This research plan was accepted by the Faculty of Humanities in 2005, in the discipline of media culture. My supervisors are Mikko Lehtonen and Frans Mäyrä. Please contact me if you want to discuss it further!

This version is outdated; I rewrote my plan in 2007.

Initial Research Plan

Markus Montola, 2005

Background

Role-playing is an artistic form of expression that has – in it’s contemporary form – risen during the last 30 years. Year one of role-playing has been placed in many ways, but most often to the publication of the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons: Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974. Certainly this game that shifted the typical focus of wargaming from an army to an individual, has very little to do with role-playing as it is understood now, but it provided one starting point for these contemporary ways of interactive and creative story production. After a while of fighting with these individual heroes, the players began to create increasingly elaborated backgrounds and personalities for them, and the game referees began producing more and more sophisticated scenarios and long-term campaigns where these fictional people acted. After a while, “winning” was no longer the sole purpose of the game; indeed, Sandy Petersen wrote Call of Cthulhu role-playing game in 1981, which invariably ended in characters becoming insane, being eaten by horrible monsters or usually both.

Meanwhile, Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw created Multi-User Dungeon in 1978. It was a textual adventure game where a number of players explored a dungeon full of monsters simultaneously in a computer network. The same process happened with the MUD-scene that had happened with D&D – or perhaps it was imported from the other scene, as the most of ideas were – and the players began to act increasingly as if they were living people within the virtual world of the game, with mannerisms, habits and personalities. Dungeons changed into domains and the virtual worlds matured.

The third form of role-playing emerged in a number of places sporadically; people took games such as the later editions of Dungeons & Dragons, and began to act out scenes instead of talking them through. Often the dawn of these games was characterized by two groups settling their differences with styrofoam swords, or in the case of the Circle of Death genre with water pistols. Propping up places and creating believable costumes were stages in trying to physically simulate the lives of the characters, as the focus of the activity drifted elsewhere from physical conflict.

Contemporary role-playing usually sees its origins in these events, though it is also connected to ancient ritualistic practices, interactive drama, improvisational storytelling, psychodrama, historical re-enactment et cetera. As decades have passed, artistic and commercial ambitions have entered the scene of role-playing; now we are in the point where a huge number of people live out of these games (online games especially), and art institutions work in collaboration with larp artists.

Earlier Studies

As earlier academic approaches on role-playing have been scarce, the planned dissertation would constitute foundational groundwork for the whole field. Here I have listed the earlier relevant academic studies.

The pioneer is sociologist Gary Alan Fine, who in 1983 published Shared Fantasy, an ethnographical study into early tabletop role-playing club cultures. Fine’s work is seminal and still very valid look into the social frameworks utilized in role-playing discourse, even though his observations on the player cultures must be read in the context of early dungeon exploration gaming genre.

In The Fantasy Role-Playing Game Daniel Mackay (2001) looks at role-playing through the glasses of performance studies. However, he does observe the phenomenon from inside, discussing it rather as a performative story-creation system, rather than an experiential and immersive artform. He expands certain conceptual differentiations of Fine, but does not produce a concise framework.

Two master’s theses also deserve a mention here. Johannes Kellomäki (2004) follows Aarseth’s idea that role-playing game is a system of oral cybertext. He analyzes role-playing discourse from the angles of ergodic narratology and linguistics, observing how role-playng acts as a sort of an ergodic system, with game master as the intrigant and players as intriguess. Geir Tore Brenne (2005) on the other hand looks at role-taking in larp with a Goffmanian microscope, observing how keying and fabrication are utilized in the play of social frameworks.

In addition to these few studies, the reference material in the area includes semi-academic hobbyist papers and non-academic papers seeing role-playing from angles of art and game design. The Nordic larp conventions have published three article collections; As Larp Grows Up (eds. Gade, Thorup & Sander 2003), Beyond Role and Play (eds. Montola & Stenros 2004) and Dissecting Larp (eds. Bøckman & Hutchison 2005). These books mix professional and artistic approaches seamlessly together, providing a wealth of interesting study for a critical reader. The writings of The Forge role-playing theory think tank belong to the same semi-professional class.

The theoretical discussion can largely be divided in two paradigms or theorist cliques dominant in the field. On one hand, The Forge collective approaches the subject from the angle of experimental tabletop game system design, creating game systems systematically producing certain kinds of gameplay experiences. On the other hand, there is a Nordic sphere that sees the playing from the angle of larp with very light rules free structures.

Suprisingly, while the literature on MUD and MMORPG design is wide and expanding rapidly in both academic and semi-academic categories, only few texts in the area discuss role-playing in these games. In the process of doctoral studies I intend to familiarize myself better with this literature, in the preliminary phase I believe that authors such as Richard Bartle, Lisbeth Klastrup, Craig Lindley, TL Taylor and Nicholas Yee might be from the more relevant end.

The few texts looking at role-playing directly will be of course complemented with other approaches, such as the approaches of interactive narrativity and narratology in virtual reality by Janet Murray (1999) and Marie-Laure Ryan (2001). Ludologists such as Espen Aarseth, Jesper Juul, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman often touch role-playing in their texts as well.

I have written a more thorough literature survey on the field earlier within the IPerG project, which is appended to this plan, and will also be included in the final work in some form.

Focus and Research Questions

My aim is to create a structural model explaining the phenomenon of role-playing as a social process. Instead of using a complete pre-set apparatus – such as narratology or theatre studies – I try to look at role-playing as role-playing, not unlike the ludologist approach of looking at games as games. However, if one discipline needs to be stated as foundation for this work, ludology perhaps is the closest one. Indeed, the purpose of this work is quite similar to Jesper Juul’s work in his doctoral dissertation Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds – while Juul creates the basics of academic video game theory, my plan is to write basics of academic role-playing theory.

Juul has an approach Kellner (1995) calls pragmatic and contextual approach to cultural studies, where different theories are applied based on the requirements of the task. Kellner advocates the use of a multitude of theories, as it allows the scrutiny of one phenomenon from multiple angles and in various contexts. Quoting Juul (2003):

“The goal of this dissertation has been to create the basics of a theory of video games. For this purpose, I have used an eclectic assortment of theories and methods including literary theory, film theory, computer science, sciences of complexity, economic game theory, game design literature, and some psychology.”

Klastrup (2003) argues that this kind of multi-disciplinarity is very beneficial, as it allows the researcher to avoid appropriating the object of study as just one thing (such as game or narrative), and thus allows using multiple entryways at understanding it. Juul used this approach for digital games, while Klastrup applied it for virtual worlds, and my purpose is to scrutinize the phenomenon of role-playing in a similar fashion.

It should be understood that the structure I will propose is intended to be very foundational groundwork in an uncharted area, and hence a multi-angular approach is a necessity. Thorough academic attempts at understanding role-playing in this fashion have not been made, even though Fine, Mackay, Kellomäki and Brenne have all come up with their own structural observations from their own viewpoints.

The planned work is based on certain earlier papers I have published – I will probably include them as the core of the structural model. The most relevant papers have been written in a gradually evolving process:

These papers see the process of role-playing as a system of creative information exchange, where the participants construct imaginary realities in an interactive and recursive process. Role-playing is about defining an imaginary world, changing it’s state according to more elaborated rules, and communicating these changes to other people trying to imagine the same world. The point of my thesis is to present this kind of a skeleton, and to complement it to create a framework where these games of make-believe can be seen and discussed.

My approach is consciously expanded to include various forms of role-playing, including traditional Dungeons & Dragons style tabletop role-playing, physically expressed live role-playing (larping) and increasingly popular online role-playing. However, my approach on these phenomena as social processes consciously excludes single-player games.

The fundamental object of inquiry is the core of the process of role-playing. The work is largely conceptual and theoretical, although as a researcher I’m also doing empirical case studies of larps as a part of my main work with pervasive games; these cases will certainly provide solid background studies for the thesis. Having majored from communication studies, it is likely that the dissertation reflects such approaches.

The underlying research issue of the work is understanding the core of role-playing and it’s relation to neighbouring forms such as linear narratives and games. This understanding will then be applied to find answers to sub-questions such as:

In understanding the work I’m planning, it’s vital to know that I am proposing a view from inside: I happen to have a long history with both tabletop role-playing and larping, and have been lately getting acquaintanced with online role-playing as well. Often this means that finding the right questions is much harder than finding the right answers, since many complex issues might appear trivial.

It’s still too early to honestly provide a concise disposition for the work, but it is likely to be shaped around the fundamental concepts that emerge in the research. These concepts will probably include such as player, game world, character, power structure and intrigue.

Relevance and Significance of the Work

One question an aspiring researcher of role-playing games has to address is the relevance of the study. Why is role-playing worth a study?

Role-playing is a form of artistic expression. This standpoint has been advocated since late 90’s. As the form is quite young and thus has not publicly achieved the status of ‘art’ yet, it has not been researched as an artform before. The more interesting Nordic artists in the field include Martin Ericsson, Eirik Fatland, Juhana Pettersson, Mike Pohjola and Emma Wieslander. A black hole clearly exists in the studies of this area.

Role-playing is popular. If we look at how many players play role-playing games in the broad sense, we will end up with an eight-number figure globally. In the tabletop role-playing market Dungeons & Dragons is the absolute leader with millions of sold copies; accurate player estimates are impossible to make, but an often-quoted figure is that 20 million players have played the game over the years. More tangible numbers are available from the MMORPG market, where World of Warcraft alone has four million monthly subscribers and the Lineage series in Asia is probably even more popular. In Finland the blockbusters of tabletop role-playing were the translations of Dungeons & Dragons, Runequest and Middle-Earth Role-Playing, which all sold tens of thousands of copies [1] – recently there have been no similar numbers, due to the fragmentation that has happened on the market. The popularity of larp is very difficult to estimate, but according to some surveys, 11% of Danish children claim that larping is one of their favourite nature activities (Gade 2005).

Due to the popularity of the genre, the market potential of role-playing is also significant. Of the three main forms of role-playing larp is the most difficult to commercialize, although a few organizations do exist. Even on larp, Danish Zentropa Interactive has allegedly managed to make sensible business, based on the synergy with Zentropa movie studios. The value of tabletop role-playing market and on-line role-playing market should be clear from the paragraph alone.

Role-playing is also an interesting educational tool. Though the pedagogics is not in any way in the focus of the proposed study, the conceptual understanding of the process would benefit the pedagogical studies of the area. The applications of the educational use range from management and military training to children’s education. In Denmark a role-playing based boarding school experiment was recently begun, with 100-150 adolescent pupils.

Reflecting with these viewpoints, the quantity of study of the field is very scarce.

The figures above discuss the use of role-playing games in their various forms. The object of my study is role-playing in role-playing games, and many players of these games do not play in a role-playing fashion, but in a way much closer to wargaming. One way this separation is made visible is the way in which MMORPGs cater to different player groups by separating the role-players to their own servers.

This work also has theoretical significance from the perspective of cultural studies: Role-playing is a perfect example of active readership and democratic media use. It challenges the hegemony of mass entertainment by allowing people to produce their own escapism, but also challenges the participants to think creatively in their own terms.

Funding and Schedule

Up until spring 2008 I am employed in EU-funded Integrated Project for Pervasive Gaming, which provides opportunities to work with themes relevant to the dissertation – larp and MMORPG are among the objects of inquiry in the project, and my work includes coordinating the work on design and evaluation principles for pervasive larps and MMORPGs. I plan to apply for a grant after IPerG is concluded, in order to submit the work in early 2009.

References

Aarseth, Espen (1997): Cybertext. Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press.

Aula, Pekka (1999): Organisaation kaaos vai kaaoksen organisaatio. Doctoral dissertation for University of Helsinki. Helsinki, Loki-kirjat.

Brenne, Geir Tore (2005): Making and Maintaining Frames. A Study of Metacommunication in Laiv Play. Master’s thesis for University of Oslo. In www.efatland.com/fate/Making_frames.pdf (ref. June the 3rd, 2005)

Bøckman, Petter & Hutchison, Ragnhild (2005): Dissecting Larp. Collected papers for Knutepunkt 2005. Knutepunkt 2005, Oslo.

Fine, Gary Alan (1983): Shared Fantasy. Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Gade, Morten, Thorup, Line & Sander, Mikkel (eds.) (2003): As Larp Grows Up. Theory and Methods in Larp. The book for Knudepunkt 2003. www.laivforum.dk/kp03_book

Gade, Morten (2005): Danish Larp in Numbers. In Bøckman, Petter & Hutchison, Ragnhild (2005). http://knutepunkt.laiv.org/Danish%20larp%20in%20numbers.pdf

Juul, Jesper (2003): Half-Real. Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Doctoral dissertation for IT University of Copenhagen.

Kellner, Douglas (1996): Mediakulttuuri. Tampere, Tammer-Paino 1998.

Kellomäki, Johannes (2004): Simulaatio ja kerronta – roolipeli ergodisena järjestelmänä. Master’s thesis for University of Helsinki.

Klastrup, Lisbeth (2003): Towards a Poetics of Virtual Worlds: Multi-User Textuality and the Emergence of Story. Doctoral dissertation for IT University of Copenhagen.

Mackay, Daniel (2001): The Fantasy Role-Playing Game. A New Performing Art. London, McFarland.

Murray, Janet H. (1999): Hamlet on the Holodeck. Massachusetts, The MIT Press.

Pettersson, Juhana (2005): Roolipelimanifesti. Jyväskylä, Like-kustannus.

Ryan, Marie-Laure (2001): Narrative as Virtual Reality. Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press.

List of Publications

Montola, Markus (2005): The Invisible Rules of Role-Playing: A Structural Framework of Role-Playing Process. Forthcoming in a book by Ben Aldred and Bryn Neuenschwander, University of Indiana.

Montola, Markus (2005): Exploring the Edge of the Magic Circle. Defining Pervasive Games. Forthcoming in December in DAC 2005 Copenhagen conference.

Montola, Markus (2005): Designing Goals for Online Role-Players. In de Castell, Suzanne & Jenson, Jennifer (eds.) (2005): Changing Views: Worlds in Play. Proceedings DVD of DiGRA conference, June 16.-20. Vancouver, Simon Fraser University. www.iki.fi/montola/onlineroleplay.pdf

Montola, Markus & Stenros, Jaakko (eds.) (2004): Beyond Role and Play. Tools, Toys and Theory for Harnessing the Imagination. Vantaa, Ropecon. The book for Solmukohta 2004. www.ropecon.fi/brap

Loponen, Mika & Montola, Markus (2004a): A Semiotic View on Diegesis Construction. In Montola & Stenros (2004) 39-51. www.ropecon.fi/brap

Montola, Markus (2004b): Chaotic Role-Playing. Applying the Chaos Model of Organisations for Role-Playing. In Montola & Stenros (2004) 157-164. www.ropecon.fi/brap

Montola, Markus (2003): Role-Playing as Interactive Construction of Subjective Diegeses. In Gade, Morten, Thorup, Line & Sander, Mikkel (eds.) (2003): As Larp Grows Up. Theory and Methods in Larp, 82-89. Copenhagen, Projektgruppen KP03. The book for Knudepunkt 2003. www.laivforum.dk/kp03_book

Montola, Markus (2003): Organisaatio ja johtaminen kyberavaruudessa. Master's Thesis for the University of Helsinki. www.iki.fi/montola/g.pdf

Appendices

Footnotes

[1] Originally I presented a bit more exact figures here, but as they were left uncertain in the end, I replaced this with a bit more vague expression.

I believe in karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it.