The Art of Playing a Role in an MMORPG
Typology and Limits of World of Warcraft role-playing
Keywords:
World of Warcraft, WoW, role-play, role-playing games, RPG, MMORPG, ethnographyAbstract
This article presents a typology of role-playing within the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) genre, focusing specifically on role-playing in World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004). Presently, there is a lack of broader research into the various ways in which players interact with each other in MMORPGs. Although players of this genre can overwhelmingly focus on the mechanical aspects of the game, this paper argues that role-playing in MMORPGs exists and takes place as a minor activity. Utilising participant observation, this text investigates this phenomenon, offering an ethnographic analysis of how role-playing in World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004) takes place and what events and narratives role-playing participants create in the virtual world of the game. Based on the analysis of field notes and other material obtained through a total of 96 hours of participant observation, this paper presents a typology of role-playing in WoW, including day-to-day role-playing, private story role-play, and public role-playing events. This paper highlights how players negotiate the limitations of the game mechanics and game software to enable a wider range of role-playing performances. Through this, this study provides a detailed account of role-playing in WoW and offers opportunities for further research on role-playing in MMORPGs.
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