It's all starting to come together now...

Stupid Ranger and I are finally getting settled into our new home! Fortuitously, as if by some divine plan, I received a sales email from the guys over at Geek Chic lauding their new demi-Sultan table that will be released to the masses on November 23rd.

Cursed Consumerism!

This just threw a healthy splash of gasoline on the fire for me to plan my new gaming sanctuary at my new home. While I might not be able to afford the Sultan (unless their big reveal is more economical models!), I certainly would like some sort of a custom gaming area to inhabit with my motley band of adventurers.

The space itself needs some finishing, so once that is done I am looking ahead for some good multi-purpose ideas for using that space as a gaming/recreation area. I'm thinking a big, home-rolled whiteboard would be nice both for drawing encounters or keeping score for the ol' dart board. A more high tech solution might come along depending on how my research into multitouch surface technology goes... that may take a back burner until warmer months when I can comfortably build things outdoors again.

Other necessary components, aside from a place to rest one's butt:

• A food/drink/alcohol dispensary of some kind.
• One to many book containment units
• One to many miniature containment units
• Some sort of music system to provide some mad roleplaying tunes
• The all-important ambiance factor, meaning a place to display the ample Lord of the Rings prop/sword collection
• Some sort of glorified display for my autographed OD&D sourcebooks, perhaps with mini Gygaxian Shrine (seriously not a joke here people, I want this!)
  

I will provide updates as they develop... or when the guys at Geek Chic finally get the hint and drop ship me their newest model for... uh... review and testing purposes. Heck, I'll even take their slightly loved used equipment off their hands!

As I return from dreamland, feel free to shout out whatever random stuff that comes to mind when you think about your ideal gaming space. Coolest ideas I haven't thought of already will likely get you hugged if we ever meet IRL, and have a distinct possibility of being implemented in the final Roleplaying Dungeon!

Does video game facilitated roleplaying actually exist?

I've had a precious few extended jags in World of Warcraft over the past few weeks as we prepare for our move, and as I played the game by myself I found that it was pretty easy to engage in the storyline. A few times, in fact, I actually felt invested that my character would want to actually help the world and it mattered.

Then I got the opportunity to run through an instance of Ragefire Chasm with some more experienced players. I understand that each person plays the game in their own way, and often the raids are about efficiency. My experience of actually engaging in the storyline was pretty well shattered by "talk to this guy, get this quest, then get back down there and more killing."

So I ask you, loyal readers... has anyone had a satisfactory roleplay experience using a packaged video game (such as WoW, Neverwinter, etc) as a medium? Granted, we weren't trying to replicate D&D style roleplay in our World of Warcraft efforts, but it was a bit amazing how quickly things devolved into hack and slash, efficiency gaming once a group came into the mix.

So let's hear it from you... does video game facilitated roleplay actually exist? Can it be done?