Why do you game?

[Henry]

gives Henry an odd look

forget the realms...

play real D&D.

Yeah, considering that when you say "According to Hoyle", most people will assume you're talking about a card game...

 

[Nightchilde-2]

The reasons I game have evolved over the years.

When I first started gaming, it was because I enjoyed expressing my creativity in a new and exciting way.

As I got out of high school, and through most of my 20s, it was that plus a strong desire to hang out with friends and people who "got" who and what I was. Around my mid 20s, it became a way to escape the mounting stress in my life, but as that stress went away, so too did the strong desire to escape.

Now that I've started embarking upon my 30s, and I find my oldest child nearing the age that I started gaming (she turns 9 this year), it's not only the two items above, but also a desire to share something that has become so integral to my life with those I love. I feel that I'm developing something of a "mentor complex" with regards to gaming.

 

[Chingerspy]

Its a great way to spend money!
Its a really bad way to meet wimin! (believe me!)
Its a wonderful creative outlet
I've stopped drinking alchohol now so thats no longer an excuse

Erm...
Actually I think I'm in the same camp as those that have done it so long I wouldn't know how not to game. Roughly 17 out of 27 years ain't bad roleplaying.

 

[Rel]

Why do I game?
T'ain't no mystery.
I've got me an interest
in Fantasy and History.

I like to tell tales
of Heroes and Villians.
To eat fatty foods
and just do some chillin'.

My PC's kill monsters
and take all their stuff.
It keeps me from feeling
frustrated and gruff.

I love to run games
and feel "Dungeon Masterly".
And if I do it right,
they call me "rat-bastardly".

Plus I get to collect
books, dice and minis
of Orcs, Trolls and Goblins
in chainmail bikinis.

I like to take time
to hand out with friends
and gaming is a fabulous
means to that end.

It gives me something to do
when I'm feeling lazy.
Why do I game?

Hell, maybe I'm crazy!

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Nice bit Rel, although I wonder about you enjoying orcs, trolls and globlins in chainmail bikinis

Why do I game? Mostly for the same reasons already stated: fun, a creative and social outlet etc. But since hooking up with EN World I have one more reason: I one day hope to DM or play in a campaign as excellent as those in some of the story hours posted here (I just read Piratecat's latest update and once again am in awe).

 

[Buzzardo]

Why do you game????


Good Night Man!

WHY DO YOU BREATHE?!

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I do it for a little bit of escapism. I do it for a little bit of creativity and excitement as well as a good excuse to hang out with good friends.

I think lots of people who play computer games (like EverQuest) but not tabletop RPGs would make decent gamers (possibly) if they had the interest in sitting around with people or the patience to keep things non-visual.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Some people would look at communal storytelling processes or "gaming" as an output of a constructivist post-modernist decollage. The weight of the socio-economic changes of the past 30 years have, in effect, altered the entertainment needs of the "multitude." However, sociological trends cannot begin to explain the need for "gaming" anymore than a deep seated human need for a story based shamanical experience. We have to turn to philosophy. I believe it was Kant or Foulcault who said:

"Uh...because it's fun?"

 

[Kemrain]

I RP to be someone else for a while. To feel what being another person is, emotionally. To feel loves and hates I'd otherwise never get to experience. To do things that are impossible. To meet people that aren't real. To be a different kind of person, for a while. To feel normal, for once in my life.

Escapism, pure and simple.

That and the creative outlet. If I didn't game, I'd be a very unhappy person.

- Kemrain the Escapee.

 

[diaglo]

Compensating. It's why I like miniatures, too.

i like miniatures too. but i prefer homebrews.

i do decent with potato peelings too.

and corn mash.

and fermented foot stomped grapes...