Attributes in RPGs: Are They Working?

Who needs charisma anyway? I mean, really.

Brian Green, old-school online game developer, posted on his blog recently and challenged the conventional wisdom of using statistics in MMOGs. Wouldn't derived stats be better?

Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma. I can recite them without looking at a list. Playing D&D for several years will do that to you.

But, what do they mean? Okay, as a D&D geek I know what most of those do. But, I still have to look up some stuff, especially for the earlier editions. I don't have memorized what system shock percent a 14 Con score gives me in 2nd Edition D&D. (A quick lookup shows that it's 88%, but a 92% chance to survive resurrection.)

What does Dex do? It gives a bonus to-hit, right? Well, only for ranged weapons. It's Str that gives a bonus to-hit for melee attacks in D&D. Yet, in other systems it's usually a Dex-type stat that gives a bonus to-hit. (Or a special 'Aim' stat as in M59.)

A bit confusing, isn't it? So, why do so many online RPGs rely on stats?

Keep reading and see if you agree with him at Psychochild's Blog, before chiming in at the forum discussion.