Why do you game?

[Turanil]

I am a storyteller at heart. In fact I prefer to DM than play. Yet I do like to play if the story is really good and this is something new (like my present opportunity to play SWd20 soon...).

Also it's a nice way to socialize with my friends.

I've never met women through gaming though. In France, hoping to meet a woman through gaming is as much successful as planning to buy a house in winning the million at Las Vegas.

 

[Belen]

Because I need an outlet for the stories banging around in my noggin. I love the imagery and fun of creating characters and having them grow in a group of friends.

Because I cannot stomache normalcy. Sports, bars and booze are not something that excites the mind and I do not want to go through life watching shadows on a wall and never getting up to wander towards the sunlight beyond the cave.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Most gamers are men.
Men like to socialize but need a reason (same rules for a phone call).
Not every man likes sports.
Some men like a good escape from the real world.
Throw in some gadgets called dice and a set of rules and voila!

 

[Buttercup]

As Crothian said, it's an outlet for my creative and social impulses. Unlike him, I don't do it to meet women.

 

[Buttercup]

Because I need an outlet for the stories banging around in my noggin.

Exactly. I don't have the talent or inclination to write novels, but those stories have to get out somehow.

 

[Thanee]

Well, it's fun, creative and also quite educative (best way to learn english ) and you get to meet new people (especially at cons, tho I havn't really attended any for some time), and I generally like cooperative games rather than competitive games (altho some of those are fun, too, every once in a while at least).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Kanegrundar]

I game to have fun and plying with my friends is so much more fun than sitting in front of my computer playing by myself. Plus, it's an outlet. It helps me unwind and give me an excuse to use funny voices and generally act like an idiot.

Kane

 

[Henry]

Coming up on an ENWorld Gameday tomorrow, I find that this is an excellent question.

Main reason? Sheer love of the game - the number-crunching, and the coming up with neat concepts, and cool stories. Even if I never gamed, I would still buy new material and peruse books, comb the web, etc.

Second reason? Having fun with friends. I enjoy the socializing, the cutting up, the insults, the jokes, the sharing of stories and letting off steam. Even without the gaming, these are still the people I go to movies, organize day-trips, celebrate holidays, etc. with.

Third Reason? Because it's an excellent social outlet through which to find people with whom I have things in common. Just like a stereotyped sports jock would find a better home in a sports bar than an sewing circle, When I'm socializing or partying with fellow gamers, I don't have to expalin myself. We all know most of the same odd quotes, terms and culture. If I say to a gamer "critical-fumbled on that pool shot," or "I'm going to my family reunion and then I've got a Forgotten Realms Game after that," he or she doesn't give me an odd look.

 

[diaglo]

"I'm going to my family reunion and then I've got a Forgotten Realms Game after that," [/I]he or she doesn't give me an odd look.

gives Henry an odd look

forget the realms...

play real D&D.

 

[haiiro]

I game because involves creativity, it requires brainpower, it offers things I've never found quite the same mix of in any other hobby (well, "way of life" might be better than "hobby" ), and nearly all of my closest friends are also gamers, or were at one time -- it tends to attract good (and smart) people. That's a biggie.

The short answer is because I love it.