Why do you Play?

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

I find the subject matter fascinating! I have multiple worlds to play in, and I can shape them however I like.

Seriously, I love that I can break the bonds of our stoic societal conventions and reality at will with no penalties. It is a great outlet for me.

Gaming has also tought me a lot about ( or at least introduced me to ) subjects I am still fond of today, including Mythology and History. I'm sure reading RPG books as a child helped to expand my vocabulary, and reinforce my passion for reading.

It has never yet helped me score with chicks, however...

 

[Derulbaskul]

I'll add this: I don't play. I have only ever played D&D (or other RPGs) a few times in 20+ years and I have never really enjoyed playing.

I like to DM. I like making things up. I like plotting and planning (hmmm... parallels with RL). I like players unravelling my plots and plans and paying that high compliment: "I'm really intrigued by this!"

One positive side effect on being raised on all incarnations of this game, I'm probably equal to at least a first year lawyer when it comes to complicated contracts: "you think this is complicated, the other day I had to build a villain using the tauric template from MMII ('coz that's a REAL drider), a race from Races of Faerun, feats, skills and classes from the PHB, feats from MiniHB, feats and PrC from CW and another template from FRCS."

 

[DragonLancer]

As a kid I always had an interest in mythology and monsters. Then my folks bought me one of the original Fighting Fantasy gamebooks by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and that was it. Took a few years to find some D&D players but I was hooked.

As for why I still play... I enjoy spending time with my friends, using my imagination and having to think my way through things, and being someone I'm not even for just a few hours a week. That combined with a continued interest in mythology, the supernatural, science fiction ...etc, means that I have the perfect hobby.

 

[Imhotepthewise]

I try to stop...BUT I JUST CANNOT HELP MYSELF!!!!!!

 

[Gnarlo]

The primary reason I play/DM is that it is a fun way to spend time with family and friends on a semi-regular basis and just have a blast together; with everyone's schedules and busy-ness, it gives us an excuse to say "ok, we have to get together next Monday, it's game night".

The other reason is that I love to DM, I love to create challenges for my friends, I love to use all the stuff I saw in last night's show on TV about caves or elephants or the Roman empire and see how I can fit it in the game to surprise my players. And I love to sit back in wonder and watch them take the game down paths or come up with solutions that I never would have dreamt of, it really gives a lot of insight into how my friends tick.

 

[Zappo]

I think it will be a very long time. Every CRPG with a reasonably good plot is essentially nothing more than a glorified choose-your-own-adventure book [something I hope most folks table top games are not]. And the more free-form CRPG's like Morrowind are essentially glorified versions of Hack.

That's my reason too. Even the most advanced CRPG is a pale shadow of real roleplaying. The only bonus it has is cool graphics, but if I wanted cool graphics I wouldn't be into books in the first place, let alone RPGs.

 

[ssampier]

Short and sweet

I like to roll dice.*

* There are more reasons than this but it sounded good at the time.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

I like to DM. I like making things up. I like plotting and planning (hmmm... parallels with RL). I like players unravelling my plots and plans and paying that high compliment: "I'm really intrigued by this!"

About sums it up for me as a GM. As a player, I want to be intrigued, generally leaving games that fail to do so.

 

[WayneLigon]

I've never been a big fan of computer games; the early arcade video games were just exercises in frustration for me, since I have poor hand-eye coordination and reaction times. Many early computer games just left me cold; too many of them were 'real time'.

I have played a few Playstation I games I liked. Chrono Cross was particularly good; it has turn-based combat and everything so I can get up for a soda in the middle of a combat and not miss anything. I played Morrowwind at a friend's house and liked it tolerably well. Most computer games won't run on my old system, but I mainly like The Sims, Civilization and Sim City. Generally, though, I don't purchase many of either type of game because they're too expensive. I'll generally wait for most PC games to hit $20.00 before purchasing them, though I'll make occassional exceptions.

I've tried MMORPG's, and while they were fun for a time I really just don't see the appeal.

Even poor D&D games I've been in are vastly better than the best computer 'RPG' (I really wish they'd find a better term. Anyone who thinks that Baldur's Gate or Diablo is 'role playing' is a fool).

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Now, I've always been good at computer games (from Civ/Alpha Centauri to Doom/Quake/etc.), even back in the day (Pac Man Fever, baby). But I've never been able to handle CRPGs for the lack of... Well, role-playing. Any interaction that can occur is often hindered by two major limitations: The amount of relevance such interaction perceived by the designers and the size of the program's coding. CRPGs just don't cut it compared to the freedom of table top gaming; And the only ones actually able to deliver a sizable story within the confines of the game world do it by making you sit through horribly long, borring, and poorly scripted/acted anime sequences that give you little to no influence over the results.

Now, when they start building holodecks with AI Game Masters, I'm all there. I'll take the mood of Glen Cook, the themes of Frank Hubbert, and the detail of JRR Tolkien, hand it over to a Peter Jackson algorithm, and dive right in.