Beginning to Doubt That RPG Play Can Be Substantively "Character-Driven"

[nevin]

I think character driven plots can work but In my experience you have to get the ball rolling. Some players will come up with things all on thier own, some you have to lay out a couple of breadcrumb trails to get them there. But it can work.

Fundamentally, RPG players tend to play these games to ESCAPE reality. They don't want to be forced to reflect upon what would naturally be considered character evolvement.
True character evolvement relates strongly to what we experience in real life. Finding the meaning in our existence. And that can be unpleasant, especially for people that are extremely averse to any kind of meaningful change.

In essence: An RPG is commonly used like a drug to numb the drive that would be necessary to create the experience that you are asking for.

Therefore you will very unlikely see players that are able to "play" this sort of character advancement, because :

a.) it fundamentally is not what they are looking for, rather they look for the opposite in gaming.
b.) they would have had to make experiences in real life that would allow them to do it, which they however suppress through constant escapism.

If you think what I am saying is unsound I suggest to find any RPG discord server and see what kind of players you find there. A significant amount of players I have ACtua

I suggest you go read a few of the several studies that have been done since the 80's on role playing and the effects and kind of people that play. In fact the majority of those studies indicate that role players are generally more mentally healthy and tend to avoid a lot of other unhealthy behaviors. That and on the internet people say and do things they'd never say or do face to face. I don't think any internet forum is a place to meet people and see who they really are.

 

[pemerton]

Fundamentally, RPG players tend to play these games to ESCAPE reality. They don't want to be forced to reflect upon what would naturally be considered character evolvement.
True character evolvement relates strongly to what we experience in real life. Finding the meaning in our existence. And that can be unpleasant, especially for people that are extremely averse to any kind of meaningful change.

<snip>

Therefore you will very unlikely see players that are able to "play" this sort of character advancement, because :

a.) it fundamentally is not what they are looking for, rather they look for the opposite in gaming.
b.) they would have had to make experiences in real life that would allow them to do it, which they however suppress through constant escapism.

This doesn't really fit with my experience of RPGing. I have always found that players enjoy RPGs that centre the PCs and their "journey".

 

[Fenris-77]

Character development doesn't really intersect with 'real life' in any meaningful way IMO, nor does thinking about it somehow obviate the escapism inherent in the hobby. In fact, I might argue that the opposite is true, that the tangible teleos of an RPG character might be a soothing balm to someone looking to escape the never-quite-sure of their daily life. To say that an RPG is a "drug that numbs" I think is to fundamentally misunderstand the stakes of the endeavor.

 

[Umbran]

Fundamentally, RPG players tend to play these games to ESCAPE reality.

Fundamentally, RPG players come in many stripes, with many different reasons to play.

Plus, "escape reality" can mean different things for different people.