Introduce the
next generation to the concept of total imaginative freedom!
In our beta
tests, some of our tests involved younger players, including some
high school teenagers. The teens had never played a table-top RPG
before, and began to respond with excitement to the open-ended
possibilities of the game. They were at first shocked that they could
do anything they chose, and quickly adapted to the freedom that a
table-top RPG allowed them over a video game. The freedom in an
open-world video game was still restricted by the boundaries imposed
by the programmers—some buildings couldn't be entered, some things
were inexplicably unaffected by player actions, and there were always
barriers that prevented passage, somewhere. Yet when the teens played
Solar Echoes, they became excited by the possibilities. One group
chose a bold and risky tactic for the beginning of their mission
(they drove their car through a wall, guns blazing), and the Mission
Controller running the game simply adjusted and had the NPC enemies
respond to the surprise. Chances are, if the scenario had been in a
video game, driving through a wall would probably not have been an
option—programmers simply can't predict everything players will
think of! This is one of the advantages of a table-top RPG, and what
makes it a true, “open world” experience.
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