Inner and Outward Focus in Role-Playing

I’ve been role-playing in online forum communities for something like 10 years, and playing Dungeons & Dragons for the last five. (I’m a 4th edition whipper-snapper.) For the online role-playing, it’s clear that the major priority there is story and characterization. Most online role-playing does not deal with stats or numbers, and usually does not have a Dungeon Master-type role. Rarely does the site admin administer the plot to their members. And even less likely is to find a site where all members are involved in the same plot. The differences go on and on, however I’ve noticed that they both share a dichotomy in the way people role-play.

Some role-players are intra-focused. Others are inter-focused.

• Intra-focused role-players are focused primarily on the truest characterization possible.

• Inter-focused role-players are focused primarily on the overall story/experience.

I experienced no end of frustration before I figured this out. I assumed that all role-players were like me – it never occurred to me that other writers did not have the same priority! I would be baffled by what I perceived as boorish selfishness! Obstinate lack of cooperation! I would rant and rail to my beleaguered husband of how horrible these people were. I am so extremely inter-focused, my priority falling on the unity of the larger story, that I was Confunded by the role-players who seemed to have no care for how their character tied into the greater narrative.

So here’s the deal: both approaches are fine.

Intra-focused

The two most intra-focused role-players I have met (one a D&D player, another from my online role-playing group), were excellent role-players. Full investment into their characters, great acting (D&D), great writing (oRPG), and a completeness and detail. I loved role-playing with these fellows right up until it clashed with my own style (more on that later). The goal for role-players like these are fidelity - complete trueness to character. They are less interested in being a part of the greater story, and more interested in their own character’s story and living authentically in the skin of another person.

Inter-focused

I have less experience in the broader D&D playerbase, in my time role-playing I’ve written with hundreds of people, and I think the majority of online-roleplayers are inter-focused, mostly due to the nature of online-roleplaying. There isn’t just one story happening, and the challenge is weaving together a web of stories. The stories that come from groups of inter-focused roleplayers are tightly woven, complex sagas. The primary goal for the inter-focused role-player is unity - dedication to the greater story. They do wish to play in-character, but that is a vehicle to contributing to the larger narrative.

In-Character

There’s no doubt that the intra-focused role-player, focused on their character, will achieve consistent characterization. However, the inter-focused role-player could be confused with a role-player who might stray from the in-character path. How do these two types reconcile the challenge of staying in-character?

• Intra-: There are many choices a character faces in a situation, but for the intra-focused, the character only makes one choice, so which is the most faithful choice when once considers character, situation, setting, context, etc. This choice may or may not cause an abrupt end to the thread, the character’s demise, or in a worst-case scenario, disrupting another character’s involvement.

• Inter-: There are also many choices for an inter-, all of which could be viable in-character choices, all of which could very well be authentic. There is no one correct choice, but rather a small set of possible choices. The choice of which direction to go is weighed against where they want the story to go. They will not make a choice that doesn’t result in more good story. The pitfalls, are of course, stretching away from character for the sake of the story, sort of painting themselves into a corner. In order to continue, they may have to really fudge the character for the sake of the greater story.

Conflict

As you can gather from the way I introduced the topic, when we don’t understand the other, conflict can occur. Intra-focused role-players will become frustrated with inter-focused role-players for infidelity of character for the sake of a desired outcome. The inter-focused among us will become frustrated with an intra-focused role-player who refuses to compromise character for the greater story or full-filling a larger goal for the group.

Resolution

Communication, duh. The key to the enjoyment of all is to communicate clearly with your co-role-players about how you wish a session or thread to go. This doesn’t mean spelling out all the events to come, but just basic goals. Some intra-focused players can be coaxed into predicting, loosely, how things will go for their character in a given situation. Some inter-focused players can settle for a variety of possibilities that still allow them to achieve unity of story. Communicate with each other and try and understand that people have different priorities. Sometimes just acknowledging that there’s another way of being out there makes for fewer conflicts.