To Play or Not to Play: Electronic RPGs

The folks at Gamegrene have published an article entitled "To Play or Not to Play: Electronic RPGs", in which they offer several reasons why current RPG video games do not compare to tabletop RPGs. A snip:
Why is it so hard to make electronic RPGs that would be worth playing? The basic tools are already a reality. The hardest part would be the AI. An AI that would be able to handle millions of people interacting in a fantasy world, each person doing whatever they want, is a daunting task. But it is a possibility. It has already been accomplished on a somewhat limited basis with the MMORPGs that already in existence.

Creating a vibrant, realistic world would be the most time-consuming and labor-intensive part of the creation process. Actually, if the game designers used some of the old school world designers from the early RPGs then they'd be pretty set up. The same teams that dreamed up worlds like Dragonlance, Dark Sun, Cyberpunk, White Wolf, Mystara, and the Underdark would easily be able to make up a believable world to interact with. After all, they've been doing so professionally for over twenty years already.