by Robert Harden

Created on: February 23, 2009

There is something wonderful in games that allow the player to let go of their mundane, everyday life and pick up a different existence, if only for a short time, where they can be whoever they want to be, do whatever they want to do, and do it with whomever they want to do it with, all while enjoying a fantasy setting. These days the two major ways of accomplishing this are through tabletop role-playing games and online role-playing games. Each one has their distinct advantages and both are great, but which is better? Let's take a closer look at each one.

Online Role-playing games have the clear advantage of being graphical in nature. You can see everything that happens to your character as well as all the wonderful vistas and places that your character will visit throughout your adventure. It is much easier to find a group in games like this than for a table top game and
MMORPG like World of Warcraft there is always going to be a large number of people to adventure with at any time of the day or night and if there are ever any disputes you will never have to talk to or see those individuals ever again. And this option of random adventuring also comes with the choice of playing any of these games with your best friends, even speaking to them over headsets if available. Online games gives you the choice of just picking up and playing at any time, as well, rather than having to wait for a certain weekly set meeting time. There is no need to coordinate with everyone or figure out what to do if one player can't show up.

However, table top role-playing can provide for a very different and possibly much more enjoyable experience. First and foremost, they have the distinct advantage of taking place entirely within the player's heads. The player's are able to imagine the things that happen to their characters and places they go and in this sense the comparison is similar to reading a book as opposed to watching a movie. This also means that there is no limit to the character's actions. They can do anything that the player can conceive and can do things like hold conversations with NPCs, which is impossible in online games. The social nature of table top gaming is its primary attribute and it is essentially a social activity that has a gaming aspect. This is in contrast with online games which are gaming activities with a social aspect. Most likely the people you will be playing with are good friends and even if you didn't know them when you started you will probably

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