Dannic, The Prince of Cats

Posted by Dannic on December 20th, 2004 in Role Playing

What exactly is Role Playing?

There are different definitions depending on exactly who you speak with. Some of the more serious RP people have a completely different idea of what it is than those who think they take RP too seriously.

An example of this…

There are two MUD’s I have frequented. Each one has its good points and bad points. Not going to name either one. I’m not here to promote them.

The first one is a strict RP mud. In every sense of the word. The terms for playing require you to remain in character at all times. Can’t talk about real life at all. You pretend you are actually the character interacting with other players. Of course there are certain ways to get around this but it isnt’ looked upon as something you want to do often.

Each player will basicly build their character from the very begining. Create a life story. Play the character according to the storyline you have chosen for it with the skills it has. They emerse themselves into the character much like an actor would do for a part in a movie, play or show.

The people who play like this usually really enjoy this type of RP and scoff at anyone who thinks that anything less is actually RP. Funny thing is that they are only about half-way there on this particular mud. They are still more concerned with making their character more powerful.

Of course you can’t tell that to the admin of this mud since that’s exactly what they way. Its how they make revenue to pay the bills. I guess I can’t beat them up too much about it because if I could actually figure out how to do it myself I would.

In order to get such an RP environment you either have to have a pretty small player base or some really dedicated people who are afraid of losing something they have worked hard to keep. Which is what the Admin does. It plays upon peoples fears of losing something they may have paid large sums of money for to force them into things they don’t really want to do. Fortunately, many manage to enjoy it nonetheless.

Another form of RP is just playing the type of character. There really isn’t any character development. Its just you are a “Mage” so you use the mage skills you are role playing. This is a very, very basic definition of RP. It isn’t technicially incorrect. It just doesn’t sit well with those who are more seriously into RP.

This second mud is one of the later types of RP. Talk about whatever you want. do just about whatever you want. Don’t worry about a character personality to develop. The personality is your own. Use the skills given to your character when you set it up. That’s the quick and dirty form of RP. Its easy. No hassel.

You will probably never see people who are serious about their RP playing a game where RP is just a term where you play the skills instead of act out a role.

Which do I prefer?

If I really had to think about it. I would probably choose the serious RP. I like acting out a role. I’m not real good at it but it doesn’t matter. Its one of those things where the more you do it the more you learn and the better you get.

I haven’t played any of the serious RP games in along time. For that matter I haven’t really played any muds in a bit. I have one that I kind of show up on to chat but that’s about it. There really isnt’ any RP to speak of. Its just the character type RP instead of the actual acting.

Which do you prefer?