Re: More Depth? Comp-Mods vs. Hand-Mods

From: madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)

Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000

>>Steve, you're talking about which kind of high-depth game is easiest to run,
and not which can contain the greater amount of depth.<<
>>If you or any other hand-mod GM ran a game with computer assistance, it would
easily outpace any comp-mod in depth.

Im sorry.  I dont agree.  Dungeon has nearly 10,000 active characters
interacting within its framework and they are all roleplaying and
pursuing their own goals and plans.  The complexity produced
by this is not numbers or high-depth of the type you describe, it is
genuine and fascinating interation between players in a game world.
It's not just numbers and acquisitions, like it would be in, say, Odyssey,
but full-blown roleplaying of a very high degree.

>>With a comp-mod, a GM is limited at any given time by the parameters that
have
been programmed into the gaming computer.<<

Not at all.  If the game is designed in a certain way it
can grow and flourish outside of those parameters very
quickly.  And when the growth that takes place affects
the way all players take part in the game... then it is a
very real part of the game in every sense.  You could say that
roleplay outside of the game engine is not part of the game
as such but thats not correct.  If the engine encourages
and rewards such interaction to a level which dominates
the game then it truly is part of the game.

>> With a hand-mod, a GM is limited at
any given time by his and the player(s)' imagination. (No rants, please,
anyone, about thick-skulled GMs or dim-witted players.)<<

True.

>>While a game like DW can have great depth that grows deeper on a regular
basis,
the possible actions of a character are limited by what's been programmed into
the computer.<<

No more so than that a hand-mod is limited by whats its
GM is prepared to allow within the plot.  In DW you can
do just about anything roleplay-wise... since your roleplay doesnt
affect your physical character quite often.  Sure, you can't
set a room on fire if its not been programmed to allow it,
but its also true that you cant do anything you like in many
RPGs because the GM wont let you... for whatever reason...
Handmods are certainly more flexible than computer mods
in this respect, but that doesnt mean they have more depth
and it doesnt mean that a computer mod is not an RPG simply
because it has some limitations.

Steve
-Madhouse UK

References

More Depth? Comp-Mods vs. Hand-Mods
casbahcarl@aol.compost (Chuck)
Thu, 15 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

More Depth? Comp-Mods vs. Hand-Mods
casbahcarl@aol.compost (Chuck)
Thu, 15 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000