Virtually A Game: Thoughts On Online RP

The majority of my role-playing experiences in the last four years have centered on online games. Until recently, I was a Storyteller-Moderator for White Wolf's own sponsored chat, New Bremen. There are many friends and acquaintances trying to coerce me to returning to the chat and my former position. I am extremely reticent, and feel that its worth an article to discuss the problems and pitfalls of online games.

Before launching into any negative comments, I should point out that there are a number of advantages to playing White Wolf characters online. One can log in, day or night, and be able to participate for as long as one chooses in most chat games. For roleplayers who live in isolated areas or lack a solid group of friends also interested in White Wolf games, the Internet offers an alternative to not playing at all. Chat games also allow people who are shy to come out of their shell, protected from the risks of a "face-to-face" encounter. With an online game, one's gender, race, and appearance no longer has any bearing; one can be as old or as successful as they want to be. Its all just a matter of a few convincing keystrokes. For writers, online games also provide a profound way to practice their craft and make connections with fellow writers.

For an Internet junkie who loves White Wolf games, online games would seem like the perfect solution at first glance. So why would I caution anyone against them?

Online games are more more than gaming groups. They are gaming "communities". Every White Wolf game, online or off, requires players who will be making characters to interact with one another in a series of dramatic stories. To play a game of Vampire:the Masquerade in your living room, you just call up a few of your good friends. Chances are good that you are only going to invite over people that you like. You already know their personalities and their behavior. There is an intrinsic level of trust already developed between the players, a tacit understanding of what can and can't be said or done. Characters might stab each other in the back, run away with their best friend's girl, hang out in seedy bars when they're supposed to be on an important mission but the players are just there to have a good time with each other.

In an online game, however, players might be there for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with having a good time or entertaining their friends. Some people join online role-playing games because they are lonely. They create characters who are lost, vulnerable and needy because that's the way they are personally feeling. They are looking for someone who will love them and take care of them, and use online role-playing as a kind of "dating service" where they will start developing a physical attraction to whoever is role-playing with them. It might start out very subtly, with just a few cheerful comments, leading to e-mail or private message exchanges. Soon, however, it has escalated to the point where these 'Lonely Hearts' have convinced themselves that they are truly in love with their role-playing partners, and start requiring copious amounts of time and attention, demanding love in return. If their love is unrequited, they can become extraordinarily wrathful or depressed, to the point of threatening to quit the game or worse, harming themselves or somewhere else.

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