To the vast majority of today’s gamers, the letters “RPG” are almost guaranteed to conjure up images of the latest World of Warcraft release, or perhaps the Baldur’s Gate series. Computing - and more specifically, online gaming - has completely dominated the RPG market, with a whole generation playing “so-called” role-playing games without ever having experienced any one of the predecessors to the six letters “MMORPG”. Playing as a character that you don’t get in to the mind of as you go along is, to many of the slightly older RPers, really just about numbers. The MMO element on top of plot-based stories that the player was an integral part of can be seen as stripping away the individuality of the character, as the only way of differentiating your “whatever-level high-elven war mage” from every other one was a matter of a few statistics here and a piece of equipment there.

So, what is this viewpoint based on? As previously mentioned such computer game titles as Baldur’s Gate had enough of a storyline with enough choices to be made by the player which shaped their character enough to give them the feel of character development. There were enough little things to do on the side that made the main plot feel not entirely linear although there only ever was one eventual outcome. This branching of storylines and options in how to develop your character is about the limit of what quest-driven computer games can offer and for anything more detailed and complex a step back to putting back the “role-playing” emphasis is certainly needed.

So what can provide this more individual role-playing experience? Until technology progresses enough to provide some kind of detailed tailored world for you to develop your character in the human touch gives the creative element that is surprisingly lacking in many computer-based RPGs. It’s important to remember that - no matter how detailed or involving a role-playing world is - someone, somewhere designed each and every location, character and event and is therefore integral to the game. For those who find a thrill in literature there are a whole multitude of role-playing sites and forums devoted to allowing people to develop their own character outside of the “constraints” of game mechanics, where free-form role-playing is potentially at its best. Remember the predecessors to RPGs, though, as their tabletop counterparts were the inspiration behind a whole new genre of gaming. As the internet brings the world’s population together it can also separate us by taking away the human connection we have with those around us. Depending on your perspective this could be either beneficial - where you get to interact with the character instead of the player - or leave you feeling a little lost if you prefer knowing those you play with (if not be together in the same room with).

Whether you’re a fan of the modern stance to role-playing, or a more “traditional” role-player or are some kind of mix in between you should still be able to appreciate the advantages of any other style and it can be a refreshing change of pace to try to take up either a new form of gaming or to give new life to one of the older varieties of role-play. Finding groups of role-players in your area may prove to be a challenge, but if trawling through the local directories and so forth doesn’t turn up any results it’s easily possible to combine the online element with table-top role-playing by seeking out forums, IRC channels or the like.