Is it close a skirmish wargame? Sure, definitely. Is it close to a tactical boardgame? Absolutely. Is it close to an SRPG like Nippon Ichi games, Fire Emblem, or Final Fantasy tactics? Without a doubt.
MMOs though? I've played me some Guild Wars 1 and 2, a little World of Warcraft, and some trashy MMOs off steam that enticed me in with cute anime girls. I can't say 4e has been anything like them.
I mean, all the turn-based combat and out-of-turn triggers are so not MMO.
Jayden Gray
Wakfu is the closest MMO equivalent (since it's basically an MMO SRPG).
Possibly Battlerite/Bloodline champions/Maybe some MOBAs I don't know, as a "real time version".
Either way, it doesn't have the most defining trait of MMOs, which are being Massively Multiplay and Online. It shares some presentation and organization stuff with actually well designed (or at least designed for accessibility) videogames, mostly being transparent and user friendly, which are really important for games you want a lot of people to play.
Adam Diaz
>How close is D&D 4e to an MMO really? It has explicit roles that are very vaguely reminiscent of and don't actually work anything like Healer, DPS, Tank. Therefore it is an MMO. Obviously.
Asher Hernandez
Nah, it's more like Tactics Ogre
Carter Gomez
4e=WoW the Tabletop was just a meme to poke fun at it that people started thinking we actual problems with the game. These same people unironically forget that 3rd edition was nicknamed D&D: Diablo edition for fucking ages.
But yeah, it works more like Final Fantasy Tactics than any MMO. Most of the shit that people think it takes from MMOs are just things that MMOs took from tabletop gaming to begin with.
Jaxon Hughes
It had similar aesthetics to WoW as most of the art became more chunky and brightly colored, with less practical-looking weapons and armor. On top of that, everyone had an equally-sized hotbar of powers with differing rates of cooldown, aggro management became a major part of the game, magic item turnover increased, the number of levels increased, and the number of level-appropriate monsters you could face was narrower. All these things together made it a bit more MMO-ey.
Gabriel Phillips
>It had similar aesthetics to WoW as most of the art became more chunky and brightly colored, with less practical-looking weapons and armor.
True
>On top of that, everyone had an equally-sized hotbar of powers with differing rates of cooldown
Even in core, Wizards had more powers (both double dailies and with cantrips) than anyone else, and the cooldowns are actually standardized instead of being on a per-ability basis (and technically aren't really cooldowns, more "recharges"), so technically not correct.
That said, it's easy to see why if someone is only familiar with MMOs, he'd think that characters/players having access to a similar amount of game-elements is an MMO thing.
>aggro management became a major part of the game
It's either "it finally became a well supported part of the game" or "it's nothing like aggro in MMOs" (depending on your definition of aggro).
> magic item turnover increased
I think that's true.
>and the number of level-appropriate monsters you could face was narrower
... based on what? I'd think the introduction of minions would actually increase the number of the types of viable opponents you can have that are level appropriate.
Connor Thompson
>That said, it's easy to see why if someone is only familiar with MMOs, he'd think that characters/players having access to a similar amount of game-elements is an MMO thing.
I'd lean towards myself 'It looks superficially like an MMO thing'. When I first looked at 4e I only vaguely knew MMOs and thought it looked like them. Having played a lot more MMOs now it feels quite different.
Jaxon Ward
This. There's just a couple aesthetic things and nothing more. But God forbid haters actually read the fucking book.
Matthew Richardson
>aggro management became a major part of the game 4e "aggro" works nothing like it does in MMOs.
In MMOs, enemies are programmed to go after you depending on what actions you take, and tanks try to force enemies to go after them instead.
In 4e, enemies can still act however they want, but Defenders just give them a lose-lose option, plenty of them being "You either attack me, or I'm going to punch you in the face." I can only think of one Fighter power that outright forces them to attack you, and that's a higher level Daily power.
