Back to the Future

Some random thoughts on gaming...
So a friend reminded me that Sword Coast Legends (SCL) was released this week. SCL is a computer RPG carrying the D&D name and is done in an old graphic style similar to Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, two popular titles from the past. I am not a huge fan of computer RPGs (CRPGs), but have played and enjoyed Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights and a host of other CRPGs going even further back to Bard's Tale, the first CRPG I acquired for my old Commodore 64 home computer. Despite the hours I spent in front of the computer, I have always considered CRPGs a second choice compared to tabletop gaming with friends (YMMV).
This week I also read in Maximum PC that the monthly subscription MMO games (WOW, D&DO, am I looking at you?) are dying a slow death, being replaced by free games (that presumably make money selling upgrades?) and I would like to think virtual tabletop play using Roll20 or something similar. "Tabletop" by Geek & Sundry (being a video series about playing games) has taken playing tabletop games (including RPGs) into the realm of online entertainment. "Tabletop" may not be the first such offering, I recall viewing a show called "I Hit It with My Axe" a few years back, but it seems fairly mainstream and recently spawned an RPG offshoot show called "Titansgrave". So watching other people play a tabletop RPG is now a thing.
All this owes its existence ultimately to the humble white box which introduced the world to a new type of gaming, the roleplaying game or RPG. Wargaming was the background hobby for the white box (it pretty much says so right on the box), but traditional wargaming both with miniature figures and with cardboard counters on paper maps (and even similar computer "wargaming") has been declining for decades while RPGs seem to continue to be popular. The existence of Kickstarter and other crowd funding together with widespread availability of accessible desktop publishing software, downloadable PDFs, and print-on-demand services have made it easier than ever to publish pen-and-paper games.
I recently blogged about Dragon Age Core which is a tabletop RPG designed from a CRPG by the same name. The author, Mr. Pramas, points out that there are things that are easily done at the table that are not possible with computer RPGs, such as going outside the designer's box, exploring over the horizon, inventing new in game organizations or whatever on-the-fly. CRPGs are limited by the programming to only offer the choices the designers built into the game. The CRPG definitely has its strengths as well. The combination of lighting, music and color graphics can more easily set the mood for an encounter than verbal description at the tabletop. How many of us tabletop referees have resorted to describing something as "just like we saw in such-and-such!" The old "a picture is worth a thousand words" cliche comes to mind.
As a person who loves his hobby, I find it encouraging that quality new tabletop RPGs are being written inspired by movies such as the Star Wars RPG, TV shows such as the Firefly RPG, and video/computer games and that WotC has released yet another computer game in the D&D line. Regardless of how close SCL stays to the current D&D mechanics, it has the look of the older games and seems to satisfy that part of the market which hungers for more of the old style game. Sounds familiar to me!