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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nugan" data-source="post: 3390376" data-attributes="member: 36335">I agree that the word "art" has become more flexible than it once was, and some people now find artforms in sports, crafts, etc. that are not artforms in a traditional sense. Although, unlike you, I think this is probably a good thing, since one's work (or one's recreation) takes on greater significance and value when viewed as an art rather than an activity.However, even if you grant that these activities are not artforms, I think there is still a strong case for labeling freeform role-playing as an art. In fact, the case that FFRPing is an art is probably stronger than the case that it is a game.Freeform role-playing really lacks almost all of the features that we normally associate with games. There are no "rules of play." (Individual sites may have content and setting guidelines, but that has more to do with protecting minors and clarifying location than with standardizing or streamlining play.) There are no boards, dice, spinners, balls, scorecards, manuals, controllers or other paraphenalia normally associated with games. There is no win condition. There are no winners or losers at all. In fact, nearly every attribute that we would normally associate with a game is absent from freeform.The word play is not exclusive to games either. Theatre troupes often call themselves "players," and theatre is one of the oldest and most universally accepted artforms.While freeform lacks most of the attributes of a game, it possesses many attributes associated with artforms, particularly drama and literature. It is fundamentally about creativity. It has dialogue and characters. It has plot (to some degree). If it's online, it can produce a text capable of being read and appreciated by those not involved (in the form of a forum thread or a chat log). Yes, it is created through interactions with others and at least partially improvised, but so is improvisational theatre. It has the potential to be funny, sad, dramatic, contemplative, exciting, and to elicit a full range of other emotional responses. All of these things are decidely artistic.</blockquote>

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