The Warhammer discussion, where Erik Boielle mentions videogames several times spurred me to bring up this discussion.  Its one that a close friend of mine and I have had several times.

Like a lot, I've videogamed right along beside my table rpging since the very beginning.  And I've noticed a distinct shift in my tastes.  When I was younger and even up to just a couple years ago, I was very much into rpg videogames.  Loved them.  My tabletop games tended towards the hack-n-slash style.  Now I'm seeing those tastes reversed.

Whereas I used to would never even consider picking up a shooter or action videogame I now almost can't stand the thought of playing through another Oblivion (which I did).  When it comes to videogames now, give me Bioshock, Halo, Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed and Conan.  I played the Conan demo and reveled in it!!  Can't wait for it!  This is a game that only 5 years ago I probably wouldn't have touched during my wait for the next great videorpg.

My point is that I think my videogaming and my tabletopping are serving two very distinct and seperate tastes now.  For high action with tons of visceral appeal and munchkin powers, I go to a video game.  And I want that wrapped in a tight, non-openended, directed storyflow.  Its sort of weird in that that sort of play is now highly desirable to me in a videogame but absolutely undesirable in a tabletop rpg.  Tabletop is where I go to watch a character develop within the framework of a greater tale and struggle with decision making.  I still like action in my tabletop, but not so much of the superpowered "I am Conan and you are mush" type variety.  

Actually, now that I think about it, I've never really liked highpowered play in my tabletops.  We would always restart our D&D campaigns after about 8th or 9th level.  But we definitely did like the hack-n-slash!!  Anyway, so I guess my tastes for RPGs have changed slightly, but what I want out of my videogames has changed quite a bit.  I'm finding it hard to verbalize but I know that what I'm looking for in a tabletop session is a bit of a turnoff in a videogame, and vice versa.  The idea of a tabletop rpg that's built to emulate what I experience in the upcoming Conan videogame, is equally unappealing.

Any of that make sense?  Has anyone else experienced this shift in videogame  and tabletop rpg tastes?

Actually yes. When I was younger I tended to play almost only RPG type games. Now that I'm in my 30's I find them to take too much of my time up, where FPS and blends of the two take up less time and brain power. Let's face it, when you're a kid it's easier to stay awake playing 6 hours of an RPG after working and school all day, but when you're older and busy worrying about bills, working, and dealing with "reality" that can be a bit less appealing.

That being said, I still do play RPGs, but now I also play more "pick up" games like FPS. I can play a multiplayer round of Battlefield 1942 for a few minutes before bed, but playing NWN 2 isn't as much of an option (if I want to feel any sort of satisfaction, that is).

But I still play RPGs. That's worth mentioning again. Just not as much.

-=Grim=-