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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Sky is Falling and Other Tales of WotC's Virtual Table Top

I've read elsewhere that WotC's Virtual Table Top is going to destroy roleplaying as we know it.  Folks are going to have to pay microtransactions to play certain classes and races, Hasbro is going to make folks sign off promissory notes on their first born children and no one will be allowed to roleplay at the dining room table anymore.

I call a proper BS on this.

Working from last to first, few folks that currently have a local gaming group are going to move that group to a VTT.  In person is almost always preferable to the computer screen.

Hasbro no longer has a policy asking for first born children as payment.  They do ask for souls to work at WotC, but I think those are refundable upon the annual Holiday Season Termination Session.

As for microtransactions to play, from what I can tell of the Beta, GM's play for free and Players will pay a fee per session.  Which is a nice switch as usually the DM incurs most of the gaming costs and the players ride for free.

Seriously, the Virtual Table Top can only add players to the gaming mix.  It won't be leeching players from your local game, unless they didn't want to be there in the first case.  If that was the situation, they probably wouldn't have joined your group in the first place.

The sky is most certainly not falling.  At least, not just yet.

7 comments:

  1. Most people I know are pretty done with WoTC as a content creation engine and are pretty happy with just accepting the delivery end. They come up with their own goodies (except cards) and play on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some people are really angry that it's not 1979 and that EGG is not at the helm.

    They will say different, but that's the deal. There's nothing that can be done by WotC to make some people happy other than reprinting the Brown Box and apologizing for the last 30 years.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I dunno. I've heard these cries from the 4e corners of the net, not just the Old School. Somehow WotC's VTT is going to be the end of the world as we know it. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. At this point, WotC could cure cancer, erectile dysfunction and bad skin all in one pill and people would bitch because the pill was yellow instead of off-white.

    I, for one, like the idea of at least possibly being able to assemble groups that can/want to play on my eccentric schedules - particularly if the rules are as flexible as beta testers suggest (including being able to play 1e if you want...).

    ReplyDelete
  5. at the moment, Fantasy Grounds pretty much can run most systems, some better then others (depending on add ons, both commercial and community)

    i've only tooled with the DM tools, but I'm on vacation next week and hopefully i can land in a pick up game in the Beta.

    4e isnt my bag, but i can make an exception ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Which is a nice switch as usually the DM incurs most of the gaming costs and the players ride for free.

    Sodas, chips and toilet paper being some of the larger ones at the host DM house.

    I really want to get into the idea of doing the virtual table top. I will have to wait until they allow Pathfinder and OGL stuff to come and run on the VTTs before I sign on however.

    ReplyDelete
  7. At this point, WotC could cure cancer, erectile dysfunction and bad skin all in one pill and people would bitch because the pill was yellow instead of off-white.

    Only if you get the expansions.

    ReplyDelete

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