The 4th-Ed. of D&D brings a new facet to tabletop RPG: online tabletop role-playing.
Wizards of the Coast is developing a social network and subscription service which will allow subscribers to game on virtual tabletops. The monthly fee is a steep $14.95, but a yearly subscription lowers it somewhat.
While you can technically do the same on your own right now, Wizards' model will animate the virtual tabletop with animated characters and monsters and likely other features impossible (or more time-consuming than simply paying the fee) to duplicate on your own.
Online role-playing is nothing new, and I do not mean MMORPG. AOL chatrooms have several built-in features which support it, including a random dice-roll simulator. There are numerous stand-alone dice-rolling and number-generating randomizers (both executables and online versions) and creating your own in JavaScript is a fairly simple process. Text-based sessions and campaigns, specifically through e-mail, became popular early-on and BBSes often had forums boards and files areas dedicated to the form.
But Wizards' new model is going further than all of this. The new D&D Insider is a suite of online tools to enhance your gaming experience, including a Character Visualizer and Builder, the Virtual Tabletop, and more. All of these tools will be a boon to players both online and off-.
Another new online feature is the D&D Compendium - a searchable database of the 4th-Ed. rules (released earlier this month). Though details are sketchy, it does not appear that you will be charged to use the Compendium, but I'm pretty sure it will be integrated into the online model in some form, at some point. Online access to both Dungeon and Dragon magazines are included with your subscription. You can access both for free now and see a preview of the Compendium.
Wizard's approach and overall model is scarce on details at this time; all of these online tools may be "premium" services only available to subscribers, but I have a feeling several of them will be made available to everyone eventually. While specific components like the Character Builder and Visualizer and Virtual Tabletop fit the traditional "premium" model, it is going to be difficult to persuade owners of the low-tech sourcebooks to fork-out the whopping $15/month just for the search engine. Even of these features, many free alternatives already exist.
The magazine subscriptions are another fine premium offering, but many of the better articles tend to wind-up in the free online archives, so a lot of people may be willing to wait to see them there.
All in all, most of us avid gamers are former avid gamers and due to all sorts of reasons, simply do not have the time, money, or other resources to devote to gaming the way we did when we were kids. While many of us would love to get back into the hobby, all manner of restrictions make this unlikely. While Wizards' idea is laudable, the price is ludicrous; you can get an entire month of great radio programming for $3.00 - no $30 sourcebook needed! - and there are ample social networks, forums and message boards, chatrooms, number randomizers, and other tools already available for free across the Web. A few hours spent developing your own "system" using free tools culled from these resources can duplicate what Wizards is offering for a whopping $180 annually.
Not to mention the whole MMORPG thing.
Great idea, but is it 10 years too late?
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
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