Tag Archives: sociology

By definition, Role Playing Games feature gameplay that involves individuals who are each designated a specific role or function within a group. Whether you’re playing a tabletop RPG like Dungeons & Dragons, a single-player RPG like Baldur’s Gate, or an MMORPG like World of Warcraft, each individual avatar has a specific, contained, defined reason for being included in a party.

Leader, striker, controller. Tank, healer, DPS. These are the “primary” role definitions you find in most RPGs. The latter three are collectively known as the “holy trinity” of RPGs. All avatars may have secondary roles or abilities, such as trap finder, negotiator, tracker, pack mule, etc, but by and large their abilities are linked to their primary role definition. A ranger is better equipped to understand nature and a rogue is better equipped to steal or disarm traps, for example.

I argue that there is a link between the massive popularity of RPGs and the way many of us understand our place in the world. Continue reading →