"Why do we do it?"

[Webby140]

Hey - I'm a drama student, and roleplayer/DM/gamer, and I'm currently writing my big research paper for my final year. I'm looking at the differences between narratives when an 'audience member' is merely watching the story, and when they're actually taking part.

I'm getting research together right now, and so I'd like to ask some questions. Please feel free to answer as much or as little as possible, but bear in mind that I may quote, giving username and the address of the site as reference. Thanks in advance:

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?


What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)


How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?


DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?



Thanks!

[weem]

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

I had a crazy imagination as a kid. When I was introduced to D&D I was 12, and it was a game that let me not only create a character that was mine and mine alone (unique like no other) but I could also do whatever I wanted through him - kill monsters, get treasure - and it was different every single time I played. I wanted to climb over the next hill and see what was on the other side. It sucked me in like nothing else has since.


What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

I love the exploration and the sharing of a story that develops around you and your friends on the fly - it's (pen and paper RPG's) dynamic like no other game can be, or will be that I can imagine. Anything is possible within this type of game, there are no limits. I won't be around when computers can present games to you that are this dynamic - I mean, we are excited with computer/console games right now that have destructible terrain.

As far as doing things in the game you are unable to do IRL, that sounds... cheesy to me when people think that is the main reason. As if we say, "Man, I wish I could fly, but since I can't I'll go play X game". I think that's fun having, for example, a character that can fly, but it's not a reason to play these games (for me anyway). After all you can get these kinds of things (the ability to do what you otherwise couldn't IRL) from many different kinds of games.


How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

Do I feel a stronger connection to stories created through playing as opposed to what? Stories I read?

One of the greatest things (for me) about the stories created through playing is this... as I put it to a friend once... When you watch a TV series, or even a movie, many of us say things like "Oh, he's the bad guy I bet" or "If I were her I would have..." etc - and then later on in the movie, or the next time you watch the show you will find out what the result was. With stories generated in this game, you are deciding. After a game, maybe even days later, you could be talking with your friends who also play in the same game, but the discussion is more like this... "I think this guy is the bad guy... next time we see him, let's corner him and confront him about it"... etc.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

What drew me into running games was the fact that I (in my opinion) have a highly creative/imaginative mind and I wanted to be able to share these ideas and run games for people that they really enjoyed and would remember for a long time.

[Rechan]

the differences between narratives when an 'audience member' is merely watching the story, and when they're actually taking part.

One place you might actually look to is dinner theatre, and other theatre where the audience participates. There are various performance art/shows (such as a Murder Mystery party) where the audience interacts with the in-character actors.

Another place you might want to go to specifically is LARPs. Not just the "Dress up in armor and attack eachother wiht foam", but ye olde V:TM groups.

I think those two are definitely a little different than 'sit at a table and roll dice, quote monty python and occasionally act in character with an NPC'.

[The Little Raven]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

Sheer presumptive arrogance that I could do it better than they were doing. A burning need to create something that other people would be interested in, through my intellect and skill at performance.

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

All of the above. I like to take a break from my everyday life and step into the shoes of another persona along with my friends in order to kick ass, take names, and increase our capital. And I definitely want to be able to do things I can't do in the process, like slay dragons or parry the sun.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

I don't necessarily feel a stronger connection to them, but it's a more personal connection because it's born out of a time of fun for me and my friends. I feel a part of its telling and do my best to make everyone else a part of it when I'm the DM.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

There's nothing new under the sun, and I kinda like that. I tend to get my inspiration from anywhere I can find it. I was drawn into DM because my original DM was so awesome that I wanted to be in that seat, teasing my friends with clues about ancient unnamed evils and treasures beyond a man's dreams.

[fba827]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

My initial roleplaying experience was because of friends. One of them had the rulebooks from an older sibling so we all gave it a try. It was an active group activity that my friends and I could enjoy together. As opposed to a passive group activity (such as watching tv/movies).

Originally Posted by Webby140

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

For me, at this stage in my life, my roleplaying enjoyment is entirely based on one of two things depending on my role in the game.

If I'm a player, my enjoyment is entirely based on escapism. For the duration of the game, I get to ignore my cell phone and real world responsibilities to be able to just sit down and participate in a story.

If I'm a DM, I enjoy it as a creative outlet. I have fun making up the plots/stories and seeing how the players react to it, and then going with it from there.

Originally Posted by Webby140

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

That depends entirely on the DM's style.

Sometimes a DM may railroad the story or is doing it from a published module, in which case I don't necessarily feel like I'm part of it's story telling, just running through whatever he/she has planned - kind of like a premade boardgame. (Nothing wrong with this style, and I can enjoy this too)

If the DM's style is open/free form, then, yes, by definition it is a player-driven story and I do feel closer to the story as if I'm actually part of its telling.

It's the difference between being a passenger while the DM drives the car (you can still enjoy the scenery from the window), or being the driver while the DM acts as the GPS receiver telling the driver what's ahead).... okay, weak analogy but you hopefully get what i'm trying to say.

Originally Posted by Webby140

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

If I'm DMing it's because I can write my own plots. I can't say they always end up being "original" as they usually end up being some twisted form of things that have been done before. But it has to be my concept or else I can't DM it. I feel too confined if its prewritten for me and I end up forgetting all the details which kills my motivation to run it.

That need for a creative outlet is what specifically drew me to DMing.

[Jack7]

I’ll help if I can Webby.

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

At first, when I was a kid, it was entertaining, and good exercise for my imagination. It also fit or patterned in with some of my other activities, camping, vadding, and the things I was reading, etc. I role-played some but then later on took up DMing and rarely got to play after that because everyone kept asking me to DM, or they didn’t want to do all of the work involved in having to DM.

But I think I (and perhaps many of my friends, based on the conversations we’ve had over the years) saw role playing and D&D (and when we first started D&D was basically all there was) more pragmatically, than as escapism. (There was an element of escapism, but it wasn’t strong.)

Many of my friends and I went into fields like the military, Intel Analysis, law enforcement, detective work, etc. (at least for a time in our careers) and may are the times we have had discussion about the things we learned in role playing being directly useful and applicable to real life. Yes, when we first started we really didn’t think of it that way, but by gaming we fundamentally impressed upon ourselves basic combat tactics, how to analyze and interrogate people, how to explore unknown locales, mapping skills, basic organizational principles, etc. We used the games to practice and research and learn more about such skills, making it that much more fun to play, and to develop interesting scenarios in which we could practice both our game and real world skills. My experiences and the experiences of my buddies may or may not be common in this respect, or they may be common to a certain generation of gamers, and not others. I can’t really say.

I have before encountered the idea among younger gamers that the very idea of a game being used to achieve real world value of some kind, well, based on prior comments, it seems anathema or even crazy to some of them. That an RPG world is one world, the real world another, and never the twain shall meet. Even though my friends and I have been able to do this easily (integrate fictional simulations with the real world) for twenty five to thirty years or so. But I didn’t know what percentage of younger gamers (and by that I mean kids primarily between 20 and thirty or so) feel like that.

However I can say that many of the kids who play in my milieu/group play just like we did, as a sort of fantasy/imaginary/simulational playground for learning useful things about the real world.

But I gotta say. One of my roommates at college was an actor, and acting is roleplay participation in a story. As much as playing in a party for an RPG. It just isn’t usually interactive, that is to say the script is static, open to interpretation by the actor, but usually not open to ad hoc modification. I say that to point out that playing an RPG is role-play participation, but it is usually interactive and open to modification throughout the entire process. That might help as an angle of exploration in your paper. Both are role play participation, one is interactive, the other scripted.

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

I liked character creation. I liked practicing things like acting and debating and forensic skills. I liked problem solving. Yes, you could do things you couldn’t do in real life, but even those things were usually applicable in a general sense to real life. So I didn’t value the escapism aspect so much but did the simulational aspect.

I also liked storytelling, but one thing I really learned was cooperative teamwork, investigative skills, and things like that which stood me in good favor later on. I also very much liked it when adventures/scenarios, etc. connected history, mythology, religion, literature and so forth throughout the story. I don’t know how many facts in myth, religion, science, technology and so forth I encountered in early games, or how many times the process worked in reverse (I saw in a game the fantasy or imaginary reflection of a real world event or fact), but the games and culture back then tended to cross-fertilize each other. I like allusions so that was a positive aspect of both entertainment and, for lack of a better term, oblique background education through gaming for me.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

Depending on the story, how well or poorly done and executed, I usually like it better than a film. I consider RPGs an early form of Virtual Reality, which is non-technologically based, rather than mechanical or electronic. I guess you could also call things like RPGs biologically based Virtual Reality. Because of that I usually feel more connected to such creations than to film, although, if a film or book or some other form of media is very well produced and the story-line excellent then it can have the same effect upon me as with the best games.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I enjoy it and it’s useful. My children are homeschooled and we often use RPGs like that to supplement history education, or learning about myth, or religion, or politics, military affairs, culture. I guess I also like DMing cause I’ve done it for so long and don’t get to play much (though I like to play when I can).

I’ve never used a Pre-generated milieu and rarely use store-bought modules (though some are pretty good). I consider writing ages and designing adventures and missions and scenarios good writing practice as well as an enjoyable challenge at invention. I guess I’m also kind of strategic, and what used to be called “global” in my thinking and way of looking at the world. I like tactics, but ordinarily I’m kind of normally looking at the big problem and so I like seeing a lot of separate, detailed aspects of a thing being shaped to work together efficiently. So I like tinkering with worlds, so to speak.

I don't know if my particular background helped or not but good luck and Godspeed with your paper.

[Ourph]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

I do both. They aren't mutually exclusive activities.

Originally Posted by Webby140

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

I like that RPGs are games with no end point and no winner. It's possible to keep playing the game indefinitely.

Originally Posted by Webby140

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

I think most of the stories created through playing are pretty uninteresting compared to a movie, book or TV show. They are interesting at the time because they are part of an interactive and competitive game I'm playing with friends, but most aren't worth repeating. That's why the ones that are worth repeating stand out so much. Everyone remembers the time we killed Thor by pushing him off a cliff (not really, that's just an example) but stuff like that doesn't happen every game session. In my experience, something memorable like that might happen once every few years.

Originally Posted by Webby140

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

As a DM, I think the best plot (if you want to call it that) is one where the PCs simply find themselves in a situation and have to survive or figure out some way to turn things to their advantage. I focus mainly on making interesting encounters, connected by some sort of logic, but not necessarily a "plot" in the literary sense.

As for being drawn to DMing, it was primarily because I played in groups where everyone else was drawn to NOT DMing. I think I stick with it because there is a lot of variety in the tactical challenges and tools a DM gets to delve into in each playing session. So while I may not get the fun of controlling a character and playing him well enough to advance in level (i.e. winning), the variety of controlling lots of different monsters with lots of different and interesting abilities tends to make up for that.

[Tequila Sunrise]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

It's all about control. There are a lot of great movies and TV shows, but I don't get to control anything about them. When a protagonist does something I find inconsistent or absurd, I have to live with the results for the rest of the story. Not so when I control the protagonist, because then he doesn't do inconsistent or absurd things.

Like football, I'd rather play it than watch others play. Some people seem to like yelling at the TV; "Come on, Gretsky, get your head in the game!" or "No, don't go in there, Jack will see you coming!" if they're watching a horror flick. I don't like talking to my TV, or to the characters in a book, because they can't hear and won't act differently as a result.

Originally Posted by Webby140

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

Mostly escapism and the ability to do things that I can't do in real life. In real life, I can't kill selfish and obnoxious people, and I certainly can't do it with magic. I suppress inappropriate impulses every day; gaming is a way to make my id and my superego happy at the same time.

Originally Posted by Webby140

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

I feel much more connected to stories created through my rp sessions, though they are rarely as powerful as my favorite books or movies. For example I can call MacCool the Mage and his story mine and my DM's, but LotR is a much better story.

Originally Posted by Webby140

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

From a story telling perspective I prefer playing because I only have to think about one character. From a rules and in-world perspective I prefer DMing because I can run the rules and the game world as I see fit.

True originality is an illusion, so I shamelessly borrow bits and pieces from books, movies and anything else that I can. If my players enjoy my plot, I can call it original; if they don't, I can call it someone else's.

Happy thesis writing!
TS

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

Role-playing has genuine uncertainty. It's not a given that the heroes will win the day, and if they don't, it's not an ironic twist, it's just tough luck.

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

Playing in imaginary milieus and playing with literary and cinematic tropes. Fantasy worlds, superheroes, and real world/historical action/intrigue are my favorite genres.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

RPGs are really more about story-making than story-telling. Story-telling is something you might do after the fact. So there is not a strong connection as there is immediacy, just as a person may not feel a strong connection to events in their real lives that nonetheless were significant. RPGs are about moving the spirit. They are more life-like than novels or movies, really more similar to improv theater, religious ritual, "pretend," or fancruftology. Imaginary experiences that create real feelings.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I just love games so much, that I would DM rather than do without. In truth, I would probably prefer to play more than half the time than DM. But I enjoy writing plots and creating scenarios, and I enjoy challenging, surprising, and amusing my players. I'm kind of a pull-no-punches kind of GM because I think that's what brings excitement to the table.

[Mallus]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

Watching and reading about characters created by other people. The idea of games premised on the playing pieces being fictional characters you create and control is simply smashing.

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

While I'm a big proponent of the notion RPG's are ultimately rooted in wish-fulfillment fantasies, I'd have to say my biggest priority is creating and acting out a character. I love unleashing my inner ham.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less?

It's a bit of a wash. On the one hand I feel close to the stories I had a hand in telling, on the other hand, they're simply not as good as the stories I simply consume.

Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

If a game made me feel like I'm the DM's audience, I'd quit. Everyone, including the DM, is each other's audience. Good lord, I believe I'm paraphrasing Rush...

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I feel original plots are more trouble than there worth. When game-writing, steal from your betters. Why do I DM? I enjoy inflicting my creative processes, such as they are, on others.

[Kwalish Kid]

Originally Posted by Webby140

Hey - I'm a drama student, and roleplayer/DM/gamer, and I'm currently writing my big research paper for my final year. I'm looking at the differences between narratives when an 'audience member' is merely watching the story, and when they're actually taking part.

Hey, I'm an instructor of a university course on RPGs. Could you do me a favour and PM me your bibliography? Any information on your paper would be interesting to see, really.

[chitzk0i]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

I first tried it because my brother was running a game and invited me to join, I think. I didn't really know or think much about role playing before I tried it.

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

A lot of the satisfaction I draw from gaming is venting aggression and frustration through my character's actions. I also find that when the rugged, powerful characters I play succeed, I also feel successful and confident, which I don't often experience in my everyday life.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

Usually, I feel very connected to the story. There was one campaign I was in that was the opposite, though. I didn't really get make an original character, the rules system was drastically modified, and I felt like the DM's elaborate, serpentine plots funneled us into a particular course of action.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I think it's a great idea for a DM to bring a personal touch to the campaign with his own story. I started DMing because my brother's campaign drew enough interest that another game was needed. Once I started, I kept going because entertaining my friends made me feel more confident and self-assured.

[neuronphaser]

Originally Posted by Webby140

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

I was introduced to roleplaying at a very young age (around 5 or so; I am now 27) and enjoyed having the ability to create my part of the story and create something more personal. It has ultimately led me into stage and improvisational theater as a very important hobby in my life. I enjoy watching movies and some TV, and I read novels fairly often, but there is simply more excitement and more of a personal investment in creating my own characters and helping to collaboratively create a story.

Originally Posted by Webby140

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

I would say telling a collaborative story is the best part. I usually DM, and I greatly enjoy crafting detailed story lines and characters, but even moreso I enjoy when the players create something that changes or propels those creations in a new and different direction than I'd originally planned or expected. I love reworking the stories and characters I create around the ideas that the players put forth and the through the consequences of the actions the players take.

Originally Posted by Webby140

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

As a player, I've dealt with both good and bad DMs, so I've felt very differently. Usually, however, I take great pains to get myself involved in the story even if it isn't to my liking, because playing a different personality to my own or being involved in events beyond our world is exciting and can be very immersive. I try to make characters who fit within the story, and then I try to give it a new spin through my character's actions.

Originally Posted by Webby140

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I DM partly because I'm the one who's always willing to put a lot of work into world-building and preparation time, but that's because I enjoy doing so. I like writing plots that focus on how the supernatural or the unexplained affect the lives of common people, and I enjoy dealing with moral shades of gray. Often, books and movies and other entertainment avoids, whitewashes, or immerses itself too deeply in these things, never quite striking a balance that I find totally fulfilling. By crafting my own stories with my players, I find I can develop these things more fully, and explore their consequences in much more depth. Most of all, however, I enjoy it when the players are so involved -- when all of my work seems to take control of them -- and I just get to sit back and watch the players discuss the things happening around them and really experience something new and worth exploring on an ideological level.

[Aeolius]

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

To be fair, "watching the endeavours of characters created by other people" could also include reading books.

As children, we are all role-players; cops-n-robbers, cowboys and indians, pirates, knights, superheroes, and more. Some people choose to grow out of such games, others do not. D&D is a tool for collaborative explorations of our imaginations, nothing more or less. Some use their imaginations for wargaming, some for interactive story-telling. D&D can be used as a commonality for both.

Role-playing, in it's loosest abstraction, is simply interactive television. Instead of watching the show, we participate in it, mold it, and change it to our liking. Can one role-play in a game of WoW? Of course you can, but it isn't required. One can role-play while playing solitaire, for that matter, but best not to do so out loud.


What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

All of the above. I see role-playing/D&D as a collaborative work of interactive fiction. I set the stage; creating a world and populating it with creatures, encounters, traps, and treasures. Then the players enter, stage left, shaping our shared world with their characters.


How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

I have my own peculiarities. I am fascinated by hags and the sea. However I do not expect the same of my players. Therein lies the challenge. How to I describe the world beneath the surface with a degree of both realism and imagination in such a manner as to engage current and potential players? How are the machination of my hags affected by a party that may or may not care to partake of their schemes?


DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

"I DM, so that my hags have someone to play with."

[Wombat]

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

I had been playing miniatures wargaming and board wargames for several years before I found rpgs (well, before rpgs were commercially available). I also read a lot on history, mythology, folklore, and other oddly related topics. To top this off, I loved theatre, but was initially too shy to go out for it. So essentially rpgs brought all my interests together!

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

The collective creation of a story, of an alternate reality, with a group of friends is a grand draw. That and now it is a great way to catch up with the doings of my friends every week

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

We are utterly part of it! This is the great part -- sort of like actually being in a favourite novel (oddly of which would never include roleplaying novels, which are, in our view, universally bland, if not outright terrible). We create a world and get to play in it -- that's quite the rush!

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

D&D was the first game on the block. When I started, it was literally the only game in town. I ran it for a couple of years, but given the few adventures available, and how little I liked them, I HAD to come up with my own plots and stories. Due to this early training, I now am utterly a "write your own adventures, create your own worlds" kind of GM. Also, once other games appeared on the market, I was able to shift my group to other systems, which was preferable for us. So I played OD&D, but dropped out for AD&D (barring a few individual games), came back for 3e (though not as our only game), and have dropped out for 4e (too much of a miniatures battle game for our tastes). But no matter what the system, I am quite comfortable creating my own worlds and my own adventures -- my game, my rulings.

[RFisher]

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

I enjoy both.

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

It’s hard for me to pick favorites. I love exploration and puzzle solving and problem solving. I love the way having a human judge makes the possibilities endless. I love using it as an excuse to hang out with friends.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

I don’t think about it as a story until I’m telling it. I feel the same attachment to a story about a game as I do to a story of anything else I’ve done in my life.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I don’t worry about originality. The backstories I write as DM don’t need to be good or original. It’s just a game. Heck, I think cliché can often serve the game well.

Besides, if I did fancy myself an author, I would think it would be a waste of time trying to come up with an original plot. I don’t think there are many left that haven’t been discovered. What I usually enjoy in stories I read/watch is not the plot but the execution.

I DM because people ask me to. Because the other DMs deserve a chance to play PCs. Because I like being surprised by the players. Because it’s fun to create.

[Dannyalcatraz]

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

For me, it was a supplement to that kind of entertainment. I can read LoTR or watch Star Wars and enjoy them, but with an RPG, I can participate in similar adventures.

Thus, to me, the dichotomy is not much different to me than watching a sporting event as compared to being on a team, or listening to music versus learning to play an instrument.

Both sides have their merits, and each form of spectator entertainment informs and improves its participatory counterpart...and vice versa.

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

I enjoy all aspects of RP about the same, but if you held my feet to a fire, I'd be forced to say that character creation coupled with doing things I can't do IRL are the most fun to me.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

The best professionally written fiction provides a potent dose of immersion for me, one that can last decades. An average story will be memorable, but may not be vividly recalled, but reading the back-cover blurb or a synopsis will refresh my memory instantly.

However, by the nature of the beast, even an average role-playing game makes me go through mental processes analogous to real world life, so right out of the starting gate, I'm more involved. I can clearly recall several sessions of the very first game I played in back in 1977 (the year, FWIW, in which I read LotR), especially the final sequence in which another player's Magic-User and my Fighter were the last party members to die, facing off against a Purple Worm. His PC died when engulfed on a Natural 20. Mine lasted a few more rounds, when with simultaneous initiative- and with both he and the Worm at 4HP each- he missed and the Worm didn't.

I can remember that, but I can't recall what other sci-fi or fantasy I read that year, other than the aforementioned LoTR.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I like it, but I have gotten burned out on occasion. When I do, I'm a horrible DM and need to take a break.

I was initially drawn to be a DM because in my local group at the time, EVERYBODY took a turn behind the shield. However, I turned out to be pretty good at it, so I've spent a good portion of my 30 years in gaming as a DM.

[justanobody]

What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?

You could play with plastic army men and imagine what they do and wiggle them around to walk, or you could try removing the actual little army men and D&D allowed you to create your own TV show with a set of rules to know when something happened that everyone could agree on rather than argue over being shot in the head or the leg....

What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)

Creation and storytelling in a world unlike our own. You can kill without hurting people, and take their stuff. You can create your own world or character and make things work a special way for them that defies modern physics, and you could see how things were in another time depending on if you playedin a medieval setting, and learn about that time through practice rather than just reading about it wherein you can't just build a catapult or ballista and fire it off in your backyard, nor build a castle and defend it from an invading hoard to see if it would tactically work against another persons (DMs) ideas and tactics. Creating a story rather than just watching one, where you have a say in what happens next and don't always get stuck with filler episodes that waste time in TV shows.

How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?

I don't view the DM as the TV where you just watch them tell the story, but rather along with the DM providing hooks to snare you into a path you get to follow that path and alter its direction through your taking part in it rather than just watching it on TV or the DM just reading a story to you.

DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?

I think all original plots are now written, and everything today is just a variation on something that has already been done. Making my own things as a DM, I would say the extended freedom not given to the players. The players can do anything in the world in which they play by way of having their characters try to perform any action they want to see them do. The DM gets to create everything that is not control by the characters, and put in any and all quirks into the world that will give it character and feel to set the mood for the players to further tell their shared stories.

Sort of like Dungeon Master from the cartoon series. He appeared only when something important needed to be pointed out indirectly, but never really aided or hindered the characters from doing whatever they saw was the right thing to do to get to their goals.