| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
keijemon
Acolyte
49 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Sep 2008 : 22:00:07
|
Greetings,
I’ve been reading the plethora of negative posts associated with the 4e changes and something occurred to me. The greatest problem with such one-sided changes to the setting (not the rules) made by the designers is that a game that is by its very nature interactive story telling appeared to have made a leap that is neither interactive, nor naturally developed or imaginative (I mean every notable change since the beginning of time in FR has been justified by “oh, I know… lets kill Mystra!”).
So something else occurred to me. I know another game setting where the entire universe progresses based on the players’ performance. Now I know that their model cannot work for D&D “as is”, but stay with me for a while, while I explain.
The other game I’m talking about is Warhammer (WH). First let us consider the broken way in which WH Fantasy handles this. They have worldwide campaign, where Games-Workshop stores (and other licensed retailers) can conduct gaming events and results are then tallied and sent back to the designers, and the next rulebook/supplement to be published will have the updated events included in the fluff sections. This will let the world change based on which side performs best in the tournaments. Now, the reason this is broken is the Novels. The novels are generally commissioned earlier, so thay can be released as the campaign progresses or swiftly afterwards. However, if one side gains advantage early on, writers have to quickly plot-hax some main characters to some key battles in some key areas that are unlikely to have been actually reached by their forces. This overrides players' performance.
The science fiction version does this better (imho). In WH 40K, worldwide campaigns drive the meta-plot. Novels are handled differently. Novels either cover the actual occurrences of the campaign or happen at the same time somewhere else (mostly the second option). Novels can’t advance history or rewrite it. This delays the appearance of novels, but makes sure that the galaxy changes in accordance with players’ actions and not much else. So the game designers can introduce the changes, but it is players' performance that decides if they "go in". For example in one of the campaigns Tau faction's poor performance resulted in them being denied understanding of Warp space, thus preventing their ships from becoming capable of long journeys through Warp and further binding them to depend on their allies for this, hence protecting Imperium from anything but border skirmishes.
Now as for why this can’t work in D&D. I think it is obvious that we can’t organize this kind of worldwide campaign, because there are no Wizards game shops, so the brunt of it would have to lay on the independents, and then we would have trust them not to report fake results or take shortcuts (since a world changing D&D adventure would take a hell of a lot longer than a player vs. player tactical battle).
So my questions is can we put plot advancement in the hands of players in some other fashion? Or does the nature of D&D binds us to leave it to game developers?
P.S. I’m against simple voting for plot twists on a website or something, a-la choose your own adventure. If we can’t make a proper campaign out of it, there is no point to it all.
|
The greatest trick Ao ever pulled, is convincing Toril he didn't exist. |
Edited by - keijemon on 07 Sep 2008 22:06:04
|
|
|
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 08 Sep 2008 : 14:56:26
|
quote:
Originally posted by keijemon
So my questions is can we put plot advancement in the hands of players in some other fashion?
To be fair, WotC is sorta kinda going to do that with the Living Forgotten Realms campaign. Of course, those campaigns start off in the 4E Realms, which a lot of people here dislike anyway. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
 |
|
|
Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 08 Sep 2008 : 16:06:25
|
It sounds very ambitious...but moreso, it seems like it would be a FANTASTIC windfall for WOTC. If they did push a project like this forward, I can't imagine that sales wouldn't simply skyrocket.
And MAYBE...things would even out a little bit from the Shattered Realms as DMs make their mark. It would be nice to have a stable pantheon and a path out of the chaos... |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
|
|
|
Xysma
Master of Realmslore
USA
1089 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2008 : 19:32:55
|
quote:
Originally posted by Arion Elenim
It sounds very ambitious...but moreso, it seems like it would be a FANTASTIC windfall for WOTC. If they did push a project like this forward, I can't imagine that sales wouldn't simply skyrocket.
And MAYBE...things would even out a little bit from the Shattered Realms as DMs make their mark. It would be nice to have a stable pantheon and a path out of the chaos...
That would be nice, but I don't see it happening unless they can create that path through Dungeon and Dragon articles exclusively. According to WotC after the Player's Guide comes out, that's it, there will be no more sourcebooks for the Realms. Unless things have changed, this is their plan for each setting they release in $E: Campaign Setting, Player's Guide, and nothing else. |
War to slay, not to fight long and glorious.
Aermhar of the Tangletrees
Year of the Hooded Falcon
Xysma's Gallery
Guide to the Tomes and Tales of the Realms download from Candlekeep
Anthologies and Tales Overviews
Check out my custom action figures, hand-painted miniatures, gaming products, and other stuff on eBay.
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Player driven FR? (tl;dr inside)
