In a game, when a player makes a choice or fulfills a quest because he wants to, because it's interesting, or because he feels empathy with a character - that's roleplaying. Every time a person decides to use one item over another solely for looks - that's roleplaying. An enjoyable game experience should be synonymous with an enjoyable roleplaying experience.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Roleplaying in MMOs
Massively has an article asking about how important roleplaying tools are. I think though that the question has an inherent assumption that's incorrect: that roleplaying is not inherent to the design of a game (well, MMO, in this case). Now, many people may define roleplaying as talking in character (and possibly in Ye Old Butcherede Englishe), but I think it goes beyond that.
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Do you think there is a roleplay gradient? Or all or nothing?
ReplyDeleteHaving made the 'gear for looks' decision, I can say that it didn't make me refer to myself as Ollamh, Druid of the Wood. Nor did completing various druidic quests; I did refer to my character, not just as 'my druid,' but rather by his name, FuzzyFuzzkin, in conversation. I have also had some RL guildmates refer to me as Fuzzy in RL conversation (I wasn't even tanking at the time!). There's an obvious dichotomy of immersion there.
What level of immersion must be present before playing enters the realm of roleplaying?
I don't think there's a cut and dry answer to this.