Georg Zoeller
Senior Technical Designer
Joined: 27 May 2003
From: Austin, TX
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 Posted: Saturday, 29 May 2004 12:42AM
Quote: Posted 05/29/04 00:17:32 (GMT) by zhaomdphd
I think the question is: Why is D&D so "good"?
I mean, does everybody like D&D just because it's popular and/or because it's the only (or almost only) the rule system they've played with? Or does it actually have advantages over other game systems?
It is a simplistic system that still offers enough complexity to simulate/resolve most situations that come up using just a few dice and a piece of paper, and that makes it beautiful.
But then again it doesn't translate to well from PnP on the computer, at least not for the real time based games BioWare makes. If you make a turn based game it works fairly well, but not for a real time framework. Also, by translating a system tailored to the mathematical capacity of the average human mind, you may sacrifice things you could present better in a computer system that can handle highly complex calculations in a blink. (Through humans like systems they understand, so making it overly complex might not be a good idea as well).
Also, and that's true with any licensed system, when working with a license, you need to make changes to gameplay in order to ensure license integrity. I.e. if the license holder establishes that there is no kissing (or further things along that line) in the licensed world because they are not appropriate for the company's target audience or public image - you can't have romances that end beyond holding hands and walking into the sunset.
Another example: In D&D it is established that there are certain classes and what their properties are (i.e. A paladin gets his special mount). In NWN there was no horseback riding, so the paladin would not get this special mount - but we could also not invent anything new to balance out the loss of this ability, because that would have violated the spirit of the paladin classe and thus damaged the license. There are countless other examples like this, often originating from either engine limitations or design decisions (i.e. to use a real time system, allow multiplayer without DM, etc). With our own IP, we can make sure that classes useful within the abilities of the game engine.
Of course licenses come with a benefit as well, i.e. a certain amount of people know the brand and are probably more likely to buy your game when it makes use that license (be it StarWars, D&D or whatever) and don't having to worry about the background for your game, as you have most likely a huge reference library to access.
Don't get me wrong, it is cool to work with a license (which geek hasn't dreamt of making a StarWars or D&D game) and if the project is "make a cool StarWars RPG", you are happy to work with a license - but if the project is about "A character shaping he the fate world nobody has been to before" a license is probably not a good idea, as licenses usually don't mix with permanent changes to the gameworld and new worlds, gods, races radially different from things that have been established before.
So, working with a license has pros and cons and it needs to be evaluated on a per project basis.
For DA it was decided that we wanted to do "our" world in the way we want it to be, tell "our" story with as much as creative freedom for our writers as possible and that rules out using an established license.
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georg zoeller
senior rules and systems monkey
[da | me]
My custom NWN content
ceterum censeo ambulatiuncula esse delen
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