roleplaying

Roleplaying refers to any of a broad range of activities in which participants assume roles other than themselves, usually for the purpose of entertainment, though sometimes as a literary, dramatic, or therapeutic exercise. Bloggers tend to use the term to refer to games.

Roleplaying games (or RPGs) became very popular in the 1970s with the first publication of Dungeons and Dragons. Other "pen and paper" based games include many based on original source material, as well as licensed properties like Star Wars and the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. In these games players create characters appropriate to the setting and describe the actions of these characters within a scenario managed by a Gamemaster, producing what is essentially a collaborative story. Bloggers frequently write game reviews, as well as articles on game theory and development.

The roleplaying format was later successfully adapted to computer games. The dominant format for these games has come to be the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) in which thousands of players share the same game world through the internet. Leading examples of this sort of game include World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Eve Online, and RuneScape, as well as many others.

Story-based roleplaying is also very popular on the internet, with players using message boards, chat, and online forums to engage in collaborative storytelling with very little structure and few rules. For an example of forum-based roleplaying see Caeliria. Also popular is live-action roleplaying (LARP) where participants dress up in character and engage in mock combat. For an example of popular live action roleplaying see NERO or World of Darkness.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “roleplaying”

• Two True Freaks! Episode 87 – Harry Potter!!

  
  The Comics Podcast Network — Authority: 144
  In this clock-busting episode, Chris hooks up with THE HARRY POTTER ALLIANCE members Hope Mullinax, Dinah Russell and Andrew Slack! Topics range from Wizard Wrock to social activism and the Harry Potter universe, the Rowling books, the movies, undead sex toys and a whole HOST of other topics! For example, did you ...
  15 hours ago

• Puzzle Quest 2 Hits XBLA, DS In Spring 2010

  
  Game Stooge — Authority: 482
  D3 has issued a press release announcing Puzzle Quest 2 will be hitting Xbox Live Arcade and the Nintendo DS in the Spring of 2010. Puzzle Quest 2 features its hallmark blend of match-3 gem matching and fantasy, with a simple but meaningful role playing experience where players can choose any of four character ...
  19 hours ago

• Alderaan Revealed as Playable Planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic

  
  Multiplayergames.com — Authority: 136
  On Friday, BioWare  announced that the latest planet available for players to explore is Alderaan – That planet that went boom in the Original Star Wars movie. It’s good to see BioWare offering fans of the franchise what they want to see. The planet of Alderaan is a huge area of intrigue in the Star Wars ...
  20 hours ago

• Facebook Roleplaying

  
  Quick Penmanship — Authority: 483
  Social networking technology has changed the way communication works. There are a variety of new levels of interaction that are possible. This is not only connecting people in new and unique ways, but it is also allowing people to tell stories across a whole new range of media. On the cutting edge of this new ...
  21 hours ago

• A Close Look at Blade & Soul’s Latest Trailer

  
  Multiplayergames.com — Authority: 136
  Logo for Blade & Soul Blade & Soul is the latest MMORPG by South Korean developer NCsoft , the company behind Lineage, Lineage II , Guild Wars , and Aion, (among other games). The development team Bloodlust is responsible for Blade & Soul specifically, and if this latest trailer is any ...
  21 hours ago

• Mass Effect 2 “Tali” Trailer

  
  Game Stooge — Authority: 482
  Tali’Zorah rejoins Shepard’s squad in Mass Effect 2 , as she is exiled from her people. Is she the only character from the first game to return as a party member? Wrex and Garrus are just supporters in the sequel. Let us know what you think.
  1 day ago

• Tera Online, yet another Korean MMO powerhouse

  
  Multiplayergames.com — Authority: 136
  Castanic berserker Tera (The Exiled Realm of Arborea), is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Blue Hole Studios, and published by Hangame Korea. Hangame is also publishing a plethora of other great games, such as Continent of the Ninth . Much like Continent of the Ninth , Tera is ...
  1 day ago

• TibiaMe v1.60 S60v3 - the first mobile online roleplaying game *updated* - SymbianPinoy® Resources - Mobile and PC Resources Online Community [del.icio.us]

  
  SymbianPinoy Resources — Authority: 182
  TibiaMe v1.60 S60v3 - the first mobile online roleplaying game *updated*
  1 day ago

• Game Day: Return to D&D 4E

  
  Nuketown — Authority: 122
  Giants stalk the land, threatening one of the few flickering lights of civilization. Someone needs to deal with the threat ... and it turns out thats us. My gaming group is returning to Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition with a megashot of Revenge of the Giants , the new super module from Wizards of the Coast. I ...
  2 days ago

• Pwnage and ownage

  
  "Roll dice and kick ass!" — Authority: 115
  A bloglag starting with a long weekend visiting family has stretched out to more than twice as long as that thanks, above all, to the block. Efforts to break on through had finally awakened a glimmer, but it was still a slog. Thank goodness then for Badgers visit last night.Glorious carnage!This phrase could so ...
  2 days ago

• Dream Project 1.5: The Fortress of Dreams

  
  Ludus Novus — Authority: 100
  This is a summary of my ongoing Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition game, played with some friends from college over the internet using MapTool and Teamspeak . When we last left our game, the citizens of Meersha had fled a dragon who had taken over their town, heading north to the city of Decolay, which had ...
  3 days ago

• Dragon Age: Origins Review “Age of The Dragon”

  
  GamerCenterOnline — Authority: 493
  BioWare’s known for impressive, and engaging RPGs. However, the genre been seemingly non-existent this console generation; there are only a few out in the market right now. One of the many unnoticed problems of this console generation, BioWare has set out to fill this void with its “dark heroic fantasy” Dragon ...
  3 days ago

• Palm Heroes on sale for just $5.99 – hurry up and join in the fun!

  
  TouchMyApps — Authority: 529
  The Palm Heroes Team - whom we recently interviewed - have discounted the incredible game – Palm Heroes. It is the port of the one and only  Heroes of Might and Magic and has just gotten slimmer; its price fell to $5.99 from $9.99 in celebration of the BlackApp Friday! Palm Heroes got Kissed back in late ...
  3 days ago

• Puzzle Quest 2 Revealed

  
  Game Stooge — Authority: 482
  The sequel to Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords will be fully revealed in the January issue of GamePro coming out in December, reports the magazine. The issue, which has BioShock 2 on the cover, will go into detail about it. We can’t reveal all the details right now, but we can provide the first image ...
  3 days ago

• Star Frontiersman Magazine

  
  The Retroist — Authority: 488
  RPG fans did not be told about Star Frontiers, but for those who never wielded dice, Star Frontiers was, in the simplest terms, like Dungeons and Dragons, but in space. To players of it though, it was so much more. It allowed us to engage our fascination with science and fantasize in a world that could one day ...
  3 days ago

• Pulp Minatures for Your Pulp RPGs

  
  GeekDad — Authority: 733
  Images used under Creative Commons (www.pulpfigures.com) So, a while back when my little role playing group left AD&D 3.5 behind and found the joys of combining wikipedia research with Steve Jackson Games’ GURPs we found we were stuck with a problem. While we were overflowing with miniatures of orcs and ...
  3 days ago

• The Holiday Role You Play

  
  Blogs — Authority: 162
  Perhaps no other time of year is as highly anticipated, and secretly dreaded, as that festive family time known collectively as "the holidays." The clash of fake gaiety and togetherness around Thanksgiving time plus Christmass unrealistic expectations of "perfection" can lead to a train wreck of emotions. We cope the ...
  4 days ago

• The Gamers - Dorkness Rising

  
  Tales of the Rampant Coyote — Authority: 130
  We got the DVD "The Gamers - Dorkness Rising" from Netflix yesterday, and watched it last night. I will be buying the DVD shortly. It was... excellent. Okay, a qualified excellent. It could have been cut by about 15 minutes (especially the ninja / pirate pizza delivery sequence), and its very obviously a ...
  4 days ago

• Mass Effect 2 PC System Requirements

  
  Game Stooge — Authority: 482
  The system requirements for the PC version of Mass Effect 2 have been revealed : MINIMUM PC REQUIREMENTS OS = Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7 Processor = 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU Memory = 1 GB RAM for Windows XP / 2 GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7 Hard Drive = 15 ...
  4 days ago

• Choose my Adventure: Sorrowdusk Isle

  
  Massively — Authority: 685
  Join me as I brave my way through lands unknown in an adventure dictated entirely by you, the Massively readers! Vote for everything from game played to character creation to ultimate goal and watch it unfold in a series of journals and galleries here on the site. Then, as our two months is up, well do it all over ...
  5 days ago

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