The first RPG I ever owned was the 1977 Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, whose cover looked like this:
Now, here's the cover of the 1981 Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set:
If you look at its bottom righthand corner, you'll see that the hyphen has disappeared – "role playing" is presented as two separate words. The 1984 D&D Basic Set restores the hyphen, which brings it in line with the general usage of the AD&D hardcover volumes. However, TSR was quite inconsistent on this point over the years. If you look at the covers of its RPGs throughout the '70s and '80s, you'll see both "role-playing" and "role playing." For example, Gamma World calls itself a "role-playing game," while Star Frontiers is a "role playing game." So, which is it?
Looking over my collection of games, at least those from before 1990, both usages seem quite commonplace, though I detect a slight preference for the hyphenated form. No publisher is completely consistent on this point, though there are some (like GDW) that do a better job at it than others. Sometime in the mid-1980s, a third variant – roleplaying, as a compound word – starts to appear. The earliest game I own that makes use of it is Pendragon (1985), but it's possible I've missed an even earlier instance of this. Nowadays, I see "roleplaying" quite a lot, though the hyphenated version persists.
Do you have a preference? Looking at my own writing, I see that I tend to favor the compound word over the two earlier versions. I'm not quite sure why that is. I wonder if "roleplaying" arose for typographical or graphic design reasons or something equally mundane. Given the general lack of consistency even within a single publisher's products, I doubt that there was a conscious effort to move from one form to another. More than likely, the shift is for other, less obvious reasons. Still, I find myself wondering about the shift and my own preference for one form over the others. I'd be very curious to hear the thoughts of readers on the matter.
A quick look at the Oxford English Dictionary shows that the earliest uses of the term, in reference to psychology, use "role play" (two words). Usage seems to be mixed between hyphenation and full compounding since about the 1940s. This is a not unusual progression in the history of compound words. It's hardly surprising that gaming publications show the same mixture as print media in general. As for my own preferences, I use the full compound.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading somewhere that "role-playing" is preferred for games to distinguish from "roleplaying" as used in psychology and therapy contexts, but I suspect that's not an agreed difference.
ReplyDeleteI prefer "role-playing", as I think it just looks better with the hyphen.
Kelvin, as usual, is right.
DeletePreference?
ReplyDelete"Dramatic Adventure Game." (Used on the Dragonlance: Fifth Age game at the very end of TSR's life.) :D
Roleplaying of course.
ReplyDeleteI also use comicbook over comic book, comic-book, comic magazine or graphic novel. :)
or superhero, super-hero or super hero. (the middle one is actually a joint trademark held by DC and Marvel. Charlton Comics used Action Hero to distinguish itself)
DeleteTrue!
DeleteI enjoying role-playing games about comic-book super-heroes!
I prefer “funnybook”
DeleteEtrimyn Cat
DeleteWhat, no hyphen?
Deletefunnybook is fightin words. so is someone's first response , when I mention that am into comic books, that they read richie rich and the archies. plebians.
DeleteHyphenation rules for compound words in English are pretty fast and loose.
ReplyDeleteCompound words take three forms: open, hyphenated, and closed. In general, compound words move from open, to hyphenated, to closed as the word becomes more common and familiar. "Businessman" is a good example. In old books and articles from the 19th Century, it often appears in the open form as "business man". It then starts showing up in the late 19th and early 20th Century as the hyphenated "business-man" . By now, of course, it's just "businessman" (assuming that anyone still feels comfortable using such a gendered term!)
So, our friends at TSR were in good company both hyphenating and not hyphenating "role playing game" depending on their preference.
Here's a good summary of all this:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/hyphen-rules-open-closed-compound-words
Definitely the compound: Roleplaying.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, as “modern” style games have swung so far to the direction of an exercise in character creation and character-centric story-following, I have reverted to “Fantasy Gaming” or “Adventure Gaming”. Just to emphasize the fact that the hobby we love is about playing a game, not a role. I advise players who desire the former to check out local theater productions….
Not to ruffle feathers, developing an interesting character can definitely be a product of fantasy gaming, but it’s not the goal.
Lately, I prefer "adventure game" due to so many people placing too much emphasis on "role-playing" as the exclusive feature of these games, excluding other features from serious consideration. But if the term is used, I like "roleplaying" as a way to differentiate the games from the psychoanalytic activity, which I have most seen as "role playing". Several people asserting above that "roleplaying" occurs in psychoanalytic contexts as well just pushes me back toward "adventure games".
ReplyDeleteThe hyphen would be the norm as it's not just a compound word but a *compound modifier* (here, a compound adjective). So, in those early days, it would naturally be "a form of role playing" but a "role-playing game".
ReplyDeleteAnd then, as TexasGM says, you have that drift towards using the hyphen in both noun and adjectival forms, and then towards a solid compound word: "roleplaying" - which at least means that people don't need to worry about whether to hyphenate or not, depending on the term's role in a sentence.
Ken St Andre referred to it as "Fantasy role-playing gaming" between '75 and '77; it appears in Tunnels & Trolls 4th Edition (1977), not 1st, but I've seen magazine articles between those with that terminology.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter to me which spelling. But I do prefer the '81 Basic D&D box cover....
ReplyDeleteI have always preferred "role-playing game" and adhere to it except when using a specific game's title, such as Star Trek: The Role Playing Game (FASA), Star Trek Role-Playing Game (Last Unicorn Games), or Star Trek Roleplaying Game (Decipher).
ReplyDelete