Why do you role-play?

[AddictedtoPaper]

I'm curious.

• Why do you role-play?
  
• What motivates you to role-play?
  
• What makes you want to role-play?
  
• How did you get introduced to role-playing?
  

 

[Ayl]

• To have an outlet for all my excessive creativity
  
• The excitement of waiting on a post and how a character will interact with another
  
• (basically the same question as the 1st, imo)
  
• Through gaming. Played Warcraft 3 on Battle.net and joined some RP maps. Before I knew it, I was hooked.
  

 

[welian]

• It's a fun thought exercise, to imagine different worlds and people and try to get into their head, and I particularly enjoy setting up roleplays and trying to create a coherent story.
  
• Friends. I hate to do things alone, and this includes writing. Bouncing ideas off of other people is probably the greatest thing in the world, imo.
  
• Sometimes when I'm listening to music, I get an image in my head - a split-second, fleeting moment of something, and I play it in my head over and over and just obsesses over it for a bit while I try to deconstruct the scene and figure out who those people are and how they got to that point. And I don't even realize I'm doing it at first, it's just... Pop! Hey, what's the story there? I wanna make it.
  
• There were a couple events in middle school. Some classmates trying to teach me D&D. Passing around a notebook with my friends where we took turns writing our adventures as silly, crazy vampire hunters. I was the engineer of the group. I mixed up the leader's rocket launcher and the taco maker in the kitchen. We defeated a vampire during a car chase using a sour cream launcher. And then while I was on Gaia, I joined a roleplay guild and decided to test the waters. That's where I met @Zahzi, actually.
  

 

[Mordecai]

For me, I think the top three questions can be summed up by: I enjoy it and it satisfies the creative little tart in me. As for where I got my start, it was on Neopets. I'm not sure how I found the roleplay board there, but one day I did, and stuck with it every since.

 

[redribbon]

Why do you role-play?

• Because it's fun, and I like building a story that I have control over. It's like playing a sandbox game with endless possibilities!

What motivates you to role-play?

• The fun factor, really. It's so exciting to see how other characters will react and I love it when other characters surprise me. Apart from having fun, I want other people to have fun too, so I do my best to reply everytime someone replies to me.

What makes you want to role-play?

• When the next post of my partner is super interesting, or if the scenario is interesting.

How did you get introduced to role-playing?

• I think it was 7th grade when one of my classmates invited the girls in the class to an RP forum of hers. I'd been writing stories since I was 9 (still a terrible writer though, haha), but I never realized until then that you could build stories with other people.

 

[Sibylline Oracle]

I enjoy world building and the process of creating an interesting story out of it. What makes roleplay unique is the extra challenge involved while working together with other players, who might introduce some unexpected (though certainly welcome) variables!


Motivation-wise, I like to see a work take on a life of its own, and what better way than for others to color it with their own imaginations? The only constant I like is an unwavering theme that everyone builds around - if it doesn't fit the theme (a clown making jokes and dancing in the middle of a battlefield during a dark and gritty historical drama), then I zone out.


If I have a slew of ideas, I often want to share them with others. Seeing others enjoy and appreciate those ideas, and being able to enjoy others' ideas myself, is all the reason I need to keep going.


I wish I could remember the exact point I started. It must have been around 2003 or so, when I found Furcadia. Over time, though, I started preferring forum RP following an experience in a Star Trek-themed sim, and I've been sticking to forums ever since.

 

[Lady Odyssey]

Why do you roleplay?


- I roleplay because it allows for me to induldge on a world in which I get to create with my partner(s), and develop my character(s) in a way I can derive from interaction my partner(s) offer.


What motivates you to roleplay?


- Not knowing what my partner will write, and how their character(s) will react to my characters really motivates me and keeps me on the edge of my seat while waiting for a reply. Character development is quite fun to tamper with, as well.


What makes you want to roleplay?


- I want to roleplay because personally, writing is the only real "talent", if you will, I aqquire. You see, I've tried playing piano when I was younger, and I've tried playing the guitar just a year ago, but writing is the only thing I stick with because its what I hold most dearest; I feel like its the only outlet I really have that I can tamper with because I have the capacity to do so.





How did you get introduced to roleplaying?


- Okay... well. Try not to laugh too hard. x3 I was really young, and I got involved with... Club Penguin (I know, I know... xD ). This sounds so ridiculous that its making my physical cringe upon memory, but give me a break - I was like, seven. Anyways, on Club Penguin, some members "roleplayed" without my knowledge of what it was called, and we all played "House", if you will, through a game. For instance, I'd pretend to be the sister of my online friend, and they'd be my sister while two other people pretended to be the parents. I hadn't realized at the time I was roleplaying, but it's true; it all started on Club Penguin. xD That's my first memory of ever roleplaying, anyway. I was like 6 or 7 at the time. By the time I was 8, my best friend (ex-best friend now) introduced me to this website based on "roleplaying" through the perspective of cats. Umm, yeah, basically I just wrote one-liners until I was about 12 and began developing my skill of writing. x3

 

[Cavil]

1.Mostly to escape from my reality in a more creative way. I can't afford anything else honestly.


2. Making characters and world building. I love making characters.


3. Music is a huge inspiration to me.


4. On a site that wasn't meant for role playing. I had a group on there that would PM role play (similar to neopets) and I kinda did that for a while until one of the members left the group. Then I took a long hiatus until I overheard some people talking about it at work surprisingly and they told me to join this place.

 

[Aqacia]

Why do you role-play?


I roleplay as i like to wonder what it would be like to be someone else, a different species perhaps and like to imagine how their lives would go. I roleplay as i want to create stories that are not my own, that are not reality but a world that i can still somehow connect to mine and watch while having someone else live it then me.


What motivates you to role-play?


Character creation and watching them develop and grow as a person thoughout the roleplay, observing their best moments and their worsts while not really being involved in their life. Kind of like looking in on wildlife for me. I am not my characters, i do not choose for my characters. They choose everything themselves all the choices they make and all the emotions they feel are all their own work.


What makes you want to role-play?


The fact that i have no idea whats going to happen next, the fact that you can run the same plot idea many times and end up with different outcomes, different characters and how enjoyable it is so just see their life and interactions.


How did you get introduced to role-playing?


After playing pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky i was googling the games and stuff and came across a roleplay website that i joined and thats how i started roleplaying. I was around 13 or 14 when i started considering i joined that site i think about 2, 3 or 4 years ago. So not that much experience roleplaying but yeah.

 

[EvilFishy]

I was first introduced to role-playing years ago through friends online. I enjoy being able to create all of these new characters with varying backgrounds and personalities. I enjoy diving into these different worlds. I thoroughly enjoy writing and the creative process. Role-playing is a good way to test out new ideas, as well as act as an outlet for my imaginings. I suppose my answers are not mutually exclusive, but extend to several of those questions. Role-playing, for me, is an escape, and don' we all need an escape at times?

 

[amdreams]

When I was but a naive youth, I was coerced into wandering into a place I've never been by those I thought were my friends. They introduced me to this strange but familiar new life and new community. I was frightened at first but I couldn't run. I saw no way out. And with a single dose, I was hooked as a whole new world opened up for me.


After that came a downward spiral of obsession as I desperately searched anywhere I could for the same stuff I had been given that first time. But nothing. Perhaps it was the shady characters or the subpar substances, but nothing I found gave me the same rush I had from that initial encounter, though I had acquired more cautionary tales than I probably needed. For a while I tried to quit. I tried to pull myself away from this dangerous lifestyle. And for a while I had succeeded. Until I decided to experiment with a new circle. Thinking back on it, I can't remember why I had decided to. Anyway, to gain favor with this new circle, I had to participate in a daily ritual and from that ritual, I was brought here. And I felt it. That initial rush. I had told myself I was going to quit but it was too late now. I had sold my soul.


As for why I keep coming back, didn't I already say? I'm hooked. I had sold my soul. I cannot escape no matter how I try. I sit here weaving lies, breaking off pieces of my soul for the dark lord and his kingdom. And I love it. I cannot stop. Even when I'm not obligated to, the delusions and hallucinations continue. Too much even for me to present to my lord. And I sit at the middle road between a cemetary of neglected infants and still developing unborns.


(Translation:


When I was younger, I was introduced to roleplaying by a few friends of mine. A harry Potter fandom site. I had always loved making stories but this was different. I was working with others. I found myself loving it. Roleplaying was fun, and writing with other people gave me an insight to the various topics, concepts and character types that I could only portray shallowly before. And it became an escape for me. Thanks to roleplaying, I found myself able to forget things I wanted to and get past obstacles in my life. Not physically but you know.


That eventually ended but I enjoyed roleplaying so much that I went searching for other sites and stuff to do it again. But that didn't go well. I'm not sure if I was searching in the wrong areas but I never found that same feeling I had gotten the first time. I kept meeting an array of bad experiences, from regular godmodders to the overly-aggressive love interest. I've honestly got many roleplay "horror" stories that have made me leave roleplays and even sites. Granted, as someone learning I wasn't perfect but I'd like to think I wasn't as them or at least not as noticeably so.


Anyway, due to this, I decided to stop roleplaying, not wanting to bother looking anymore. Then I tried this site where it's sort of like a visual novel but you level up a student character by attending classes and such. Anyway, to earn credits to use on the site without buiying them, you could vote for them on this ranking site. And due to curiousity, I decided to look at the various different sites on there. And the 3rd most ranked site was RpN. And I'm not sure why but I clicked the link. For a while, I was just reading some of the roleplays there with no intention of joining, but as I kept reading, I found myself wanting more and more to join. And so I did. And I haven't regreted it yet.


As to what keeps me roleplaying, well, I can't stop. I really can't. I really love it. My mind is constantly being flooded with characters, scenes, stories and worlds, even when I'm not on the site. I've seriously got a mass of failed rps and ones I'm still developing. I just can't stop.)

 

[Levyn Ari]

As an actor, I've always felt inclined to delve into a character that is most certainly not me while applying aspects of self TO it.


I started role-playing ages ago, perhaps 15 years, in forums much smaller than we have now. (My first was a Vampire the Masquerade type setting I believe)

 

[Obsessed]

• Why do you role-play?
  

- Role-playing is like entering a new world, a new, different world. Where it is okay if you won't be yourself and pretend to be someone you can't be in the real world.

• What motivates you to role-play?
  

- The books I read and.. FANTASY!!!

• What makes you want to role-play?
  

- Friends, adventures, plot twists, FANTASY!

• How did you get introduced to role-playing?
  

- I found it in this virtual game's forums. It was a trend on that forum and you can see like 3-4 roleplays in the main page everyday so I was very intrigued and tried role-playing. With the help of my friend, who is a role-play master, I found role-playing very interesting. Luckily, at that time, I started writing stories so it was just easy for me. After 1 year, the role-plays on that forum started to become less... and less.. and less so I tried searching new forums where roleplays are the MAIN TOPIC and I found this site! YAY

 

[EverBeenToSpace]

This honestly isn't something I've ever thought about before. I started role-playing when I was probably 11 or 12 and I'm not really sure why. I guess I liked putting myself in the shoes of characters that already exist (obviously there are RPs with OCs, but I've always prefered fanbased RPs myself). I think it's a good release and a good way to express myself creatively when I'm in drawing ruts. Or when I'm just bored. I've also made some pretty good friends through RPing; it's a really good community.

 

[Thalia]

Previously it was mostly for the interaction; whether IC or OOC, talking to others is just pretty fun. I suppose that I just roleplay now whenever I am bored, or sudden urges to play in various settings or with certain personality traits come about.

 

[Purple Kitti]

I was interested in role playing games since I was very young, because my mom played them and talked about them a lot. My first table-top RPG was a Tunnels and Trolls game module when I was 9 years old. In high school, I had a friend (actually group of friends, but it started with one) who would write what I called "adventure letters" where we'd write letters to each other as anime characters. When I joined a certain avatar website, I joined a few Sailor Moon guilds and was introduced to text-based RPs that way, and I've been enjoying them ever since.

I like RPs because it gives me a solid creative outlet, and there's still the element of surprise during the process of story making. I love writing in general, love getting into the heads of my characters, and because RPs generally narrow your focus to just one or a small handful of characters, it's an effective method of character creation and refining.
​

 

[Flutterby]

Why do you role-play?

I roleplay for much the same reason as everyone else: I get to put myself in new worlds and new mindsets, and escape ho-hum life, and it gives me a creative outlet like nothing else.

What motivates you to role-play?

The people Im roleplaying with, I suppose. Ive always assumed that people are as interested and dedicated to what were doing as I am, and I dont want to let them down by disappearing or writing terribly. And I never know what will happen in the next post, and I want to give that back.

What makes you want to role-play?

Ive always loved to write, but I dont have the patience or foresight to write an entire story by myself. Roleplaying gives me that kind of experience, with the added benefit and fun of other people. Not only can I share my own ideas, I can help people play and build theirs. Its the experience that I enjoy most and want more of.

How did you get introduced to role-playing?

Im a horse person, and wanted to join a site with barns and horses and what not, but hated how Howrse was set up. I ended up on a site called Ponybox, on their smallest legacy server, and after a little exploring, found the forum. There was a General Forum tab and then next to it said Games and RPG Forum and I was like "Hey, games are fun" and clicked on it. And all of the sudden, I was in this little community of people who all loved to write and make stories together. They were very accepting and taught me what they could. With such a small server, people were always leaving, so eventually the people that were there when I first was all left, but new people came and we had a core group of about 8 roleplayers. My roleplay bestie and I set up a "Learn to Roleplay" program by giving people mentors and having schooling/practice roleplays as a group. It was a cool little group, but it eventually died out, so I had to find a new home and ended up here.

 

[Esphyliad]

Why do you role-play?


I role-play because I feel closer to my favourite series and characters and get to expand their worlds which I have fallen in love with. I also get to create new worlds and watch them grow and develop which is infinitely exciting.


What motivates you to role-play?


Sometimes I will admit that an intense feeling of social obligation to reply to people when I've entered a role-play an an't back out without ruining it for others. But mostly it is the desire to explore, to journey, to get closer to the characters and form bonds with them.


What makes you want to role-play?


Explained above


How did you get introduced to role-playing?


My good friend showed me a role-play where she and a friend were being attacked by a werewolf and a vampire in a supermarket. It was a skulduggery forum and only after she had joined the role-play did she realize that here powers were useless against them and her ally was a healer. Incidentally she forgot she had a gun with her character which I very happily reminded her. It was too late though, her leg was broken and her back was mostly scratched off.

 

[DemonKitten]

• Why do you role-play?
  Roleplaying keeps my writing sharp and helps to fill in gaps that I might have in characters for my books. It also provides me with story lines or gives me a topic to write about whether it be a short story or a purpose. It also lets me create and design worlds and people that I would love to meet in real life and place them against other characters with in the world. The world of roleplay provides me with so much that I can't even begin to explain.
  

[*]What motivates you to role-play?

• Muse. I get motivated by the creation of a new character or a movie, game, or perhaps a mere idea. It doesn't take much, just something to strike my interest just like it takes for me to write a poem or continue my book. I just have to be sitting there and have an overwhelming desire that just causes me to get all giddy inside.
  

[*]What makes you want to role-play?

• An interesting story line or sometimes I just desire a new world. This question is somewhat similar to the previous one so my answers are similar.
  

[*]How did you get introduced to role-playing?

• I have been roleplaying since I can remember, though at the time it wasn't roleplaying in my eyes. I create in war fighting countries between cats and dogs in my stuffed animal universe (since I had hundreds) that fought for total domination. I would crawl around on the ground and become a cat that was living this whole alternate world, fighting for survival. The first time I heard of the word roleplay that wasn't a video game though would be when I was ten and I create my first paper character, Brook.