Why Do You Play D&D?

[Desdichado]

I was thinking about this, obliquely, myself last night while I was coming home from work, since my car stereo died and I didn't have anything else to distract me.

I've been a fan of the fantastic all my life. The very first book I ever got at the library, back when I was like four or so, was about dinosaurs. I had no idea what dinosaurs were, but I saw those pictures of strange, exotic, jinormous monsters, and I feel instantly in love (I'm still a huge dinosaur fan to this day -- I can almost read the technical papers about them.) My favorite Disney movie as a little kid was always Sleeping Beauty -- it had magic, swords, knights, and most of all, this big-ass dragon. I don't know if a love of fantasy can be hard-wired into my personality or not, but it starts as early as I can remember, so if not, there's not much meaningful distinction between that and what I actually am.

And my favorite assignments in grade school were always the Creative Writing assignments. I've always love to write, and to stretch my imagination. Again, I don't know if being a storyteller is a hard-wired condition or not, but clearly it's been something with me for a long time. I still write, although naturally I'm a dabbler, not an author or anything significant. In fact, I'm generally more interested in writing fantasy than I am even in reading it anymore.

D&D -- and other roleplaying games too -- provides an easy avenue, then, to indulge two aspects of my personality that are extremely deeprooted and fundamental to who I am. I think I would have naturally gravitated to the hobby.

I don't play for escapism. I don't play to vent frustrations of my regular, dull, office-haunting worklife. I don't even play to explore aspects of my philosophy, beliefs or attitudes. Not that I don't indulge from time to time in all of those things, but to me, playing RPGs is such an obvious extension of such basic fundamentals of my personality that I was doomed to be a gamer, I think.

 

[derelictjay]

To start with I'll say for the laughs, nothings better than you, another player or the DM saying or doing something stupid and giving a dumb look as everyone around the table busts out laughing.

The comraderie, this kinda goes along with the what I mentioned before, as you can't really laugh if you don't know the person, or take the laughing.

The ability to use my imagination in very creative and fun ways. Very few other hobbies let you do this.

And finaly the enjoyment of it all. From having friends around a table, to laughing at dumb jokes, and chipping in for pizza, its all good fun.

 

[Wombat]

I'll answer this in the wider sense (rpgs), rather than in the narrow sense (D&D, per se).

I grew up on mythology, folklore, and tales of King Arthur. Due to this, I always loved the fantastical and the heroic.

I started on the path through a combination of storytelling (on the one hand) and wargaming (on the other). While I liked each of them individually, I always wanted to find a way to combine them, the notion of a story with an unknown ending, sort of like playing "Boiler Burst" and other storytelling/swapping games. I didn't really enjoy the wargames in and of themselves because, quite realistically, I am not that competitive. There is enough competition in life and the thought of carrying that over into my leisure time seemed pointless. I enjoyed Chainmail when it came out because of the fantasy supplement in it, but it wasn't enough.

Then came D&D. Coolness

Here is a game, a very social game, where I don't know the end of the story and where people get into character (...at least half the time...). We get together to jointly create a world, build legends, and smite the wicked!

I have played a lot of different rpgs in my time. Listing them all would be silly. In the end, however, it is the notion that we can get together on a regular basis (biweekly nowadays) as a group of good friends, remember when has happened before, create the new legends, take out vile creatures, wonder about what people in our world eat, sing, and talk about, and the like.

It's all about the fun in telling stories.

 

[DaveMage]

Creativity, imagination, and intellectual challenge.

That's what makes D&D fun for me. Where else can you literally create entire worlds and share them with people (without being committed )?

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

It started for reasons that had nothing to do with the game (see Women Gamers vs PCs/DMs Significant Other thread) - probably revolved around all the attention I got from the boys I learned to game with (very flattering)...

But, eventually, it became something I really loved. I do it now because it is a hobby that allows me to spend quality time with my husband, explore the inner-workings of brains that are not my own, and to be the hero.

 

[wheeljack]

Friends, beer, and pizza in that order

 

[woodelf]

Just out of random curiosity - why do you play (or DM) D&D? A lot of people here have played for years. I've been at it for over 20 years. What keeps you coming back for more?

I have my own thoughts and answer, but I'm curious to hear what others say before I start blabbing about myself.

Well, not sure which question you're asking, so i'll answer them both:
Why do i keep coming back to RPGs? Because they provide something for me that nothing else really can: creativity in near-boundless ways, coupled with social interaction, a distinct story, and a defined reality, which makes the creativity not only fun, but challenging. So i like it better than writing, because with writing there are no constraints (beyond, perhaps, grammar). I like it better than other games because i not only don't particularly want competition, competition actively turns me off. I don't like activities where there are losers, and i'm perfectly willing to give up the existence of winners to to get there. And i want the social interaction, so rolling that in with the story-creation is perfect for me. So, in short: directed imagination. I've got my Legos when i want non-directed imagination. ;-)

Why do i keep coming back to D&D? Well, really, i don't. The only version of D&D that has gotten me excited in the last 15 yrs is Arcana Unearthed. D&D3E was, in general, a huge step backwards (compared to AD&D2) for my tastes: it added a bunch of stuff i didn't want, took away some stuff i liked, and failed to fix most of the stuff i didn't like. D20 System, OTOH, is a reasonably solid system, and when done right, i'm pretty ok with it, in small doses. You'll note that neither 'realism' nor 'complexity' nor 'fairness' nor 'balance' came up in my "why i like RPGs" bit above. While i'll argue with whether or not D&D3[.5]E (or any RPG, for that matter) actually is 'balanced', even if i accepted the premise that it was, i'm not necessarily looking for that in my games. My preferred complexity level for an RPG is about Over the Edge or Everway or Primetime Adventures. But i've got a player who's kinda listless without the mechanical hooks, and one who powergames something fierce, so, at least for now, i'm giving the former the crunchy system that makes him happier, and letting the system keep the latter in line so i don't have to--but it leaves me with a player who's overwhelmed by crunchy systems and a bit frustrated by the limitations on her creativity--she's much happier with things like Everway. Anyway, luckily, there're things like AU which have the crunch of D20 System, but without as much of the junk in D&D3E that i don't like. Now, i just wish that Monte'd gone whole-hog and changed the combat system as much as he did the magic. Or i may just swipe the Spycraft combat chapter whole cloth.

So, in summary: i love high-fantasy adventure. And when i want that, i might use Arcana Unearthed, but i'm much more likely to pull out Earthdawn, Everway, Of Gods and Men, Talislanta, Hercules & Xena, or something like that. Really, the only thing that keeps me coming back to D&D is players that want it.

[And, no, i don't hate D20 System. I got over that. I realized i just hate D&D3[.5]E. Spycraft rocks. Arcana Unearthed is great, if only the combat system had been flexibilized. Grimm rocks. I suspect Blue Rose will rock. D20 System can be awesome, it just isn't always.]

 

[fusangite]

I'm not sure whether you're asking about D&D in particular or RPGs in general. But the fact that these things are not different for many people is the main reason I play D&D 3.x. D&D 3.0 is the Windows 98 of RPGs, making 3.5 2000 or ME or whatever and the advantages are essentially identical:
- the people with whom you interact are more likely to be using the same system
- if you need support for the system, there are more resources available
- if you need to purchase products, a wider range of compatible products are available for your system
- local stores are more likely to stock products for your system
- it has finally incorporated, if awkwardly, variants of the main features its competitors had that it did not
- it is less buggy, awkward and difficult to use than previous versions

 

[Sejs]

The chicks man, the chicks.

Aww, man. That's what I was gonna say.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

The chicks man, the chicks.

Yesss...yesss. Great Cthulhu promises retribution against that Chick before the End Times.