The heat has been on in my apartment for the last two hours and it’s still only 51 degrees in the living room. This is ridiculous. I am typing from the futon, which is heated with an electric mattress pad, and I am wearing a camisole, a tank top, a long-sleeved shirt, a pair of leggings, a pair of fleece pants, a flannel nightgown, a crocheted sweater (I made it for my boyfriend three years ago and have reclaimed it in the name of not freezing to death), a pair of wool socks, a pair of battery-powered socks, a pair of slippers, a scarf, a hat, and I am wrapped in a blanket. And I am still cold. Good lord and lady.
This actually has me thinking, though. In D&D, if you go gallivanting off into the snowy mountains without the proper gear, the DM will let your ass freeze to death. If you don’t have food and water, and remember to eat it, you will starve. There are many, many ways to screw yourself over in D&D, which will hopefully learn you a lesson about preparing properly. Are there any video games with the same consequences? I’ve played Planescape: Torment, which is based heavily in D&D for its rule system, but you still never have to eat, or worry about the cold or the heat. I’d be interested in playing a game where the environmental effects atually effect the environment. The ground is slippery when it rains, icy when it snows. One where the player would actually have to pay attention to her surroundings in order to stay healthy and hale.
However, such a game would probably be a pain in the ass to make, so I’m not holding my breath. Just shivering. Always shivering.
I have to admit that a game like that does sound intriguing. I happen to enjoy D&D, though I’ve never had a DM that held us to the rations and proper attire, but I can see how that added element would heighten the experience by bringing you further into the story. WoW has you eating and drinking to get health, but not simply because one must eat. It also has various clothes designed to help in hot or cold situations (in the form of gear with certain resistances) but it’s not quite the same considering you can often find characters running around frozen areas in nothing but cloth armor with no resistances what-so-ever.