The Ultimate Fan Dedication

There are many people out there who call themselves "dedicated fans" to different things. For some, dedication may mean just reading the books, buying them, watching the movies, etc. For others, that isn't enough; just reading the plot does not cut it for them. That is where role playing comes in.

Role playing, to explain to those who do not completely understand the idea, is creating different plot variations based on an already-existing plot. There are infinitesimal outcomes, all dependent on the imagination of those taking part in it. Participants write out the different plots together, usually portraying one or two characters at a time and interacting with others. It requires a lot of cooperation.

Role playing can also be more active; you can physically portray a certain character and verbalize the dialogue between other characters. It can also be more or less a game played online without much plot; you are a certain character, and can go through the game without having to interact with any other characters. It is something that is subjective to you as a fan; you make of it what you will, and you can choose just how involved you'd like to be. There is no right or wrong way to role play.

Harry Potter role play has been one of the most popular role plays today, alongside other popular choices like Twilight and Dungeons and Dragons. Personally, I have quite a bit of experience with role playing in Harry Potter. Before I talk about that, however, I'd like to take a look at a few popular Harry Potter role play websites.

Hogwarts Extreme

This ten-year-old website is one of the largest role play sites out there. Members can choose to role-play or to just interact with one another on the site. It sorts each member into houses, where they can opt to take different classes Hogwarts would offer. The different "locations" of the castle symbolize different chatrooms where members can role-play with one another. Members can also earn money, cards, and other fun prizes

I found this site to be pretty easy and straight-forward. It offers information about those who found the site, and who are currently working with it. It deals with Hogwarts in the present, and is mostly a big online game for fans to really delve into.

Hogwarts Live

This website is strictly a game where members gain points by achieving daring feats. Such activities include defeating beasts, performing well in a class, and overcoming Death Eaters, even Voldemort, in order to win points and become the next Hogwarts Champion.

I enjoy that this website has a specific purpose. It is directed towards those who are more into playing games rather than writing out role play scripts.

Harry Potter Independent Role Play

This website is no longer available; however, it is one I participated in for a few years in my youth. It was started around 2004 by a few friends of mine, but I became a member in 2005. There were only about ten of us total who participated. We were a strictly script-based role play; we had different forums titled with different locations around Hogwarts. Each person portrayed a few characters, and planned which characters they would interact with offline before actually posting it in the forum.

Our role play focused on Hogwarts during the time of Harry's parents, and I played both of Neville Longbottom's parents, as well as two other made up characters. I will not go into much further detail to spare the length of this update; however, if you would like to know more about my specific plot ideas, feel free to comment!

Overall, I completely enjoyed my experiences with role playing. It completely opened my eyes to new possibilities, and my imagination and creative skills were bettered because of it.

Advice

For those of you interested in role playing, I would give the following advice:

• Find what type of role playing interests you; writing scripts, playing games physically, online, etc.
• Decide what existing plot or subject interests you.
• Figure out if you'd like to be in the past, present, or future of the plot.
• Pick some friends, or an online website, and start role-playing.
• Do not be afraid to let your imagination run wild. That is the goal of role-playing.

As always, any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, leave a comment!

Coming Next Time...

I will be bidding my blog farewell after next week, so if any of you have suggestions for my next topic, please let me know!