RPG Skills: Can Games Help You Level Up in Life?

Video gaming wasn’t always the mainstream pastime that it is today. Indeed, through the decades, the concept has been targeted with criticism, including the idea that it could ultimately be bad for your health.

However, there is an ever-growing school of thought that video gaming can be good for you. As IDTech.com explains, video games offer a range of benefits, including the potential to increase brainpower.

Could it be that certain forms of gaming - namely RPGs - are actually more beneficial than others?

In this article, you can read on to discover common RPG skills and how they could help you in everyday life.

However, before an RPG skills list is compiled, along with the potential benefits, it is important to look at why these types of games are great for the brain. 

Why RPGs and RPG Skills?

Past concerns around gaming may have developed for the simple fact that it was once an isolated pastime. Gamers often hid away in bedrooms to tackle predominantly single-player experiences.

Nowadays, everything has changed, and much of that can be linked to the vast number of multiplayer games and, in particular, role-playing games RPGs.

The general aim of all RPGs is to assume a role within a world and/or team. You then work alongside others in the game, for example as part of a clan, and carry out tasks.

Thus, you can already start to see how RPG skills develop in unison with others, rather than in isolation. You have to be a skilled player in your own right but also someone that can work as part of a team. 

The RPG Skills List

RPGs come in many forms, and there is a strong argument to say that this means players have to face a host of new challenges and develop skills along the way.

Some of the common RPG skills you’ll have to master are:

Leadership

While collaboration is vital in cooperative play, there will still be times when you have to show leadership and make important decisions that can affect the whole group.

Being a specialist

In team-based RPGs, gamers often have to take up specific functions – like attack, defense, and supporting roles.

Focusing on these tasks is one of the important RPG skills you have to master. In essence, you have to do your best for the greater good of the team.

Multi-tasking

On the flip side, there will also be moments when you need to juggle several tasks at once.

Therefore, one of the most important RPG skills you’ll need to master is being able to work individually to your own strengths while also helping with other group-related tasks. 

Problem Solving RPG Skills

At their core, all RPGs are problem-solving games. Learning to think logically and laterally is the key to success. But, as it is with all RPG skills, your thoughts need to include the self and the group.

A solution to a problem may work for you as an individual player but not the group as a whole. Therefore, you have to balance your own needs with the needs of those around you. 

Can RPG Skills Be Used Outside of Gaming?

Yes! Research seems to suggest that it’s possible to apply the RPG skills we’ve listed to everyday life.

For example, researchers at Missouri S&T surveyed almost 300 online RPG players who enjoyed gaming for eight hours a week, but also worked 38 hours a week.

They found that those who tended to be successful RPGs, using skills such as problem-solving, multi-tasking, and teamwork, were more successful in the workplace. 

RPG Skills & Personality Traits

The research on RPG skills can also be linked to a well-established concept in psychology known as the Big Five personality traits.

Originally proposed by Ernest Tupes and Raymond Christal but refined over the years, the following traits are used to, broadly, define human personality.

In turn, they’re used by human resources departments to assess the suitability of people for specific jobs:

• Conscientiousness – People with a high degree of conscientiousness are reliable, prompt, and methodical. 
• Agreeableness - People with a high degree of agreeableness are sympathetic, friendly, and cooperative. 
• Openness - People with a high degree of openness are more willing to learn new skills and have a variety of interests/skills.
• Neuroticism - People with a high degree of neuroticism can be tense and prone to mood swings. People with low neuroticism are more emotionally stable. 
• Extraversion - People with a high degree of extraversion are engaging, energetic, talkative, and thrive off social interactions. 

When you combine the research in RPG skills and their application in the workplace with the above personality traits, you can start to create links.

For example, when returning to the RPG skills list, teamwork and multi-tasking are crucial in these games.

Therefore, people with high levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness will thrive in RPGs. 

Similarly, you need someone that’s fairly open and extravert in your team.

Diversity in RPG Skills

However, as mentioned before, RPG skills are diverse in the sense that there’s a place for everyone.

So, a person with high levels of neuroticism would still be useful on a team because they could bring a serious, focused approach to things.

Therefore, it’s less about finding people with certain traits and saying they’d be great RPG players, and more about finding ways to harness everyone’s skills.  

The RPG Skills List Applies to Life

The world of video gaming has changed so much in recent years.

Although RPGs offer exciting action in a fantastical environment, they still require gamers to make use of, and develop, skills that can be used in the real world.

Whether it’s learning to manage multiple tasks while performing individual duties or it’s taking charge of a team, the RPG skills list is one that applies to more than gaming.

Therefore, the next time someone tells you that gaming is no good for your brain, use your RPG skills to prove them wrong.