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

From: "Steve Pritchard" <steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk>

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

MadCentral wrote in message
<19990715205149.07114.00000947@ng-fp1.aol.com>...
>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...

Then this is not a good example, is it?

I've never stopped any player from doing anything in a hand-mod
roleplaying game;they are just made aware of what the consequences are
likely to be and, if they go ahead with their plans, they have to deal
with them.

Don't take this wrongly, Steve, but I think you are allowing your wish to
champion your game to get in the way of common sense here. I have never
seen a computer moderated game that allows the level of interaction and
flexibility that a hand-mod does. I have never seen on nor do I think I
will in my lifetime. Computers are dumb. The best human moderators are a
million light-years ahead of even a smart computer program. Even dumb
moderators should be able to give a computer a run for its money when it
comes to improvisation.

>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.

Computer simulations are not true roleplaying. I've never seen a product
anywhere, in any format, that has mad me believe otherwise. I'm not saying
they are not fun and that they do not have a solid place on the market,
but they are not roleplaying games in the same way F2F hand-mod games are.

References

Re: More Depth? Comp-Mods vs. Hand-Mods
madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)
Fri, 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000
More Depth? Comp-Mods vs. Hand-Mods
casbahcarl@aol.compost (Chuck)
Thu, 15 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: More Depth? Comp-Mods vs. Hand-Mods
madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)
Fri, 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000
More Depth? Comp-Mods vs. Hand-Mods
casbahcarl@aol.compost (Chuck)
Thu, 15 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000