Gaming: RPG in MMORPG
Do you ever get sick of just hacking and slashing when you log on to your favorite MMORPG? It’s sad but the reality is that you spend most of your time killing monsters that look alike just so you can become stronger and eventually kill more powerful monsters. It’s a vicous cycle that goes on and on. Some people in various forums question the validity of the “RPG” factor in MMORPGs. To those who don’t know, Role-playing is when you get into character. You talk and speak as if you are your fantasy avatar in-game. Like what I said, most of the time people will challenge the RPG factor of online games. This post will attempt to answer that challenge.
I’ve been gaming for several years now and for the most part I’ve been playing online games like Ragnarok, World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, RF Online, FlyFF, and at one point I even got addicted to Pangya. Experience tells me that only a few people will actually be in-character when they are in-game. Most of the time, instead of having an in-game persona, players usually like to make extensions of themselves. This means that the player is actually himself and that he talks, walks, and acts in-game as he would in real life. This makes the interaction in-game more real. It gives more value because the relationships made crosses the boundary and limitations of a normal RPG. In other words, you are not just guildmates, you are friends. In the long run, I think that is infinitely better than just role-playing some character you made up at the back of your head.
This is most evident in Ragnarok Online, especially in its earlier days. I would actually spend more time sitting on one corner in Prontera talking to guildmates, friends, and random people. The emoticons, though simple, gave more ways to express myself and my feelings. The online relationships eventually grew into something real. EB and parties developed the friendships made in-game, and now I have really close friends who came from Ragnarok. They come from all walks of life, and it is really amazing when you step back and take a look at how diverse the people are at Midgard.
Alliance Guild EB Picture (Courtesy of Makmak641)
Alliance, a guild in pRO, epitomizes what I’m trying to say. For their guild leader, makmak641, the guild is more of a family, and he makes it a point to develop the relationships made through real life events.
So… where is the RPG in MMORPG? It’s there. When you limit yourselves to thinking that all there is to online games is the hacking and slashing, then you’re probably too narrow-minded to realize that the communities in-game are thriving and even sometimes better than real life. There is no need to role-play a character that you made up - that’s simply not in the culture of the pinoy gamer. Instead, I’d rather go online, be myself, and kick serious monster butt… while making friends in the process (LOL).
Cheers and Rok On people! :-)
April 10th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Well, you might get away with never role-playing your characters in locally published MMOs, but there are a lot of players, particularly in the United States, who love role-playing so much that they ignore players who don’t go into character.
Hmmmmm. Kinda reminds me of the time I encountered a group of role-players in the original argiope map. They made my blood boil because they kept on stealing my kills. Whenever I asked them to stop, they’d just act like it was part of their “nature.” Apparently, they were role-playing a bunch of insensitive orcs.
April 10th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
There are those of course >.
April 11th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Erk, sorry, but what you said on the last part isn’t wholly true. T_T
My former guild, Centuria II Gefenica does RPing at some times. I also RP with some friends when we’re on the go for one. And if you know sir Powell, he even started this RPing contest for the guild. Too bad it never pulled through, but doing RP occasionally is like the ice-breaker for that power-leveling days. Unfortunately, most players want to be competitive rather than be creative… -_-;
April 11th, 2007 at 5:50 am
Hehe, Alliance guild… brings back memories… yung kapitbahay namin na dating tagabantay ng internet cafe (pangalan Trombs) naging guild leader ng extension ng Alliance, lagi nya katxt si makmak tapos pag nag meeting yung guild in-game buong screen punong puno! Sabay iniimbitahan sila madalas mag EB lalo na mga guild leaders kaya sa lahat ng mga nag imbita sa akin mag WoE isa sa pinaka-tempting talaga eh yung Alliance :p
Also makes me remember yung isang friend kong namatay a few years ago, kuya Arcel tawag namin sa kanya. Close sila ni kuya Trombs, at love siya ng buong internet cafe kasi masiyahing tao (plus naging member rin siya ng Alliance under kay kuya Trombs, pangalan niya in-game APOSTLE’S CREED). It’s kinda hard to accept that he’s in a better place now, hirap kasi pag yung barkada mo lalo na pag yung buong grupo nyo gaming adik tulad namin, pag nawala ang isa… *sigh*
Anyway, I for one am no serious WoE-er even with sweldo and everything. I guess it’s partly because of all the memories (both good and bad) that I have, which makes WoE today look like a shadow of its former self.
April 11th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Yes, agreed. Although in pRO open beta days, there are plenty of players who do RP-ing, but sadly, a lot of the other players found the idea weird and even teased them about it. It was fun watching them RP though.
April 11th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Hind talaga uubra sa Pinoy! Masyadong free spirited and rebellious ang mga Pinoy para i-confine sa napaka-limited na boundaries ng role playing.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Hmmm there are those of course >.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:02 am
There are those of course who are extensions of their “repressed” selves. /heh
Then again how do you really control the indecency of players for example I have heard numerous complains of sexual harassments or vulgarness of players towards each other.
Moreover, I have also often seen the “massive” trashtalking after sieges. Has sportmans-like vanished? And sour-graping, guildbashing, dividedness rule supreme in the world of Ragnarok. Is this truly unavoidable?
This is of course a great challenge but i think that there should be a moral movement for pRO to truly flourish as a community.
I hope that you could lead us to that Sir Waukeen, with all sincerity.
April 12th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Oh, yeah, before I forget … the top reason why I didn’t roleplay since Day 1 of open beta: because most players I encountered used names like “jekjek” or “nhoj1.” No offense to those who use these, but they really take the spirit of RP’ing away. Know what I mean? You don’t? Well, here’s an example…
Day 1 of Philippine Ragnarok Online’s open beta. Scene: A group of novices strolling down the main street of Prontera. The novices are controlled by serious RP’ers. So they talk like they are indeed novices whose heads keep turning this way and that because it’s their first day in the big city, with “Oooh. So this is what a city looks like” and “Gosh, look at all the people” in their “voice balloons.”
Since they are lost in the big city, they stop to ask for directions from another novice crossing their path. One of the novices asks, “Excuse me, sir, but may we know where the nearest inn is?”
The reply, “Uhmmm, ewan ko.” To which our group’s members say in unison “What?” Then one pipes up, “Perhaps it would be best to ask the kind sir’s name first.”
So novice number 1 asks, “May we know your name, sir?” To which the non-RP’er replies, “Tangek ka pala, eh. Di mo ba nakikita? Ayan o, jekjek.” He then storms off thinking the other novices are a bunch of lunatics, sans the bunny ears.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I think we should also consider a slightly different way of role-playing - Remember the SW-SC war?? When we were attempting to get Salleh’s Sage safely through the first portal so that he can cast LP? We were really into that protective mode while (yelling ‘LAAAG’). People know the characters they control: their strengths, weaknesses and capabilities. And adjust the way they perform in RO.
In WoE, or hunting - we keep telling people to ‘know their roles.’ We’ve even coined terms like “Breakers,” “Artillery,” “Kalabaws.”
Which means, role-play does exist. ^.^
I guess we all have different perspectives on what Role-Playing is in RO. I would say RP’ing in RO is not limited to re-living their favorite RPG a-la Final Fantasy style…we can’t expect everyone to know how to - so we just choose who to role play with. I have fond memories of RP’ing with a friend - we’d pretend we live in Juno, our other characters were our kids, grand kids @_@ etc.
April 14th, 2007 at 1:27 am
April 14th, 2007 at 1:41 am
as for those who havE bad memories about people who do “basura” stuff in-game, of course in reality meron nman tLgang gaNyan kayA hayaan nlang natin siLa…ang importante, maLinis ang konsensya mo at alam mong u haven’t hurt anyboDy kayA go with the fLow…but i understand that aLL of us have different point of views about the subjEct, anyways, the soLution to that is onLy you could know…hehe…basta, un na un…masaya lng ako kc i’ve met many friends Online at kahit wala pa akong nakikita in person kasi nga waLang seryosong nagLaLaro ng RO sa gensan parang ako Lng ata…hehe kaya most of the people i meet in gamE are from Metro manila, cebu and etc…basta…more power naLang to everyonE!!! cHeesE!!!bLue BLue!!!^_^
April 20th, 2007 at 4:40 am
Heh, RPGs have had some huge definition changes in the past 5-6 years. If you guys now the site RPGCodex, you’d probably know what i mean
For many of the “purist,” a RPG (that is, a role playing game) is a game wherein a player is involved within a “role” of hia choosing and that he is engaged in a quest/s of sorts that revolves around a story line, the linear path of a game created by the game designers. As such, its pretty much like reading a book, however, the main character of the “book” that you are reading is you, the Player Character (PC). Throughout your quest, you encounter other characters, the Non-player characters (NPC) an interact with them for clues on your quest or to find other adventure seeds.
Now, with the advent of MMO’s in the RPG business, some players, especially the older ones, disdain it because the game, to them, lacks the one ingredient that makes a RPG stick around for the past decade: story. Sure, recent MMORPGs have back stories, but it lacks the storytelling art of other notable RPGs such as Fallout and Baldur’s Gate. It would seem that action packed goodness (Icewind Dale and Dungeon Siege) and player interaction (most MMo’s) have replaced good game design and writing.
Of course, all this is ironic, given that the grand daddy of all RPGs, the PNP Dungeon’s and Dragons, revolves around a great environment and player interaction (”Hey, don’t cast that delayed fire ball- NOOOOO!!!!).
Bottomline? The “role” in role playing is merely a derivative of the interactions you want in a game, especially in a RPG. Even if you’re not in a “role,” the mere fact that you are playing a RPG means that the way you yourself act is the “role” you are playing, no more, no less. Ever since RPGs was first played between spectacled kids with too much spare time, the “role” in the game is not the Level 3/4/7 Human Ranger/Fighter/Sorceror (gawd gotta love D&D 3rd ed
), it is the player (ie you) that is being portrayed himself every time you hold a die, a pen, or a mouse pad.
Still, don’t come barging to RPGCodex and reply in this kind.. You’d only get you behind served at you in a silver platter