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<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 9843626" data-attributes="member: 20564">If I and my friends were shipwrecked on a deserted isle, worked out how to survive, and eventually were able to signal for a rescue, we aren't writing a story -- but what we are doing could be told as one.&nbsp; Hopefully more Gilligan's Isle than Lord of the Flies, but either could be told as a story.In an RPG, there's a few differences from that deserted isle.&nbsp; First, it's a game, it's played for enjoyment, which has an impact on what we do vs. if it was for survival.&nbsp; Second, there's a remove between the characters who are in the situations and the players who are outside it even if they are guiding it.&nbsp; No player will starve or get hit by a sword by a roll of a die.No one person is writing a story.&nbsp; But the actions of the characters within the context of the GM can create stories.&nbsp; Do the players gain enjoyment from this?&nbsp; Stories resonate with us, that's why they are so prevalent as entertainment (and lessons).&nbsp; If you break that down to the DNA, to the parts that we enjoy or make us feel, does a session of an RPG share some of that DNA?&nbsp; Yes.&nbsp; Does an adventure, a campaign?&nbsp; Even more and even more.We can debate if the word &quot;story&quot; applies, but it's the many of the same underlying aspects of stories that RPGs evoke, enough so that since we don't have a separate word for them that &quot;story&quot; is the one that fits best.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Blue, post: 9843626, member: 20564"] If I and my friends were shipwrecked on a deserted isle, worked out how to survive, and eventually were able to signal for a rescue, we aren't writing a story -- but what we are doing could be told as one. Hopefully more Gilligan's Isle than Lord of the Flies, but either could be told as a story. In an RPG, there's a few differences from that deserted isle. First, it's a game, it's played for enjoyment, which has an impact on what we do vs. if it was for survival. Second, there's a remove between the characters who are in the situations and the players who are outside it even if they are guiding it. No player will starve or get hit by a sword by a roll of a die. No one person is writing a story. But the actions of the characters within the context of the GM can create stories. Do the players gain enjoyment from this? Stories resonate with us, that's why they are so prevalent as entertainment (and lessons). If you break that down to the DNA, to the parts that we enjoy or make us feel, does a session of an RPG share some of that DNA? Yes. Does an adventure, a campaign? Even more and even more. We can debate if the word "story" applies, but it's the many of the same underlying aspects of stories that RPGs evoke, enough so that since we don't have a separate word for them that "story" is the one that fits best. [/QUOTE]

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