Dungeons and Dragons Online

So, I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit lately…

When I was 13, I would have died to be able to play Dungeons and Dragons Online.  Heck, I remember even trying to write my own Dungeons and Dragons text-based computer games in BASIC.  This was back in the days when only college students were playing MUDs, and even before Ultima Online took the gaming world by storm.  But, at any rate, I would have been totally immersed.

Now, I’ve little or no interest in playing Dungeons and Dragons Online.  Why is that?

I mean, I really ought to find an MMORPG and play it.  My good friend Greg has been playing Everquest for the better part of a decade.  I’ve got other friends, too, who aren’t in the area anymore, who play Everquest or World of Warcraft or even Dungeons and Dragons Online.  Heck, I could go back to Ultima Online, I suppose.  But, even thought I’ve tried every one of these games at one point or another, I just can’t seem to get hooked.

 Before Dungeons and Dragons Online came out, I was hopeful.  I teased Greg that D&D Online would be the EQ killer.  But sadly, Dungeons and Dragons Online was released, and I still had no interest.  Was it because it was set in Eberron?  I thought so, at first.  I’ve never made it a secret, I’m not a fan of Eberron.  But I don’t think that was all.  After all, I love the Warcraft setting, and even ran a couple of Warcraft d20 campaigns back before World of Warcraft was even released.  So, I don’t think it’s the setting.

I also used to think it was the time commitment required.  After all, my friends who play Everquest spend several hours each week playing, and even have scheduled raids with their guilds several times a week.  I can’t really commit to all of that, at least without ignoring my family.  But, I’m told that you can play WoW or Dungeons and Dragons Online much more casually, so I don’t think the time commitment excuse is going to work anymore, either.

So, what is it?  I think I’ve identified some possibilities:

• I like DMing.  If I could write my own adventures for Dungeons and Dragons online, and run people through them, I might enjoy it.
• I like being face-to-face with people.  It’s nice to have friends that I can go to the movies with if we don’t feel like playing D&D that night.
• Chips.  With Dungeons and Dragons Online, I only have access to the chips that I’ve bought.
• I think that, in the last 23 years, my imagination has grown.  Ironically, I can see the characters and the mosters clearer in my head in the paper game much more clearly than I can on the computer.  MMORPGs are, at least in some ways, a bit cartoonish.

Still, It may be time to give it another shot.  I think that the virtual tabletop in 4th edition, if it works, could be my own little Dungeons and Dragons Online.  It would certainly allow me to play D&D with some old friends again.