3. The "Let's say that..." technique
    When the game doesn't get the roleplayer satisfied, he imagines new elements, by using the well-known "Let's say that..." technique.

    Take children, for instance: when they want to play a game in which they have roles, they begin by distributing those roles. "Let's say that you are the villain, and that I'm the good guy." All they do is draw ideas out of their imagination, and with that simple "Let's say that..." technique, they can make anything happen.

    In that way, roleplay is very close to children's games. It's the force of creating something that isn't there, or denying something you don't want to be there or don't want to see, because it breaks your daydreaming.

    I remember one summer, when I was a kid, my father took me on what he called an "adventure", which consisted of jumping from one rock to another, along the northern shore of the Méditerrannée. Now that I think of it, I could've broken my neck two or three times - I was maybe 6 at the time - but to me it was a mysterious, almost magical place, with weird creatures lurking beneath the rocks, hidden from the eye of the simple, silly humans.


    So when I got back to school, I started doing the same for my classmates, taking them on "adventures" between classes. I explained them that a giant spider was chasing us, and that we had to ride the back of that giant bee over there, because it would be a good way to escape. And as we ran around in the tarred playground, I used to see that bee - and that spider, too.

    The point is, what the game fails to provide, the roleplayer's imagination replaces. It becomes a reflex, in order to protect one's immersion, one's daydreaming. What I see that I don't like, I ignore, I deny, and replace it with something else, or erase it, with my imagination.     

    Take for instance World of Warcraft's not-so-immersive Christmas and Valentine Day celebrations. Let's just say they don't exist, pretend they don't exist, and poof! They're gone. You don't see them anymore. Take Deus Ex 2's all-weapons-compatible ammunition, poof! Take Vagrant Story's time-attack boss mode, poof! Castlevania's cup-noodles, poof! Resident Evil 4's shopkeepers, poof! Rainbow Six Vegas' weapons chests, Zelda Twilight Princess' horseshoe plants, Yoda, Darth Vader and Ivy's breasts in SoulCalibur IV, ...

     Poof!

    Of course, we have here choices (DE2's ammo, RE4's shopkeepers, etc.) that were made to make the game simpler, accessible to a broader audience, which often - if not always - conflicts with the idea of keeping the experience immersive and rather realistic. Indeed, marketing doesn't care about what roleplayers find attractive in videogames - because, and it's no surprise, they aren't the majority.

    Now don't get me wrong: I'm not complaining. As a matter of fact, I think roleplayers tend not to be comprehensive enough in their demands, and rather should understand that in order to make a living a company has often to stick to what the public enjoys, rather than clinging to extreme, almost sectarian ideals that nobody gives a damn about. That's the way it works. Having thirty or fourty fans in the world is great, but it doesn't keep a studio running.

    And that's where the "Let's say that..." technique saves the roleplayer's day.


      4. Why people laugh at roleplayers
    Roleplayers basically ask themselves questions regular players do not. Does that mean regular players are idiots? No, because most of the time, those questions roleplayers ask themselves are a complete waste of time.

    For instance, "Why does Alucard in Symphony of the Night store every weapon, shield, potion and book he finds in his father's castle?" The answer is bluntly obvious - it's because the game system commands it. You can't drop a weapon in Castlevania, because why in hell would you want to drop a weapon? It makes you stronger, and if you don't want it, you can sell it!

    But the roleplayer doesn't want to be commanded anything - he, and only he, decides. In this particular case, the roleplayer has no choice, so he uses the "Let's say" technique, and comes up with a reason: indeed, Alucard stores every item he finds because he wants to equip all the villagers around the castle, so they'll be ready in case of vampire invasion. Or they can assault the castle themselves.

    Where does Alucard store all the weapons? Where does he put them? Well, the answer is a bit awkward, and there's only but one (not the one you think though): he has a bottomless bag, well known to roleplayers all around the globe. Told you it was awkward.

    Roleplayers look for ways to preserve their immersion, their dreamlike travel, when they play a game. They don't want to be reminded every minute they are "only playing". They bend the game, adapt its rules to what they think that dreamlike journey of theirs should feel like. And they try to add a little intelligence and creativity where there isn't supposed to be any. They don't want to be only the receptacles of the game, they want to be active actors inside of it. In a word, not feel like they're watching TV.

    And to others, well, this is weird.

    There's another reason: roleplayers make you lose the game. Take a roleplayer on your team in a UT2K4 or UT3 CTF game and YOU WILL BE DEFEATED, I'm sorry. Why is that? Because again, if roleplayers want a beautiful battle, they do not necessarily want to win. They want to be there, see rockets fly, take beautiful screenshots, etc - but seldomly do they want to win.


     5. Soloplayer roleplay VS. Multiplayer roleplay
    Roleplaying in solo games is easier, because there's no one to tell you what to do, and there's no one you must adapt to. You rule the game, you have no responsibilities, and in this way many players, disappointed with their MMORPG experience, will rather stick to solo games.

    The MMORPG roleplay is more interesting though, and is of course more difficult - some will even tell you it is impossible. Indeed, when you meet somebody, you have to be prepared to the fact that you are facing a complete stranger; you don't know his way of talking or playing, you don't know his roleplaying habits, and most fascinating of all, you don't know his character. So when you meet one stranger, you are actually facing two.    

    In MMORPGs - on roleplaying-preferred server, that is - you have responsibilities, and not ones to be taken lightly. As a matter of fact, you are, in a pen & paper RPG fashion, the next player's game master. You are the warden of his or her immersion, and on your ability to keep roleplaying in everything you do or say will directly depend the immersion of the people who are next to you, this including friends, and foes. You have a responsibility, and that responsibility is to keep everyone as immerged as you are, and to make sure all the people around you have a good time playing their characters.    

    Not only do you have to keep your character's behaviour and language coherent with the context, but you also must react intelligently to what other people do or say, just like you would do in real life. Acknowledging other people's actions is the base of roleplay; for instance, if someone tries to steal something from you, or steps on your feet, or slaps you in the face, or even sends you a kiss - you have to acknowledge, you have to react, you have to do something, for it is impossible, it is forbidden, to simply ignore it. There is no "let's say" technique here. Your partner is another human being, and you cannot distort what you think your character perceives the way you would do in a soloplayer environment. If your character is supposed to have witnessed or experienced something, then if you play fair, you will make him acknowledge.

    So you can't ignore what other people do, eh? That means those other players, those other characters, have a great power. The power to force you to acknowledge everything they do that your character is likely to have witnessed. Which brings me to the next point: ponderation.

    If it's true you have to acknowledge what people do, no one can go saying, for example by /emoting, "Soandso breaks your arm." This is forbidden. You can't break anyone's arm, unless the game system allows you to do so. Because by deciding you are modifying or distorting another player's character (and this, IN ANY WAY), you would be threading, trampling on his liberty to play his character the way he sees fit.

    The correct /emote would be something like, "Soandso tries to break your arm" because it gives you enough field to manage a proper answer (such as, "/emote avoids the attack").

     As well, if you have to balance your actions, you have to show tolerance towards the other players, by accepting their way of playing their characters. Of course, you'll have to be especially tolerant to those who don't know the rules quoted above; if someone tries to break your arm in an /emote, try to explain that person (maybe in a private, out of character message) that it cannot work this way. Sometimes a short, discreet OOC conversation is the only way to reach agreement. And if it doesn't work, well... it's up to you to try harder to explain, or to simply walk away (yes, I did say the "Let's say" technique is not applicable in human to human roleplay - unless that kind of situation happens).

    Anyway, that's how you spot a newbie: he knows roleplay, but he hasn't yet integrated ponderation and tolerance, and enjoys rather talking than listening. Bad, bad roleplayer. Plus, roleplay isn't about power, or showing that you've got yourself a powerful character, and trampling on everyone's liberty by deciding everything. Not only will you be unsympathetic to everyone, but also will you be ridiculous. Roleplay is about being a tolerant player. Adapt to people around you. Listen to what they say, react to what they do. Respect them as they should respect you. And always try to ask yourself, "what would my character do?", "what would my character think?", and so on. This way you will create a pleasant environment for everyone (including yourself, brilliant eh?), since the game will become more coherent, and thus more immersive.

     But of course, if these rules are beautiful, they can only be applied to people who already know what roleplay is about, or who are sensitive to that matter. Ah, and did I mention politeness?