continental differences in frequency of rollplay vs. roleplay groups/games

[cwhs01]

This post could be more eloquently put together, but bear with me, it's just Carlsberg talking... blame it on the "year fest" at my university...

Just thought i'd apologize in advance.

I am biased.... Admittedly. I believe, without any form for empirical evidence to sustain my belief, that european gaming groups focus more on the roleplaying aspects of rpg's than american groups tend to do. I also think, based on my own experience with rpg's, that roleplaying, vs. rollplaying, tend to be very much more an intellectual experience/excersize...

Okay, the last bit was possible only meant to incite a flamewar, so scratch that part. i recognize that roll/roleplaying are different ways to see the game, and that one method is not necesarily (dangit my spelling/grammar/typing etc. is shod to heck.. dang carlsberg) better than another.

My argumentation could possibly be closer to believable, had i not been referring to carlsberg every second sentence...


But why and how does any one gaming group divide their attention to the two extremes of gaming (roll/role). Why is one aspect of RPG's more important than another? and is there a continental difference in preference? SRD D20 seems to push the rollplaying aspects at the cost of roleplaying... Unless heavily modified or used with non-wotc adventures? Or am i mistaken?

....


patient readers might have deduced from the ramblings above, that i divide rpg gaming groups into to major groups: european and american. I have absolutely no idea as to wether asian or australian groups (or others? Martians?) exist. So be kind enough enlighten me on this as well... are you better represented than i thought eg. (or ie.? bugger...) are rpg's sold in any relevant numbers outside europe/USA?

....

And as my exit, i'll cite the big, red, divinely challenged leadcharacter of Hellboy: "Gonna be sore in the morning."

 

[edemaitre]

Continental differences in frequency of role-playing vs. roll-playing

Although I'm an American who has played and run games exclusively in the U.S. for the past 20+ years, I've been lucky to have had role-players in my groups from Australia, Belgium, France, Peru, and Turkey, as well as several African-American and Asian-American gamers, not to mention folks from all over North America. (For the record, I'm a first-generation American whose parents hail from Western Europe and East Asia.)

That said, I have found that international gamers tend to be more courteous and more precise in learning the rules of the game (usually "Dungeons & Dragons" or GURPS in my case), while American players tend to be a bit more assertive, and yes, argumentative. The best players have been those who were creative, thoughtful, and mature, regardless of their chronological ages. Yes, the Anglo-Saxon obsession with statistics--just look at American baseball or fantasy football--often leads to min/maxed Player Characters optimized for combat over storytelling or character/campaign development.

However, many of my best role-players and Game Masters have also been Americans, so I think anecdotal evidence won't hold up without a wider, impartial survey. I think a particular group's chemistry and dominant personalities (luck of the draw) are at least as important as each member's cultural background. Good luck and happy gaming, no matter where you are!

 

[Zappo]

I dunno, I've never seen any significant difference. Admittedly, I don't game much outside of my circle, though.