Week 18 - Reading

This week, I went through my annotated bibliography and put each useful sentence into their themes. 

Firstly, I pulled out each highlighted sentences from last week's reading task and sorted them into their themes. I read over them, noted which sentence would make a good introduction or conclusion to the paragraph. Then I put them into a paragraph exactly as they were. They didn't make sense grammatically, but their ideas blended well together. Any sentences I didn't use, I left below so that I could still incorporate them or if I needed more for my paragraph, the information was still there. 

Then I went back and rewrote the paragraphs to make sense. 

What Makes An RPG? 

what a roleplaying game is and what the characteristics of an RPG are. how customizable games can be.RPGs are often inspired by board games of the same genre. tabletop RPGs are different to their video counterpart, or due to other factors like players ages and when these games are created, the definition has changed over time and previous RPGs do not fit into that category anymore and that the term needs to be redefined.  Maybe RPGs are about what the player does, how they make the game their own. 

 

Edited: 

What is an RPG? The components of an RPG are often questioned, and rarely agreed upon. Some argue that it’s down to what you make it. RPGs are heavily customizable, especially nowadays, with most gaming developers exploring the idea of an open world wherever possible. RPGs began back when the only games we had were tabletop games that involved dice, cards and pawns. Through my research, I’ve considered that the definition of an RPG has changed due to varying factors – video games being available and different to their tabletop counterparts, generational beliefs, when the game is created and how they have developed over time. Tabletops certainly cannot be compared to video games. When comparing everything, I have found that it is more about what the player makes it and less about the visuals or sounds or emotional impact, like some suggest. 

Who Plays RPGs? 

how our own personalities attribute to the games we choose and also talks about stereotypes and if they're accurately accredited to certain personalities. It discusses how games are created by us because of our own behaviours. people already have these traits before they pick a game up and possibly gravitate towards games more than others. how our own morals also affect how this game is played and could contribute to us changing or creating new morals. the premise of the game is still based on human behaviour. 'realism' is the least popular. It makes me wonder, is this because people that turn to games to escape don't want to lead any form of a normal life for an hour or two? 

Edited: 

Those that play RPGs have been found to fall into certain stereotypes and to hold similar characteristic traits. Our personalities often lead to the games we choose to play. We often look for a way to relate to our chosen games. Has this, over time, lead to developers creating games targeted at particular stereotypes and personalities? Our morals often affect the outcome of a game, evident in games like Until Dawn, a game that is solely based on your previous actions in the game. Of all genres, ‘realism’ is the least popular. Is this because we lean away from our own lives and look to live in a more dramatic or approachable world?  

Social Skills 

how people connect with RPG games. experience other perspectives, practice visualization, escape social pressure, increase personal control, improve social skills. which allows players to fulfill real-world social needs through interaction". slang is a huge part of how immersive a game is. promote sociability, communication and collaboration amongst players pursuing missions (quests) in the environment,"(cited in Yu, 2009). the skills and mindset that these games encourage and influence are skills and a mindset that can be used in the 21st century and how they are still relevant to us. 

 

Edited: 

People often find a connection with others through RPGs. RPGs can be two player or played via co-op, where two players go through the story rather than one. This experience leads a player to gain perspective, escape social pressure, improve social skills and more. The fact that RPGs can deliver a real-world scenario often means that social skills are developed through these interactions. Beyond these interactions is the slang that comes with mostly an RPG game. Slang is just a subset of a language and to learn this, understand it and use it is proof that these players have social skills, even if not to society’s standards or expectations. This creates a sense of community amongst those engrossed in whatever RPG world(s) they choose, encouraging a more social way of life. Regardless of the story in these games, the skills they give us are still relevant to this day. 

Mental Health 

RPG games can be incredibly useful for drama therapy, socializing and other personal developments. players often come across new experiences or are in a different situation in a similar experience and they can explore how they react differently which leads to them building their own character. how games make us act and how they influence us. people already have these traits before they pick a game up and possibly gravitate towards games more than others. how there is a stigma around gaming amongst different generations familiarity with the games in question leads to a reduced probability of that belief. how RPG games affect people and how it is used in therapy for a variety of different disorders. 

 

 

Edited: 

RPGs have been found to be useful in socializing and personal development. It gives the players a safe space to experience new situations, change the outcome of an already lived experience and explore their reactions which leads to character building of their own. Games often have an influence over how we act, and in return, games are often created with our own behaviors in mind. People often have particular traits that lead them to playing games before they play these games, it’s merely that games bring these traits out. One of these traits is aggression, which is really a stigma from older generations. Various studies have found that no game has influenced aggression in RPG players. It’s believed that this stigma comes from lack of understanding and knowledge of RPGs. On the contrary, RPGs are often used in a variety of therapies for people with social disorders and have been found to be successful.  

Sexism 

 

It’s been widely discussed that women are treated poorly in RPG online experiences and that sexism is quite prevalent in the gaming world. I will discuss how gender norms are put on people through media and society and how this isn't just in the obvious places but it also carries over to online games. Several threats are made to female gamers and this isn't an isolated issue and that there are several kinds of evidence available - screenshots and voice recordings being just two. "the researchers found that the female voice received three times the amount of directed negative comments than the male voice," (Brehm, 2013). “To see female gamers as in need of help and guidance is a strategy to keep control over the game; to view women as less competent is to make them harmless” (cited in Eklund, 2002, p. 333). Assuming women will be more submissive in gaming - "particularly through roleplaying games that gave them the opportunity to play as the gender of their choice," (Cross, 2012) 

Edited: 

Sexism is incredibly prevalent in the gaming world. There are often gender norms placed upon people through media and society, and this issue doesn’t stop when it comes to online roleplay games. Women often find themselves in hostile environments when they decide to go online to play their games. When on the mic, women receive 3 times as many negative comments as their male counterparts, regardless as to how they play. Women often, however, turn to gaming to live out social experiences they are denied as women. A safe space is created between them and their controller. It’s once they involve men that women start to see the negativity. A study found that men offered - and more often than not, insisted – to help women when they played a game with them. “To see female gamers as in need of help and guidance is a strategy to keep control over the game; to view women as less competent is to make them harmless” (cited in Eklund, 2002, p. 333). Although we can’t say that every man does it, we can understand why women may be apprehensive to entire the online world when it’s safer and easier to remain in the world of an RPG that contains NPCs and themselves.