"It's just a game."

[the Jester]

I rate it as a big part of my life, my favorite art form, and certainly one of the 'core things' in my life since about 1981. You know, it's not many things that most people have in their lives for that long- and my love for the game has never stopped, and I've almost never been without a game.

0.5 It is something to do. For some it is more than a game cuz they make their livelihood from it. But for me. If I had something better to be doing I would be. So it is the something I'm doing cuz I don't have anything else more interesting to do at the time.

This from a guy with one of the biggest dnd collections of anyone I've ever known-!

diaglo, sometimes you amaze me...

 

[Ambrus]

I voted 4.

To me it's more than a game; it's my hobby and passion. I consider it part of the sci-fi/fantasy geek subculture/lifestyle which is part of my identity. Posting/reading EN world is also a part of that lifestyle as is attending conventions, watching Lost or Firefly, etc...

I've always hated when people call RPGs "just a game"; it's a near meaningless statement. It's just a game? So is tic-tac-toe. So is the superbowl. So is the world cup of soccer. It's hard to equate kids scribling on a piece of paper with a multi-million international sporting event followed by billions but they are both just games.

 

[Zappo]

3.5? But I voted 4. I would be a slightly different person without it.

It's still just a game in the sense that I don't worry much about it.

 

[shaylon]

I chose three. In some ways it is just a game to me, but it mostly is an important hobby. I would rather do D&D stuff including gaming and prepping that most other things. Unfortunately, bills need paid, lawns need mowed (desperately, actually), and errands need finished. I still try to make time for the game though.

-Shay

 

[Bagpuss]

I'm just wondering how many RISK and Monopoly websites those folks that voted less than 2 visit enough to answer a poll like this.

 

[demiurge1138]

I voted three. It's a dedicated hobby. One that I'm very glad I'm a part of.

Demiurge out.

 

[Desdichado]

1.5. I'm with Henry--the game itself is just a game, although I take it more seriously than I do sitting down for a few hours in front of an Xbox or whipping out Settlers of Cataan or something like that.

But it's really the social aspect of it that makes it different from other games in terms of how seriously I take it.

 

[mcrow]

It's just a hobby, but a hobby can be a very big part of peoples lives.

hunting/fishing is a hobby, and I know people who I grew up with in northern MN who hunt or fish 3+ days a week. It would be the end of the world for them if the couldn't hunt/fish. For me hunting/fishing is one of my hobbies, but it is much lower on the pole than RPing. So to say it's just a hobby is a bit to simplistic (IMO). A hobby can be something you do once a year every year or something you do nearly everday.

 

[Hjorimir]

Monopoly is a game. D&D is a hobby.

What he said.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

1.5. I'm with Henry--the game itself is just a game, although I take it more seriously than I do sitting down for a few hours in front of an Xbox or whipping out Settlers of Cataan or something like that.

But it's really the social aspect of it that makes it different from other games in terms of how seriously I take it.

Me three.