Why tabletop RPGs are better than console (PS2, GameCube & X-Box)

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Today I was taking it easy on my day off. I had Blade Runner, Black Rain and various yakuza films all set to relax.

The best lain plans indeed...

Anyway, my 'friend' Tom called up to bitch and whine about the evil corporate ethics of Sony's Video Game Division. I never knew Sony had such a divison. I let him complain and i start to watch Blade Runner. He then says something, out of the blue, which snaps me to attention.

He said tabletop games like D&D, Deadlands etc. are useless.

After a wasteful 40 minutes of arguing I just hung up on the ****er. He just didnt get it.

So I decided to vent and list reasons why table top is better than ps2's Final Fantasy or some ****.
feel free to add.

1- The camaderie. You sit with friends, you bull****, you have fun with people you like.

2- The amount of time and creativity put into a one night session of D&D can rival any SquareEnix crap game.

3- Trying to outwit the DM's character in a battle of wits is always fun.

 

I agree that stuff like Final Fantasy, etc. is crap, and that tabletop DnD is definitely superior, but I feel that CRPGs(real ones, with some degree of freedom) have their place.

 

Oh yeah.. computer RPGs are up there (Baldur's Gate, NWN and IWD!)

 

CRPGs may be up there, but tabletop (with a good group, of course) will always rule.

 

Well, since I can't manage a 5 man group, only 2-3, it can never work out as well as it should. That's why I maintain such a high opinion on certain CRPGs.

 

CRPG's aren't crap (FF is good imo), but tabletop will always be better than whatever game they make. As long as the dm can put some time in his adventure and npcs, and the players flesh out their caracters nicely and prepare some good rp, AND, there are plethora of snacks, you're set for a wonderful time. I agree with all three reasons summed up, especially the third. Aaah, memories

 

@ Rednik:

Don't be so fast to have "CRPG prejudices" influence a tabletop game. You can have a ton of fun with a party of only one or two characters. The most fun I've ever had playing was in a group of three (two players, one DM) where we were not allowed to communicate with each other about character creation. Ended up being a party of a Ranger and a Fighter, and it was a lot of fun.

When the DM makes his own game, s/he can mold it to the players, not like a CRPG, where there will always be traps in certain places, and locks in others.

 

@Klorox, you forgot good food! At least Ancalìmon
didn't!

I agree that TableTop (A)D&D will always slaughter PC games and the like, but i still never get bored of slaying hobgoblins in Baldur's Gate!

 

Hmm...

4. Freedom to create and develop the stories that interest you, rather than what the developers thought would be cool. (Though this one doesn't apply in some PnP games...)

 

About #4... if the story the developers cooked is good enough, and allows for enough freedom, then a CRPG can be a great experience (PS:T, BG2...)

The one thing CRPGs can never duplicate is the sheer fun of playing with other people. It's just not the same when you're logged online and playing with someone two continents away.

 

1. Food.
2. Drinks (Alcahol is optional).
3. Smoking (Cigars, Cigaretes, Weed, also optional).
4. A gargantuan amount of socialization.
5. Fun (of all sinister kinds).
6. For the DM, the posibilities limited only by his imagination.
7. No eye damage from too much monitor exposion.
8. No finger damage from too much button pressing.
9. Greatest pass-time activity of all time.
10. An infinite posibilities for playing characters.
11. The imense fun of creating a whole universe.
12. Everything you could ever wish for you can do on a table.

Thus, table top games (especially D&D) rule in such an astonishing way that I can find no more words to describe theyr greatness!

CRPGs are ok but TTGs are so way better!

 

It can be a great experience - it's just never going to be as great and free as tabletop can be. Also, BG2 is pretty damn linear and from what I've heard, PS:T is too. They may be great, but not in the same way I'm thinking.

 

A waitress at Hooters once said that to me. Up until now, I had always thought she was talking about something other than d&d.

 

Well, before WWII things were different...

There are some good points of cRPG over pen and paper roleplaying, so there's no undisturbed supremacy of tabletop. It's just... in same cases one is better, while in other cases the other. The biggest advantage of the cRPG genre is that you can play solo and at any time you wish, for example.

 

my friends thinks totally opposite things... they think final fantasy and kingdom hearts, etc are much better than bg trilogy. i disagree with them though...