Is there something beyond simple enjoyment that spurs you to RP?

[AAndroidD]

I was reading this month's newsletter - in fact the first newsletter I've actually read since joining this site two months ago, and two things in particular caught my attention.


For veterans of the site, the RP spotlight and OC spotlight are likely commonplace to you, but for me, seeing recognition like that was... invigorating. If that is the correct word. It inspired and spurred me to try to create something worthy of one of those positions. To write and create something that would be put on display for the community as a whole to see. Whilst there was always a degree of bettering my own writing in mind and producing the greatest work I could as a background motivation, having these positions as options simply encourages me further and gives more concrete goals to my writing. I write to have fun, I write to make stories alongside others, but I do so in striving for creating something that is among the best of the best - to make my way to that community spotlight position.


That's my story, and I'm curious to know - what apart from the joy of RPing itself pushes you to RP, if anything at all does that for you?

 

[call me rae]

Boredom mostly, I got a lot of free time to fill and I can't spend it all reading books sadly or watching tv. Plus I like telling stories and getting to know other people who enjoy the same.

 

[Another Creator]

For me rp helps me get to understand my charcters better becuase there and some situations and questions that I dont seem to think of when creating my characters and it helps me explore them even farther

 

[KayDuckula]

So many years ago, I can honestly admit that I started role-playing out of sheer boredom.


I'm very happy that I started doing it, though. It's what sparked my creativity, and made me want to write.


Now-a-days, I role-play just to write . I love writing. I love creating stories, but I don't like writing by myself.


It's lonely. I like having the social aspect of role-playing! You're always anticipating something new, and your partner(s) can throw you curve balls, and give you material you wouldn't think about on your own. It challenges me, and I love a good challenge. ;]

 

[budgieboo]

RPing, and being on the Internet in general helps me be able to better understand myself, and my identity, somehow.


I like being able to create new stories and connections with people. I'm actually very shy and unknown, and so it's sort of an outlet for both communication and creativity. I'm sort of introverted, but I don't like being constantly alone, either. I don't like have anything to do, or being without a purpose. It's sort of an escape for me.


I like being able to use my characters for something, and being able to imagine their personal stories in an ever changing situation and further develop how they would act in that sort of thing. I like having something new to draw, or something new to write about that's personal to me and potentially a few others too. It's just another thing to be able to care for, even if it is short lived, it's something that I can devote a little of my time to besides homework and television.


I like having certain little things to be excited for, and not huge fandoms that I wouldn't even be a speck in the ocean of contributions. I like being able to draw or write something for a roleplay and have it seen by a small group, even if less than two people see it, it's still something that would be at least a little meaningful to me. It's at least something that I did that I can connect to something.


Even though I'm not great at it at all. heh, I'm actually really awful and imcompetent. Or, at the very least, incredibly unconfident. But, I guess those are my reasons. Sorry for sort of rambling.

 

[Sleipnir]

Well, I started on a fandom chat room that was actually am RP chat room. Hyper casual, but for a ten year old, that worked. I didn't have a name for it; I didn't really realize I was RPing.


I started getting a little better and moved on til I got here. By now I've had story ideas. Lots of them. Stuff I want to put in books. So, while I do RP for the fun of it, I also do it to build characters and character relationships, figure out how they interact with others and what makes them tick.

 

[strongestbaka]

Like a few who've already said so here, RP is a good way to explore/build characters. Different characters may prove useful for different roleplay settings, short stories or novels! Role playing is a fun way to create characters.

 

[GenericHenchman]

I can be any character. I'm not boxed in to being some ubermensch with a big destiny. I can be a character, who's in a totally different situation perhaps different skill-set, but who I can actually relate to. I can also say "no" to the adventure, or the quest-giver and my progress won't immediately be halted right then and there.


Also, it's a good way to brush up on my writing skills. Not that I'll ever really write anything noteworthy, but it's just a good feeling to see enjoy your own writing when you look back at it.

 

[eratforum]

It's nostalgia and curiosity for me.


I useto have so much fun creating plots out of fandom. Now, I wanna learn new things besides canon stuff.


Then, it takes me away from my usual ways and reminds me of simpler times when reading and writing were all I did.

 

[Sunbather]

I like to feel as if I was someone else sometimes. It's also fun to see if you can play a character so that people react to them like you want.

 

[Soul Stealer]

I have several reasons, some of which I'd rather not share. Not that it's illegal or something, like I RP to find drug dealers near me (I don't), but... it's personal.


(Out of these reasons,) The main reason I RP is so that I can get away from life. Not MY life in specific, but LIFE in general, this specific existence or whatever you think it is. It's falling apart, to say the least. It feels better to "be" someone in some other place, some other world, planet, or dimension, even in just some alternate reality of a sort.


I love soaking into the characters I make. Not meaning that mine are specifically in depth compared to everyone else's, but I feel more connection to MY characters, even the least relatable, just because I, well, created them, I understand them, I control them, which just feels special to me. Not in the evil mastermind way (but I am considering that (not really)), but in the way a father loves their child. Except I wouldn't quite know, since I don't have a child.


The community in this place is the main reason I come here instead of other places. I mean, in reality it's because this was literally the only RP place with A registration with a working Email Confirmation. No joke. BUT ANYWAYS, I've never been in a fight with anyone here, seen barely anyone else in a fight with anyone else, and I've only gotten pissed off at someone here once. The people here are understanding, kind, and relatable to your own life because they're - well - people. When I'm in the "real" world, I see desperate, misjudged, or cruel people who I can barely consider human. Which is most of the people I see. Which is why I need to move to another district. Whatever.


I can let out my feelings in indirect ways. All of my characters are like me in one way or another, but I don't make it too obvious. Except all of them kind of end up like me in social situations, somehow. Badly. lol


The stories you see here are amazing. They go to the heart of human nature if played right, and even though there's often friction between RPers who didn't know the other was planning on this happening instead that happening, then they have to post one up a little hastily. But even so...

 

[DikkeVetteVlinder]

Good old-fashioned escapism.

 

[Meredith]

I honestly love to write. I don't like to read what I've written, I don't like sharing what I've written, but the actual act of writing something and editing it to the heavens and below is just.. enjoyable, for me.


Beyond that? I started voice roleplaying (not tabletop, basically freeform 'play pretend' with a storyline, that we'd write the story after the fact) when I was around ten. When I was eight or nine, I wrote a 150 page + story about a talking pack of detective dogs who ate pizza and.. stuff. I dunno. I was into the Waggit series when I was younger. Really good books, by the way, at least I think. I was small. Fifteen and already nostalgic. ;-;


I enjoy the community that writers and roleplayers forge. I love that through this writing, this thing that I can do and holy hell other people do it to, I can talk to other people about what I like to do. (And other stuff.) It's pretty great.


It's just what I like to do~

 

[MISTER UN. 0W3N]

To quote a rapper: "I thought I was an Atheist until I realized I'm a God." Roleplaying helps me feel like I'm in control of something when life catches on fire and tailspin into a field of live mines. It's just nice. That and the idea of making an in-depth and possible philosophical post and ending it with poop humor. An example of this would be someone experiencing a moment of catharsis then proceeding to flush the toilet. Users finally realized that they read an entire post about a man thinking about deep shit while taking a deep shit. Yep. :I Roleplaying.

 

[jiminie]

For me, I write because it is an escape from life. In a way it takes me out of my mind and lets me just be still and relaxed for five minutes. Life often gets stressful and writing provides a way out, even if just for a few minutes. It also lets me improve my writing, and I am always trying to improve everything I do. So if doing more roleplays and what not, helps me improve my writing, I won't hesitate doing them.

 

[itsallokay]

Definitely an escape. Even if RL restricts my writing at times. I always find myself seeking it out to get away from things.

 

[Yunn]

Hmm to me interacting with other roleplayers is one of the main reasons why I rp. It's always brightens up my day when I can find someone I can just click with and act silly in a matter of minutes on this site, and such people are the reason I probably continue to rp, aside from my love into getting to have a more interactive experience with writing rather than reading books or games. I can actually control how my character looks, their personality, their experiences, and how they would react under certain circumstances. Plus, there's some others who you can share this experience with and each reaction can spark up multiple of responses that I myself would never have thought of.

 

[ApfelSeine]

A big drive for me getting back into roleplaying was that all of my friends work or have SOs and I've been spending 90% of my time with a person who makes me feel bad all the time. It feels lonely and isolating, so rping offers an avenue to engage with other people in a way that feels less risky. Plus, sometimes I enjoy myself so much that my rp buddies seem like actual buddies. Ha...


On a lighter note, roleplaying also gives me an opportunity to practice writing and character development. Plus, it gives me inspiration for characters to draw. It is a pleasant escape for me, as I'm sure it is for many, but it is also a way to polish my skills when I don't have an idea for a story to write.

 

[dapperghost]

Being on the autistic spectrum, I have incredibly bad people skills. So RPing is like a social simulator, I guess, that lets me find out the healthy or normal reaction to any situation that might actually be real.


Of course, it's fun too. I like the escapism... As most people on here have said already, hehe...

 

[soches]

Honestly, I'll have to say boredom and lack of things to do in real life. Rping for me provides some relaxation and just helps makes the time go by faster when you're writing. When I'm not doing anything in real life, I'm usually rping.

 

[Captifate]

Character analysis. Trying to get into the minds of someone who isn't me. Escapism? Lot of little reasons that add up. On an unrelated note, a form of roleplay may be prescribed in a clinical setting between therapist and patient. To the extent that people enjoy it and gain something out of it, I think it helps folks gain a better understanding of who they are in relation to everyone else.