Another Obsidian Entertainment Blog
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Category: News ArchiveHits: 967
Many gamers may reasonably say, "But RPGs are about character building, not player skill." Though I think one can make a fair case that some form of player skill is always heavily involved in any RPG, it does leave traditional CRPGs in a strange place. The fact that they are often referred to as "traditional" makes them seem like antiquated throwbacks. And though I was somewhat annoyed by an early review of Neverwinter Nights 2 that focused heavily on comparing its thick D&D mechanics to Oblivion's relatively straightforward, "player + character" systems, I can't say I was all that surprised by the outcry. I return to the idea that games like D&D, like GURPS, like Hârnmaster and Rolemaster, were born out of an apparent desire to simulate the entire world through dice, at a leisurely (if not glacial) pace. To a certain extent, they need to. Tabletop games will always be games of imaginary spaces. When someone wants to do something... anything... there needs to be some mechanical concept to cover the event or at least give direction to a GM who needs to wing it.
