The appeal of playing D&D is the combining of socialization with friends, with the thrill that I would get watching an engaging TV program, or of reading a great novel. Some people watch football on TV with their mates at a local pub, Some travel hundreds of miles to watch stock cars drive in circles and socialize with other lovers of the sport; I socialize with others who like D&D, and usually by extension other similar hobbies.
My favorite characters have always been clerics; I've played priests of imaginary and mythic deities, and I've played priests of god in recreations of heroic tales (Song of Roland and the like). In real life, I've always been a religious person, so there's something I've always liked in stories about having the power of right and divine favor behind you, and to have it backed up by the game's version of empirical proof (miracles and the like).
My best D&D memories have always been narrow victories in imaginary battles, shared in the presence of real-life friends. In the real world, not all battles come out victorious and the good guys don't always win; it's nice to share times with friends when the good guys DO win.
There are other games to role-play with, such as sci-fi games, modern-day spy-thriller type games, etc. All of them have come and gone, and the strongest survivor has always been D&D. I think the reason the game has survived is because of its enduring themes and appeals - victory in the face of strong odds, more black and white portrayals of who's right and who's wrong, and just channelling vicarious agressions into healthy avenues. In other genres of games, as in real life, good and evil are not so cut and dried, as we have more familiarity with the themes in these settings; but in a more fantastic swords-and-sorcery-type setting, there is just enough distance, and just enough pointing back to the heroic models who survived more on personal heroism than on gadgetry or modern techniques, that it appeals to everyone who enjoys RPG's and similar hobbies.
By "meeting up with my friends" I assume you mean my current gaming group. We are all friends, the core three or four of whom met at work about eight years ago. Most of my fellow game-players and I have been friends first, game players second. As each of us has met new friends over time, if we feel like this person would enjoy role-playing games as a hobby, then we ask them to join in. If they play and enjoy it, then they've just become a new player. We generally don't share our socializing time with someone who's not a friend, and outside of game time we would gladly help one another with a problem. My fellow gamers are also dynamite furniture movers, fellow movie critics, and friendly ears when the need to grouse about the work week arises.
Hopefully, some of this gets used, but even if not, I hope I've provided a little more useful protrayal of the life of a 20-year inveterate gamer and RPG hobbyist.
Sincerely,
Henry
