From reading this thread, I’m thinking PC is used here as “person who does things”. This seems to be a broader use of the term than I’ve seen previously, where it meant “person who does things that influence the world in a significant way”″.
“PC” stands for Player Character. This is a term that originated in tabletop roleplaying games, but is now mostly used in videogames. A Player Character is a character the player controls directly. These sort of characters drive the plot and do stuff in the world that changes the world. PCs are contrasted by NPCs (Non-Player Characters). NPCs are only there to give the PCs something to do and generally have a limited amount of actions they can do. A shopkeeper NPC, for example, only serves to sell stuff to the players and won’t help you slay the dragon in any meaningful way.
In HPMOR, Harry uses PC and NPC as a way to distinguish between people who are willing to deviate from their role and people who aren’t.
From reading this thread, I’m thinking PC is used here as “person who does things”. This seems to be a broader use of the term than I’ve seen previously, where it meant “person who does things that influence the world in a significant way”″.
Well, before I can get to the latter, first I have to get to the former. :)
“PC” stands for Player Character. This is a term that originated in tabletop roleplaying games, but is now mostly used in videogames. A Player Character is a character the player controls directly. These sort of characters drive the plot and do stuff in the world that changes the world. PCs are contrasted by NPCs (Non-Player Characters). NPCs are only there to give the PCs something to do and generally have a limited amount of actions they can do. A shopkeeper NPC, for example, only serves to sell stuff to the players and won’t help you slay the dragon in any meaningful way.
In HPMOR, Harry uses PC and NPC as a way to distinguish between people who are willing to deviate from their role and people who aren’t.
I hope that clears things up a bit.
So what would be the term for those of us who never fitted into a role in the first place?
Without additional information, I’d say that they’d gravitate toward being PCs.
Of course, there’s also the role of not fitting into a role.