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| APRIL 2, 2008 |
OLD DND'rs MAY GATHER AGAIN!!
'Dungeons & Dragons' faces future
online
'Dungeons & Dragons' faces future
online
AP TECH
NEW YORK - It must be tough to be 34 and
already see your children overshadow you.
That's what's happened to "Dungeons &
Dragons," the roleplaying game that for
decades has drawn geeks to roll dice and
pretend to be elves, sorcerers and other
fantasy heroes.
NEW YORK - It must be tough to be 34 and
already see your children overshadow you.
That's what's happened to "Dungeons &
Dragons," the roleplaying game that for
decades has drawn geeks to roll dice and
pretend to be elves, sorcerers and other
fantasy heroes.
It has never quite become mainstream entertainment, but it has inspired roleplaying
computer games like "World of Warcraft" to borrow its principles and turn them into a
multibillion-dollar industry.
Now, D&D is borrowing from its imitators. The next edition of the game, due out in June, will
for the first time be paired with online features that the publisher hopes will lure lapsed
players back to the dungeon.
"That group that broke up in 1987 because you all graduated from high school and went to
schools across the country? Well, you can get that old teenage group back together," said
Scott Rouse, brand manager for D&D at Wizards of the Coast. The Hasbro Inc. subsidiary
publishes the game.
Roleplayers have always faced the difficulty of getting together regularly, especially since the
games are lengthy. But they talk warmly about the camaraderie fostered by the games, since
the players cooperate rather than compete. Though guided by thick rulebooks, the games
have an element of theater, with players using the voices of their characters. Not surprisingly,
they're considered uncool by those who lack an appreciation of fantasy.
The new edition, the fourth since D&D was created in 1974, may do nothing for the game's
social stigma, but at least players will have the option to commune online. Each screen will
show the same virtual 3-D "tabletop" with monsters and heroes, and the players will be able
to talk via Internet voice chat.
Wizards is also building its own social networking site as a Facebook or MySpace for
gamers. The players will be able to create fantasy characters for themselves with an online
tool. That streamlines a process that can take hours and dozens of reference books.
Wizards employees are avid players of online games, and the new initiative springs from that
experience, Rouse said. It should make it easier to tuck the kids into bed, then "jump on the
computer and delve into dungeons, kill monsters and take their stuff," as he put it. [read more]
computer games like "World of Warcraft" to borrow its principles and turn them into a
multibillion-dollar industry.
Now, D&D is borrowing from its imitators. The next edition of the game, due out in June, will
for the first time be paired with online features that the publisher hopes will lure lapsed
players back to the dungeon.
"That group that broke up in 1987 because you all graduated from high school and went to
schools across the country? Well, you can get that old teenage group back together," said
Scott Rouse, brand manager for D&D at Wizards of the Coast. The Hasbro Inc. subsidiary
publishes the game.
Roleplayers have always faced the difficulty of getting together regularly, especially since the
games are lengthy. But they talk warmly about the camaraderie fostered by the games, since
the players cooperate rather than compete. Though guided by thick rulebooks, the games
have an element of theater, with players using the voices of their characters. Not surprisingly,
they're considered uncool by those who lack an appreciation of fantasy.
The new edition, the fourth since D&D was created in 1974, may do nothing for the game's
social stigma, but at least players will have the option to commune online. Each screen will
show the same virtual 3-D "tabletop" with monsters and heroes, and the players will be able
to talk via Internet voice chat.
Wizards is also building its own social networking site as a Facebook or MySpace for
gamers. The players will be able to create fantasy characters for themselves with an online
tool. That streamlines a process that can take hours and dozens of reference books.
Wizards employees are avid players of online games, and the new initiative springs from that
experience, Rouse said. It should make it easier to tuck the kids into bed, then "jump on the
computer and delve into dungeons, kill monsters and take their stuff," as he put it. [read more]
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