What has RP done for your education?

[Agback]

G'day

I was a smart kid, but contrary as a cat and obstinate as a pig. I refused to memorise multiplication tables (what did TI give us calculators for?) until I started playing an RPG called ForeSight, which was based on the 'ease factor' system from James Bond 007. Now mental artihmetic is second nature.

Now I credit playing RPGs for nearly all my knowledge of literary criticism and writing theory (of which I managed to learn none in six years of compulsory high school English), most of my knowledge of astronomy and planetary science, nearly all my knowledge of mediaeval history, economic history, history of technology, and social history. And all that is without considering a vast general knowledge that I have picked up while researching stuff for RPGs.

What do you reckon playing RPGs has done for your education?

 

[shilsen]

I was already well into my second MA when I started gaming, so it hasn't really done much for my education. But DMing has made me a better teacher (and teaching makes me a better DM), so my gaming done a lot for many other people's education.

 

[Imruphel]

I've never studied law but the lawyers I regularly deal with express amazement at my grasp of contract law and ability to generate fairly complex contracts which require little amendment. Of course, none of them ever played 1E D&D....

 

[Aidan mac Culloch]

I think rather than simply accumulating knowledge, playing RPGs teaches you how to think. Problem-solving often requires thinking outside the box, or finding alternate solutions to problems. Combat strategy, stealthy ops, political intrigue -- it is all about approach.

I should temper this statement by saying that I do learn things that would be considered simply accumulation of knowledge. But the predominant thing RPGs do is teach me how to think, or at least give me additional practice in a less stressful setting.

 

[Aikuchi]

I got started in Art.
Loved getting into the game, desperately wanted to capture them on paper. So I started to draw the adventures and characters ...

 

[Turanil]

What do you reckon playing RPGs has done for your education?

I wouldn't speak/read/write English if it was not for RPGs. At first RPGs were only available in English where I live (imports only). When they became available both in French and in English however, I made the choice to only buy them in English (out of my 120 gaming books, only 4 are in French) to avoid speaking an odious slang of mixed French and English words at the gaming table. So, now I am quite fluent in English thanks to RPGs.

I've never studied law but the lawyers I regularly deal with express amazement at my grasp of contract law and ability to generate fairly complex contracts which require little amendment. Of course, none of them ever played 1E D&D....

Cool!

 

[NiTessine]

I learned most of my English from roleplaying games and fantasy novels. Nothing expands the vocabulary quite like a diet of Gygax and Greenwood.

Fantasy games also sparked my interest in history and mythology as well as a more general hunger for knowledge.

Call of Cthulhu D20 taught me more about the US federal firearms legislation than I ever needed to know. Certain GURPS sourcebooks (GURPS Illuminati and GURPS Warehouse 23, I believe) spoiled me the plot of Da Vinci Code years before it was released.

 

[Ruined]

I know that I improved my grades in school so I could get my D&D books back from my parents. =) It was much better motivation than taking away television.

Seriously, I do attribute a lot of acquired skills to gaming. I have better vocabulary, problem-solving techniques, and research skills from years of gaming. And I know for a fact I'm a better public speaker from DMing so much.

 

[pogre]

It made me fail 7th grade English. Myself and three friends started playing D&D in the back of the classroom. The teacher let us play, saying, "You will have to deal with the consequence!"

An F in Junior High English for 90 minutes of D&D every day - that's a trade I might even make now

 

[Henry]

I learned many obscure vocabulary words, and it served as practice for my basic math skills; other than that, not a lot of difference.

However, just recently it helped me expand my word power when I visited Larry Elmore's site and found he offered "Giclee" prints. So now I know what "Giclee" means!