What Value Does The Game Bring?

[Morrus]

Dice create suspense because you can't control what will happen. The emotion of suspense - will I succeed or not? - is a powerful motivating factor in RPGs. If you were just narrating it, there would be no suspense. Suspense is fun.

 

[Psion]

Here's my question: Why do you play roleplaying games over simply roleplaying? How does the game bring unique value that you cannot get from simply roleplaying with your group?

- A "contract" or expectations about the way the narrative will proceed.
-- Related to this, the rules themselves produce a particular narrative flow. Different games produce different results. Cthulhu is different from Fate is different from Pathfinder.
- Pure "gamism", and the joy of the challenge/tactical part of the game. The same part of my brain that gets joy out of building an empire in a 4x game gets joy out of building a cool wizard or barbarian and have it be effective.
- Immersionism. The game rules are a model of reality. Me seeing the elements that define a character or a world help give it shape in my mind, a feeling of reality, that simple adjectives often cannot.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Would you rather play Calvin Ball?

 

[aramis erak]

"Narrative authority" feels like a very grownup way to describe the playground arguments of my early gradeschool days.

Good. Indicates I didn't fail my communication check...
And you passed yours for "interpret idiom".

Let's set aside the fact that, for many people playing Roleplaying Games, particularly, though not exclusively, D&D, the game is the point, with the role-playing as the pleasant addition.

When comparing a roleplaying game to a roleplaying activity, the game provides a much broader mechanism for conflict, and conflict is at the center of most fiction. This isn't to say that we can't have conflict in an unstructured roleplaying activity — conflict resolution courses are built around roleplay. But conflict resolution activities are limited to verbal conflict, and they rely upon the ability of the participants to sustain and resolve that verbal conflict, which, for some people, could be difficult. That being said, they can be quite fun. I quite enjoy conflict resolution workshops. Roleplay a conflict between on the condominium board about putting in a ductless air conditioning system. It's a blast, honestly!

Still, the game allows us to bring in mechanics for dealing with all sorts of conflicts that we can't directly act out. Role playing a fist fight stops being role play, unless you plan to actually hit each other; otherwise, you need to be stepping outside of your characters constantly to choreograph a fight.

And, of course, the mechanical imperatives of the game provide plenty of inspiration off of which to build ones role-play. This is why I enjoy building characters by rolling offer a series of charts — the unexpected inputs I get from the dice help me to think outside the box a little bit and rationalize something I would never have come up with on my own.

Yup.

 

[Shasarak]

Here's my question: Why do you play roleplaying games over simply roleplaying? How does the game bring unique value that you cannot get from simply roleplaying with your group?

For me it is because the game part makes it much more interesting then just playing theater sports; it gives you a chance to win.

 

[Henry]

For me, it's because I enjoy the "game" aspect of it as much as I do the roleplaying or story aspect. It has added value by being a Game from which a Story arises, not the sole end goal of story creation.

I will also play games like Fiasco, which is about 90% improv and 10% game (unlike D&D which is for me about 50/50). However, there is still a game and strategy aspect that adds desired complexity to the straight forward approach of only story creation.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[howandwhy99]

Roleplaying in the hobby of roleplaying games uses a different definition than the one used in acting circles. These are opposites. In the kind of way gaming is the opposite of inventing something, roleplaying in D&D is the opposite of expressing a personality.

In reality, gaming is the act of goal seeking and accomplishment within a preexisting design, while D&D is all about the same thing: scoring points to go up in level. What makes D&D a roleplaying game is players do this by mastering a class, their role, of which a few are offered within its design.