MMOs discourage heroism, FRPGs encourage it

By at 3:11 am Saturday, Aug 7

Very good Terra Nova post analyses the ways that Massively Multiplayer games discourage the acts of heroism that made D&D so much fun to play.
On one level, this tale highlights the plight of low levels in the MMORPG. They pose the litmus test: do opportunities for heroism exist for them in and amongst the treadmills? Is it ever possible for a low-level to make a *real difference?* Perhaps, for some, an exceptional stand by a NOOB ("newbie") party against MOB trains (large flocks of NPC monsters) in some NOOB dungeon somewhere, qualifies. But is there a more fundamental difference?

Consider. Can one make the argument that MMORPGs, as an adventuring platform, have gone astray with player = single(few)-avatar assumption? Because of the investment of time (read treadmills), social and emotional capital, players are practically limited by the number of characters they can play. Consequently, they are loath to get in "over their heads" and virtual worlds are loath to offer dire scenarios with only heroic exits for a few. Hardly a profound point, but the question: is such a dynamic, in some guise, necessary for the organic emergence of heroic narratives in an MMORPG?

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Cory Doctorow

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