Speaking of Role-Playing

Just a short post really. But I was thinking of all of the conversations about what constitutes a “video game”, and I have been wondering about online role-playing games. Perhaps a little too late for me to start contemplating this since my entry has already been written and printed on this, but thinking about my daughter’s participation in online forum-style role-playing games I wonder if my original definition was too narrow – thinking mostly of games like Asheron’s Call, EverQuest, etc while omitting most games that exist solely on the web. Funny especially since the history comes out of text based MUDs. Is this my own (un/subconscious) delineation of what a ‘real’ video game is? Like the flash games versus ‘video’ game debate? [I will dig up some links later]. 

/wonders

Published by Kelly Boudreau

Associate Professor of Interactive Media Theory & Design at Harrisburg University. I research Digital Games, Play, Sociality, Avatars, Toxicity, and Social Norms & Boundary Keeping. Thoughts and ramblings on this site are my own as I grapple with all the things professional and personal and everything in between.

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