At the D&D table, the most engaging moments don’t come from everything going exactly to plan, that perfect nat 20 from a blessed roll, topping off a flawless campaign where the party saw little to no hardships and had no close calls, and where the story seemingly went in a linear fashion with little unexpected twists or turns.
No, it’s much more engaging for players to face a less straightforward and more uncertain story, where low rolls create tense moments, and even the most basic storylines at the start of a campaign have a level of implied threat and weight that makes their outcomes feel like victories snatched from the jaws of defeat. Quite simply, success is never satisfying without some bumps along the road and challenges along the way.
Maybe that’s why when I play a game like Baldur’s Gate, I never have quite that same level of satisfaction as I do in a real D&D session. The ability to “save scum” every roll just takes the wind out of the sails of that eventual satisfaction of beating a main boss or turning the tables on what previously seemed to be an impossible situation. A certain level of control needs to be taken out of your hands, too. Like, there needs to be literally no way for me to save the game.
Knowing the scripted payouts for a successful roll in a video game also takes away from the experience and makes it all the more tempting to reset a bad roll or an unpredicted outcome. Knowing that there is a “better” ending or outcome of a story arc makes it all the more tempting to excessively optimize your experience, versus if you just didn’t know there was a better option available in the first place, you feel like you have “missed out” on something. And, it’s this way for all RPGs. I find that social media has dampened my enjoyment of playing these role-playing games that were meant to be enjoyed on the slow road and not optimized in a blisteringly speedy and perfect playthrough.
Certainly, this is my own internalization of modern gaming trends, and the answer is for me to simply not consume media and social media that set these expectations on how I should be enjoying something. Maybe a lesson to be learned there about how our ability to enjoy something is dictated by the influences of others if we allow them to be.
Author: Kayitsi.com
