Checkmate to Dystopian Warfare
Board games have one
of the widest ranges of gameplay available out of any kind of real life or
virtual game. From a simple knocking out
the king piece to obliterating entire armies, the strategies in board’s games
are what make them so fun and appealing.
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is one of the most popular board games
around with one of the most interesting kinds of gameplay.
D&D was first published in 1974,
becoming to most iconic role playing/war games ever created. The games publication became recognized as
the beginning of modern role playing games and the role playing game
industry. With it being so successful you
wonder what are the aspects of the game that make it so fun? Coming from a personal background of playing
war strategy games like Warhammer and Warhammer 40k (dystopian galactic warfare
kind of games) I already knew that war strategy is a very fast paced, energetic
way of thinking. Having to come up with
your on strategy based off of your specific army or hero and then adapting your
strategy to fight someone else’s army/hero is very interactive and makes you
put some real thought into what you are doing.
Really engaging your brain with strategy is what separates big games
like D&D and Warhammer from simple ones like checkers or tic tac toe. Another huge part of D&D is storytelling. This adds some fun to the game while keeping
it intriguing with the background lore of your hero or environment. With all kinds of classes, races, monsters
and missions the storytelling can be endless and with the game always evolving
it will never get old. That is one thing
that D&D has over a lot of old classic games, updated gameplay to keep
their players amused and wanting more. If you have never tried D&D I suggest
you do! I have numerous friends who play
and after researching more into the game I, myself am more interested in it
too.
Just like you, throughout this class and talking to others, i have become more interested in D&D. You asked "with it being so successful you wonder what are the aspects of the game that make it so fun"?
ReplyDeleteWell, i think you made some very valid point in this post. The game is mentally stimulating like chess, social like other board games, and also lets the player put themselves into another world and reality, where they can be whomever they want and live a life outside of their own. I think a big pull of D&D is the escapism aspect of the game? It allows you to separate yourself from your day to day life and go on epic adventures as a character that can reflect your own personality. I, like you, completely understand why D&D has become so popular, and it will continue to be popular well into the future, since there are so many possibilities within the game as it is ever changing. Anything is possible in the world of D&D, you can be whoever you want to be, and live in a world that only exists in the imagination.
I liked your summary of the things that have made D&D popular. You described the strategy and social aspects of the table top game and I was curious whether you had a similar experience with any online video games.
ReplyDeleteFor example, my brother and dad are huge fans of D&D online. It has many similar aspects to the table top game, such as character creation and completing quests to get cool items and stuff. It even has many of the social parts of the game, seeing as you are able to communicate with players around the world and join guilds and stuff. I guess you could consider it a combination of WOW and D&D.
And although it's not an online social game, I agree with the appeal of military strategy games. I myself am a Fire Emblem fan. It is a series of fantasy military strategy games where you move your soldiers like chess pieces and defeat the enemy.
I guess what I'm saying is, "What is the appeal of real world table top D&D when you get the same experience from video games? Is it just the idea that table top D&D came out first?" I have never played D&D before so I might sound biased against it, but why bother? Video games are arguably easier to get into and require less effort to organize.
But maybe that's part of it. D&D gives you tons of freedom and you have to work as a team to create the illusion of fantasy. Hmm. Guess I just answered my own question. Well! Carry on!