This may at first seem limiting. In a world where everything is spelled out in intense graphic detail, the idea of using words to play a game, especially written words, is a bit alien. However there is actually a freedom to this style of play which is lacking in other systems.
In multiplayer role playing worlds based on graphical characters, the programmers can add hundreds or even thousands of motions to the avatar you control. This means they can dance, sing, and even smooch. However in order to evoke these commands, you have to type a specific string or click a specific button. By contrast, in a chat room, any action that you want your character to take can simply be narrated in, using written words to describe exactly what it looks like.
This allows a lot more freedom than an avatar does, as you can literally write anything that you can imagine. A graphic is constrained by what the programmers decided to put in ahead of time.
The further benefit is the literary style that the game takes. Instead of just doing stuff, you are actually collaborating on a novel with other people. The result is a full textual account of everything that happens, allowing you to sit back and read it as if it were an actual book.
While it may be a relatively obscure genre, role playing chat rooms provide a unique experience which merges creativity, narrative ability, writing skills, and imagination, to create an environment in which anything and everything is possible.
This article was written by Jim Slate on behalf of the role playing chat rooms found at RolePages.com – a fictional social network where anyone is possible. Sign up for an account as an alien, demon, vampire, psychic, angel, or anything you can imagine.
