Online text-based role-playing game
Encyclopedia
An online text-based role playing game is a role-playing game
played online
using a solely text-based interface. Online text-based role playing games date to 1978, with the creation of MUD1
, which began the MUD
heritage that culminates in today's MMORPG
s. Some online-text based role playing games are video games, but some are organized and played entirely by humans through text-based communication. Over the years, games have used TELNET
, internet forum
s, IRC, email
and social networking websites as their medium.
There are varied genres of online text-based roleplaying, including medieval fantasy, period drama (e.g., 19th century, 1950s), modern horror, anime, and media-based fan role-play. Role-playing games based on popular media (for example, the Harry Potter
series) are common, and the players involved tend to overlap with the relevant fandom
s.
s of today are the branch of text-based games known as MUD
, MOO
, MUCK
, MUSH
et al., a broad family of server software tracing their origins back to MUD1
and being used to implement a variety of games and other services. Many of these platforms implement Turing-complete programming languages and can be used for any purpose, but various types of server have historical and traditional associations with particular uses: "mainstream" MUD servers like LPMud
and DikuMUD
are typically used to implement combat-focused games, while the TinyMUD family of servers, sometimes referred to by the term MU*, are more usually used to create "social MUDs" devoted to role-playing
and socializing, or non-game services such as educational MUDs. While these are often seen as definitive boundaries, exceptions abound; many MUSHes have a software-supported combat system, while a "Role-Playing Intensive MUD" movement occurred primarily in the DikuMUD world, and both the first Internet talker
(a type of purely social server) and the very popular talker software ew-too
were based on LPMud code. Although interest in these games has suffered from the popularity of MMORPGs, a large number of them still operate.
s, online forums, Chatrooms (such as like AOL
and Yahoo chat) and mailing list
s to which their fellow players will post role-played responses without a real limit or timeframe. Of late such blog
ging tools and sites as LiveJournal
have been utilized for this purpose. This includes such games as play-by-email (or PBEM) RPGs. The origins of this style of role-playing are unknown, but it most likely originated in some form during the mid-to-late 1980s when BBS
systems began gaining in popularity.
Usually it is played through 'Script' and 'Story' format, both styles are interchangeable and work well but it depends on which the player prefers, or which the human administrator insists upon. Script format is a simple stating of what each character is saying, post by post, with little to no mention of said characters' actions, whereas Story format requires that the character's actions be mentioned, including the surroundings and a general description of what is going on.
at White Wolf
Publishing, to the numerous AOL
and Yahoo chats with hosted character databases. Many games also choose to play on Internet Relay Chat
on networks such as SorceryNet and DarkMyst. Free-form games may even do away with database integration or dice-rollers entirely and rely upon individual players to keep their own records, with online community reputation dictating how other players react.
and godmoding.
Another aspect of note is the development of a role-playing vocabulary that are almost exclusively limited to those who have experience with or are actively immersed in this pursuit as a hobby. Some terms overlap with those in commonly used in popular fandom. Terms as Mary Sue
, slash
, powergaming
, godmoding, OOC, and IC are among the terms used with relative frequency in text-based role-playing circles, and it has come to be expected of role-players to be familiar with such jargon.
Most RPGs have limited consent, allowing game masters some leeway if the player asks for it (in fact, almost total leeway, though this may destroy the believability of the scenario).
Some common examples of these rules are:
Various forms of gaming that developed within these media, such as sparring (see below), have garnered their own cult following and developed their own sets of norms and subcultures over time.
retains its traditional meaning of play or practice combat, but is limited to written interaction. It is different from role-play in that sparring usually contributes little, if nothing, to a story or character development and participants are subject only to the rules of an agreed on role-play fighting system.
These fighting systems fall into two categories, speed-based and turn-based. Of these, the former is such that the involved parties seek to outmatch one another via superior typing speed and stratagem, and thus is usually left for websites or programs that support an instant messenger or chats. The latter has no emphasis on typing speed, but focuses wholly on strategy, and are thus usually based on forums and message boards. Both systems are further divided into explicit and implicit subsets (also called open and closed), which refer to whether the outcome of an attack is stated by the attacker or assumed to have happened in the flow of battle.
There is a large rift of ideologies within the community of sparring. It comes from the basis of the spar's purpose and intent, and divides sparrers into two categories, being roleplayers and fighters. Roleplayers are grouped as "orthodox" combatants, where no "autos" are acceptable, and it is a mutually respectful practice. Orthodox matches are completely based upon the honor system, and are held more to the ability of the character than the mechanics of the system. Explicit guidelines and rules apply to the fighters, in an "unorthodox" system. Unorthodox spars tend to use hit claims, as discussed above as open and closed.
Consequential criticisms resulting from failed attempts at functional text role-playing outcomes usually arouse from an audience. Commentary includes questions regarding the nonexistent benefit to proving a person's status as an avatar on the Internet by merely exercising the muscles of one's fingers and repeating relatively generic actions that are quick and easy to type. In other words, "text battling" has no reward system and regularly victimizes participants by the torment of anonymous trolls.
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
played online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
using a solely text-based interface. Online text-based role playing games date to 1978, with the creation of MUD1
MUD1
Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language...
, which began the MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
heritage that culminates in today's MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
s. Some online-text based role playing games are video games, but some are organized and played entirely by humans through text-based communication. Over the years, games have used TELNET
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
, internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s, IRC, email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and social networking websites as their medium.
There are varied genres of online text-based roleplaying, including medieval fantasy, period drama (e.g., 19th century, 1950s), modern horror, anime, and media-based fan role-play. Role-playing games based on popular media (for example, the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series) are common, and the players involved tend to overlap with the relevant fandom
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
s.
MUDs
Precursor to the now more popular MMORPGMMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
s of today are the branch of text-based games known as MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
, MOO
MOO
A MOO is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time.The term MOO is used in two distinct, but related, senses...
, MUCK
Muck
Muck can refer to:*Muck *Muck, Scotland, an island in Scotland*Isle of Muck, a small island connected by sand spit to Portmuck, County Antrim, Northern Ireland*Muck , a number of actions...
, MUSH
MUSH
In multiplayer online games, a MUSH is a text-based online social medium to which multiple users are connected at the same time...
et al., a broad family of server software tracing their origins back to MUD1
MUD1
Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language...
and being used to implement a variety of games and other services. Many of these platforms implement Turing-complete programming languages and can be used for any purpose, but various types of server have historical and traditional associations with particular uses: "mainstream" MUD servers like LPMud
LPMud
LPMud, abbreviated LP, is a family of MUD server software. Its first instance, the original LPMud game driver, was developed in 1989 by Lars Pensjö...
and DikuMUD
DikuMUD
DikuMUD is a multiplayer text-based role-playing game, which is a type of MUD. It was written in 1990 and 1991 by Sebastian Hammer, Tom Madsen, Katja Nyboe, Michael Seifert, and Hans Henrik Staerfeldt at DIKU —the department of computer science at the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen,...
are typically used to implement combat-focused games, while the TinyMUD family of servers, sometimes referred to by the term MU*, are more usually used to create "social MUDs" devoted to role-playing
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
and socializing, or non-game services such as educational MUDs. While these are often seen as definitive boundaries, exceptions abound; many MUSHes have a software-supported combat system, while a "Role-Playing Intensive MUD" movement occurred primarily in the DikuMUD world, and both the first Internet talker
Talker
A talker is a chat system that people use to talk to each other over the Internet. Dating back to the 1980s, they were a predecessor of instant messaging....
(a type of purely social server) and the very popular talker software ew-too
Ew-too
ew-too, short for Elsewhere Too, was the first publicly available code base for Internet talkers and was written by Simon "Burble" Marsh in 1992, following the demise of the second internet talker, Cheeseplant's House, which had been closed down some months earlier. It was based on the LPMud game...
were based on LPMud code. Although interest in these games has suffered from the popularity of MMORPGs, a large number of them still operate.
Play-by-post and PBEM
Play-by-post role-playing games or PBP RPGs refer to another type of text-based gaming. Rather than following gameplay in real-time, such as in MUDs, players post messages on such media as bulletin boardBulletin board
A bulletin board is a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for example, to advertise things to buy or sell, announce events, or provide information...
s, online forums, Chatrooms (such as like AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
and Yahoo chat) and mailing list
Mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
s to which their fellow players will post role-played responses without a real limit or timeframe. Of late such blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ging tools and sites as LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
have been utilized for this purpose. This includes such games as play-by-email (or PBEM) RPGs. The origins of this style of role-playing are unknown, but it most likely originated in some form during the mid-to-late 1980s when BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
systems began gaining in popularity.
Usually it is played through 'Script' and 'Story' format, both styles are interchangeable and work well but it depends on which the player prefers, or which the human administrator insists upon. Script format is a simple stating of what each character is saying, post by post, with little to no mention of said characters' actions, whereas Story format requires that the character's actions be mentioned, including the surroundings and a general description of what is going on.
Real-time human-moderated
Some games rely entirely upon human moderators to dictate events, and physical print books for rules sets. Such games may use code dice-rollers, to generate random results, and may include databases for the purposes of maintaining character records. Interaction between characters is controlled by communication between individual players (with each other) and with moderators (who portray non-player characters). Communication software and database options vary, from the DigiChat front-end / character database back-end pairing pioneered by Conrad HubbardConrad Hubbard
-Author credits:Published material by Conrad Hubbard consists of contributions to more than 35 books which are classified as roleplaying game books, published by White Wolf Publishing and Sword & Sorcery Studios....
at White Wolf
White Wolf
White Wolf is a publisher of role-playing games, notably the World of Darkness.White Wolf may also refer to:*White Wolf , a location in Yosemite National Park*White Wolf , a Canadian heavy metal band...
Publishing, to the numerous AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
and Yahoo chats with hosted character databases. Many games also choose to play on Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
on networks such as SorceryNet and DarkMyst. Free-form games may even do away with database integration or dice-rollers entirely and rely upon individual players to keep their own records, with online community reputation dictating how other players react.
Characteristics and social aspects
These methods of role-playing have many advantages and disadvantages in comparison with more traditional, off-line role playing systems. On the one hand, text-based games allows players to exercise their writing skills, while using writing as a medium. The internet also makes it relatively easier for individuals to meet and play together. This freedom, though it is a great strength to the system, also has the potential to be a great weakness. Such broad freedom of expression can easily be grossly abused, most often by new players unfamiliar with the mostly unwritten etiquette of the text-based gaming community. This has caused many more experienced players to form tight knit cliques, which can also be detrimental to new players seeking to join the community. As a result, many sites are labeled for three levels of role-playing: 'beginner' 'intermediate' or 'advanced'. Sites usually have some sort of application process to judge a new member's ability to role-play. Types of behavior commonly considered breaches of etiquette include powergamingPowergaming
Powergaming is a style of interacting with games or game-like systems with the aim of maximising progress towards a specific goal, to the exclusion of other considerations such as storytelling, atmosphere and camaraderie...
and godmoding.
Another aspect of note is the development of a role-playing vocabulary that are almost exclusively limited to those who have experience with or are actively immersed in this pursuit as a hobby. Some terms overlap with those in commonly used in popular fandom. Terms as Mary Sue
Mary Sue
A Mary Sue , in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader...
, slash
Slash fiction
Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on the depiction of romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex...
, powergaming
Powergaming
Powergaming is a style of interacting with games or game-like systems with the aim of maximising progress towards a specific goal, to the exclusion of other considerations such as storytelling, atmosphere and camaraderie...
, godmoding, OOC, and IC are among the terms used with relative frequency in text-based role-playing circles, and it has come to be expected of role-players to be familiar with such jargon.
Consent
The term "consent" refers to players' "veto power" over what happens to their player characters. Often referred to in the rolling roleplay community as "orthodox", "unorthodox", and "hybrid". Levels of consent might be:- Non-consent: This does not necessarily mean that they use a traditional role-playing game systemRole-playing game systemA role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions...
: it could just be that consequences are enforced based on a "common sense" basis, e.g., if several police officers go to seize a character, even without dice rolls, an administrator might say that the only reasonable outcome is that the character is brought into custody. Or, if there is such a system, this means that the results of system calculations are final. - Limited consent: Usually, this would be control over the character's deathDeathDeath is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
. A setting might strictly enforce In Character consequences, with or without a system, but allow the player an 'out' to avoid character death. For example, if it is decided that the character was mortally wounded, it might be allowable to alter in-game reality just slightly and instead have the character suffer only a serious wound. - Consent: Nothing can happen to a character without the player's approval.
Most RPGs have limited consent, allowing game masters some leeway if the player asks for it (in fact, almost total leeway, though this may destroy the believability of the scenario).
Rules and Etiquette Systems
Though there are countless different rules systems and game-specific rules, there is a single universal criterion that separates role-playing from collaborative writing — there must be a variable under the control of one or more players that some other players cannot control. The most common example of this is for each player participating in the activity to have their own characters that no other participant may write dialogs or actions for. Most separate textbased gameworlds have their own set of rules or TOS by which all users must consent to abide. In addition to rules there is usually a universal set of mores and a terminology common to text-based role playing games, that more or less constitutes gaming etiquette.Some common examples of these rules are:
- Enforcing a specific genreGenreGenre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
or theme. - Sticking to a certain 'point of view'.
- Observing correct grammar and spelling and use of a certain, default language.
- Observing the rating of the game. Mature games may contain no restrictions on adult content.
- Restrictions on or requirements to work together outside the story over plot and other elements.
- Restrictions on:
- who can contribute, and how often, when the work is being put together in an open area such as an online forumInternet forumAn Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
or mailing listMailing listA mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
. - Killing off or otherwise permanently changing a major characterFictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
owned by another player without their consent. - PowergamingPowergamingPowergaming is a style of interacting with games or game-like systems with the aim of maximising progress towards a specific goal, to the exclusion of other considerations such as storytelling, atmosphere and camaraderie...
, twinkingTwinkingTwinking is a type of behavior in role-playing games. A player who engages in such behavior is known as a twink. The precise definition of twinking varies depending on the variety of role-playing game. In "pen and paper" role-playing games, a twink is often synonymous with a munchkin. In MUDs, a...
and/or godmoding. - Creating Mary SueMary SueA Mary Sue , in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader...
s or characters with a set of characteristics or stats too beneficial to the player as to give them an unfair and unrealistic advantage over others.
- who can contribute, and how often, when the work is being put together in an open area such as an online forum
Various forms of gaming that developed within these media, such as sparring (see below), have garnered their own cult following and developed their own sets of norms and subcultures over time.
Sparring
Sparring is a form of online role-play that deals with combat between two or more characters, usually conducted on play-by-post media. Two or more players take turns in writing a joint-narrative battle, each one attempting to defeat his or her rival. The battle ends when one participant acknowledges defeat or one is judged the victor by an unbiased arbiter after a review of all related posts. In the context of Internet-based role-play, sparringSparring
Sparring is a form of training common to many martial arts. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively 'free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to make injuries unlikely...
retains its traditional meaning of play or practice combat, but is limited to written interaction. It is different from role-play in that sparring usually contributes little, if nothing, to a story or character development and participants are subject only to the rules of an agreed on role-play fighting system.
These fighting systems fall into two categories, speed-based and turn-based. Of these, the former is such that the involved parties seek to outmatch one another via superior typing speed and stratagem, and thus is usually left for websites or programs that support an instant messenger or chats. The latter has no emphasis on typing speed, but focuses wholly on strategy, and are thus usually based on forums and message boards. Both systems are further divided into explicit and implicit subsets (also called open and closed), which refer to whether the outcome of an attack is stated by the attacker or assumed to have happened in the flow of battle.
There is a large rift of ideologies within the community of sparring. It comes from the basis of the spar's purpose and intent, and divides sparrers into two categories, being roleplayers and fighters. Roleplayers are grouped as "orthodox" combatants, where no "autos" are acceptable, and it is a mutually respectful practice. Orthodox matches are completely based upon the honor system, and are held more to the ability of the character than the mechanics of the system. Explicit guidelines and rules apply to the fighters, in an "unorthodox" system. Unorthodox spars tend to use hit claims, as discussed above as open and closed.
Consequential criticisms resulting from failed attempts at functional text role-playing outcomes usually arouse from an audience. Commentary includes questions regarding the nonexistent benefit to proving a person's status as an avatar on the Internet by merely exercising the muscles of one's fingers and repeating relatively generic actions that are quick and easy to type. In other words, "text battling" has no reward system and regularly victimizes participants by the torment of anonymous trolls.