RoleCraft: Defining the MMORPG

On this week's RoleCraft, Jim Moreno wonders how exactly one can define roleplaying in an MMO due to the absence of a key player in tabletop RPing - the Dungeon Master.

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Hi Jim,

I've always thought it would be neat in World Of Warcraft if certain things were a bit more random. For example, when you go to an Inn and click on the Innkeeper there are typically 4-5 standard things they say. Why not have a library of 500 (or more..) possible things they can say and throw in some dynamic phrases as well. For example, if it is morning and you have never been to the Goldshire Inn, perhaps the Innkeeper would say "Good morning, welcome to the Goldshire Inn!" If you interact with that innkeeper regularly and it is evening, they might say, "Good evening, nice to see you again." If you've been there before but it has been more than a month or so say, "You look familiar, have you been here before?" or "It has been a long time, nice to see you again!" Obviously this isn't as good as having a real person but at least it would make things a bit more interesting and random. If you apply this concept to other areas of the game it could get pretty cool.

Although I commend your aspiration that roleplaying be an expected part of the MMORPG experience, I think you are proceeding from a false assumption. That is, that the MMORPG's sole ancestry is pen-and-paper gaming. I would argue that the MMORPG has a more mixed parentage.

The break from straight RPG began as with the birth of computer games. Probably the earliest spin-off of the RPG were those old text-based adventure games. These evolved into games with graphics, some which focused on an individual like King's Quest and Might and Magic, while others focused on a party like Bard's Tale or Darklands. No doubt early programming limited potential, but these tended to break in to two halves. The King's Quest variety were focused more on characters, combat was rare if non-existent, and were predominantly problem solving games. The group ones, such as Bard's Tale allowed a measure of initial character composition (it was almost a splitting image of the AD&D rule system after all), but consisted almost entirely of hack-and-slash. The next generation began melding the concepts of problem solving & combat more. The first of this sort I played was Hero's Quest (later changed to Quest for Glory), though there may have been earlier ones. Yet even in these, there was limited room for personality. The storyline was linear and choices that could potentially separate one character from another were small. This broadened and enhanced through games like Baldur's Gate, and even more recently NWN and the Elder Scrolls series. Many of these have allowed a little more personal influence through concepts like alignment (though real differentiation is still fairly shallow). Of course UO derived from the quasi-individual / quasi-group oriented Ultima series to form the first MMORPG.

Yet in MMORPGs there is an element of FPS too. This includes the very heavy combat influence, reduction of set-piece combat, and its popular PvP element. The exact chain of influence is less clear, yet the number of gamers who have come from that side is evidence of a link.

At any point along the development line, a current MMORPG player could have joined in, many times bypassing the pen-and-paper RPG ancestor completely. For that matter, I think there is a second assumption about classic RPGs. These aren't necessarily character driven either. Like Archon commented on my article about MMORPGs, in an RPG you can just as easily play yourself with a big battleaxe in a classic RPG as in an MMORPG, skipping personality altogether. I'd say this is further abetted by my con experience. In pickup games at cons, there is only superficial (if any) true roleplaying. In that setting, RPGs focus on some big quest, usually with a boss monster at end... hauntingly like MMORPG dungeons. Even worse (in terms of roleplaying) is what I think is called dungeon delving (I've only done this once at PAX2008 so the term may be incorrect). What I mean is where you take a group of canned AD&D characters into a dungeon and you have 30 minutes to get as far as you can through several encounters by killing as many monsters as possible. The clock ticks and there is no time for roleplay, just slaughter. Whatever group does the best wins a prize.

One of the strengths and weaknesses of an MMORPG is that it pulls players from many types of gaming backgrounds. Not everyone who comes to an MMORPG cares a bit about roleplaying. Many are drawn by some other facet of the game they enjoy. For better or for worse, roleplaying is only one small piece of the pie. That being said, I think that roleplaying servers are a great idea where like-minded individuals can congregate. Of course, that only works if gamers follow the rules (which generally means, only if the game publisher enforces them).

Hi im am new to this but i just read a couple of the articles and they got me to thinking of a couple of things that dont make any sence in an mmorpg like world of warcraft and the like. that i have played. for the better part of 4 years now
like unique items doesn't the word unique meant there is only 1. How come 20 000 people are wearing that same item
and with each new expansion that comes getting groups or people that are veterens from the old instances to help you experience the things you have missed out on
i was hoping that some game developers would make a game that allows you to be unique and still be just as important to the rest of the comunity so that if you do get left behind it wount be that big of a deal

Ithelsa,

I think you make some very excellent points, nice post. I am living proof that not all MMORPG players came from D&D (EDIT: After re-reading your comment Ithelsa, I realize that you weren't referring so much to the players but rather the MMORPG genre itself. I'm just going to leave my comment as an example of a beginner RP'er that did not get their start in pen and paper games). I did play a little bit back in the early 80s but nothing serious. When I first started playing World Of Warcraft I didn't even know what role play meant. I assumed it meant that you are role playing simply by playing the game! I mean, heck your character IS a night elf hunter or an undead rogue, for example. Your appearance, movement, attacks, etc. reflect that. I didn't even consider that I could enhance the RP by adding my own elements. Initially I played on a non RP PVE server. After I reached level 60 (this was a long time ago) I got bored and started seeking out PVP (Crossroads, Southshore, etc.). It was then that I decided I would start fresh on a PVP server. A guy at work recommended I go to an RP PVP server. He said that RP servers are more fun to play on and generally attract more mature players. This sounded appealing to me so I started on The Venture Co. I figured that I would not participate in RP (I was learning more about what real RP meant) but also not break the RP rules. I just kept to myself and enjoyed PVP.

Now my story might get more interesting Jim. You might want to take note of what I am about to say. Perhaps this will give you a point of view you hadn't thought of before. :-) After playing on The Venture Co. for a long time, I started noticing the RP more and more and I must say that I was really impressed. There is a guild called "Midnight Reveries" for example that does an amazing job. Also, the "Keepers of Stromgarde" have a great group. Most recently I have run into the "Knights Of Dusk" (shout-out to Orkbane!). When I play with these guys, I notice the RP in the way they talk to one another, deal with enemy players, meet up afterward to celebrate a victory, walk, talk, dress, emote, etc. I started to really like it and found that if I joined in the RP it brought the gaming experience to a whole new level that I didn't think was possible. I like it so much in fact that I am now installing mods like MyRealPlay and Emotomania. I've created a back story for my character, I'm reading up on the lore, etc. So you see, even if you aren't coming to an MMO from an RP background already, it is possible that you will become an RP'er by being around quality RP. And I think blogs and articles such as yours Jim are a great resource for people like me who are new to the "enhanced" RP world. So please keep up what you are doing and don't get discouraged by the lack of RP. By setting a good example and keeping the information out there, you set the stage for people like me who are discovering a world they never knew existed. In return I will RP to the best of my own ability in hopes of influencing other players on my server who may be in the same boat I was. Thanks for all your great work and resources!

Awesome! Thanks one & all for the most excellent points. Ilthesa, I see where I could be assuming your point, that all MMORPGs come from the same heritage, but I also meant to be solely talking about the roleplayers themselves. Those games that branched off were made by people who were not so much interested in RP. If those people who were interested in RP had been as influential in insuring strong RP aspects were kept in games, especially MMORPGs, I think we would see MMORPGs being much different today.

Thanks for sharing your story, Haoto. I started RoleCraft to help two types of people: current and long time roleplayers who wanted to better their RP skills in game, and people interested in RP who have never roleplayed before, in any game. I think if I help long-time roleplayers that new roleplayers will see that and pick up on it and learn that RP is great fun. Likewise, if new roleplayers are constantly flowing in to games, us old roleplayers will always have new people with new ideas and imaginations to share with. Feedback like your story tells is a great help to keeping me always on the honest side, of thinking about RP from a variety of angles, and that's a good thing! I have a character on Venture Company (Horde) and have seen those guilds you mention. Thank you for your vote of confidence, and I will continue to share all the RP grooviness I can. :)

Pardon my bad english, it is not my first language.
From my point of view it seems like developers feel hardcore RPers are either a small group or they are too diverse to please.
With that I mean that since most people tend to have different views on RPing either way, why should they try to appease one of the small factions? I think that if more RPers could gather together and form larger unions of sorts, developers could and would take us serious.
It all boils down to money; they need to see there is people out there that want to play a character (hardcore), and who would like to pay for that chance.

I even had trouble finding a site for hardcore RPers...