Does Anybody truly Role Plays in a MMORPG? Well I heard a interesting argument from a WoW-hater, referring to the idea that WoW isn’t a RPG because nobody Role Plays.
I understand that, by using the word NOBODY, the person was really meaning “Not Most”. And I would agree with that. But only WoW? How many other MMORPGs out there have a community made up of mostly Role Players?
The way I look at this term, (Role Playing Game), doesn’t deal with Role Playing a character, but developing a character.
As I read in another topic dealing with the meaning of a MMORPG, my dear friend LynxJSA brought up a interesting meaning of an RPG.
=====================================
(LynxJSA): You misunderstand what RPG means. It sounds like you want it to means people roleplay in the game. The reality is that it simply means it is a system with progressive character advancement.
Your character in Pac Man has no stats, skills, gear or attributes. Pac Man is not an RPG.
And this is what I would have to agree on. Many people that believe that people in a MMORPG should mostly Role Play, are confusing the term of Role Playing, for what a Role Playing Game is.
How do you roleplay in a game with no immersion, where you constantly have arrows on your minimap telling you where to go, and where the game consists of lobby zones + instances? Good luck with that one
RPGs need to have immersion, to make you feel like you are the character in the world. You just won't feel it with dumbed down games like WoW which really aren't MMOS or RPGs..
EQKing, there was no immersion in Neverquest either. Zones? Invisible walls separating the world that teleported you to the other side... yup that was so much more "realistic".
RPG's need imagination, not immersion. Tabletop RPG's didn't need 3d buildings, figurines, to-scale diagrams to feel "immersed". If you need your hand held through the entire experience then RPG's are not for you, online, offline, single or massive or otherwise.
"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."
I've said this before but it bears repeating... for those like myself who grew up with pencil and paper games, role playing is something we are quite used to and enjoy. I ALWAYS role play in an MMO.. I try to keep my out of character posts to a minimum (or use the private message option).. I am fully into character.. this is how it was and is for me. When you created a character in DnD or Gamma World or Boot Hill or Champions or Vampire the Masquerade (or any of 100 other games) you breathed life into that character, you became that entity if only for a few hours.. you got to use your imagination and live outside your regular daily living.. that was what made it fun, that was why you role played in the first place.
Perhaps I will never quite understand why any game that labels itself an mmoRPG has very few players actually role playing in it. Maybe all the Playstations, X-boxes and Wiis have eradicated their imaginations but I don't really know.
All I DO know is that you will find me on STO in February proudly in character as Captain of my ship and later on you will see me in full character as a Jedi in TOR.. roleplaying to my hearts desire. I am proud to say I am "one of those hardcore, old school roleplayers" I wear that title as a badge of honor.
I certainly hope to see more people do some role playing out there. It can be a lot of fun and it never hurts to use your imagination either.. as the great Albert Einstien said: "Imagination is more powerful the Knowledge."
Does Anybody truly Role Plays in a MMORPG? Well I heard a interesting argument from a WoW-hater, referring to the idea that WoW isn’t a RPG because nobody Role Plays.
I understand that, by using the word NOBODY, the person was really meaning “Not Most”. And I would agree with that. But only WoW? How many other MMORPGs out there have a community made up of mostly Role Players?
The way I look at this term, (Role Playing Game), doesn’t deal with Role Playing a character, but developing a character.
As I read in another topic dealing with the meaning of a MMORPG, my dear friend LynxJSA brought up a interesting meaning of an RPG.
=====================================
(LynxJSA): You misunderstand what RPG means. It sounds like you want it to means people roleplay in the game. The reality is that it simply means it is a system with progressive character advancement.
Your character in Pac Man has no stats, skills, gear or attributes. Pac Man is not an RPG.
And this is what I would have to agree on. Many people that believe that people in a MMORPG should mostly Role Play, are confusing the term of Role Playing, for what a Role Playing Game is.
So you get to change the definition of a term just because you want to?
There were RPGs long before there were online games, and people did not play them because of a progression system. They played Role Playing Games to play the role of an invented character. Playing the character was the fun.
Your wife doesn't roleplay an insolent schoolgirl so her character can progress to desperate college coed, then slutty graduate assistant, etc. Character progression is not a requirement for role playing.
If you want to change the genre name to Massively Multiplayer Online Character Progression Games (MMOCPGs), you're welcome to do it. But you're not changing the definition of Role Playing because your life is consumed by video games.
Does Anybody truly Role Plays in a MMORPG? Well I heard a interesting argument from a WoW-hater, referring to the idea that WoW isn’t a RPG because nobody Role Plays.
I understand that, by using the word NOBODY, the person was really meaning “Not Most”. And I would agree with that. But only WoW? How many other MMORPGs out there have a community made up of mostly Role Players?
The way I look at this term, (Role Playing Game), doesn’t deal with Role Playing a character, but developing a character.
As I read in another topic dealing with the meaning of a MMORPG, my dear friend LynxJSA brought up a interesting meaning of an RPG.
=====================================
(LynxJSA): You misunderstand what RPG means. It sounds like you want it to means people roleplay in the game. The reality is that it simply means it is a system with progressive character advancement.
Your character in Pac Man has no stats, skills, gear or attributes. Pac Man is not an RPG.
And this is what I would have to agree on. Many people that believe that people in a MMORPG should mostly Role Play, are confusing the term of Role Playing, for what a Role Playing Game is.
So you get to change the definition of a term just because you want to?
There were RPGs long before there were online games, and people did not play them because of a progression system. They played Role Playing Games to play the role of an invented character. Playing the character was the fun.
Your wife doesn't roleplay an insolent schoolgirl so her character can progress to desperate college coed, then slutty graduate assistant, etc. Character progression is not a requirement for role playing.
If you want to change the genre name to Massively Multiplayer Online Character Progression Games (MMOCPGs), you're welcome to do it. But you're not changing the definition of Role Playing because your life is consumed by video games.
when i pick my class i'm playing that role so it still is role playing
when i pick my class i'm playing that role so it still is role playing
No. No it is not.
As I said, the term "Role Playing" already has a definition and has long had one. Just because the online games you play are thought of as "MMORPGs" does not make whatever you do in-game "Role Playing".
Again, if you want rename the genre, that would make more sense since the amount of Role Playing going on in games like WoW, EVE, DDO, etc., is close to non-existent. But you don't get to change the definition of the term to whatever it is you're doing when you log on to WoW and create a character.
I used to roleplay, but not anymore. It seems to create more of a separation from the community than actually being a source of entertainment in it. Also, since most people are focused on their stats and rate of xp, RP restrictions that you create for your character can prove to be a bother to other players especially if you are grouped with them.
For me, RP was always a way to entertain others. Since few are ever entertained by it these days, I just kinda dropped it.
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
I used to roleplay, but not anymore. It seems to create more of a separation from the community than actually being a source of entertainment in it. Also, since most people are focused on their stats and rate of xp, RP restrictions that you create for your character can prove to be a bother to other players especially if you are grouped with them.
For me, RP was always a way to entertain others. Since few are ever entertained by it these days, I just kinda dropped it.
Pretty much this. I have a fond memory of a guy in EQ that rarely moved off the boat from FP to BB, claimed he was a pirate and always said "Arrrr". Think his name was Zeke, on Quellious. Last time I "Roleplayed" was in DAoC, a champion (i think that was the class) named Sledge, he was slow in the head, only used 2h blunt weapons and used a lot of "ogre speak" kind of language/typing and I had a lot of fun with it. Then Mythic flagged my name because "SLEDGE" was inappropriate, for some dumb ass reason... and my caring about RP'ing kinda died from there.
"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."
when i pick my class i'm playing that role so it still is role playing
No. No it is not.
As I said, the term "Role Playing" already has a definition and has long had one. Just because the online games you play are thought of as "MMORPGs" does not make whatever you do in-game "Role Playing".
Again, if you want rename the genre, that would make more sense since the amount of Role Playing going on in games like WoW, EVE, DDO, etc., is close to non-existent. But you don't get to change the definition of the term to whatever it is you're doing when you log on to WoW and create a character.
That's exactly true. The problem is that MMOs, with their progression limitations, really don't allow actual roleplaying. If you want to progress, you have to play a certain way. What if you want to RP a character that never fights? You're screwed, your character can never advance because most MMOs don't allow non-combat characters to advance very quickly, if at all. You really cannot be playing two different games, a roleplaying game and a combat game and still do either of them justice.
Roleplaying is about freedom, the ability to make choices and do things that are often unforseen. MMOs are the exact opposite, you have limited choices and everything that you *CAN* do has to be pre-programmed by someone.
I personally think that the earlier games started as true RPGs in which you DO Roleplay. Eventually, though they evolved and for some reason the name stuck and instead of being named "Fantasy" games they stuck with their current name under assumption that it would be a more fitting title. It is too, in a sense... the meaning of Roleplay has changed with the games and has become the summary for things you do in RPGs. The bare element of RPing lies in those games though... I'm not talking about character progression even if that technically counts. In a RPG you aren't restricted to gunning down a room of grunts with an assault rifle and you aren't restricted to driving circles around a track. In an RPG you're supposed to be more involved with your characters to some extent and if you want to go to stormwind as a night elf nobody's stopping you. That's what makes an RPG an RPG. No, it's not the same as being in character pretending you're them, but the basic elements are there, dammit.
Most people choose to ignore them, apparently, but even when I played WoW and did so out of character I still enacted the basics of RPing (not Having to gun down everything in my path but having the choice not to without bringing game progression to a halt.) As for character progression, it's only an aid to the role playing aspect, and offers depth for non-RPers.
Me? I forum Roleplay (and not that lulsp34k gaia crap.) I do it for, well, that freedom that not even the most open ended RPGs offer.
I would also gladly roleplay in an RPG and speak in character if there was an RPG specifically deigned for it. Todays games just aren't. The amount of people who RP has always been too low to make a game specifically for that; instead companies make larger, more friendly games that are easier for the average person (the ones who don't write novel-style roleplays) to play.
People that put themselves above others put me in a bad mood. http://www.surrealtwilight.com/index.php ^Has nothing to do with that retarded Vampire Novel Series, I swear!^
Does Anybody truly Role Plays in a MMORPG? Well I heard a interesting argument from a WoW-hater, referring to the idea that WoW isn’t a RPG because nobody Role Plays.
I understand that, by using the word NOBODY, the person was really meaning “Not Most”. And I would agree with that. But only WoW? How many other MMORPGs out there have a community made up of mostly Role Players?
The way I look at this term, (Role Playing Game), doesn’t deal with Role Playing a character, but developing a character.
As I read in another topic dealing with the meaning of a MMORPG, my dear friend LynxJSA brought up a interesting meaning of an RPG.
=====================================
(LynxJSA): You misunderstand what RPG means. It sounds like you want it to means people roleplay in the game. The reality is that it simply means it is a system with progressive character advancement.
Your character in Pac Man has no stats, skills, gear or attributes. Pac Man is not an RPG.
And this is what I would have to agree on. Many people that believe that people in a MMORPG should mostly Role Play, are confusing the term of Role Playing, for what a Role Playing Game is.
So you get to change the definition of a term just because you want to?
There were RPGs long before there were online games, and people did not play them because of a progression system. They played Role Playing Games to play the role of an invented character. Playing the character was the fun.
Your wife doesn't roleplay an insolent schoolgirl so her character can progress to desperate college coed, then slutty graduate assistant, etc. Character progression is not a requirement for role playing.
If you want to change the genre name to Massively Multiplayer Online Character Progression Games (MMOCPGs), you're welcome to do it. But you're not changing the definition of Role Playing because your life is consumed by video games.
Whoa there. We didn't change the definition and I don't see where either of us said we liked what RPG had come to stand for when the video game industry adopted it. Just because we can accept a fact that we may not particularly like doesn't mean we agree with it or came up with it. Unbunch your panties.
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
What kind of question is that? I know plenty of ppl who RP; roleplayers have never been the majority, esp. since with the days of WOW many new types of gamers entererd MMO gaming. But they numbers are IMO quite consistent. Some games support RP better than others tho. I had the best RP in the days of SWG.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Comments
How do you roleplay in a game with no immersion, where you constantly have arrows on your minimap telling you where to go, and where the game consists of lobby zones + instances? Good luck with that one
RPGs need to have immersion, to make you feel like you are the character in the world. You just won't feel it with dumbed down games like WoW which really aren't MMOS or RPGs..
EQKing, there was no immersion in Neverquest either. Zones? Invisible walls separating the world that teleported you to the other side... yup that was so much more "realistic".
RPG's need imagination, not immersion. Tabletop RPG's didn't need 3d buildings, figurines, to-scale diagrams to feel "immersed". If you need your hand held through the entire experience then RPG's are not for you, online, offline, single or massive or otherwise.
"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."
I've said this before but it bears repeating... for those like myself who grew up with pencil and paper games, role playing is something we are quite used to and enjoy. I ALWAYS role play in an MMO.. I try to keep my out of character posts to a minimum (or use the private message option).. I am fully into character.. this is how it was and is for me. When you created a character in DnD or Gamma World or Boot Hill or Champions or Vampire the Masquerade (or any of 100 other games) you breathed life into that character, you became that entity if only for a few hours.. you got to use your imagination and live outside your regular daily living.. that was what made it fun, that was why you role played in the first place.
Perhaps I will never quite understand why any game that labels itself an mmoRPG has very few players actually role playing in it. Maybe all the Playstations, X-boxes and Wiis have eradicated their imaginations but I don't really know.
All I DO know is that you will find me on STO in February proudly in character as Captain of my ship and later on you will see me in full character as a Jedi in TOR.. roleplaying to my hearts desire. I am proud to say I am "one of those hardcore, old school roleplayers" I wear that title as a badge of honor.
I certainly hope to see more people do some role playing out there. It can be a lot of fun and it never hurts to use your imagination either.. as the great Albert Einstien said: "Imagination is more powerful the Knowledge."
So Mote It Be.
So you get to change the definition of a term just because you want to?
There were RPGs long before there were online games, and people did not play them because of a progression system. They played Role Playing Games to play the role of an invented character. Playing the character was the fun.
Your wife doesn't roleplay an insolent schoolgirl so her character can progress to desperate college coed, then slutty graduate assistant, etc. Character progression is not a requirement for role playing.
If you want to change the genre name to Massively Multiplayer Online Character Progression Games (MMOCPGs), you're welcome to do it. But you're not changing the definition of Role Playing because your life is consumed by video games.
no role playing is lame
if i wanted to do that i'd become an actor and make money
So you get to change the definition of a term just because you want to?
There were RPGs long before there were online games, and people did not play them because of a progression system. They played Role Playing Games to play the role of an invented character. Playing the character was the fun.
Your wife doesn't roleplay an insolent schoolgirl so her character can progress to desperate college coed, then slutty graduate assistant, etc. Character progression is not a requirement for role playing.
If you want to change the genre name to Massively Multiplayer Online Character Progression Games (MMOCPGs), you're welcome to do it. But you're not changing the definition of Role Playing because your life is consumed by video games.
when i pick my class i'm playing that role so it still is role playing
when i pick my class i'm playing that role so it still is role playing
No. No it is not.
As I said, the term "Role Playing" already has a definition and has long had one. Just because the online games you play are thought of as "MMORPGs" does not make whatever you do in-game "Role Playing".
Again, if you want rename the genre, that would make more sense since the amount of Role Playing going on in games like WoW, EVE, DDO, etc., is close to non-existent. But you don't get to change the definition of the term to whatever it is you're doing when you log on to WoW and create a character.
Rp is silly.
I used to roleplay, but not anymore. It seems to create more of a separation from the community than actually being a source of entertainment in it. Also, since most people are focused on their stats and rate of xp, RP restrictions that you create for your character can prove to be a bother to other players especially if you are grouped with them.
For me, RP was always a way to entertain others. Since few are ever entertained by it these days, I just kinda dropped it.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
Pretty much this. I have a fond memory of a guy in EQ that rarely moved off the boat from FP to BB, claimed he was a pirate and always said "Arrrr". Think his name was Zeke, on Quellious. Last time I "Roleplayed" was in DAoC, a champion (i think that was the class) named Sledge, he was slow in the head, only used 2h blunt weapons and used a lot of "ogre speak" kind of language/typing and I had a lot of fun with it. Then Mythic flagged my name because "SLEDGE" was inappropriate, for some dumb ass reason... and my caring about RP'ing kinda died from there.
"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."
LotRO has a great role playing community. I sometimes dress up as my character while I play.
"World of Warcraft is the perfect implementation of this genre." - Hilmar Petursson. CEO of CCP.
when i pick my class i'm playing that role so it still is role playing
No. No it is not.
As I said, the term "Role Playing" already has a definition and has long had one. Just because the online games you play are thought of as "MMORPGs" does not make whatever you do in-game "Role Playing".
Again, if you want rename the genre, that would make more sense since the amount of Role Playing going on in games like WoW, EVE, DDO, etc., is close to non-existent. But you don't get to change the definition of the term to whatever it is you're doing when you log on to WoW and create a character.
That's exactly true. The problem is that MMOs, with their progression limitations, really don't allow actual roleplaying. If you want to progress, you have to play a certain way. What if you want to RP a character that never fights? You're screwed, your character can never advance because most MMOs don't allow non-combat characters to advance very quickly, if at all. You really cannot be playing two different games, a roleplaying game and a combat game and still do either of them justice.
Roleplaying is about freedom, the ability to make choices and do things that are often unforseen. MMOs are the exact opposite, you have limited choices and everything that you *CAN* do has to be pre-programmed by someone.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
I personally think that the earlier games started as true RPGs in which you DO Roleplay. Eventually, though they evolved and for some reason the name stuck and instead of being named "Fantasy" games they stuck with their current name under assumption that it would be a more fitting title. It is too, in a sense... the meaning of Roleplay has changed with the games and has become the summary for things you do in RPGs. The bare element of RPing lies in those games though... I'm not talking about character progression even if that technically counts. In a RPG you aren't restricted to gunning down a room of grunts with an assault rifle and you aren't restricted to driving circles around a track. In an RPG you're supposed to be more involved with your characters to some extent and if you want to go to stormwind as a night elf nobody's stopping you. That's what makes an RPG an RPG. No, it's not the same as being in character pretending you're them, but the basic elements are there, dammit.
Most people choose to ignore them, apparently, but even when I played WoW and did so out of character I still enacted the basics of RPing (not Having to gun down everything in my path but having the choice not to without bringing game progression to a halt.) As for character progression, it's only an aid to the role playing aspect, and offers depth for non-RPers.
Me? I forum Roleplay (and not that lulsp34k gaia crap.) I do it for, well, that freedom that not even the most open ended RPGs offer.
I would also gladly roleplay in an RPG and speak in character if there was an RPG specifically deigned for it. Todays games just aren't. The amount of people who RP has always been too low to make a game specifically for that; instead companies make larger, more friendly games that are easier for the average person (the ones who don't write novel-style roleplays) to play.
People that put themselves above others put me in a bad mood.
http://www.surrealtwilight.com/index.php
^Has nothing to do with that retarded Vampire Novel Series, I swear!^
So you get to change the definition of a term just because you want to?
There were RPGs long before there were online games, and people did not play them because of a progression system. They played Role Playing Games to play the role of an invented character. Playing the character was the fun.
Your wife doesn't roleplay an insolent schoolgirl so her character can progress to desperate college coed, then slutty graduate assistant, etc. Character progression is not a requirement for role playing.
If you want to change the genre name to Massively Multiplayer Online Character Progression Games (MMOCPGs), you're welcome to do it. But you're not changing the definition of Role Playing because your life is consumed by video games.
Whoa there. We didn't change the definition and I don't see where either of us said we liked what RPG had come to stand for when the video game industry adopted it. Just because we can accept a fact that we may not particularly like doesn't mean we agree with it or came up with it. Unbunch your panties.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
What kind of question is that? I know plenty of ppl who RP; roleplayers have never been the majority, esp. since with the days of WOW many new types of gamers entererd MMO gaming. But they numbers are IMO quite consistent. Some games support RP better than others tho. I had the best RP in the days of SWG.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert