Today I want to talk about such a phenomenon in games as Role Play And Online Role Play. Together we will figure out what an RPG actually is, where this genre came from in the gaming industry, which games are best suited for RP, and what are the pros and cons of this type of gameplay.
So, perhaps the most logical thing to start with is, What is Role Play?. So RP – is a gaming subgenre that involves changing the behavior of players in order to take on a role. Simply put, the point of the RP is for each player to decide on their own role and “play out” their character in every possible way. This can manifest itself in a variety of moments, and in most cases depends on where this Role Play is applied.
In fact, we meet regularly with Game Acting in the broad sense of this concept. After all, RP is not limited to video games. There are a ton of hobbies related in one way or another to roleplaying. Board games, Historical re-enactments, Theatrical performances, Yes, it’s even trivial for a child to play a doctor or a fireman; all this, to some extent, can be called Role Play.
But, we are here for something else, after all, we are talking about computer RP.
Where did the idea come from and how did the first games with Role Play appear?? Well, I think it’s no secret to anyone that when the gaming industry was still in the early stages of its inception, one had to draw experience in role-playing from one’s own folder, that is, from board games. In the early 70s, now industry legends, Harry Gygax And Dave Arneson, inspired by fantasy novels, we came up with a new concept for board games. The essence of this concept, as simple as it is, is so ingenious:
We had several players who themselves came up with a character to roleplay, everything was limited only by their imagination and the theme of this game. These characters had their own character, certain skills and often a backstory.
In addition to the players, the party had to have a Dungeon Master – that is, a person who played the role of narrator, monitored the implementation of the rules during the game, and also controlled all NPCs.
In essence, the players had a specific Casinosnogamstop.co.uk final goal, but how to achieve it was limited only by their own imagination, and, of course, the characteristics of their characters. Yes, yes we are talking about a cult Dungeons and dragons, which had a tremendous impact on the gaming industry.
So, how did things go with the first RPGs??
For gamers of the time, RPGs were a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, at that time the industry was not going through its best phase, the games were extremely poor and many people even sincerely believed that soon such fun as games would be a thing of the past forever. But games like dragon quest And final fantasy were able to change the opinions of all skeptics. Yes, there was no outstanding plot then, yes, to figure it out you had to read long manuals. But what other games could boast of an open world and a choice of characters for the squad?. Such adventures breathed new life into the industry as such, and then isometrics appeared. How did things go with her??
Well, for that time it was certainly a breakthrough, but playing now The Temple of Elemental Evil or even legendary The baldur’s gate we will feel discomfort, not only in terms of graphics and mechanics, but also in terms of plot and gaming freedom, or something.
In fact, all the old RPGs could only convey the basic concepts of Role Play and it all came down to the spectacular and not so spectacular extermination of opponents. As a rule, things went like this: We were given a strip of text about how we should kill these orcs, and if we were lucky, they also talked about why we should kill them. Although usually, monsters were villains just because they were monsters.
Since the functionality of the games was very limited, and it was necessary to transfer the RPG concept. We decided that we need to communicate with the computer in a language that it understands – numbers. This is how the mechanics with the characteristics of the hero were transferred to computer games – each of the characteristics was measured on a scale from 0 to infinity, and such a system became a kind of standard, because with its help the computer and the player could freely exchange information.
In those years, the main trend in newly-made RPGs was maximum variety.
We independently labeled the dummy, or the Many-Faced Hero.
Well, as you wish!
In response to user requests, developers released games that suited them, and this adoption of trends immortalized the names of some RPGs in the history of not only the genre, but the entire industry. Yes, The Baldur’s gate And Fallout 2 succeeded in this and truly became true legends.
Why is that all?
But because the very essence of roleplay worked. Detailed elaboration of the character editor, its characteristics, as well as the influence of these characteristics on the world around them, allowed gamers to complete games in a hundred different ways, starting with a weak-minded killer who can’t really speak, ending with a pedantic speaker who doesn’t even have to pull the trigger. By bringing this style of play to life, companies have raised the bar for RPG quality to the skies.
However, wait, what about the newer games??
Often, when it comes to the pros and cons of old and new RPGs, the wildest holy wars begin, and in order to moderate the ardor of both sides, I declare that Both games have clear advantages and disadvantages. However, we will consider them in the second part.
Thank you for your attention, I will be very glad to receive any feedback – I’m new to this business, so I’ll be happy to accept advice on both the content and design of the work.