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Cliche Topic...; ...But Cliches can be Fun!
Tweet Topic Started: Dec 25 2006, 07:04 PM (195 Views)
Hades Dec 25 2006, 07:04 PM Post #1
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I know the question has been asked countless times by a legion of roleplaying enthusiasts...

But I am going to ask it again...

Why do you roleplay?

What are you looking for when you sit at the table, roll the dice, and start pretending to be someone else? Where does all of the pleasure come from?

“Don't do anything by half. If you love someone, love them with all your soul. When you go to work, work your ass off. When you hate someone, hate them until it hurts.”
- Henry Rollins
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kismetrose Dec 25 2006, 09:30 PM Post #2
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You know, the simplest questions are not always the easiest to answer or the silliest ones to ask. I'm actually going to have to think about it for a little, but then I'll be back with whatever answer I find.
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Mordien Dec 26 2006, 03:20 AM Post #3
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Some part of it for me i relaxation ,to be able to cast of the worries of every day life. Then its the adventur the felling of exitment to create our own Hero story, and of course the joy of doing someting you love with your friends:

HHrrm feels like i have more to say but i dont know how to let it out

i have to come back to this
All warfare is based on Deception


MORDIEN
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Hades Dec 26 2006, 07:19 PM Post #4
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You're right: it's a hard question with an answer that's probably bigger than I can really express with any skill or clarity but that won't stop me from taking a stab at it.

First of all, I think that roleplaying games bring us into contact with powerful Archetypes. I also think that roleplaying games are another form of storytelling and that storytelling is one of our oldest forms of communication, magic, and culture-building. Finally, I think most of us enjoy the escape and the adventure that we experience when becoming someone (or something) else, even if only figuratively, for a few hours.

Another question: Do you think that people who roleplay, or at least have the potential to be roleplayers, are naturally more intelligent and intellectual than people that don't?
“Don't do anything by half. If you love someone, love them with all your soul. When you go to work, work your ass off. When you hate someone, hate them until it hurts.”
- Henry Rollins
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Freston Dec 27 2006, 05:05 AM Post #5
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Isn't it just because it's fun that we roleplay? It's more fun than playing cards or boardgames in my opinion.

Aha! But why is it fun? Hm... I dunno. It to me seems to have a lot to do with the 'hanging around with friends and letting our imagination run wild' part of the game. I enjoy a good story, and I enjoy being able to interact with the story while it unfolds.

Also I do feel that you get to use different parts of you during the game, parts that are not directly useful during work or whatever. Imagining a whole different world, where things work differently, and solving problems there. It surprises me sometimes how much of the same image we have about a place that exists nowhere but in our imagination. It really feels like we've been there.

"Hades"
 
Another question: Do you think that people who roleplay, or at least have the potential to be roleplayers, are naturally more intelligent and intellectual than people that don't?
I've heard this one before. I'm not gonna burn my fingers on this question, but *cough* I think so *cough*
said the fool, and he showed his suntanned teeth.
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kismetrose Dec 27 2006, 04:06 PM Post #6
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One of the major reasons that I roleplay is because using my imagination gives me pleasure. Sometimes the pleasure comes from being someone and somewhere else, other times it comes from a job well done (running a great session, etc.). I also admit that my imagination saves my sanity and it always has - it relieves stress and brings about elation and/or catharsis. It also pulls me out of the mundane world and into something fantastical that goes beyond the things we see every day.

I also roleplay because, to some degree or other, I have always been involved with stories and storytelling. As a child I played games that were basically free form roleplaying; as a teenager I began to read a great deal and then I discovered roleplaying. It is a natural outlet and a natural continuance of an interest I've had since I can remember. As a child I knew that stories were powerful and that they meant more than their surface implied, even if I didn't know what that deeper meaning was. I still believe that they are powerful, but I must add that not all stories are as impactful as others. The same goes with roleplaying experiences - some are are just more memorable and engaging than others.
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Do you think that people who roleplay, or at least have the potential to be roleplayers, are naturally more intelligent and intellectual than people that don't?

Actually, I'm not sure about that. It seems to me that hobbies require different types of knowledge. Roleplaying tends to be very book-based, so roleplayers often seem to be better read than some, and they've developed certain skills to a higher degree. But I'm still not sure that roleplayers are more intelligent per se. I've met plenty of gamers who believed they were smarter and better, but that's another matter. I think it's natural to want to elevate a group of which one is a part, and it's natural to see elevated qualities in such groups. They reflect us and we reflect them.
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DarkElf Jan 16 2007, 03:31 PM Post #7
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why the only answer to meet women. I mean the chicks just dig it when we get behind the DM's screen and act out what the dodgy man in the corner of the inn does while eating his soup. :)

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