For all us RPG fans....interesting article from Rock/Paper/Shotgun on the failure of games that try to deliver a DM experience into the game. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/10/26/dungeon-master-pc-games/
I think there is an inherent problem trying to transfer the tabletop experience to your PC- DM's make up so much on the fly. In addition, DMs must create lots of content that is already hard enough to create with a pen without the adding layers of tools and scripting to the process. I tried to run a PnP-like campaign in NWN and I spent 10x-20x longer during content creation than I would have for a PnP campaign. Even worse, everything tended to be buggy within a multiplayer environment.
I think we need to accept that computer games will not deliver the sort of PnP experience many of us would desire. I am starting to look into Fantasy Grounds and it looks promising. Of course, Fantasy Grounds really isn't a game, it's more of an interface to facilitate PnP sessions online. They probably have the right idea, with the limitations of the medium in mind.
I think Sword Coast Legends (with some work) could be a lot of GM directed fun, but it will never approach a tabletop experience.
it was a good article. I think that it points out that until there's an adaptive AI that's just this side of SkyNet, nothing is going to replace a live DM for winging it on the fly
I don't think we need some adaptive AI, just an adaptive UI. You need streamlined but effective content creation, both before and during a play-through. To me, its just a matter of time/money. Too many want a AAA single player experience with a powerful development suite and equally powerful DM client. That's just not realistic. Its a niche desire that would cost millions and millions to bring to fruition.
It just a question of money, IMO.