ponderings on style of play

[BobTheConquerer]

I've noticed that my group plays OoTS a lot like we would play a tabletop RPG. Which is to say, directly working as a team, but secretly coveting things that will give us bragging rights later. This tends to make things take a long time. We seem to rarely fight unless we only have to roll more than a four. Even the final battle against Xycon is often won without a dice roll. Granted, by this time we were eager enough for the game to end that we purposefully avoided giving him bonuses.

What we've started to wonder though is if we ought to be playing it more like a typical board game. For example, in Monopoly you are often more interested in your opponent's failure than your own success.

We haven't had a chance to try it yet, but we wonder if it might actually make the game go faster. It sounds counterintuitive, but a lot of the game seems to work that way. It took a bit to really realize that not everyone has to play straightforwardly like Roy does.

For instance, in a cooperative game it sounds like most people have all of their schticks by the time they reach Xycon's lair. But in a more competitive game you might want to get there faster. Seeing yourseves as seperate players instead of a "team" might make you take bigger risks to get ahead of the others.

This is kind of a phycological issue that probably wouldn't be resolved by a direct look at the rules. However, I am curious for opinions of how others think it might work, or if you notice your group plays like this some feedback would be nice.

[Baywolfe]

I've noticed that my group plays OoTS a lot like we would play a tabletop RPG... However, I am curious for opinions of how others think it might work, or if you notice your group plays like this some feedback would be nice.

I would also be interested. I'm thinking of making the game into a personal PC game since I don't really have anybody to play with anymore. I would probably write the AI first and my initial thoughts would be to give the players the same personality as their OOTS counterparts. Then they would all be working at a sort of cross-purposes toward a common goal.