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Player and Character Are The Same

A player is a real person; a character is the role that the player plays in the game. All of the actions that the character makes, all of the items that they possess, even the characters themselves are imaginary, and do not exist in the real world. This is possibly the most frequent mistake that people make about RPGs. It is terribly ironic when a news story accuses gamers of confusing fantasy with reality, while exhibiting much of the same confusion all on its own.


RPGs Teach Their Players How To Cast Spells

RPGs often have a system of magic involved, and it is usually a form of fantastical magic, far-flung from anything found in witchcraft or the occult. There are some RPGs that have been designed to have a more "real-world" feel to them, and the authors have used actual occultic sources as their framework; nevertheless, one cannot learn how to cast spells by playing a role-playing game, any more than they can learn to swing a sword or ride a horse. The magic used in RPGs is entirely "make-believe," it exists only in the game world, and NEVER causes any effects in the real world. It is NEVER directed at real people, and any claims to the contrary are FALSE. While many RPGs have some form of magic system, many others do not, especially the plethora of science fiction RPGs.


There Are Winners And Losers

Or, for that matter, that RPGs share the same qualities that most of the games that preceded them do. Unlike other forms of games, RPGs do not usually have clearly defined winners and losers; rather, they are much more of an exercise in team effort. Confusion in this area is often proof that no real research into RPGs has been done.


RPGs Glorify Violence

While combat does exist in most RPGs, it is never promoted as the answer to everything. Conflict is a large part of our history, and RPGs reflect that. But there is much, much more to the hobby than simple hack and slash... if that were not true, there would certainly not be as many gaming books on the shelves as there are! There are books on other cultures, people, races, and traditions, all of which are interacted with in any number of ways, only one of which is combat. If AD&D (for example) was the roleplaying equivalent of Quake (for example), it would fit rather neatly into one 100-page rulebook. For the record, it doesn't.


RPGs Promote Obsessive Behavior

It's strange that a devout sports fan who can talk about little more than football scores isn't considered "obsessive" by most people, yet a gamer who plays once a week is. Any pastime holds the potential to do what it does all too well: pass time. A person who spends a lot of time playing RPGs is simply a person who would spend a lot of time doing something else if games were not a part of the equation. Personal responsibility and maturity are the true focus here. Gaming is no more of an obsessive hobby than any other, it just involves more brain power than most. Perhaps this is what a lot of the critics fear.


RPGs Create Criminals

In many circumstances, games have been blamed for causing "seemingly normal" people to commit crimes that they would never have dreamed of had they not been exposed to RPGs. This is a preposterous notion to those of us who understand RPGs, but to many, it seems very possible in the light of all of the myths that are held as truth about games. The truth is, according to the CAR-PGa, that all media accounts of crimes committed "in the name of gaming" had many other, more understandable factors involved. The real story here is that "Abused Child Kills Parents" does not sell quite as many newspapers and magazines as "Game Taught Child To Kill."


RPGs Promote Suicide

Whether by causing severe depression over the loss of a character, or as some demented way to start their life over again at the beginning, RPGs have been accused of being a possible cause of suicide among their players. The Center for Disease Control, Department of Suicidology, and Albert Einstein University feel different about the matter, however; all three have done extensive research on RPGs and found no connection between gaming and suicide. The experts have spoken. Also, as mentioned above, the CAR-PGa has researched all of the "gaming related suicides" on the record, and found extenuating circumstances in every one. Again, it comes down to what sells more papers or keeps the public tuned in through the commercial break.

It bears noting that the isolated incidents in which gamers have committed suicide are usually misinterpreted by the uninformed to make it appear as if gaming causes people to take their own lives. By their own figures, the suicide rate among people who play RPGs would be much lower than the average for any other group of people. Therefore, uninformed really isn't that harsh of a title.


RPGs Are Played By Males Only

While this may have been close to being accurate many years ago, it is certainly not true today. The fact is that many gamers are female, although the hobby is still male-dominated. In a study conducted by Wizards of the Coast in 1999, it was found that 19% of the respondents between the ages of 12 and 35 were female. That's almost one out of every five gamers.


RPGs Are For Kids

Role-playing can be as simple as a game of cops-and-robbers in the backyard, or an intense session of playacting the bickering leaders of city-states on the brink of war. At it's root, it is the same type of game, but for most of us, the way we play is altered as our tastes mature. An 11-year-old can play a fighter in Dungeons & Dragons and go about hunting dragons and rescuing damsels and never tire of it. An adult who does the same will begin to look further into the character, developing a personal history, and pursue higher-minded goals.

It's one of the great things about roleplaying; it spans not only age and maturity, but culture and gender, and becomes what the player wants it to be. It's hard to find a hobby that does that.

In addition, in a study conducted by Wizards of the Coast in 1999, 59% of the gamers surveyed were between the ages of 19 and 35, and the largest portion of that range (34% of the whole) were between 25 and 35.

I agree completely. Roleplaying is an interesting, fascinating way for people to relax and pretend to be someone they're not. It may promote a bit of depression when people realize that they'll never be able to use magic or become a prince, but is that any greater than the depression and risk of suicide when you finally figure out that you'll never be able to be a rock star (for those illegitimate children who cry when bands disband)? They're both so minimal that it's not noticeable.

So, staring at a 5 inch screen and seeing your character draw a sword, slash the enemy, and the enemy disappear with a nice static sound is more violent than football? Never knew.

Overall, I wish this would be put in a newspaper. Send it to a newspaper and educate the world!

Well of course more violent then football if you think about it, you can sit there hacking n slashing at enemy till he explodes or his guts fly out of him and body hits ground. All depends on who created the game itself. In football all about contact and hitting other player to ground and scoring kinda thing. But in RPGS about defeating your enemy till he doesnt move nomore.

Doubt newspaper will care.

*Agrees

Moogle, I was kinda talking about a certain RPG - seriously, how many RPG's have you seen that show the intricate detail of guts flying out - the maximum I've ever seen was a bit of blood.

I was joking about the newspaper part. They don't care about anything except going with the flow.

I've myself played alot classic rpgs where showed abit or alot of blood. RPG's like FF enemies just vanish to keep it not too violent for small kids. But still violent in own ways since your trying kill someone or something. I guess everyone has own opinions about how violent something is.

Lyon, lol

This cracks me up, cause its so true...


Good stuff though.

I'm an avid player of both the Baldur's Gate series and I DM a DnD group from time to time. I must say that these activities both provide comfort to my life after a day in school of being called a nerd and getting bullied. If it weren't for role-playing, I must say I could've made some bad choices out of duress...

I'll have to agree with Moogle's observations.