A while back I had come up with the idea of trying to see what makes role players tick, to see why these players act as participants within WoW's storyline. While I still have yet to make an in-game character who wanders around town asking (mostly because I'd like to be able to record the experience rather than just talking about it on the blog), I did find a few forum posts that provide a bit of insight:
Why do you RP 1
Why do you RP 2
Here are some of the responses that stuck out when I read through-
It allows me to be creative. I meet new and interesting people every day. If it weren't for RP, I most likely would have stopped playing a while ago. While fun, I don't think just the game play would hold my attention for as long as RP has. - Salane
"Because even if I didn't put them down on paper, the characters that have come to life in my head would pester me about it." This...I get so many ideas for character stories and what not no matter what RPG game I'm playing. In WoW, it lets me be expressive and see if I can create an enjoyable story for myself and others. - Rekha
I love expanding my character's story and sharing it with the world, interacting with other stories, and incorporating those advantures and interactions with my story, watching my alter ego grow.- Kaezer
It enables me to be things that I cannot be in real life. - Valkyor
Although I am only looking at the particular sect of gamers, and crowdsourcing their motivations for one specific action within the larger scope of the game, this is wonderful to read. I hate repeating myself saying that the whole "video games will rot your brain" argument is dead wrong, but look at those wonderful responses! Salane loves the creativity the game inspires within her, but at the same time is fully engaged and invested in her character. Same with Rekha, who combines the narrative found within the game with the narrative that she is motivated to create. I feel like it's an English teachers dream to be able to elicit that type of response from their students, where they can read a novel and be so inspired by the characters or setting that they create their own related content, or envision the characters of the story in new ways.
Those same teachers might hit the floor if their students had responses like Kaezer's, who wants to share his creative work with the world. It's a work in progress, no less, as he or she constantly refines his character's traits and behavior to conform to however he or she feels that character should act within the world (of Warcraft). Furthermore, it is a collaborative effort, in that all of the creative tales that are being spun by these players mold one another's tales. They must react to one another's personalities and actions, an exercise that requires fast thinking, but can be quite fun at the same time.
And lastly, the idea that players can "be" something they can't in real life is that identity aspect of video games, which no other medium can mimic, working in action. Players like Valkyor are immersed fully into this identity, and see a part of themselves in this character. This strong association players and/or students have with the characters of video games should be embraced, and the narratives examined, compared, broken down in order to enrich these students' minds.
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