Why do you Roleplay?

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T'Shara

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I've worked with a lot of people who write forum rps because they are aspiring writers and such. In my case... I dislike "writing" and really have no desire to see others read my work. Not to mention, writing alone bores me to death. I need someone to share ideas, organize thoughts with, and occasionally surprise me, because otherwise it feels like a chore rather than a game.

For me, it's just a nice escape that keeps my brain active and entertains me. Writing a good story is like reading a good book on steroids... even if the writing isn't as good as a professional author (and it often comes very close with a good partner and synergistic flow), I get to play a role in making things develop. It also gives me a chance to change my perspective, try to explore issues and dilemmas that I don't face in my real life.

So that's why someone who hated AP/IB English classes in highschool spends time writing hundreds of words a day for fun now.

What your reason?
 
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I Started out With Dungeons and Dragons when I was 10 yrs old. Playing my first 2nd edition with my uncle, rolling out my first Druid.

Then I kind of got this hint from an english teacher when I was in high school. From what she told me. I was beyond creative and she enjoyed reading my work, which was something she didn't get to do very often from the way she spoke.

Be it positive reinforcement or the truth, she made me decide to get back on the internet after a two hiatus from Online text based Role play.

The road to Iwaku, was....god awful.

Hating nearly any and every RP site known to the world wide web. None could satisfy me. Feeling discouraged and somewhat disheartened I shrugged off Iwaku at first making an account and forgetting the information.

maybe a week later, I tried to log on but couldn't so I made Fijoli and got to work.

I would say that, I used to Role play because I lacked something significant in life, and I was. I wasn't connected to anyone, all my creative juices had no where to go to or come from. While I am hyper creative on my own, I am in rare form when others are involved and it took me 25 years and someone telling me I had Psychosis to really take that step back from myself to understand that I needed other people.

I had isolated myself from 'others' for so long, I forgot how to act. I fell into a depression I was in denial of. Probably to save face from seeming weak minded or easily controlled. So once I realized this, I opened up..It wasn't easy, But naturally I come on strong and tend to care so much because I believe that if I don't no one will.

to be honest, I Role play to fabricate a childhood I missed out on. I tend to play children, little girls ages 4 to 10. Iwaku is the only place I've actually accomplished to do this. I really owe the staff and members without them I might still be lost in a shitty life with no goals and 100% less happiness.

I used to role play to have fun and stretch my mind.

But now I know its because I can through writing (not just RP) I can Help me be the best me there is and through that, help others. RP has been a major part of my life But today it 'IS' my life. Iwaku alone has proven better medicine than prescribed anti-depressants. I am no longer sad, or angry, I am now brave and happy.

I say that I hate people...and I do...but here is different. I never felt any kind of community, no sense of togetherness, not in my whole life.

So, anyway, I Rp for so many, significant reasons that changed my life, and reconnected me to my species. I forget how to hate here in Iwaku. I get to be myself and talk to the people and ask questions and Listen to others. I love it. and shhh, deep down....I love people.

Thank you for the amazing question, @T'Shara , 12 years of Role Play and I'm only just scratching the surface.
(yeeeesh I wrote too much. ^_^;)
 
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I was twelve, barely knew English and my teacher had a burn-out. Leaving me with no English classes for more than half a year. While seeing other classes of my year layer all attending classes and improving I couldn't stand the thought of 'failing'. So I sought to improve. Somehow. Reading English books was too difficult, I couldn't get half of it and when you don't understand you don't enjoy. At least for me that was. Besides I was at that time around lurking at anime/manga sites. It was just one random day that I visited the the role play forums, got curious and started to write.

I didn't even know it was called role playing. ._.'' I just shrugged and did whatever. I just wanted to improve and believed that this was a 'fun' and 'interactive' way of learning. It worked. Kind of. So now six years and half a year of hiatus thrown around I'm here at this point. Back for almost a year after another hiatus. Seems like I can't leave role playing that easily. So my first goal to improve my English to an acceptable level has faded away. It seems that since a long time ago I've actually taken a liking to it, doing it more seriously than the fickle ways I had a few years back. I do have to say; after my latest come back and hiatus I've started to appreciate role players around me more. Of course I still hold my distaste towards some types, but at least I won't shrug it off like I did before. Or leave them in the dark for unreasonably long amount of times or even permanently.

So current status: I role play for enjoyment. To relax and because I'm interested to see what others can come up with, write about and their style.
 
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Simple answer Joe over here. I just like writing. I've been doing so by myself for a long time and had joined RPGuild a few years back. Rping is just fresh and unpredictable even when you have a plot written out. I took two semesters of creative writing in highschool and that was a really fun breakthrough. I find it easier to roleplay than to right by myself, but I often find the two world overlapping, and sometimes I wish one was more like the other (that makes no sense hehe).
 
The answer is rather simple, at least to me. Role-playing allows an escape from the daily troubles that life presents to me; I don't have to think about college, or depression, or anything when I'm concentrated on writing a collaborative and immersive story with others.

It also acts like a sort of spigot for my imagination, the same way one would draw sap out of a tree. All the ideas, the stories, they find a release and sometimes come pouring forth to entertain not only myself but others who take the time to read my work. It's a sort of relief from a pressure built up inside my head that I need every once in a while. Sometimes that spigot is blocked and I can't get that relief, so I have to go on hiatus.

But always, I have to come back to it. I've been role-playing for over 10 years now. And every year, I need that fix or I'll go mad.
 
My reasons are pretty basic;

I'm a writer and feel that I need a better description ability, so I started roleplaying again.

Another reason is my life gets really stressful, and roleplaying takes some of the weight off my shoulders.
 
Right now I'm role-playing again because I needed to get a hobby. Rather, I needed to get a constructive hobby that was not sleeping or playing video games. So here I am.

I also enjoy writing, and at one point I was an aspiring author. Unfortunately, I have learned that writing is not like riding a bicycle. If you stop practicing for 2 years, you can and will forget what you're doing.
 
i felt like it...See no wholeheartedness needed. Sure it goes deeper then that bit i don't want to write a lot.
 
Before I discovered "roleplaying", writing based roleplaying, anyway, I was an aspiring writer. The one that could never finish a story cause she has the attention span of a goldfish. >>;

Afterwards, it was the most awesome fun amazing thing in the universe. O___O I could be creative and live different lives and do aaaaanything. It has always been a form of therapy and funtimes for me. I play because I just love to plaaaaaaay and experience things I would never get to do otherwise.
 
I roleplay to escape reality and live life through someone else.

I like all sorts of rp, from the fantastic and surreal to the ordinary and mundane.
 
As a child I always had a large imagination from what I was told. I would enjoy escaping to it, and making my own stories to share as well as some artwork too. But, when I became older and started my journey on the internet, I found out about a Tamagotchi forum that had a section called "role-playing" on it. As soon as I started, which I remember was exactly six years ago, it became addicting. It came natural like writing a story, but, it was also writing a story with other people. I stayed on that site until about two years ago, when all the members decided to drop-off like flies.

I see role-playing as a stress reliever, as a hobby, but also something that can get my creative juices flowing to even do some artwork. It doesn't numb my brain like video games do, it makes everything work. It makes me think, makes me escape. You have a whole empty canvas awaiting for you, and you can decide what goes on it. That is what role-playing is to me. Who you will decide to create, how they will act, what story they will live within. It's kind of like a second life for me, I guess you could say.
 
I RP out of a deep and profound love for storytelling. It fulfills my soul, and grants an ultimate meaning and purpose for my existence here.

Growing up, my entire life, really, I was profoundly moved and inspired by movies, TV, video games, comics and novels. That planted within me, a seed of creativity. A thirst to invoke that same movement in others.

I simply want to share the stories, worlds and characters I've created with others. That's why you'll see me working alone more often than not. When I create a story, I know immediately if that story can be done as a group, or not (based on several things). If it CAN be done as a group, I'll post it. But if no one offers themselves, 9 times out of 10 I'll begin doing it myself. Because to be honest, I work better alone. I tell better stories with better character growth, relationships and chemistry, when I work by myself.


I roleplay to reach out and touch you all. Share something special and powerful with you. I feel that's a privileged; to have a storyteller share part of their soul with you. Nothing I write comes from a false or superficial place. Everything I create has a message, a purpose. I only wish to share that with the world.
 
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I guess this will sound really simplistic, but I really just love the written word as much as I love collaborating with others on a story, a world, anything. There's nothing better.
 
For a long time I didn't know "role playing" existed apart from kids dressing up and playing "make believe". It wasn't until I made a friend from Girl Scouts when I was about, say 14/15, that I discovered RP'ing. I was reading the first Stephanie Meyer book, days after it came out, in my friend's bedroom listening to Papa Roach. (I know, right?) She was on her laptop RP'ing. Eventually I finished the book after an hour and passed it to my friend. (Back then I was know as the girl who read a new book everyday. It was how everyone knew me.) She passed my the laptop to hang out on while she read the book. And I wondered what it was she was doing. She explained to me she was RP'ing. Being the noob I was, I had no idea what that was. So she explained the concept and I was entranced. Write with other people? On line? Gosh, it was something I always wanted but never knew I wanted it. So she let me join her site and create an account.

After that I was addicted.

So why do I RP? I love it. Simple. I like creating worlds and characters and seeing how they interact with other people and their ideas. I do it because it makes me happy. I do it because sometimes I have nothing better to do. I do it because sometimes I need to. I do it because I will never finish any book I think of writing, or even my short stories. I do it because it connects me to other people.

(And we can officially blame my BFF for my addictions to D&D and other dice-based roleplay games. It's a slippery slope out there.)
 
Aside from the obvious appeal of entertainment, I roleplay for a vocabulary boost, and so I can keep well-read since I don't read books. Roleplaying is one of the most entertaining forms of education and I think it should be utilized more often.
 
Roleplaying is a way for me to get the characters that love to appear within my mind, out into the world. I am a writer and could just create many stories involving all of them, but that would take up so much time. Plus, I do not wish to create novels out of everyone that appears in my mind. I have chosen only those that I connect with the most and have decided that they will be the ones to enter the world of publication.

Also, roleplaying helps me get out of those 'writer block' moments that happen to all writers. And with roleplaying, I am able to test how various types of individuals would react in certain situations with my characters; or characters that are similar to the ones I am writing about. This also helps keep me grounded so that I do not slip away into my mind and never return.
 
Keep my stress and anxiety down. Mainly after my sudden trauma from a car accident on January Second. I love brainstorming plot ideas with friends and making long term Rps with a close buddy. Plus, it's a fun way to make friendship.​
 
Dante Sparda said:
Plus, it's a fun way to make friendship.​
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you. One of my best and longest friendships was formed from roleplaying. Even to this day we still talk and roleplay all the time.
 
For me it's a bit of escapism. I also like getting into the mind of different people and trying to figure out how they think and act, as well as why. I can be a part of all different kinds of stories that I might not have ever thought of, be surprised as events unfold because I'm not the only one writing, and making some new friends out of like-minded people along the way is always a plus.
 
I roleplay because I like to write, I like to draw and I like to tell stories.

If I combine all three of those maybe nobody'll notice how much I blow at them all.

It's also really therapeutic and keeps my mind off the negativity in my life.
 
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