The Pen-and-Paper role-playing game is a successful example of collaborative interactive narrative. Meanwhile, computer-based
role-playing games, while structurally similar, offer quite different narrative experiences. Here results are presented of
an experimental study of role-playing gamers in Pen-and-Paper and computer-supported settings. Communication patterns are
shown to vary significantly on measures such as the share of in-character statements and the share of dramatically motivated
statements. These results are discussed in the light of differences between the two gaming forms and finally some design implications
are discussed.
Keywords Role-playing games - communication - computer-mediated communication - narrative - player behaviour