A while back, I casually mentioned that I make paper journals for fun. I am an extremely online person, mind you. I work online. I read online. I play online. I talk online. I back up everything online. Even my diaries and task lists and calendars… they’re all online. I just can’t beat the efficiency and automation of digital (and I’ve tried!).
But I still love playing with paper, and it’s one of the things that video games have a very hard time replicating for me – the tactile feel of pushing around and writing on paper, flipping pages and laying down ink and paint. Some MMOs do have actual books; I always loved writing in books in Ultima Online, and some folks put together whole libraries of player-written tomes you could read through. And other MMOs use an old-school parchment system for their UI, especially for things like mail, quests, and spells. That helps a lot for my immersion in fantasy-ish worlds, even if it doesn’t fully replicate the feel of real paper. Heck, some games even use books as caster props, and I’m not sad about it, even if there’s no paper at all.
You tell me. Which MMO offers the best book and paper features? Is it something players can use, or it is something in the UI? Where should paper-lovers or inky folks be getting their MMO fix?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
