Why I Wouldn’t Play Online Roleplaying Games Without The Roleplay (And why despite the efforts of Hasbro, Dungeons & Dragons remains an embarrassing hobby…)
So, I decided to write this article, and shout into the void that is Medium after a recent conversation with a relative. Somewhat younger than myself, and himself an avid gamer, he tentatively raised his concerns with online roleplay, or specifically, those that actually roleplay within them.
Knowing I wasn’t only one such gamer, but run one of the largest destinations for online D&D roleplay, he was understandably cautious with his words, but the half-smirk coupled with the hushed tones, one could be forgiven for thinking we were discussing my membership of some secret fetish club.
“But they’re kind of weird, aren’t they? The people there are pretending to be in the game, right? That’s not exactly normal…”
Our conversation was cut short by other family affairs, but his words remained with me for some time. I wanted to ask ‘Aren’t they? And what you do…is?’
Remember this is a guy who spends his day in make-believe online worlds; fighting monsters, shooting laser guns, exploring dungeons. The difference is that despite all the creative muscle that was put into creating these rich and immersive settings he, and the millions of other gamers like him, have no intention to reciprocate in kind. Games can often be described as interactive movies, and if that’s the case, the modern online gamer is a pizza eating tourist staggering through Mos Eisley, in the middle of the actual film, sniggering with their friends at the bum-faced alien in the cantina.
Online games of this kind promise you can be part of that world, but the truth requires a bit more explanation, for you’re not actually going to be PART of the world, you are going to be IN the world, and that’s a subtle, but crucial difference.
Fallout, is a setting I particularly love, but I wouldn’t dream of playing Fallout 76, as a ghoul telling me he’s going ‘AFK to take a wizz’ or seeing a vault dweller running around called ‘MrPoopyHead53’ would snap me right out of the world, and actually being in that world would be the sole reason I were there to begin with.
In my own corner of the online RPG world we rarely draw in more than 300 players at any one time, and I expect the equally well regarded GTA Role play servers see similar numbers. One can draw two quick, and related conclusions.
- Very few gamers have any interest in online roleplay.
- No company, including D&D owners Hasbro, in their right mind would produce a game for so small an audience.
The second is self-explanatory, but let’s dive into the reasons for the first, because to my mind there are a few of them.
Playing online is often something done in the small hours, with a minimal of effort. Rather than being animated behind the screen, the average gamer is more likely slumped in a chair, struggling to muster enough language skills to place a fast food order, let alone create a fully fleshed out character.
Online games, despite what those who play them might argue, are not social. Sure, people might shoot the shit a little bit while playing, but for the most part they are gathering in groups to grind for rewards through randomly generated content, all for the promise of some power-up or upgrade that will allow them to do the very same thing the next day, albeit with slightly different enemies, and a slightly different shade of flashing light emitting from their avatar.
For the most part these games are cynically produced scams, all promising that satisfaction awaits around the next corner, if only you play that little bit longer; salvation, and justification for all those wasted hours coming down the barrel of a gun (or blade of a sword, depending on the genre).
It’s a cynical take I know, but I’ve played enough of these games to see that’s what most offer. I don’t think it is the main reason people shy away from role-play though, and indeed the question raised by cynical relative, however brief, did get to the heart of it; the people are indeed WEIRD.
Doing weird things is embarrassing right? Nobody wants to be part of such of such a group and retain any kind of credibility.
In worlds of online gaming your handle, gamer-tag, whatever, it’s not just your identity, it’s your reputation, hell, it’s your currency. You’ll take it with you between games, onto Discord, and if you’re particularly well regarded you may even start pulling in viewers on Twitch, or use it to launch a successful YouTube channel.
In game this often means talking shit better than anyone out there, slagging off the game, its developers, and many of your fellow gamers. For many it is a perpetual quest to be the coolest kid on the block, and the most important quality that will get you there?
Cold, hard cynicism baby.
Everything is beneath you, it has to be. You might be playing a game that’s been lovingly hand-crafted by hundreds of artists, won countless awards for its writing or creative flair, but hey, that’s way beneath the likes of you. Making an online playground of this kind is akin to opening a gallery of beautiful artworks and inviting a rabble of teenagers to come piss all over them, before staggering out in search of the next attraction.
And studios just lap it up. (not literally of course, that would be hideous -remember this was an analogy). They’re going to take that bank, fire the artists that made it, and go out in search of their next payday.
Being seen pretending to be an elf, writing poetry (Arelith players do A LOT of that), that stuff is an anathema to the modern gamer. They wouldn’t want to be caught dead doing such a thing, at least not without a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek.
Not that we’re entirely without that, on Arelith players must role-play all the time, staying in character isn’t just key, it is enforced, but each time they log in, or someone clicks on their player portrait, there it is - the all important gamer-tag.
Many will use the same one on the OOC discord chat channels, on our forums, and elsewhere. They will become known by it, and the character they play in game will serve to build upon its reputation. They might choose to play it cool in game, carrying on their role-play with the same tongue-in-cheek winks to camera that plagued the recent attempt to bring D&D to the silver screen — if we quietly acknowledge how uncool it is, subtly let everyone knows we’re in the joke, then it’s okay to be part of…right?
Not that everyone plays that way, and hey, I’m not judging. I’m happy for people to play however they want to. There are those that embrace the nerdiness, conducting themselves with a degree of earnestness that indicates they see nothing at all frivolous with the hobby, and there are those like myself that change their gamer-tag with every login, so there is no bleed from the IC (in-character) realm to the OOC (Out-of-character).
Anyway, if by some happy accident you’ve stumbled upon this article by chance here on Medium and want to know more about Arelith, maybe check out why Vice thought we were peak of online D&D, or take a look at our forums or our Discord.
The players may be embarrassingly tragic, but they’re a decent bunch.
