Playing the Role of Role-Playing



We've all ran into a role-player or two in our online gaming experiences. These are the folk that bring flavor to our games with their in-character actions and dialog. Sometimes appreciated, sometimes shunned, there's no denying that role-players make up a good part of the MMOG community.



But is role-playing dying? Are developers leaving out role-playing tools in their games, and potentially sabotaging the lifespan of their own games?



Benjamin "Machail" de la Durantaye talks about roleplaying with four experienced role-players from the Age of Conan community to find out what makes them tick, and get their thoughts on the future of role-playing.

“MMORPG. The genre name says a lot,” explains Khalathwyr. “I understand that some gamers want to just ‘play a game’ and not get involved with role-playing, which is perfectly ok. There are, however, many gamers who grew up playing pencil and paper RPGs and enjoy taking that experience to a computer game format with other players."

• Read "Rolling With Role-Players" and
• Discuss it in the forums.