The Influence of MMORPGs on Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) has gone through four editions and at least a half dozen major changes during the last thirty years. These changes have been influence by various forms of media, including novels, movies, other role playing games, video games, and most recently, massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs). MMORPGs have only been in existence for about twenty years, and only been popular for about ten years, but their influence on D&D design has been significant.

The earliest MMORPG was a game called Neverwinter Nights and was published by SSI Games, a subsidiary of TSR, the publisher of D&D at that time. The game was a D&D simulator for 2^nd edition D&D. Due to the nature of computer play and the limitations of graphics at the time, the game instituted combat on a square grid. This is only truly notable because 2^nd edition D&D did not have a grid system for movement. Instead movement was much more freeform.

While D&D did not undergo any significant changes in design for nearly a decade, the idea of a square grid movement system was introduced as an optional rule in some later 2^nd edition supplements. In addition, when 3^rd edition D&D was released in 2000, the square grid system, nearly identical to the one used in Neverwinter Nights, was introduced as a core part of the 3^rd edition rules.

For the next few years, the popularity of MMORPGs and 3^rd edition D&D both grew in roughly equal proportion. Eventually, the popularity of D&D began to plateau while the popularity of MMORPGs continued to increase. At this point, the designers of D&D began to try to incorporate other ideas from the MMORPG industry into the design of D&D. The first foray into these ideas was shown with the release of The Book of Nine Swords. Taking a page from online gaming, this book introduced the idea of powers that could be used once per encounter (and possibly recharge during the encounter to be used again) rather than only once or multiple times per day.

While not a perfect fit for the 3^rd edition game, the basic idea stuck and became one of many core ideas that D&D borrowed from MMORPGs when 4^th edition was published. In addition, in looking at the popularity of MMORPGs, the 4^th edition designers realized that modern gamers preferred to have well defined combat roles for their characters. To enable this, the designers defined the preferred role of each D&D class and designed powers and class features that supported that role.

Finally, the biggest concept that was borrowed from online gaming is that gamers tend to prefer simplicity and transparency of rules over complex rules that require system mastery to enjoy. The 4^th edition rules, unlike nearly every previous incarnation of the D&D rules, are not designed to be reality simulation. Instead, the rules are much more flexible and designed to be more cinematic. This is a huge step away from the classic editions of D&D, but has resulted in a massive increase in popularity of the game.

Identifying all of the changes to D&D from MMORPG influences is a difficult prospect at best. This is because all MMORPGs are derived originally from D&D and the two forms of media have been intertwined every since. For example, the well known MMORPG roles of "DPS", "tank", and "healer" are actually derived from the original concept of roles that loosely existed in nearly every early edition of D&D. The simplest statement that can be made is that each has influenced the other and that influence has lead to increased popularity for nearly all types of gaming, online and tabletop.