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Roleplay and the Industry
Sacredless
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
Roleplay is very hard to define. Even it's advocates have a hard time explaining what it is. I'll try my best to explain it. Roleplay is make-believe, in a sense, but more mature in nature. Many people would like to believe it's a game, or even just a child's game. But it does not have goals and it has no rules, so it is not a 'true' game. So, what is roleplay...?
Roleplay is playing with toys. It's strange to hear people talk about characters as 'puppets', but that's commonly how we call them here in Holland. But, frankly, that is exactly what they are to most of us. Puppets that we make do incredible stunts and have incredible adventures while we watch from a safe distance. Games often seek to confine the purpose of the adventure or even the nature of them. Roleplay does not; it is very open in what a player wants to explore. It is nearly always done with other players, who offer censorship. This censorship isn't usually unfriendly(though it can be), but rather a social pressure to keep things reasonable and actions believable in comparison with other player's desires. This to replace the concept of 'rules'.
There is very little game in roleplay, but we often see the gaming industry attempt to create 'roleplaying games'. Traditionally, this means slapping customization options on characters or adding some dialogue trees to create a certain freedom of choice. But that is not what roleplay is fundamentally. There are many people that identify themselves are 'roleplayers' and, recently, they have found it very hard to identify with especially the Massive Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Games. There is a very clear reason for that of course; roleplaying isn't actually a game and there are technical limitations that make actual freedom neigh impossible to accomplish. But there are more successful attempts, such as the infamous 'Second Life'. People tend to think Second Life to be a bad example, but ultimately it was the first step in the right direction for us roleplayers.
RP, short for roleplay, is increasingly important to the gaming industry, I have noticed. The focus on immersion and agency you see in MMOs such as Star Wars: The Old Republic, shows that. How important will it be in the future and how important is it now?
Roleplay is playing with toys. It's strange to hear people talk about characters as 'puppets', but that's commonly how we call them here in Holland. But, frankly, that is exactly what they are to most of us. Puppets that we make do incredible stunts and have incredible adventures while we watch from a safe distance. Games often seek to confine the purpose of the adventure or even the nature of them. Roleplay does not; it is very open in what a player wants to explore. It is nearly always done with other players, who offer censorship. This censorship isn't usually unfriendly(though it can be), but rather a social pressure to keep things reasonable and actions believable in comparison with other player's desires. This to replace the concept of 'rules'.
There is very little game in roleplay, but we often see the gaming industry attempt to create 'roleplaying games'. Traditionally, this means slapping customization options on characters or adding some dialogue trees to create a certain freedom of choice. But that is not what roleplay is fundamentally. There are many people that identify themselves are 'roleplayers' and, recently, they have found it very hard to identify with especially the Massive Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Games. There is a very clear reason for that of course; roleplaying isn't actually a game and there are technical limitations that make actual freedom neigh impossible to accomplish. But there are more successful attempts, such as the infamous 'Second Life'. People tend to think Second Life to be a bad example, but ultimately it was the first step in the right direction for us roleplayers.
RP, short for roleplay, is increasingly important to the gaming industry, I have noticed. The focus on immersion and agency you see in MMOs such as Star Wars: The Old Republic, shows that. How important will it be in the future and how important is it now?
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