Roleplaying
 

I hear a lot of talk about roleplaying from the people who play this game. They say that everyone needs to do it, or at least those that participate in organizations called 'Kingdoms.'

I've always made the point that the basis of roleplaying is logging onto the game, and playing your character. Why? Well by doing so, you are assuming the role of your character. The real life personalities of players might show through more in one person's character than another, but the very basis of roleplaying is accomplished with this.

There are various settings to become involved with in Graal Kingdoms as well. Settings are important to a more advanced roleplayer, as they provide information on how the characters should act, talk, respond to situations, etc.

So what exactly IS roleplaying? Well my definition above gives a rather base answer to that question. Assuming a role accomplishes the definition of roleplaying. The problem is, it does not do this little mini-game justice. In fact, it is only the tip of the iceberg on this matter.

Have you ever read a book or watched a film, and a character did something really stupid, and you thought "Don't do that!" or "If I were them, I'd have done it differently"? Well, in roleplaying, it IS you. You make the decisions on how the story continues.

In a way, roleplaying is improvisational acting, but it is also a way to have fun with friends and interact with them on a social level. There are no scripts with it, so it is more accessible than regular acting. It can also become a stress reliever, as some situations can be acted out which you would be too uncomfortable to do in a real life situation or setting.

So, to end this basic introduction to roleplaying, and my first article on the matter, roleplaying is much like acting. The player assumes a role, and performs, reacts, and lives through the character's life. Roleplaying is a fun way to interact with friends, and can help you explore matters that even you haven't thought of.

I'd like to add, in a slight variation of what you've said, that it would be better to say "GK is about roleplaying in a medieval context" than that is't plainly about roleplaying. As you pointed out, roleplaying is almost everything, specially in the internet, but most important it's a quite expandable phrase. The problem is that most players "roleplay" pkers and scammers, and as such let a bit too much of their real-life character shine through ;).

Besides, Kingdom members don't have to rp - but they're encouraged to do so, and higher ranks are to be a matter of roleplaying, not power or level, at least that's my approach.

Wierd you say nearly exactly the same like in the german dsa (a popular pen & paper rpg in germany) rulebook.

Lies! Their rulebook quotes me! Well, I never played it, or any other pen&paper thingy for that matter - at least not for long, seeing how what I got into once were *****s (playing Vampire). Anyway, the point remains ;).