So, I've decided that I hate roleplaying

[The Shaman]

Last Tuesday. Didn't get the memo, huh? They really gotta fix the circulation issues on those things.

That explains why there were two copies in my inbox.

I'll put a new routing slip on it and toss it in the interoffice.

 

[Hussar]

Easier said than done, since I don't even have an FLGS close by

Have you considered online play? There's all sorts of options like Maptool or OpenRPG to scratch your gaming itch. It's certainly an alternative.

 

[ourchair]

Roleplaying, to me, is something that should be the background and not the major focus. I don't want to "play stupid" with my character, and therefore make poor tactical decisions that hurt the rest of the group. Maybe it's because during the past year I stopped playing D&D and started playing WoW, but it's now my view that someone who hurts their party for "roleplay reasons" is a total jerk and doesn't belong in the group. I don't like being "forced" to speak in first person with my character; IMO it's perfectly acceptable to say "<character name> tells the guard blah blah blah..." and that is roleplaying. I don't have to engage in dialogue and be all like "Hail, my good man! I am seeking blah blah blah canst thou help me?" like improv theater. Sadly most of the people I've gamed with have not agreed and felt I was not roleplaying "properly" because I don't like speaking in first person.

I totally think everything you've expressed is valid.

Sometimes I just want a night with three combat encounters, and letting my dragonborn fighter suffer massive hit point loss from the tactical use of his marks. To me, that's still a story, that's still role-playing, even if it doesn't involve funny accents and big words. And I LIKE funny accents and big words.

However, the part I relate with you the most is how people somehow think your roleplaying is somehow "lesser" because you don't speak in first person. I think it's perfectly alright if you choose to tell the DM what your character says rather than recite it in first-person verbatim. Your charisma stat and related skills are there for a reason.

I want my players to ask "what would my character do," and feel empowered to know that their characters can bluff their way past an obstacle better than they themselves can at their day jobs without demanding that they have to act it out.

If they choose to act it out, then fine, but this isn't a Method class. Roleplaying isn't about trying to create a convincing performance that synchronizes with who you tell us your character is, it's about playing THE role.

 

[Wepwawet]

The title of the thread is "So, I've decided that I hate roleplaying".

If the OP had titled the thread "Enough with the silly voices", and had the exact same words in his first post, this discussion would be different. Name your threads carefully, kids.

But then you wouldn't be so compelled to read the thread, would you?
It's just marketing

 

[Zhaleskra]

But then you wouldn't be so compelled to read the thread, would you?
It's just marketing

Ah, but marketing is everything.

 

[Umbran]

The amount of "go play WoW/you're a hack 'n' slasher/D&D isn't for you" type answers really amaze me...

It doesn't amaze me. If someone comes in and describes how he likes mocha ice cream, but how his local store doesn't carry mocha, and what should he do, I'm going to suggest he try chocolate. It isn't the same, but it may contain much of what he's looking for.

Or not. But that's okay - he at least gets a new experience out of it, and maybe learns something.

 

[maddman75]

However, the part I relate with you the most is how people somehow think your roleplaying is somehow "lesser" because you don't speak in first person. I think it's perfectly alright if you choose to tell the DM what your character says rather than recite it in first-person verbatim. Your charisma stat and related skills are there for a reason.

To each his own, of course, but I personally find the idea very offputting. I want to know what your character says, not the gist of it. IMO that isn't any different than saying "My warrior wades into battle and strikes the enemy with a series of expert moves" while not wanting to reference minis or the exact rules.

I don't expect Shakespearean soliloquies or anything, but I do want to know what it is you say!

 

[Raven Crowking]

Play the game you want to play, in the way you want to play it.

Life is too short to play games you don't enjoy.

RC

 

[Diamond Cross]

For me it's about 70% kill stuff take treasure and 30% roleplay.

Also, I feel that only pen and paper games are role playing games and that computer games, both mmorgs and non mmorgs, are strategy games.

 

[Pseudopsyche]

It doesn't amaze me. If someone comes in and describes how he likes mocha ice cream, but how his local store doesn't carry mocha, and what should he do, I'm going to suggest he try chocolate. It isn't the same, but it may contain much of what he's looking for.

On the other hand, if someone comes in, states "I've decided that I hate comic books", and then describes how he just couldn't get into the copies of Maus and Persepolis his friends gave him, I wouldn't tell him, "Well, go play a video game instead." I would say that not all graphic novels have to be artistic social commentaries, and that plenty of people just like reading X-Men and Batman.

Similarly, there's more to roleplaying than the "Actor" archetype described in the DMG. Not being an Actor doesn't mean you don't like roleplaying.