Why do you play?

[Greenfield]

This is a system independent question, so we don't have to worry about offending each other, at least not that way.

I stopped by a local game shop and ran into an old friend, and as gaming friends do we began swapping gamin stories. What we both ended up agreeing on is that different players have different styles, different motivations.

For example, we both knew people who seemed to have something to prove at the table. Some are "achievement oriented", while others are exploring, testing different builds to see what works. Some are story driven, and taking that a step further some come more for the social aspects than for the game play.

To be clear, I'm not asking why you're at the gaming table. I'm asking what you get out of the game. What's your style, what's your motivation, what is it about the games that you enjoy the most?

To get the ball rolling, I enjoy the escape. I enjoy immersing myself in the story, so in that I'm "story driven". And yes, I often overdue the back stories and side chatter. (I really need to work on that...)

So what moves you?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Generally, I want to explore a new world as someone other than my actual self. (Mary Sue versions of me are fine, though.)

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Gaming offers choices. We get to choose who we want to be, tell stories we want to tell, and imagine the possibilities of another reality. More importantly, we get to share all of those ideas and experiences with other dreamers and gamers who could become our friends in this world.

Gaming is life. I wouldn't want to live in a world without it.

 

[Imaculata]

I enjoy the character interactions between my own player-character and my party members, and I love tabletop combat, and resolving narrative plots/obstacles.

 

[cmad1977]

Fun.

 

[ART!]

I love collaborative creativity.
I need to hang out, face-to-face, with like-minded nerds.
In an average week, I probably laugh more and more loudly at the gaming table than anywhere else.
I love problem-solving.
I like figuring out how to build the character I want.

 

[HJFudge]

I enjoy playing out 'What If' scenarios in a structured environment. It is an exercise in creativity, the ability to say 'given this world and this situation, what would happen?' and I get to either play one of the characters or initially define the situation and the world. Building characters can also be very fun, and seeing what I can get out of a build is enjoyable. I like design, and designing a character can be a lot of the fun for me.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I like to role-play. I like to forget about the real world for a while, and see things through the eyes of someone different.

Ideally, my character is a happy person with the ability to improve the world around them, or else role-playing as them is going to feel unpleasant.

 

[Immortal Sun]

I enjoy the cooperative creative experience. It's easy to sit in your room and make up your own thing all by yourself, but it's a completely different experience to do so in a communal group where each member can and sometimes must contribute something to the session.

It's a form of escapism too, but I don't really enjoy pretending that's me there, I much more enjoy pretending to be someone else entirely.

 

[Danlo]

I've always loved reading about worlds, creatures and characters etc that people have created.
RPG's give you the chance to explore such things on a much more personal level. Imagination is a wonderful thing and I love seeing mine and other people's join together and create something really extraordinary.
So I guess you could say, being able to basically explore something beyond the normal everyday would be the main reason.