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By Root 436 0

In addition, because different kinds of gamers often exist within the same gaming group, the type of game play seems specific to individuals rather than to texts. For a text to be a different genre, it needs to be recognized as such by a group rather than an individual. In Russell’s (1997) example, groups in different activity systems use the same text differently but there is still coherence among those groups. It is unlikely that one student in a literature seminar will see Hamlet as a script and come to class performing it while another will see it as literature to read for a homework assignment. These students may all interpret the work differently, but they will read it as the same genre because they are reading it within the same context, just as Stanley Fish’s (1982) linguistics seminar recognized the names on the board as a homework assignment and his poetry seminar interpreted them as a poem.

Although I maintain that the TRPG represents one genre, despite multiple styles of play, I must acknowledge the way that my definition of this genre may be influenced by my own style of play. As a player I fall clearly on the half of the graph consisting of character actor and storyteller. One of the reasons the Sorpraedor campaign ran so well was that the majority of the players were interested in a style supporting storytelling and character acting.6 This style combined simulationist and dramatist elements and, thus, I may have overstated the role of narrative in TRPGs at large. While Nick seemed to represent a more gamist perspective, most likely that of a thinker, I was unfortunately unable to follow up with him for the type of in-depth interview I conducted with Mark. While the blog postings and survey responses I’ve incorporated here support the idea that narrative is overall an important aspect of the TRPG, the gamist perspective is underrepresented and should be taken into account more in future research.

In addition to the various types of players, as I have noted, there are various ways to play a TRPG, from an individual session in a game store or at a convention to ongoing home campaigns such as Sorpraedor. These different types of gaming session may lend themselves to different types of play. In addition, not all gaming sessions will be successful, in that they will not all meet the needs of the players or create a narrative experience. For example, my experience as a player in a one-time TRPG at the NC State Game Day involved a different method of playing TRPGs. As I previously mentioned, this game did not immerse me. I cared little for the characters (which were pre-generated) or the setting and, quite frankly, was anxious for the game to end. Early in the session I offered a suggestion that might have quickly achieved the goal that had been set out for our party, but it was frowned upon, and the DM did not allow it to succeed. Mackay (2001) also found that TRPGs played in the context of the gaming convention were often more restrictive and adhered more closely to the rule books than on going gaming groups (p. 102). He explains his own frustration in not connecting with these convention-based gamers and mentions that it is only when the same group of players meets with the same characters several times across conventions that players begin to create the sorts of narratives that he sees in longer lasting gaming groups (Mackay, 2001, p. 102). Both Mackay (2001) and I struggled with convention role-playing because we came to it with the expectation of creating a narrative through social interaction. Instead, the games we encountered were more gamist in their orientation, where the goal seemed to be to exert skill in combat and defeat the monsters rather than to create an in-depth story. Nevertheless, my data from the Role-Players Gaming Association (RPGA) suggests that gamers who continually attend these sessions are able to add to a more communal narrative because reported results influence the design of additional gaming modules (C. Broadhurst, personal communication, July 1, 2009). Thus, I argue that while convention