He cites Jim Henson and Frank Oz as two of the best roleplayers ever, even though neither of them is known to have actually played roleplaying games. Both of them, however, used alternate physical bodies -- their puppets -- to tell stories and convey their characters to their audience, whereas regular actors would have used their own bodies and faces to portray their characters, no matter how different they are from one another. The example from Jim's article that stands out most in my mind is that of Yoda telling Luke, "There is no try, there is only do," conveying so clearly who this person Yoda is, what he stands for, what he talks, moves and looks like without ever giving a hint that the whole thing is just a "puppet with Frank Oz's hand sticking up his butt."
Roleplaying, Jim says, is just the same. Instead of acting with our own bodies, we use the digital avatars that Blizzard has designed for us: we customize our characters with different abilities and appearances, but more than that, we give them actions and words that distinguish them as believable people, just like puppeteers do. A superb roleplayer can do what Frank Oz and Jim Henson did, only on a smaller scale; he can convey a sense of true depth, a human story, using a virtual puppet made of ones and zeros rather than cloth and plastics.
This is just another example of how "roleplaying" is just a new form of the same basic creative endeavors that have been around for millennia. Someone who gets "freaked out" by roleplaying might as well get freaked out by Miss Piggy and the Cookie Monster, because roleplaying is basically just an adaptation of the puppeteering concept in a modern technological environment.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-13-2007 @ 3:45PM
micah said...
quick, get your Star Wars quote right before the trolls see!
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10-13-2007 @ 5:07PM
TonyMotorola said...
Role players creep the hell out of me.
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10-13-2007 @ 5:12PM
Matthew Rossi said...
*Raises hand*
I am a little freaked out by Miss Piggy. She's a pig who wants to mate with a frog.
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10-13-2007 @ 5:58PM
feadin said...
OMFG.. (sorry) you have never played pen and paper RPG? its the best... sometimes the bad things are never-ending battles but... come on! RP gives you a chance to be a completly different persona! (and no i am not using a latin word cuz its cool i am latin, i am merely emphasazing the personality part) lets you act another gentder... or even make your own background to let ppl know your character, not you, your character further
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10-13-2007 @ 6:29PM
Tobiathin said...
Get me a article on how to not want to shoot your foot while in Goldshire with all the Noobs dancin' as they have a nervous space bar twitch.
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10-13-2007 @ 6:49PM
John said...
So, where does 'ERP' fall then? Is Abhorrent Taboo the equivalent of the infamous Team America World Police scene?
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10-13-2007 @ 7:55PM
Rodrigo said...
Jim Moreno! Nice to see someone talking about our our Witchdocta! Hail to all AIE ;)
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10-14-2007 @ 12:23AM
Ugkul said...
non-Rpers with names like lolawesumprist and mewarluck creep the hell out of me.
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10-14-2007 @ 12:57AM
Liel said...
People who play mmos who are RPing themselves but don't want to admit it creep me out
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10-14-2007 @ 5:52AM
Theserene said...
I think role playing takes a great deal more skill than just coming up with a character called 'noobkillerz'.
I think RP tends to be more thoughtful, people have actual backstories to their character.
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10-14-2007 @ 6:32AM
lirean said...
RP can be great and aweful in equal measure. For every great RPer that comes along and makes the community get better, there's 5 dingbats coming along claiming to be Arthas' close personal friend or the true heir to the king and then start with the"((FFS!! STPO BLOCKING MY RP!!))" the moment he get's ignored.
The criminals who cannot be caught ever, the warrior who knows no physical limits (shoulder barging through the walls of the keep...yes I've seen it)any one of the fifty million Arch Mages wandering around... these are the bad bits.
But when you find a nice RP group and you trek around the cities, the safer areas or even go raiding with them. It's great fun and adds allot to the game. (Yes, you can RP in raids and drop bosses, not as hard as you may think)
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10-14-2007 @ 6:59AM
tool03 said...
RP is fun when your the town drunk, the raving lunatic, the end of days nay sayer, and my personal favorite, the "RP lol wut" nub.
And every now and then I love seeing people simply being in character, not playing out some drama story or heroic adventure, just being what you would expect a normal char in wow to be, normal.
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10-15-2007 @ 7:40PM
ThorinII said...
"Do or do not. There is no try."
Sry, had to be said. :0p
I've never tried an RP server, but plan to some day. I used to do Star Wars RP chat when go.com had RP chat rooms. It's fun!
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