by Jeff Woleslagle on Sep 19, 2007
The current, primary habitat of the Roleplayer is the "Massive-Multiplayer
Online Game", or "MMO" for short. Unlike their predecessors, these worlds
feature both visual and audio sensory input, with text playing a lesser role.
Interestingly, many of the behaviors developed in previous habitats have
carried over to these more modern games. Males playing females still tend to
make their females with over-sized breasts, and dress in the skimpiest clothes
they can find. Often, they will strip down to just their underwear and beg for
money. Often, this begging seems to lead to the cybering behavior we previously
observed.
As in the earlier days, this is often the point where the doors are closed,
preventing us from viewing what the roleplayer gets out of it. One thing that is
clear to us now is that practice doesn't make perfect, as the Roleplayer's
typing skills still seem to suffer while engaged in this behavior.
These new games have presented more challenges to the Roleplayer, but these
challenges may be to their detriment. Despite the best efforts of Roleplayer
conservationists, this breed seems to be dieing out.
Perhaps the biggest culprits are the limitations that such environments place
on the Roleplayer. With the advent of the MMO, they came to realize that they
couldn't be as expressive as they were before. The way their character looks is
now completely dominated by the vision of the creatures known as "Devs."
These reclusive animals are similar to the Alphas and their assistants of the
MU era, but receive better compensation than their predecessors did. Much like
their Alpha ancestors, these Devs are also cave-dwelling creatures. Within the
cave complex, each typically spends days on end working in a smaller cave that
has come to be known as a "cubicle". Many of these creatures have become fully
nocturnal, and are destined never to see the light of day.
These Devs also control what actions the Roleplayers can use. Through the use
of things called "animations," the Roleplayer can perform a variety of actions.
The difficulty is that a Roleplayer can only use animations which the Devs
provide. If the Devs haven't made an animation, you can't do it visually.
An interesting exception to this is a strange land called "Second Life." This
curious world allows individuals with the skills to make their own animations,
allowing the Roleplayer more expressiveness in the modern era. Despite this
increased expressiveness, the Roleplayers still have many problems in this
world.
Those without the skills required often have to spend large sums of their
wealth to purchase credits in the game, called Lindens, which they then trade to
others who make the animations and character appearances. Often, the animations
these folks provide are of similar quality to those supplied by the Devs.
Another problem faced by these Roleplayers is the sheer invasiveness of the
sex trade. In an aborted attempt to gain acceptance among these Roleplayers, I
created a character there, and bought some land. It was only 2 days before my
humble abode became completely surrounded by strip clubs and adult-themed toy
shops. Many of my companions in this experiment fared far worse, with one being
stalked by one of the Roleplayers.
The only information we gained from this experiment was the amazing parallel
between our own culture and theirs. In both cultures, there are unstable
elements that jeopardize the integrity of the group.
Perhaps the biggest challenge to the Roleplayer's survival is a hideous
creature we've come to know as "Griefers." These pitiful souls are only happy
when they're making everyone around them unhappy. They will often make
characters on the reservations set aside for the Roleplayers, known as "RP
Servers", and begin to harrass them at every turn, making it exceptionally
difficult for the Roleplayers.
Similar to the Griefers is a species which we came to refer to as "HNG", or
"Horny Net Geeks." These seem to be a subspecies of Roleplayer that has become
obsessed by the cybering behavior, and seek it out to the exclusion of all other
behaviors. Shunned by many Roleplayers, these HNGs exhibit many of the behaviors
of the cybering Roleplayers. Additionally, the HNGs seem to be less creative
than the normal Roleplayers, and suffer from bad typing at all times.