I found it hard at first to get into RP during D&D. Not because of any stigma with the act of being in character, but because I just wasn’t very confident in my ability. I got better with it, and it is a lot of fun to really make decisions based on my character and not my best judgement as a player; to give my character faults and personality, not just a min-max build..As far as WoW, no. It just doesn’t conduct itself as an RPG. It’s a fantasy character advancement game, and trying to stay in character doesn’t work because the system fundamentally isn’t really set up for it. Many years ago, when I played Ultima Online I saw MMO role-playing at its finest though. It is what made the game great for me, and why I played it much longer and more often than I have any other MMO since. Like-minded role-players would gather to create their guilds, place their player housing in one area, and form their own entire villages. You had a visible community that you could interact with and there would be all sorts of great RP. Games just want to appeal to the power-hungry kids and those who suffer from an almost (or actual) OCD desire to get some displayable sense of achievement so that they can feel good through the recognition of others.
I think I got a little off topic there, but ultimately my point is this: really giving in to the interactive story and community of role-playing is a rich and rewarding act that allows you to explore a mind and perspective external to you. There’s a reason psychologists (or psychiatrists, I can never really remember the difference) use it as a tool to help people. Going to a D&D game and giving yourself entirely to being someone else for a little while can be an amazing experience and I suggest everyone at least give it a shot.
RuffD&D
