Why do you Play?

[Bass Puppet]

The reason I'm asking this is because back in the day when I started (1980 and I was 8), I didn't have a Playstation, or a Computer to get me into playing a Fantasy Backdrop game. I had Books and Action Figures. That was about as close as I got to Role-Playing. Now I play with a group of very close friends mostly because D&D is the bond that has kept us closer. I'm sure we would stay in touch, but I don't think we would be as close as we are, due to the D&D Game (for which I'm extrememly grateful for). I wonder what got people into playing D&D and why they continue to do so instead of playing more technologicaly advanced games. I know some play both but why?

 

[mac1504]

There a ton of reasons, but for me personally it is a creative and social outlet. I've made some good friends, expanded my knowledge of myself and the world, and have a lot of great memories of playing D&D.

I guess I want to keep doing those things that a computer game really can't.


mac1504

 

[Wombat]

Where does one even start with a question such as this?

I loved mythology, folklore, & legends as a child, with a very strong interest in the Arthurian legends. Due to my father (double veteran) & brother, I learned a fair amount of military history. In the early 1970s when I started getting into "gaming" what was available was miniatures gaming and AH/SPI board games. They were so-so for me, but all my buddies played them, so I joined in. The problems were I wanted something more mythological, something where the rules were not so hard-and-fast, and where winning and losing was judged on an individual basis, rather than "Well, that's that game over".

I started off with Chainmail (yellow cover) and painted a fair number of figures. Then on a trip down to Cambria (Scruby's Soldier Factory) I saw some LotR figures. Chainmail has a little bit in the back about gaming with fantasy figures and I went whole hog into it.

Then Brookhurst Hobbies sent out the notice in 1976: "New game has arrived, called Dungeons & Dragons. Apparently you play it with pencil & paper, not miniatures. Very little other information other than it is from the same group who wrote Chainmail and Hardtack." I bought it and, well, the rest is history.

So why do I play? Is it because of the mythology? the flexibility of the rules? timing? Who ultimately knows? All I know is that I love rpgs in a way I love no other hobby. Doesn't cost as much as golf, is less cutthroat than poker & bridge, and there is a fair amount of improvisational theatre involved.

Sounds good to me

 

[talinthas]

why do i play? of the many myriad answers i could give, there is only one that matters.
i play because it is fun. =)

 

[JoeGKushner]

I think that despite the great advances we've seen in home entertainment via X-Box and other consoles, and the great advances socially we've seen with computers via internet and networking, that the RPG table top experience still has a lot going for it and that due to the complexity of the rules, it'll be a long while before we're able to fully experience that online through X-Box live 3 or something.

Like others, I got my start early in the game, first Marvel Super Hero boxed set by TSR, and moved on from there. Now I enjoy many games like Rolemaster, D&D 3.5, World of Darkness, Hero 5th edition and others.

There's something satisfying about having control of the plot. About being a mini-writer with the ability to work with and against your players.

 

[Creamsteak]

I play because I find it more challenging and less contained than CRPGs, both to play and to run. Options and challenges.

 

[Crothian]

It's a good social creative outlet.

 

[Kanegrundar]

I play for the fun or it. Plus, it's a creative outlet that I don't get even with games like Neverwinter Nights where I get to make the world. RPG's for me is the logical progression for a man that grew up playing with action figures!

Kane

 

[Umbran]

Let's see...

It is a good creative outlet, a good social event. It is better escapism than TV. It's better stress relief that sitting around grousing over beers. It fills in for the general lack of mythology and legend in the modern world. It stimulates the mind. I prompts my fiancee to bake yummy desserts. It starts interesting conversations with interesting people you don't know....

 

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

Other Games are Lacking...

Greetings all.
(This is my first time posting in a couple of years at least - used to post as "Pappy" and maybe had 10 posts total, guess I was an underachiever! Nice to be back.)
I play because I get to spend every Friday evening hanging out with my old-time buddies; we've been playing D&D together since the release of the original Unearthed Arcana.
The crux of the biscuit is this: We could play poker or go bowling or something, but where else but in an RPG do you get to save the princess/whack the monster/save the world - and then get the fun of finding a new way to approach it each go-round?
Gutboy raises his tankard o' Dwarven Ale and salutes gamers everywhere!