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Just a game?
Jul. 20th, 2001 02:10 pm"It's just a game"
I've heard that a lot of times before by players of roleplaying, their friends and people who've never played before.
But is it? I've been roleplaying for a long time now, about 16 years at best guess, and doing LARP of one type or another for going on 10 years. Could I really be that "obsessed" (bad term?) with just a game as to devote more than half my life to doing this sort of thing?
I've experienced a lot of sides to RP from IRC to MUSHes, MMOG's, LARP, tabletop, and bunches of other stuff, and theres poohloads of gaming types, systems, ideas I haven't even touched on or don't even know about, I consider myself a reasonable "roleplayer" insofar as you can define such, am I getting any better? Or worse? Better I'd like to think. So why do I keep doing it? Escapism is certainly one aspect, the fun - certainly one of the most important aspects (the aspect usually stressed as most importtant) the 'socialness' because despite RP having somewhat of a reputation to some almost like computer hackers (apologies for any insults here ;))for being wierdo loners who never get out, social aspects ARE a big aspect of this; I've met far more people through RP than I have in virtually anything else I take an interest in in my life, and I do have other interests - honest. So why?
Maybe it's because I want my life to be more exciting, maybe its because when I look at my life I want to be something else or experience more than I can through what I have right now, maybe it's because life as it is is dull, maybe its because I like the creativity and thought and excitement of gaming, maybe its the rollercoaster of emotions and feelings that RP can give, maybe it's the friends, the fun, the memories, the nostalgia, the thrill of success, the tragedy of failure, meeting new people... maybe.
Frankly I don't know. What I do know is that RP enriches my life, it gives me access to experiences, ideas and lifestyles that I'd never hope to normally be. Like a book, I'm writing my own stories in all the games I play and living out roles I like and doing things that, even today, I'd never thought of or experienced before. There's always something new.
So I play, I have fun and a whole lot more. To me I think after reading what I've written here I don't believe in any way it's 'Just a game', chess is a game, solitare is a game - neither give me experiences, feelings, memories and a greatest taste of the wonder that is the richness of living, RP does.
Perhaps I'm a bit obsessed here, but in the end this is my view, and my way of looking at this.
Just ask yourself, if you roleplay, why do you do it?
If you don't, do think about playing, even once, you might find a part of yourself you never knew existed.
I've heard that a lot of times before by players of roleplaying, their friends and people who've never played before.
But is it? I've been roleplaying for a long time now, about 16 years at best guess, and doing LARP of one type or another for going on 10 years. Could I really be that "obsessed" (bad term?) with just a game as to devote more than half my life to doing this sort of thing?
I've experienced a lot of sides to RP from IRC to MUSHes, MMOG's, LARP, tabletop, and bunches of other stuff, and theres poohloads of gaming types, systems, ideas I haven't even touched on or don't even know about, I consider myself a reasonable "roleplayer" insofar as you can define such, am I getting any better? Or worse? Better I'd like to think. So why do I keep doing it? Escapism is certainly one aspect, the fun - certainly one of the most important aspects (the aspect usually stressed as most importtant) the 'socialness' because despite RP having somewhat of a reputation to some almost like computer hackers (apologies for any insults here ;))for being wierdo loners who never get out, social aspects ARE a big aspect of this; I've met far more people through RP than I have in virtually anything else I take an interest in in my life, and I do have other interests - honest. So why?
Maybe it's because I want my life to be more exciting, maybe its because when I look at my life I want to be something else or experience more than I can through what I have right now, maybe it's because life as it is is dull, maybe its because I like the creativity and thought and excitement of gaming, maybe its the rollercoaster of emotions and feelings that RP can give, maybe it's the friends, the fun, the memories, the nostalgia, the thrill of success, the tragedy of failure, meeting new people... maybe.
Frankly I don't know. What I do know is that RP enriches my life, it gives me access to experiences, ideas and lifestyles that I'd never hope to normally be. Like a book, I'm writing my own stories in all the games I play and living out roles I like and doing things that, even today, I'd never thought of or experienced before. There's always something new.
So I play, I have fun and a whole lot more. To me I think after reading what I've written here I don't believe in any way it's 'Just a game', chess is a game, solitare is a game - neither give me experiences, feelings, memories and a greatest taste of the wonder that is the richness of living, RP does.
Perhaps I'm a bit obsessed here, but in the end this is my view, and my way of looking at this.
Just ask yourself, if you roleplay, why do you do it?
If you don't, do think about playing, even once, you might find a part of yourself you never knew existed.
