2008/01/01 by Bryn Neuenschwander · 1 citation
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Acculturation #Artificial intelligence #Casual #Computer science #Digital Games and Media #Hobby #Knowledge management #Mores #Political science #Process (computing) #Psychology #Situated #Social learning #Social psychology #Sociology #Structuring
paper · pdf · doi:10.2304/elea.2008.5.2.189
openalex publication_date 2008/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The open-ended, informal, and socially negotiated nature of role-playing games creates a distinct learning challenge for newcomers to the hobby. The explicit rules of the game provide only an incomplete framework for structuring the actions of players, and the expectations and mores of a given group will add other, unspoken rules that discourage or reward certain patterns of behavior. Through a combination of casual instruction, mimesis, and situated learning, new players become acculturated to the ways of both role-playing games in general and specific games in particular. Online resources can facilitate this process, by placing individuals in contact with a wider network of fellow hobbyists, but the limited channel of communication available online also restricts the social cues that could otherwise contribute to learning.