The Arcanaeum

A Brief History of RP in Gaming

Roleplaying games which originally where published as books from which to make characters such as Dungeons and Dragons, Call of Cthulu, and Cyberpunk; and then with a person often labeled a GM (Game master) or Dm (Dungeon Master) leading you through quests you spoke out loud what you where doing and going to say.

This also eventually led to something known as LARP or Live Action Role Play taking the table top games one step further by having you rather than sit and say what you would do and say but dressing up as your character and fully acting out the world in which it is supposed to be taking part in.

Then there is MMORPG's, this can be played in the generic style console game style which is you don't really have much say over the storyline you simply follow the character and with some well timed button pushes continue him or her on her journey. Good examples of this style of RP would be the Final fantasy series. Lunar series, and almost anything published by the company Working Designs. This is Technically an Rpg style game as it is character sheet based with statistics but is limiting in that you unlike in the table top games have no true control over the type of characters you play other than occasionally class and armor. You don't get to pick his story and how he reacts to the world around you the story is already written and waiting for you to unlock it. This style of RPG is like a book more than a role playing game as although it requires leveling and skill based stats to achieve your goals the rewards are just new chapters of the already written story.

In MMORPG's that are on RP realms they are very similar to this style of RPG but they add one further detail to create the story. That is that not through a function of the game but from your own imagination you are to come up with the pre-story or background story of the person that you are about to control. That besides the class, and outfit that they are going to wear and what quests they will or will not accept you must also decide what was their childhood like, do they like jam or butter on their toast, do they have a favorite color, do they prefer coffee or booze? these are all questions that you have the ability to answer of your own volition. You do not have to have a hugely in depth character background but it is good to have some grounding of what you want to portray or present as you begin play. Then once you are in the game you can allow the events, other people, and quests you go on change and effect the personality and goals of said character as they emerge and develop with time.

How does one interact in this world?

It is also important as it is part of the rules of the server but also the rules of RP that the things your character says or does in this world are the things it would do based on your concept of what this character would be doing. You must think of your character as a separate entity from yourself like a character in a play you are acting or a story you are writing. You have control over what it says and does but you as the author or actor do not want to suddenly burst forth before your audience and say something that is your own. Think of how this would appear if your watching a Shakespeare play and suddenly Hamlet says oh "oh brb gotta walk the dog, LOL" Not a very good play and is annoying to those watching. So try to avoid having anything like this in what I like to call visible chat. Which is the Say ( /s) the Yell ( /y) or emote ( /e) abilities of the chat menu. This kind of stuff is fine most often to get the info across though in things such as General ( /1) party ( /P) unless told party is in character, Whisper ( /tell ) or Guild Chat ( /g) unless your a member of a guild that prohibits out of character stuff in guild chat as well but these often have ooc channels to fulfill the need for guild communication on an out of character level.

What not to do

Also there will be others that you will see that will say things that are against the rules in say such as you Noob and i went to see spider Man 3 in the cinema. This is not the majority of the server but sadly is a loud minority which sometimes is frustrating to others and sets a bad example to those just coming and are new to RP. Avoid doing these things, it will add you to these groups which are generally disliked on the server and in the end cut you off from the RP you actually seek. Also when you do meet another Role player until you are confident that you are an ace at it feel free to whisper the person that you are speaking with let them know you are a beginner and to be patient with any mistakes you might make. This will make them more tolerant for one and two will also often have people help you along the way and offer advice for when you do go wrong.

One thing to remember is that although names float above peoples head in the game screen to make them distinguishable this is invisible to your character and that you should never automatically know someones name. The other advice is to get an RP add-on called Immersion RP or Flag RSP, these add-ons allow you to add last names to your character. A visible written description that others can see and also allows you to see which other players are visible flagged as role players and if they are looking for contact, which means they are more than happy to have random people walk up to them and chat away.

Now getting back to the story part of the game, how do you do that?

Now as far as storyline, No one is not necessary, this is something that often comes in time and with advanced understanding of how to RP, not all beginners need to have some dramatic and elaborate tale of daring and chivalry. In fact I will let you know that even as your skills advance , and if you try it out they will do so quite quickly, it is still good to live by the scenario of keep it simple. Make your character something small but interesting this allows you instead of having all your great and wonderful accomplishments done for you already it means you get to create a more detailed, more complex story, and greater achievements as you go along in the game.