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Role playing has actually been practiced directly by children for a long time. In the current era of online games, role playing is also played virtually on a number of social media platforms and is called role-play games (RPGs). What is the definition of role play and are there good and bad impacts on children’s development?
RPGs belakangan menjadi topik pembicaraan setelah viralnya video seorang ayah yang tengah memarahi anak perempuannya yang masih kecil karena ketahuan bermain roleplay. Diberitakan, sang ayah marah karena si anak bermain RPGs yang tidak sesuai dengan usianya dan bermain dengan orang yang tidak dikenalnya.
Pengertian Roleplay dan Cara Memainkannya
According to Yardley, the definition of roleplay is a phrase used to describe an activity which involves participants or players (roleplayers) who then act or imitate an action and a condition.
The way to play is that the roleplayer imitates the persona of the character he chooses. In the past, children played roles by imitating the characters or professions of a teacher and his students, a doctor and his patient, a chef and his buyer, or a complete family consisting of father, mother, older brothers and sisters. However, today’s RPGs offer characters such as K-Pop members, anime characters who have become idols, and even Hollywood and South Korean celebrities.
Meanwhile, the rules of the game are that the roleplayer must be able to imitate the attitude, way of speaking, and activities carried out by the chosen character. There are rules of the game that must be adhered to, namely that you must be able to play through text without revealing your true identity.
By not revealing the player’s real identity, this allows young children playing roleplay to choose adult characters and vice versa, adults can become child characters or younger characters.
Terms and Meanings in Roleplay Games
Just like other online games, RPGs also have terms that roleplayers must understand. These terms are as reported from various sources, namely:
- Chara: character
- Original character of roleplayer (OCRP): original character
- Role-play Intl: international RP
- Role-play ina: RP Indonesia
- Ganchar: change character
- JB: join together
- Newbie: beginner
- Wb: welcome back
- Thu: welcome
- Lsb: like, share back
- Lb: like back
- Sfr: send friend request
- Fl: friend list
- Ddk: daddy king
- Bbg: baby girl
- Bbb: Baby boy
- RPRL: invite RP friends to meet in the real world.
And many other terms.
Playing RPGs Linked to Juvenile Delinquency?
In this era of internet literacy, we cannot avoid all online activities, even playing at the same time. Playing RPGs is no exception because it supports easy access to a number of social media platforms. Roleplay itself can be played on platforms such as Twitter, Telegram, Line, Instagram and others.
According to research entitled ‘Role-play Games (RPGs) for Mental Health (Why Not?): Roll for Initiative’, demand for RPG games experienced a rapid increase during the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago. One thing that is increasing is the game “Dungeons & Dragons”.
This is because the pandemic requires people to do more activities from home, including playing. The pandemic, which has a bad impact on mental health, has made many people choose to overcome it by playing online games, including playing RPGs.
The early emergence of the RPGs “Dungeons & Dragons” was associated with juvenile delinquency and their immorality, without being proven. However, a number of studies have finally succeeded in proving that there is no difference in depression and personality conditions between regular players of the RPGs ‘D&D’ and the control group who do not play the game.
Positive Benefits of Playing RPGs
- Improve reasoning skills in solving problems.
- Can improve the ability to build friendships and social interactions.
- Increase empathy towards other people who may have different lifestyles and appearances and ways of thinking.
- Improve critical and strategic thinking skills to solve complex problems.
The Bad Impact of Roleplaying
If not played properly, RPGs can also have bad impacts, such as:
1.Addictive
Roleplayers can spend hours playing RPGs, this will certainly disturb them and even ignore their offline activities.
2.Get lost in the characters in the virtual world
Roleplay players in particular who tend to be dissatisfied with the quality of their lives in the real world will be more interested or even trapped by their new characters in the game.
They may choose to leave their social life in the real world to develop their character in the game. Or they can also appear in real social life but still adopt their character in the game because it makes them more comfortable.
Playing roleplay whether on social networks or in real life, parents must continue to supervise because the potential for negative impacts will still exist. Parents must continue to set limits on when children can play and when they should stop interacting socially in real life.
Don’t just let your child be calm and free to play as much as they like. Games that involve direct interaction with other people, especially peers, will however provide a good experience for children. This is information regarding the definition of roleplay as well as the benefits and negative impacts that can result if you don’t play it wisely.
