Wild Moon Swings

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

RPG - D&D - GM - DM - Dang Them!

Last night I had a nightmare about role playing games. It was awful. I don't remember a thing about it except that I was frustrated ... which is the predominiating emotion whenever I think about role playing games.

When I play an RPG - it has to be a single player video game. Other than that, I can't play an online RPG or Dungeons and Dragons or something like that. I think they're a waste of time.

First when you role play with a manual, you have to make a character. It takes everyone two hundred years to make a character because everyone wants to be something cool. They can't just be an ordinary human and they have to come up with a weird character. And for some warped reason they feel like their actual identity is somehow connected to the character they create. Thus, no one is ready to start the campaign until after midnight. I don't like just hanging around. If we're going to play then lets play.

Next problem - it's almost impossible for to me to enjoy the story unless I'm the dungeon master. Otherwise, I have never been on an adventure that I thought was interesting or exciting. The last time I played a role playing game with a game master I literally fell asleep on the knee of the guy sitting next to me (lucky guy). However, it wasn't three a.m. It was the middle of the afternoon.

Now for online games - I almost think they are immoral. Anything that doesn't have a pause button is almost immoral in my mind. There is no way that a game should distract people from the important/pertinant things in real life. The second a game does this - I believe that it becomes immoral. I know that attitude makes me extremely unpopular with online gamers, but I don't really care. A single person can never understand the demands of family or the absolute rudeness of placing such a time consuming, unproductive, activity ahead of what's really important. If someone wants to do it, then they have to put it in perspective and if they can't then - it's just as bad as being addicted to crack or gambling. I know this has become a real problem in MANY families, and it's not a joke.

I've tried to play them and yeah - I think they're time consuming, unproductive and a terribly unnecessary strain on my typing digits.

Now, I may not be much of a gamer, but I like to play the occassional consul RPG. I think I play about one a year. That's lots considering that they take 50 hours or more to beat. In 2006 I played 'Final Fantasy VII: Derge of Cerberus', and in 2005 I played 'Magna Carta: Tears of Blood'. The further back I go, the more I've played. This year, I bought 'Final Fantasy XII' which is actually pretty boring. Vaan is such a loser; I can't root for him at all. So, to ease the pain I bought 'Drakengard II'. I hadn't played the first one, and I'm not very far into playing it, but I have to say that if 'Eragon' had turned out to have this plot instead of the polly-wolly-crappy one that it had - it would have been a good watch. However, 'Drakengard II' is rated M for violence and blood. So, none of the little boys who want to see 'Eragon' will be able to play it for another 10 years (assuming that 'Eragon' is only suitable for children under the age of eight). It's another story about a boy and his dragon - except these ones aren't panty waists and because it's rated M - they keep a kill count. And it's not like 'Lord of the Rings' with their '17, 18, 19'. You often kill over a hundred people in a single fight. Oh, well - at least they don't show any tendons ripping or rib cages splitting. It's just a little ketchup on the cobblestone.
I never played an M rated video game before - the ratings are a LOT harsher - but I think that's a good thing.

In conclusion - pause buttons rock!

8 Comments:

  • I've never played an RPG. The ones you play with a console or a computer just consume too much of my time. Online ones are impossible for me to play... since I usually can't even sit in front of the computer for more than 10 minutes straight (real life always calls for my attention... doing the laundry, answering the phone, eating, cleaning up something, etc).

    As for RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons... there are no such things in my country. But I know what they are. And I think it's so ridiculous! I mean... I'd be spending the time laughing at the absurdity of it all.
    Either you're a very «imaginative» person, excited with all those RPGs, and are surrounded by people with no imagination and no real interest in playing....... or you're there because someone dragged you to play it, and everyone else is having a great time pretending... while you just stand there having no fun.

    The only games I've been able to play for more than 3 hours... are like Age of Empires... or Monopoly. LOL

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:33 a.m.  

  • Thanks for the compliment, algelic. I try to be all fiery and creative. However, I still haven't been able to pin down the exact reason why I don't like D&D. I think it must be the fact that you spend all that time coming up with a story and crafting a character and at the end of the night - you have created absolutely nothing tangible.

    Thanks for coming!

    By Blogger Sapphirefly, at 12:20 p.m.  

  • Pause buttons do rock, and they are necessary, we all need to pee, or the eat something, but that doesn't mean your quest should duffer for it.

    By Blogger Borrego, at 1:27 p.m.  

  • Yes! But I'm clearly preaching to the choir with this one. You know how it goes.

    By Blogger Sapphirefly, at 6:44 p.m.  

  • I like the games, but not for to long, I need to keep it interesting.
    By the way, how old are you?

    By Blogger Borrego, at 5:22 p.m.  

  • Would I really admit to something like that? Actually, I get this question a lot. And I'll favour you with the same answer I give everyone else ^_~!

    I am in my early twenties.

    Oh, and you said you were going to go read my new story 'Ghost Mist'. It's on fictionpress.com now in the fantasy section. Please go read it!

    Cheers!

    By Blogger Sapphirefly, at 7:56 p.m.  

  • I think the experiences of D&D manual/board games and computer/console games are quite different, so although one is based on the other, it's natural that you may not like D&D games.

    As for online games, yes, they are pretty addicting, but depending on the game (WoW is a lot more independent than ffxi) and depending on how you want to play, you can still have your normal life, too. The majority of players on online games are actually casual players who log on only a couple of times a week. The more hardcore gamers like me encounter them all the time (and is a source of frustration as they go afk constantly to take care of their kid or pick up their siblings :P).

    Anyway, just wanted to clear up online games' reputation :D

    Console games are in another different division. They are limited by their console's powers (I want PS3 :( ), and are typically produced to appeal to certain genres.

    I actually thought ff12 was pretty good in terms of storyline, although, yes, Vaan was totally uninteresting and insipid. At first the game hinted at him having a relationship with the royal family, and then it turns out he's just a sidekick... Balthier and Fran were way more interesting.

    By Blogger jomiel, at 10:20 a.m.  

  • Yeah, I thought Balthier and Fran were more interesting too, but I haven't been able to get into it. I guess I like playing a MAN rather than a little sissy boy.

    By Blogger Sapphirefly, at 10:37 a.m.  

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