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Does Role-playing Give Your Life Meaning?

I once asked a buddy of mine why he likes to play role-playing games so much and he told me that it gave his life meaning. I wasn't sure how to take that but wanted to see if there are others that feel that way and if so how does it give your life meaning?

Meaning Life Give Role-playing Does

I'm not crazy about your friend's exact wording, but in an overarcing essence, I guess it has some merit.

For me, roleplaying has many values. I'm not a normally social person, partly due to anxiety and depression and shyness, partly due to simply finding most people displeasing to be around, but roleplaying sort of helps bridge that a bit for me, and gives me something to "do", some valid "excuse" or reason to be with others that I might not otherwise want to spend time with, AND in an active, lengthy amount of time, not just watching TV passively or mindlessly drinking or something.

Secondly for me, again, not being social, it allows me outlets, both personal, for expressing emotions and fantasies and wishes, being people I want to be, but also it allows me to "try out" different personalities, different ways of talking to others, behaving, develop my social skills, in a small group of usually close friends, sort of a safe "testing ground".

Just creativity in general: I learn a lot from the adventures, I get to be creative to solve things, to pay attention and take notes, to understand things, to watch others, to learn as the plot unfolds, and to learn how to GM and to be a better player, and to get ideas for writing my own adventures, and for making characters and such, and sometimes in turn this inspires me to work on my own games which I'd like, though I don't know if I ever will, be able to sell.

I enjoy GMing more, myself, though, as my memory and ability to keep track and pay attention to things is iffy, but I can run pre-written things pretty well, and I can improvise just well enough to wing things when players go a little off the beaten path. I enjoy GMing because I enjoy providing the backdrop and obstacles and open script for the players to introduce their characters, to provide the foils and villains for the heroes to trounce and shine in the limelight and be appropriately awesome, and let the players feel proud for being clever and creative, intelligent, good roleplayers and yes, good dice rollers.


So in a roundabout way, role-playing games "give my life meaning" as well, though not literally, in the way your friend makes it sound.



Edited: JPatt on 14th Jul, 2011 - 6:31am

Does Role-playing Give Your Life Meaning? Reviews RPG & Card Board

What you are saying makes sense. I guess it takes a certain kind of person with unique characteristics to get involved in role-playing games to this extent.