I'm a Rper, you're a Rper...

by: Elisabeth "Kiara" Grey

Okay. So it isn't exactly the Dr. Pepper song. But you get the idea.

Role playing. It's probably a four letter word for most gamers. But there are
some of us out there who love to do it. Yes, I said us. While I don't role play
exclusively, I do flex my mighty muscles of make-believe here and there.

What is role playing?

Good question! There are a few different definitions, depending on who you
ask. But the very basics are pretty universal. It goes a little beyond simple
character creation. You choose your character's looks. Then you go and fill in
their story. Their name, history, likes, dislikes, speech patterns, goals... You
get the idea. Some people have all of that filled in even before they install
the game.

From there, you step into the persona of this character you've created. You
speak as they would speak, and act according to what they would do in any given
situation. As you go along and gain experience, your character grows and
evolves. They interact with other characters and live their own little lives.

Some people describe it as writing a book in real time. Others as being the
star of your own private little movie.

I've always found it to be a ton of fun. You slip on this totally other
persona and play out another life in another world. It's the best part of
reading a book. The really great books pull you into the characters and make you
live through them. This way though, the book doesn't have to end.

There are a lot of people out there who don't get the idea of role playing.
They're all like, "d00d! wth r u Do1nG???" No, I'm not entirely certain what
that says either. My characters usually respond with a quizzical look and a
question about mental health. Things usually rapidly go downhill from there.

There are people like me, who role play on and off when the mood strikes, or
to get away from the grind of levelling and questing. There are others who are
purists. They never break character. For anything. They're just as hardcore in
their way as the power raiders who start to suffer withdrawals when the servers
go down.

So what do you do when there aren't dedicated role playing servers? Or when
non believers invade your role playing preferred server? Quite simple really.
You annoy the ever loving piss out of them as often as humanly possible with
your role playing! What? That isn't the right lesson? But that's what my ... oh
fine then. Ahem. The management has informed me that the correct answer to the
question is that you try to interact in a mature, responsible manner to get
along with everyone. (But just between us, it's fun to annoy the non role
players in the general chat channels!)

Honestly though, even though it sometimes seems impossible for role players
and regular folk to get along and play side by side, it is possible. It's also a
lot of fun. And really, that's all that gaming is about. Having fun and meeting
people you otherwise wouldn't. Those are the real rewards of playing a MMO.