Not certain on this but I don't think D&D equates to CRPGs very well since the D&D rules were designed to give RPers a system that would allow them to function (kill sh*t, etc.) in a fantasy world. The D&D system defines the rules for how a fight should be carried out but it also guides the fight and provides feedback so the players know what's happening.
The two latter parts aren't really needed in a CRPG(MMO or otherwise) you're already functioning in a virtual world, you can see what's happening and you don't need a rule set to show you what's happening. All your need really, imo is a game engine that lets you grab a stick and start beating something to death with it. Of course, this needs to be balanced and it needs to work so there do need to be mechanics as well as "rules" for abilities, weapons, armour and so on, just not something that's guiding the fight, this should be done by the players, the AI for the mobs and the actuality of the environment.
This is why I see MMOs such as AoC going in the right direction. I'm not saying it's not viable to have turn-based combat or that everything should be twitch but D&D was designed for a completely different situation. Of course, it might just be that developers using an old established system are just lazy and the games suffer for other reasons.
As to transparency of mechanics, apart from the P&P stuff, I agree with Abalieno for the most part, the rules should be clear. Though there's something to be had from not everything being known, it's fun to discover a way of getting ridiculous health, or making x attack do sick damage without it just being a case of looking up everything you need to do it.
Re: No math in games (reinstated)
Not certain on this but I don't think D&D equates to CRPGs very well since the D&D rules were designed to give RPers a system that would allow them to function (kill sh*t, etc.) in a fantasy world. The D&D system defines the rules for how a fight should be carried out but it also guides the fight and provides feedback so the players know what's happening.
The two latter parts aren't really needed in a CRPG(MMO or otherwise) you're already functioning in a virtual world, you can see what's happening and you don't need a rule set to show you what's happening. All your need really, imo is a game engine that lets you grab a stick and start beating something to death with it. Of course, this needs to be balanced and it needs to work so there do need to be mechanics as well as "rules" for abilities, weapons, armour and so on, just not something that's guiding the fight, this should be done by the players, the AI for the mobs and the actuality of the environment.
This is why I see MMOs such as AoC going in the right direction. I'm not saying it's not viable to have turn-based combat or that everything should be twitch but D&D was designed for a completely different situation. Of course, it might just be that developers using an old established system are just lazy and the games suffer for other reasons.
As to transparency of mechanics, apart from the P&P stuff, I agree with Abalieno for the most part, the rules should be clear. Though there's something to be had from not everything being known, it's fun to discover a way of getting ridiculous health, or making x attack do sick damage without it just being a case of looking up everything you need to do it.