Way back in the day, when folks like Jon Van Canegham were creating Might and Magic, there was a desire not to recreate the experience of tabletop gaming, but to create immersive fantasy worlds inspired by those tabletop games. Over the years we’ve seen this progress through Baldur’s Gate to World of Warcraft. The underlying “D&D mechanics” are still there, but there is an attempt to dress them up and present them in some wholly formed world of Azeroth, or wherever it is that these games are set.

Probably the most fun I’ve had playing computer games was when I used to get together online with a group using WebRPG back in 2000. Today, many from that group still meet online to play Lord of the Rings Online or other MMOs. It’s not particularly the level-grind or the game itself that draws them there. It’s a chance to meet-up and try to capture some of that magic of gathering around the dining room table or in the basement. What if there was a way for us to get together again? To cut across the distance for a little while put aside the careers, and the kids, and thinking about the mortgage payment, and play around the table once more.Continue reading