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Several years ago, one of my closest friends informed me he was no longer going to be attending our weekly D&D game. Apparently his then girlfriend (now wife) thought the game was stupid and didn’t approve of him playing it. However, she did and does encourage World of Warcraft, which she also plays. Although it’s entirely possible that this was just a power play on her part, I’m still going to acknowledge the hypocrisy.

With the deluge of players signing up for online RPGs every day, it would be a safe assumption that traditional pen & paper games would soon go the way of the snow leopard. This could be cyclical, as I remember when role playing games were circling the drain in the 90s. But the 80s and the 90s didn’t have World of Warcraft to contend with. When WOW took the world by cloudkill, I’d begun to doubt the future of pen & paper role playing.

I admit I don’t play WOW but not because of some moral reason. My battles with weight (won, by the way) do indicate certain self-control issues. I refuse to smoke and I never drink, well aware that addictions can take root quickly if left unchecked. When I play a game, I require it to have an ending, lest I may play it to literal exhaustion. Mass Effect was wrapped in a week after forty hours, two weeks with Dragon Age at seventy hours. I need my games to have an ending, a finale no matter how bittersweet that closes the book and allows a moment of reflection. Even if I want the game to continue as my addiction stipulates, my sanity demands that it end. Most MMOs never have an end, only a point of indifference. And I don’t consider having a plethora of pearlescent guns a climax.

You do get value for your money. A combat driven first person shooter usually lasts between six and ten hours, with some unfortunate charlatans trying to snake-oil their way with games that last only four or five (I’m looking at you, Homefront). WOW is pervasive with content ever present. This brings up another issue, repetition. MMOs can be very repetitive. I stopped Borderlands when I hit the top level. The desire to find better weapons just for the sake of acquiring them never interested me. I also like experiencing in depth stories where one character or a small group of heroes are the focus of said story, something seldom seen with online gaming. In these communities, even the greatest warriors are but one cog in a massive Fritz Lang ziggurat where accomplishments are steamrolled by players more committed. I enjoy being special, even if it’s contained in my own private universe. It’s called being an introvert.

I refused to follow my friends into WOW and quickly became an outcast among them. I’m not sure how my weekly gaming sessions survived, but they did. I lost friends permanently to the online multiverse. In time, many came back to D&D. Digital and paper gaming have been moving side by side for decades, and I still believe they will do so for decades to come. Nobody believed that Wii Sports would kill tennis or Gran Turismo would kill car racing. Yet, some critics still profess that paper gaming is a novelty, offered by fewer companies each year as customers move onto more modern digital distractions. This equates paper gaming to a ball and cup. Yet I see Warhammer still towering in the miniature market despite digital alternatives like Dawn of War.

The last trophy locked in a plier -like kung-fu grip by paper gaming is the adaptive story–a game players can affect and alter, even to the extent of changing the entire world by the end of it (yes, there are exception, which I’ll go into next time). This is not a common practice in paper gaming and is reserved for more proficient campaign masters. All my reasons for disliking online role playing games have been personal up until now, mostly rooted in my dislike for games without a defined ending and the encouragement of player versus player conflict—the latter I have never enjoyed. However, this does leave the one issue sure to garner a response…Online game worlds have no actual story.

A lot of people I find mistake a good setting for a good story. You can have the basic skeleton of a story mated onto an amazing setting or an amazing story paired with a routine setting (like any number of crime dramas). Fantasy and science fiction stories often feel they can tack on the most tedious and uninspired of plots as long as there’s a worthy setting to build upon. But settings alone don’t make a story and many MMOs have settings and conflict but no real story. Even Matrix Online—claiming to have an evolving arc—was only a pale miniscule reflection of its filmed predecessor. And Warcraft after so many years contains far too many fan service machinations and role playing clichés to be considered a genuine or even a serious setting. This doesn’t even take into account that most online worlds, Warcraft included, are incredibly unrealistic, even by fantasy standards. Fantasy world like the ones seen in the minds of great writers must measure up to internal logic. The worlds, however fantastic, still must be able to operate on realistic levels. There must be a worker class; there must be an environment relatively safe enough to produce food. Even many of the Final Fantasies fail to measure up with this simple constraint, but at least they have stories (a few are even good).

As my friends try to make an argument that WOW has a good setting, I always follow up and ask them what they did with their character this week. Eight out of ten times, they were grinding Gnomeregan, Auchindoun, or any number of dungeons on the slim chance that one monster might drop a piece of equipment that may be slightly better than the one you have, still assuming you are up on the queue to receive it. The other two out of ten times, they were killing random mobs in order to save up the money to grind the aforementioned instances.

Joy.

Next time, I’ll talk about why Mass Effect may the best game that could never exist…

Here is a screenshot.

The app is a newspaper that covers every day of the war in real time. The complete process will take four years! Every day images, diary entries, maps, original reporting and excerpts from contemporary newspapers create a fascinating experience. The diaries truly impressed me because you can either read the original document or a modern text version if you do not want to decipher handwriting. It really makes the era live.

I highly suggest iPad owners consider a download. The price is $7.99. Yes, it is a bit expensive, but it is a four year project and well worth it in my opinion.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

The HAK is a free download for Herolab that comes with the partially-completed “Savage Worlds” rule set as an example. Both are still in an “almost finished” state, but usable. Here is the start-up screen after installation. The HAK has two components; sample data files and an online wiki explaining how to edit the files.

To get started, you copy the sample data files to a new directory and use that as a starting point for your home built rules set. That is how I created the “Trask” entry on right.

This directory contains the images and configuration files for your new game system. The idea is to edit the various XML files in your directory and add the rules, equipment or stats for your new system. I grabbed a sample of the “gear” file and posted it below so you can see what the configuration files look like.

I give Herolab credit for some great code annotation. There are copious comments throughout the files and they are easy to follow from a programming standpoint.

After looking at the XML, I moved on to the HAK wiki.

The HAK wiki is about 75% complete, with some final sections missing. There is enough information to get you started on the key elements of your new system. The wiki is surprisingly well written and chock full of useful examples. The wiki, in combination with the “Savage World” system examples included in the HAK provide enough information to create your own game system in Herolab.

As to complexity, I am a system administrator for XML-based applications, so I found the HAK easy to follow. Someone with less computer knowledge may find it more difficult.

It is a great package overall, but…

There is, of course, a “catch.” Entering an entire system from scratch ( ie 4E D&D) entails a tremendous amount of data entry initially and ongoing work in the long-term. Updates for new products, bug fixes or other tweaks require an ongoing effort.  Simply put the HAK is not for a single user, but a group project. Anyone considering using the HAK should look towards the Linux community for ideas about large-scale project management and volunteer contributions.  Additionally, while the HAK is not hard-core computer programming, a strong XML background is suggested (by me anyway).

Reservations aside, I am thrilled that Herolab released the authoring kit. They made it possible for the Herolab community to contribute and improve the product. Considering Linux’s success with a similar development model, I am very optimistic about the long-term success and utility of the Herolab package.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

It does not take a genius to realize this release is all about “4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.” The “Authoring Kit” page even uses 4E as an example of what users can build! The reasoning behind the move is quite sound, WOTC is unlikely to  license the game rules to a company in direct competition with their “D&D Insider” subscription service and Lone Wolf cannot sell the game data for “Herolab” without a license (assuming they want to sign the dreaded GSL before it is revised).

Nothing, however, prevents Lone Wolf from making it easy to add 4E rules to their software package for home use. Well done, Herolab! A little competition might rattle Wizard’s cage and encourage some movement towards a less draconian licensing model.

I have “Herolab,” so I will update it and give a brief report about the authoring kit and its  merits (or defects) this weekend.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

You’ve been waiting patiently (or perhaps impatiently) and all of that waiting has paid off. Beyond Protocol is now entering Open Beta! All the customization, all the strategy, all the domination!

First, get yourself ready by making sure you can still log in and go sign up for the Beta Test AGAIN. It will ask you the same questions it did before, but this time, your email address that we sent this email to will get you into the beta.

Next, the Open Beta is scheduled to begin September 26th at 7 PM (EST), so clear that date and time (whatever time that may be in your corner of the world!), because we’re going to be jamming the servers full. Two things need testing that we can only do with numbers. One is our hardware, and the second is the random geography generator, which will expand the universe as we go so you won’t feel so much like sardines… If all goes as planned, we’ll be doing that the entire weekend and pressing on from there.

Come see it all in action, September 26th at 7 PM (EST)!

If you are interested in participating in the beta test, go to Beyond Protocol and register for the beta.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

The main improvement in this revision is the ability to create “markers” on the combat map.  These are small, colored circles that can be moved like a miniature. They have customizable descriptions and the same “ownership” features as a regular mini. By ownership I mean that someone else cannot move your marker off of a target or location. Only the owner and the DM have that ability.

Since they have fully customizable colors and descriptions ,  it is easy to link a specific mark to a specific character and the player can move the markers about on their turn to a new target or location.  For my home game we use colored tokens to track the “curses” and “marks” generated by the party members. This is just the digital implementation.

Mindgene, the creators of D20Pro will also be running some games at Dragoncon using the software. If you have a chance I suggest you check it out.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

You can get an early look at the beta here.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Most of it is just a rehash of the previous post regarding features,  but there is some additional information about pricing.

The relevant sections are reprinted below.

What happens to my year-long subscription when the price goes up?

The $4.95 / month price covers Web content only (Dragon and Dungeon Magazines, the D&D Compendium, and the Bonus Tools). We will be charging more for access to the Character Builder, Character Visualizer, Game Table, etc. Our previously announced pricing for the full package (including both Web content and client applications) is $9.95 if you sign up for a full year (going up to $14.95 if you pay one month at a time).

The details of how transitions from one subscription package to another will work will be announced later, but you can safely assume that a) we will honor the terms of the package you signed up for and b) you won’t be charged more unless you choose to pay for more services.

What about free trials of client applications?

We will be making demo versions of the Character Builder and Character Visualizer available so that folks can sample those applications for free. Our plan for the demo version is to have full functionality, but only a small amount of data. So, for example, you might only have access to levels 1 – 3 or you might only be able to build a human. These demo’s will be a permanent fixture of the D&DI website (in other words: the free trial never ends).

How long will the free trial of the Web content last?

At least one more month.

I am still very skeptical of the entire package. I am taking a wait and see approach.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

I will not repost the press release, but here are the highlights.

• Preorders will be taken at the booth.  Game/subscription prices were not in the press release. I am following up with DSE and will post an update when I hear back.

Update: The price for the pre-order is $49.95 and the montly subscription is $12.00.

• A free month of game play
• Free T-Shirt with preorder
• Immediate access to the closed beta with a preorder
• Start playing 24 hours before official launch.
• A special hull (ship design) that only preordering players can access.

As for a release date, there is nothing on the site. I did notice this line in the press release.

“This may very well be the last convention before the release of the game…”

I am assuming they are talking about “major” game conventions, which implies that  the release will be this year. This is strictly my own speculation, so take it was a large grain of salt.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

I am very excited by this development. “Pathfinder” is the only serious competitor to 4E and the “Herolab” package is one of the better character generators I have ever seen.  You can read my positive review of “Herolab”  here.

My excitement springs from the fact that gaming companies are cooperating to develop and support a 4E alternative. I do not hate 4E, but I believe that a single company dominating the RPG market with a very restrictive licensing scheme is a poor idea. Diversity equals strength.

Here is the full post from the “Lone Wolf Development” team.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer