by Steven Laskoske

Created on: January 17, 2009   Last Updated: September 30, 2010

While some may note the lack of speed in play at the table, the need to shuffle through several manuals to look up a rule and the unclear tactical and visual components to a scenario, the tabletop version of roleplaying games provide far more than its online counterpart.

First, there is the scope of the game. The tabletop version is unlimited in scope. Whatever scenario that can be imagined can be put into an adventure. The characters can move from subterranean caverns to the blazing heat of the desert to an artic tundra to an astral plane under the shadow of a dead god. While similar scenarios might exist in a computer game, the change generally graphical but not a change in the scenario. While the character might walk in an area that looks like a desert, it responds no differently than the forest path that was walked down earlier.

Along with this are the natural constraints of the computer game. While a tabletop game may have the wizard fly up to get a shot at a group during a tactical combat, the online counterpart may not be able to handle flight. (In some games I have played online, the idea of a mount is more than the game can handle.) These limitations take effect, not only in the game itself as a player but in the adventures that can be created to challenge the characters. Going above and beyond the basic scenarios is easy in a tabletop game but far more coplex in an online environment.

This leads directly to the roleplaying aspect of the game. While a tabletop game allows the players to do meaningful dialog and interaction that brings out the richness of the characters and aids in the storytelling, the online version doesn't have that way of showing the personality of the character. This is acceptable for war gaming and tactical play, where the computer's primary purpose is to handle the number crunching. However, a true roleplaying game is far more.

The fact of the matter is there is no actual roleplaying in online computer games. The focus tends to be on combat or simple problem solving. These are good and are quite entertaining but it isn't roleplaying. That roleplaying aspect is what makes the tabletop game so compelling in the long run. While the visual and audio components in the online game are far greater than the tabletop version (even with the mini and dungeon tiles), the online game lacks the immersive quality of the tabletop version. It is that immersion that makes the difference.

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