International Journal of Role-Playing

International Journal of Role-Playing The aim of The International Journal of Role-Playing is to act as a hybrid knowledge network, and bring together the varied interests in role-playing and the associated knowledge networks, e.g. academic research, the games and creative industries, the arts and the strong role- playing communities. Editorial The Many Faces of Role- The Invisible Rules of Role- Playing Games Playing. The Social The International Journal of Framework of Role-Playing Role-Playing is a response to a By examining a range of role- Process growing need for a place where playing games some common the varied and wonderful fields of features of them emerge. This This paper looks at the process of role-playing research and - results in a definition that is role-playing that takes place in development, covering academia, more successful then previous various games. Role-play is a the industry and the arts, can ones at identifying both what is, social activity, where three exchange knowledge and and what is not, a role-playing elements are always present: An research, form networks and game. imaginary game world, a power communicate. structure and personified player Michael Hitchens characters. Anders Drachen Anders Drachen Editorial Board IJRP Macquirie University Markus Montola Australia University of Tampere Finland 2 3-21 22-36 Roles and Worlds in the Seeking Fulfillment: A Hermeneutical Approach to Hybrid RPG Game of Comparing Role-Play In Role-Playing Analysis Oblivion Table-top Gaming and World of Warcraft This is an article about viewing Single player games are now role-playing games and role- powerful enough to convey the Through ethnographic research playing game theory from a impression of shared worlds with and a survey of World of hermeneutical standpoint. In other social presence and social agency. Warcraft (WoW) players, this words, it presents one view on how a role-playing situation can be seen This paper explores a framework study assess the relative as a set of texts. for defining virtual worlds. fulfillment and frequency of online and offline role-playing for J. Tuomas Harviainen Erik Champion WoW players. University of Tampere Massey University Finland New Zealand Jason Pittman Christopher Paul University of Alabama United States 37-52 53-65 66-78 International Journal of Role-Playing - Issue 1 Editorial Welcome to the first issue of the IJRP! The International Journal of Role-Playing is a response studies has arisen, that merges the very diverse to a growing need for a place where the varied and interests in games from e.g. sociology, psychology wonderful fields of role-playing research and - and computer science in a fascinating melting pot development, covering academia, the industry and the where games are viewed in conjunction with arts, can exchange knowledge and research, form traditional fields. Role-playing is at the center of networks and communicate. much of this work, as role-playing is at the center of gameplay. People have been role-playing for a very long time - exactly how long we do not know but likely from However, despite the presence of the many the time when man´s ancestors had to teach their knowledge networks intersecting with role- children how to hunt and survive. Taking on the playing, there is surprisingly little communication role of the adult, of the hunter or the prey, is between them. This is why the initiative towards something ingrained in the process of growing up. forming the International Journal of Role-Playing What we associate with role-playing today is was initiated in 2006: To facilitate and promote strongly related to theater, the enacting and telling inter-network communication on role-playing of folk tales and sagas, various forms of legends research. This stated goal influences the and myths. Role-playing is more than theather appearance of the journal, which integrates though - since the release of Dungeons & Dragons submissions from the industry, academia and in 1974 the concept of the role-playing game has creative arts alike, and peer-reviews them spread like wildfire in popular culture, and today according to the principles of each field. forms one of the key genres of non-digital and digital games. After two years of planning, the Editorial Board of the IJRP is pleased to present you with the first A massive, global community of knowledge issue, containing five articles spanning the networks, e.g. role-playing gamers, actors, larp’ers, theoretical to the practical, with a general focus on computer game players, artists etc. constitute a role-playing games. It is our sincere hope that you vibrant part of mainstream culture, which has will enjoy the first issue of the IJRP. given rise to numerous gaming conferences, thousands of role-playing clubs and societies etc. Do not forget to visit the IJRP website for news and The associated industry is especially significant in updates: www.journalofroleplaying.org the USA and Europe, with Asia and Australia forming other important markets for role-playing associated products. Within the last decade, an On behalf of the Editorial Board entire new field of research focusing on game Anders Drachen EDITORIAL BOARD ‣ Richard Bartle, University of Essex, United Kingdom ‣ Marinka Copier, Utrecht University, The Netherlands ‣ Anders Drachen, IT University, Denmark ‣ Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University, USA ‣ John Kim, USA ‣ Kurt Lancaster, Fort Lewis College, USA ‣ Craig Lindley, Gotland University College, Sweden ‣ Markus Montola, University of Tampere, Finland ‣ Jessica Mulligan, USA ‣ Monte Singman, Shanghai Theatre Academy, China International Journal of Role-Playing - Issue 1 The Many Faces of Role-Playing Games Popular Abstract - Role-playing games have evolved into many forms in their thirty-year history. From the traditional pen-and-paper form, that originated with Dungeons and Dragons, with a group of friends playing around a table, to large live-action game, with hundreds of people acting out their assumed roles. The first computer role-playing games appeared over twenty-five years ago and massively multi-player role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft are now one of the most popular genres of digital games. Despite this diversity players at least seem to think they know when something is a role-playing game. When players, writers and game designers say “this is a role-playing game” there are no problems, they all seem to know what each other means, what is and is not a role-playing game. Yet there is no commonly accepted definition of the form. Understandable, perhaps, given the diversity, but the implicit agreement about its use means that there may well be some common underlying features shared by the various examples. Hampering any attempt to understand what makes a game a role-playing game is the subtle divide between role-playing and role-playing game. Role-playing can take in many places, not all of them games (such as ritual, social activities, therapy, etc). This means that definitions of the role-playing activity are not that useful in separating role-playing games from other games. In this paper we start from the position that the players are correct: they know what a role-playing game is. By examining a range of role- playing games some common features of them emerge. This results in a definition that is more successful than previous ones at identifying both what is, and what is not, a role-playing game. Michael Hitchens Anders Drachen Macquarie University IT University of Copenhagen Australia Denmark [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT this paper various example of role-playing game Role-playing games have grown and evolved into a are examined in an attempt to identify the defining large number of forms in the last thirty years, set of characteristics of these games. On that basis spanning digital as well as non-digital media. a definition for them is proposed which is They demonstrate a wide variety in the number of hopefully more successful at separating role- participants, style of play and the formal and playing games from other, similar, game forms. informal systems that govern them. Despite this 1.INTRODUCTION diversity players at least seem to think they know when something is a role-playing game. Yet there is Role-playing games, in their modern form, are no commonly accepted definition which both generally held to have originated with Dungeons captures games generally accepted as role-playing and Dragons in the 1970’s (Mason 2004). Since then games and distinguishes them from other, similar, they have evolved into a wide variety of styles and games which begs the question, whether role- media, including both digital and non-digital playing games are united by anything more than a examples and with player numbers in an colloquial name. Additionally, research involving individual game ranging from a single person to these games is hampered by lack of a widely the thousands. The differences between these accepted definition of what constitutes a role- forms can be so extensive that players of one may playing game, as it is then not even possible to dismiss another as not being a role-playing game at clearly delineate the subject of such research. In all (Dormans 2006). 3 International Journal of Role-Playing - Issue 1 Take, as an example of both the similarities and playing games in pervasive gaming format. differences, the current Dungeons and Dragons rule Tychsen et al. (2007) examine the changes in player set and its embodiment in the Neverwinter Nights enjoyment and engagement between some of the series of computer games. The two have many various forms of role-playing games. For Dormans elements in common. They share a basic setting (2006) they are an opportunity “to take some (the world of Neverwinter Nights being one of the theoretical concepts and notions developed for published backgrounds of Dungeons and Dragons) computer games and use them to study role- and the mechanics of the digital game are a very playing games”.

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