Role-play (also role-playing movement [1] or role-playing game [2] ) - a subculture [1] of people who play role-playing games , mostly live action . This can be partially applied to those who play word and board role-playing games, but not all participants in one movement enter another. The role-playing movement has a series of related movements formed around the work of John Tolkien , historical reconstruction , historical dance , airsoft , hardball , cosplay .
| Roleplayers | |
|---|---|
 Role-playing role models | |
| Occurrence | 1980s , Europe and America |
| Heyday | The end of the 1990s - n. at. |
| Directivity | fandom hobbies |
| Spread | Europe (including Russia), America, Australia and New Zealand |
| Items | |
| fantasy , role playing , minstrel song | |
| Related | |
| Tolkienists , reenactors , geeks | |
In addition to role-playing games, role-players gather for role-playing conventions and festivals - short-term meetings dedicated to informing players about next season's games, discussing past games, and informal communication. The conventions host historical fencing tournaments, photo and art exhibitions, concerts by songwriters, theater productions, and video shows. The main difference between the two types of events is that the convention refers to the closed type (oriented to its company, people from the movement), and the festival to the open type (oriented to a large number of spectators, not necessarily from the movement, and to the spectacular format observed from the side).
Content
History
Role-playing games of live action appeared in developed countries independently in the late 1980s - early 1990s [3] . The prerequisites for the emergence of the role-playing movement in the USSR were the appearance of Tolkienists , connoisseurs of Professor Tolkien’s creativity (originated in the West in the 1960s, and in the USSR of the 1980s, with the advent of the first translations of “ The Lord of the Rings ”), as well as fiction clubs , amateur song clubs , military history clubs, the tourist movement, and various informal associations. The first provincial role-playing game was the "Hobbit Games" of 1990 , held near Krasnoyarsk . This event gave an impetus to the development of the movement quantitatively and qualitatively. In 1993-1994, there was an expansion of the range of topics and the number of role-playing games - both the usual games were played in the universe of Tolkien's books, as well as in other fantasy worlds, as well as on historical subjects [4] .
The ideology and psychology of role-playing movement
Roleplayers consider it self-evident to encourage people to leave the basic socio-cultural structure. The tradition requires that the role player accept alternative self-identification - a game name, often a game race or nationality, which serve as a sign of belonging to the community. But the role-players do not support excessive immersion in the game and condemn the “flirting”, seeing in the role-playing movement a way that is useful for socialization to get away from routine and everyday life. The following features are mainly valued [1] :
- remove the burden of social norms and duties (the ability to not observe etiquette within the framework of the playing role, thoughtlessly use brute force or deceive);
- to be realized as a specialist in another field (an engineering and technical worker realizes humanitarian interests; an intellectual worker switches to applied physical exercises);
- play an unusual socio-cultural role, including a very exotic one (cardinal, peasant, samurai, nun, etc.).
However, some use role-playing games for escapism . It was in a role-playing environment that deep survival games appeared, which emphasizes the attractiveness of escapism for young people [1] .
The role-playing game and the philosophy of science fiction and fantasy, expressed in specific literary works, gave rise to the ethic of heroism characteristic of role-playing movement. The values of the roleplayer are heroism, the fulfillment of an act, the fulfillment of a great mission, achievement, competition. Self-realization and the achievement of skill in any field are the basis for status and self-esteem. On the other hand, a great mission creates a situation where minor weaknesses, irresponsibility in everyday relationships and laziness can be forgiven [1] .
A significant part of the role-playing movement is student [1] . B. Kupriyanov and A. Podobin in their study compiled a portrait of a good player: independent, reflective, responsibly related to himself, others and the game as a joint activity. According to this portrait, the player must be humble in demanding a future playing role and capabilities and adhere to these requirements. He must arrive on the game on time, during the game itself, be constructive and law-abiding: observe the existing rules and not create his own, not bring discord into the game mechanics, world and atmosphere. Unacceptable is the use of alcohol, profanity and the transfer of gaming relationships to life and vice versa [1] .
The psychological portrait of role-players gets conflicting assessments. Some researchers see the role of escapism in the enthusiasm for role-playing games, while others, on the contrary, see the successful sphere of human socialization [2] . B. Kupriyanov and A. Podobin, describing the participants in this movement, talk about their infantility [1] . The same opinion is shared by V. L. Malygin and V. V. Shcherbachev, speaking about the dependence of the role-players on the outside world and the presence of an internal conflict between them. However, other studies show the opposite picture: a higher level of self-actualization in people participating in role-playing games, their better orientation in time, greater flexibility in behavior and adaptability, self-acceptance, erudition, knowledge of a new and creative approach compared to people in role-playing games not involved. These qualities are the result of the requirements put forward by the role-playing game to the participant. Acceptance of the role requires conformity with other interpersonal relationships, a different economy, political situation, social processes, culture in clothes, and in addition, acceptance of the emotions of your character (while maintaining the separation between them and your own emotions). Experimenting with different roles allows a person to understand and accept their positive and negative qualities, learn not to be afraid of their feelings and be able to talk about them [2] .
Culture Details
Various rituals are widespread: initiations , oaths, the adoption of weapons, etc. They use melodies and songs, but musical creativity is used more widely. It is difficult to identify the specifics of the music that is characteristic of role-playing movement, as the authors work in different genres, but some role-players believe that the fantasy genre best reflects the emotional side of life: from the triumphant heavy music of battle to the inspired lyrical music of love or grief for the dead. The same plots (heroic battles or love battles) dominate the role-players' own work [1] .
Jargon
Among Russian-speaking roleviks, the slang word “ marvelous ” is widely used, used as a curse word [5] and applied to “flirting” people who have gone too far into escapism [1] . In addition to slang as such in a role-playing environment, unlike other subcultures, fictional languages are used, the most common of which is Elven . Their place is in communication in games, in songs, poems and hymns and, less commonly, in everyday communication [1] .
The need to comply with the chosen role requires the player not only the appropriate costume, hairstyle and accessories, but also the correct behavior (manner of behavior, gestures and speech). However, when realizing games reconstructing real historical periods, role-players cannot communicate in the corresponding languages (for example, Old Slavonic ). Therefore, only certain turns of speech appear in speech, allowing you to connect the game with the culture of the right time. This use of elements of the past in the present extends beyond the limits of the subculture through role-playing performers (for example, the Mill group in Russia), thus influencing the revival of the national features of the language [6] .
The game name or self-name not only shows belonging to a subculture, but also says a lot about the person himself. It can be borrowed from a literary work or have its own symbolism or translation from one of the artificial languages. Understanding of its origin and meaning allows you to determine belonging to a particular fantastic civilization, race or people. The name reflects the ideas and ideals of the role-player, according to which one can suggest a possible range of his interests and a preferred style of interaction [1] .
Attributes
There is a stereotypical idea of the appearance of the role-player: long hair (“haire”), tied by a “hiratnik”, a chlamydia tied by a belt, a wooden sword, a cloak made from improvised materials of obvious household origin. It is complemented by the ideas of the cult of nature, naturalness and freedom. However, this view does not correspond to the current state of role culture [1] .
Attributes of role-players come from objects depicted in the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien [5] . “Magic” rings and various pendants, bracelets made of beads (borrowed from the hippie subculture), headbands that are convenient to use in training and in the field are popular [5] .
Game equipment made by role players for themselves or on order is a matter of pride and concern. Often it is stylistically close to the clothes and weapons of the Western European Middle Ages, but other styles are also found ( hussars , Russian knights, etc.). Widely used baubles (fenki), playing the role of talismans and filled with various symbols. Together with other badges, jewelry and even rhymes, which are also called fennies, they are presented and convey symbolic wishes and images to another person. Runes are used to create such talismans. In addition to the runes and the Tengwar close to them, coats of arms, badges, insignia and emblems (including symbolic virtual orders) are used [1] .
Roleplayers and Society
In the early 1990s, a number of Russian media accused role-playing games of violating the socialization and mental health of young people, including incriminating murderers with role-play. At that time, these accusations had insignificant grounds, but over the following years the situation completely changed. Legalization , commercialization, expanding the assortment of game worlds, as well as raising the average age of role players to 25 years old, turn the previously closed subculture of role-playing games of live action into a social institution of general use [3] . Some journalists accused the roleviks of drug use , Satanism , sectarianism and sexual crimes. The community’s reaction was to express their constructive opinions to the authors of the articles, as well as to write ironic texts on the topic [4] .
In the post-Soviet space, the attitude towards the role movement as a whole is tolerant and understanding, but in the West there are whole groups of resistance to this. The credit of public trust in this case consists in understanding motivation and ideology. Representatives of the movement themselves do not like to draw excessive attention to it [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Kupriyanov B.V. , Podobin A.E. Essays on public pedagogy: role-based movement in Russia. - Kostroma: KSU named after N.A. Nekrasova, 2003 .-- 104 p. - ISBN 5 - 7591-0506's. Fourth essay. "Subculture of role-playing movement . "
- ↑ 1 2 3 Zhuravleva A.S. Self-actualization of participants in an informal youth association (using the role-playing movement as an example) // Vestnik RUDN. Series: Psychology and Pedagogy. - 2014. - No. 1. - P.77-82.
- ↑ 1 2 Kostyrko V. S. Middle-level hobbits, or controlled escapism (Pisarevskaya D. B. Subculture of role-playing games in modern society) // Domestic notes. - 2013. - No. 1. - S. 325.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Subculture of role-players in modern Russian society
- ↑ 1 2 3 Personality and game: from elementary school to graduation: Textbook. allowance. - Novosibirsk: Publishing House of NGPU, 1995 .-- 155 p.
- ↑ Kaplunenko A.M. Role-playing in linguistic retrospective: a look at the problem of language resources // Bulletin of the Irkutsk State Linguistic University. - 2014. - No. 1 (26). - S. 157-162.