your friends, moving miniatures, rolling dice, and seeing what lies behind that locked dungeon door.

-Wickedstormy


Monday, April 5, 2010

The Future of Gaming

After watching the Ex Illis game demo and the release of the iPad, I have concluded that like it or not, the merging of our hobby games and the computerized world is inevitable. While I may not be on board with this idea totally (considering how much of a gadget geek I am, this is shocking) I think someone integrating the two mediums correctly is only a matter of time. Hell, I am already sort of doing it with iBodger on my iPhone. With that app, I can create and store WARMACHINE/HORDES army lists, access and the Battle College entry for any unit, and reference any rules errata/clarifications on the PP forums. D&D has their tool, D&Di, as a gaming aid for players to either play their rpg online or use their laptops at the gaming table. And who hasn't used Army Builder or Tabletop Commander? And there is a huge fan base of Vasal players playing all sorts of games. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what I am referring to.

The iPad

I have seen several game apps for the iPad and they look awesome. The developers really took advantage of the hardware inside this device. But, those are games for the iPad itself. How would the iPad impact our hobby games?

Just think back to this past weekend. I had a backpack full of dice, books, laptop, pens, paper, character sheets and other gaming gear. Now imagine if we all had iPads. All of the D&D books would ( well, potentially could) be viewable on the iPad. No need to lug all that weight around! And not just the books I brought with me, I can have my entire D&D library at my fingertips. Pencils? Character Sheets? No need. Just input on the iPad or have the character gen app do it for you. Laptop to access online material? No need there either. iPad can access the same content. No need for dice, either. There is an app for that! I have one on my iPhone, actually. Anyways, you get the picture. I know this may sound like an iPad sales pitch, it is not. I'm not sure you can even get the D&D books for the iPad yet. The potential is there, though. I'm just trying to illustrate my point about the two mediums integrating.

One Step Further

I think that as long as there are tech geeks who game (not that there are many of those :-) people will continue to invent ways of combing the virtual world with the real world. I am sure even now that some MIT geek is working on the Star Wars holographic chess game that you had better let the Wookie win. Look at the Nintendo Wii. I think that is the closest we will get to the Matrix before we have to implant VR ports into the backs of our necks! In researching this, I came across many examples of man and machine, but not until recently did I find any directly related to hobby gaming. Here are a few links to illustrate what I mean:

The first is close to home for us, as it is D&D on the Microsoft Surface platform.



And to be fair, here is a link to the Ex Illis game demo (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)



Eye of Judgement, a PS3 game utilizing the PS3 Eye. Think Yu Gi Oh or Pokemon!

Eye of Judgement



Here is the Avatar game version along the same lines as Eye of Judgement. Yeah, warjacks!

Avatar




Lastly, this example is the closest I think to best integrating what we play. It is called "augmented reality". If you don't check out any of the others, please look at this one. Imagine playing a game of WARMACHINE like this!

SCOPE



So you see the potential is there, just that the technology is just not refined enough yet to make it affordable, graceful, and fun. I am certain in time someone will be the first to really nail this technology as a game system and create a new market for hobby gaming.

As for me, I'll stick to old skool. Computers have taken over so many aspects of our lives, the table top battlefield is one where I prefer they remain blissfully absent.

Wickedstormy