Role-playing games (RPGs) involve assuming the role of a self-created or established character and acting out the adventures of your character. This often involves decision-making and risk. Role-players are often criticized in American society as being unrealistic, extreme and living in a fantasy world.
Role-players come from different backgrounds. Most of us identify as geeks, which isn’t really a stigmatized term anymore now that computers and video games are more commonplace. However, serious gamers are judged constantly based upon stereotypes. Since we’re not identifiable by a skin color, religious symbol or sexual orientation and because gaming is a hobby rather than a religion or race, it’s difficult to be taken seriously when gamers object to teasing and bullying-which occurs in adult crowds as well as school-age.
RPGs as Recreation
Role-playing games include various types of games and environments. Although medieval fantasy is a popular setting, RPGs exist in multiple genres including modern/realistic, post-apocalyptic, horror, steampunk and sci-fi. Most serious RPG fans enjoy multiple genres. Different types of RPGs include:
Video games played alone or with others (“Legend of Zelda,” “Mass Effect,” “World of Warcraft”)
LARPs (live action role-playing games) which involve dressing up and physically acting as your character (some LARPs include fighting, using skills like singing and improvisational abilities)
Tabletop games (“Dungeons & Dragons” and dice-based games played on a table, usually with character sheets, miniatures and grids
Writing and online text-based role playing games involve multiple authors co-writing a story on a message board forum or chat
Social Activity
I enjoy RPGs just as others might like to catch a movie or watch TV nightly or weekly. Most of my friends are gamers and my husband is as well. Whether LARPing in person, sharing a pizza during “Dungeons & Dragons” or chatting on the computer while playing “Star Wars: The Old Republic” with friends across the country, gaming is inherently social for me most of the time.
The stereotype that gamers are anti-social is the one that bothers me the most. I participate in RPGs specifically for the purpose of socializing. I enjoy working with others to achieve a goal and find that fulfilling. Since I work by myself all day, the last thing I want to do is participate in a recreational activity alone.
Natural Learning Process
Role-playing is part of the natural learning process. From an early age, I remember initiating role-play with friends. A favorite game among the girls in my neighborhood involved pretending we were 16-the legal age to drive in Pennsylvania. We each had our own persona and acted out scenarios.
Where would we go? What would we do? Our fictional scenarios caused conflicts and we learned to resolve them. We did this without any real-life danger. I feel like this helped us prepare for our actual driving experiences. Through role-play, we’d learned that excluding our friends, drinking and driving and breaking curfew might be fun in the moment, but in the long-term brought significantly damaging consequences.
LARP in Schools
In countries like Denmark, live action role-play is a natural part of the learning process. My most vivid memories of attending preparatory school in the United States involve role-playing. My school instituted a colonial week, a medieval town and a town hall meeting on issues present in the Industrial Revolution.
Due to our location, we were able to visit real-world sites integral to the colonial and industrial eras. As a young writer, my favorite project involved keeping a diary from the perspective of a woman in colonial times. Teachers incorporated facts and concepts into the play.
However, role-play and learning stopped once middle school started. From there, creative types were ushered into music, art and acting classes; while there was creativity encouraged in the classroom, history class became more about memorizing facts and less about the immersion, creating a dangerous and dispassionate disconnect between the students and our history.
Because I did have an immersive educational experience and remember it well, I support LARPing as a means of teaching.
Perversion Myth
Many people assume that “role-playing” only refers to bedroom activities. While it is true that role-playing can be done in the bedroom, gamers who do that type of role-play mainly focus their time on general RPGs. Couples who role-play in the bedroom are not necessarily gamers, but people who role-play in any capacity are afforded the opportunity for self-analysis.
Coping Strategy and Safe Self-Discovery
Whether they realize it or not, many gamers use role-playing to cope with real-world issues. Society often stigmatizes this practice, but role-playing offers a safe environment to explore various aspects of oneself.
We all have many sides to us. One aspect of myself is a need for vengeance. While I would not hit a person or animal, role-playing in a safe combat environment allows me to let loose the aggression that I carry through my work day.
Some of my role-play characters are aggressive, authoritative or strive to be politically essential. Others long to be protected and guarded and are very bookish. Through role-playing, I’ve learned that these are all aspects of myself, each deserving to be honored, portrayed and valued. Understanding these aspects helps me cope in the real world and understand my own reactions, making my real life more safe and enjoyable.