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Definition of Role-Playing
jala001
Member Posts: 7
It has been mentioned hundreds of times, many of them without even the knowledge of saying it, a thing that frustrates me the most, since it's a very delicated term wrongly used world-wide to express just everything everyone wants to express.
So here's my question: What does Role-Playing mean? How do you define Role-Playing in an online game?
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Role playing is where you are actually playing the ROLE of your character instead of being yourself or acting like yourself. I think online there is a fine line between "playing the game" and "role-playing" but it is also very distinct to people that are familiar with the old role-playing games where you used you imagination versus looking at a screen.
I also think arguing about it is VERY unconstructive, after all it is a game some people get thier fun differently, and some get thier fun at the expense of another players fun (griefers and such).
Witty saying to amuse you goes here.
My opinion of what roleplaying is:
Assuming the identity of your character, and giving that character personality and developing it throughout the course of the game. I compare it to what an actor/actress does in a film, except that you have no scripted lines (most of the time), and what you do can change the course of things in the game.
I don't think that this is THE meaning. Some people refer to roleplaying as building up their characters statistics, skills, etc. while they play. Some people roleplay their characters using their own personality, as if their toon is a portrayal of themselves in the game. Whatever you think roleplaying it, it's fine with me.
The only thing I don't like about roleplaying is when players that do it try to enforce it on others, and when players that don't do it ridicule those that do.
1. What did role playing used to mean.
The answer to that would make it much easier to answer your question about what role playing currently means.
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Intresting note:
Classic SWG aka CSWG is the MMORPG that came the closest ever to mirroring original Role Playing (which was pen and paper, as someone above said - using one's imagination.)
In CSWG, you could set the mood of you character. There were litterally roughly 80 different moods you could set. Depressed, angrey, angst, happy, tearful, etc. I do not mean emotes, I mean setting the mood. You pick 'depressed' and your character would hang their head, and from that point on, every action, would be exactly what a depressed person would do, say, act, everything. The body language, manner of walking, standing, etc....
This was a huge feature that was great for roleplaying in the original Star Wars Galaxies. Everquest II has a few of these, but they are limited and nowhere near as useful as the ones in SWG.
I used to roleplaying my character effectively, where players would ask how I did that, or offer compliments to me on how I was roleplaying, all because of these moods. I rarely had to type a word of text and other players could tell how my character was feeling.
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
It's true that if you play the game without ever mentioning any real world things, you might be mistaken for a roleplayer. It is nice when players do not break the immersion of a mmorpg, something that I think roleplayers really strive for. Tuning out the real world while playing can be an important step in roleplaying. I've come across many players who've done what you do, and I am thankful for it.
Some go even further and refrain from using in-game terms like Mob, EXP, Level, etc. and try to use terms that might be more understandable to a person who might actually be living in one of these fantasy worlds. I am not sure that is roleplaying, but it is very helpful in keeping an immersive roleplaying environment.
roleplaying for me is, among other things, that the success or failure of the ingame actions depend on the character stats, skills and strenths, and not my own. it shouldnt matter whether i am very strong or not for me to be able to roleplay a fighter, or whether my sight is great or just average for me to roleplay an archer or sniper.
also, roleplaying is sitcking to what your character is supposed to do, even if it is worse for him/her/it. for example, if i am roleplaying a dwarf, i will not be killing dwarfs, or rescuing elfs, no matter what the reward is.
Role Playing means to take on a "role" and "pretend" to be that person. It has nothing to do with "playing a fighter" and everything to do with "playing Dharmik De'Vize"
However, in the MMORPG arena it's been bastardized into this strange definition:
Roleplaying is when you play a fighter or cleric or whatever in a game. But you can act like yourself.
Why this happened is simple: People who know nothing about role playing trying to play role playing games. And the games catering to those players rather than to the role players.
Classic example: EQ's refusal to stand up dedicated roleplaying servers when it came out. Because "We can't code for roleplaying" never mind the fact that the players just wanted a set of servers where the GM's would be a bit more active about naming enforcement. One notes that EQ2's role-playing servers, which are official, are a LOT easier to find actual ROLE PLAYERS on than almost any other game on the market.
Example of a role player would be me playing my troll, Kumlak:
Kumlak sees an elf:
Arr... hey dat lukz gud tu eets!!! C'mere lil elfie, me wan crush ju!
Example of someone NOT roleplaying (same character):
Kumlak sees an elf:
Hey... Whaddup d00d... lets go r0x those goblins and get some l00t so we can get uber.
(granted the 2nd one is a bit extreme, but hopefully you get the idea)
In both cases the character is in a "role playing game" but they are obviously not both role playing.
(Note: Kumlak never saw an elf he didn't want to eat... unfortunately most of them managed to talk him out of it. Gnomes, on the other hand.... well... lets just say that Gnomes tended to avoid him)
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I'm afraid that's what Role-Playing means these days, as Elnator stated: When you just play a character in an online game. It really frustrates me that so-called MMORPGs call themselves Role-Playing games. Using a term just to bring fame (And therefore, money) to an online game is for me a ridiculous, if not anti-professional, approach.
I've seen games where the developers have claimed they are NOT Role-Playing games, instead supporting the more appealing PvP and/or PKing. But sadly, there are (many) others who insist of being RP games, but in reality, they consist of PKers, Power-Gamers and anti-Role Players.
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IHMO by it's very nature the term "role playing" connot be defined in a strict sense. Thats just completely counter productive.
Roleplaying is supposed to be flexible, personal, an essence of comfortability (<--- probably not a word) with one's self and his or her surroundings and how they interact with those surroundings.
To define the word Roleplaying gives the term limitations and at it's core, roleplaying should always remain limitless, even more so in the world of online gaming. Thats the true beauty of roleplaying, regardless of whether it's in an online game or your every day life, it's about using your imagination and having "purest" (<---another made up word???) amount of fun you can make up for yourself.
So yeah, What does Role-Playing mean and how do you define it?
Best answer I can come up with: Just about anything you want... literally.
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Just reword it to "playing a role", and there you go... instant and accurate definition.
The role should be predefined and make sense in the medium you're playing in. For example, if you're acting in a movie, it makes sense to spend $4000.00 on props, and when you play a bad person in an MMO, you'd better not violate the TOS.
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There is a convergence of two worlds in MMOGs that makes the term roleplaying somewhat misunderstood.
Pen and paper roleplaying was highly dependant upon players bringing to life an imagined character, complete with acting out the part. The idea of being "in character" is very fundamental to most people who play PnP RP games. With this in mind, the MMOG incarnation of that idea has often seen numerous attempts by like-minded players to enforce the same ideal in the computer world.
Computer RPGs have a different lifeline. Most cRPGs were born of the simple idea of the attributes and skills of a character. Since you can't really "act" with a computer, other than to select from limited list of responses, you primarily act out the part of your character through the professional career. Like-minded players in MMOGs see the value of the game in the character development of attributes and skills, and have no particular interest in the personality of their character.
In the MMOG space, both types of players exist. I think far more are the latter type...who don't perceive the roleplay to be anything more than the role of the profession of the character.
Both descriptions are appropriate to the term, in my opinion. For a long time I regarded the RP part of MMORPG as inaccurate. But I now see that it is still accurate, just in a different context. I still call all these games MMOGs, though, because I prefer to see the entire genre in a much broader perspective.
So I think, it should be better we separate 'Massive Multiplayer Online Games' from 'Online Role Playing Games'. It's loathing to see such power-gaming online games under the category 'Role Playing', sine they have nothing to do with role-playing itself.
Back in the 70's, when a very young Dungeons & Dragons took its first steps as we know it now, it was the first time the term roleplaying was defined in its pages. D&D created that term and it existed for ages... until a bunch of computer games came in and developed a new (falsified to me) idea of roleplaying, based on character skill development...
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That's an interesting idea Jala but I don't think your paying attention to the responses in your own thread. If you notice the one common denomeninator in all the reponses is that Role-Playing can be basicaly anything you want it to be, whether that's in online games, table top or whatever pleases you.
So why not have role playing in MMO's? I don't know if you ever played SWG but around it's release time but even people that HATED RP'ing, RP'ed to an extent and had a great time. My first MMO experience was in Lineage 1 and it was filled with some of the most quality RP'ers I've ever met.
Certainly there's a difference there but RP'ing has always been about extending yourself, why should we limit that experience and not include online games, that seems awefully limiting.
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D&D it self encourage roleplaying - But it does by no means require roleplaying in it's core rules. D&D can be played just fine as an Hack 'N Slash game, where you dungeon crawl to the 10th level to get the phat lewt. You don't have to take on the role of your character. You can play an generic fighter if you want, not Nathan the bold.
When a game calls itself an RPG, it refers to the system which it use - A system, where the player takes an character, and develops him further. It does not refer to the act of roleplaying.
So MMORPG's are indeed RPG's, just like Neverwinter Nights is, just like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 2nd edition is, and just like Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is.
I think this is just another example of people who worry too much about what others are doing. If you want to RP go play on an RP server with other's that want to aswell and stop worrying about everyone else not playing the right way. BTW if you haven't noticed most ( alot of ) games call themselves MMOs now not MMORPGs. So careful what you wish for, there may come a day when RPing games are few and far between or atleast the support of that style of play.
God I hope so, that could potentialy mean the development of niche games which are built to appeal strictly to the RPer, and therefore the galvanization of the online roleplaying community as such.
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God I hope so, that could potentialy mean the development of niche games which are built to appeal strictly to the RPer, and therefore the galvanization of the online roleplaying community as such.
Well.. NWN 2, imo, is a game that appeal mostly to the RP'er.
Once it have gone retail, and the DM client+toolset have been released.. The fun begins
MMORPG=Mass Men Online Role Playing Girls. That about sums it up.
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could we please get correspondent writers and moderators, on the eve forum at mmorpg.com, who are well-versed on eve-online and aren't just passersby pushing buttons? pretty please?