[THE TRUE JIN]

I was actually asked this question last night by a friend. Passed it onto another friend who said it would be neat to see other people's responses.

So... why do you roleplay?

Personally, I find that I enjoy getting to know a person through their writing. I think it's just as fun, possibly even more fun, getting to know the person behind the character. There's a lot you can learn from people's OCs if you pay close attention.

[SIFR]

When my mother got together with my father, my father was a DM for his group. They did AD&D, White Wolf, Shadowrun, Rifts... you name it, they probably did it. So, I remember being four and having Mom, Dad and their friends sitting around the living room table as I was getting ready for bed, doing up character sheets and talking about what campaign they were doing that week. Sometimes Mom would let me get some hot chocolate before bed, and I would sit in one of their laps and roll dice for them and what not, and I'm told a lot of the time I fell asleep in their lap.

So, roleplaying was sort of my life. Then when "parents became uncool" (we all know that stage of our lives...), roleplaying was so much a part of my life that it was practically like breathing.

So, really, I can't imagine life without writing or a set of dice in my purse.

/end nostalgia

[CRANE]

It helps with my writing and sometimes it's my only "creative" outlet for it, since the bulk of what I have to do for school are papers on politics/current events and my major does little creative writing. It's also a little easier to keep up with rather than keeping my own writing journal, or trying to write stories (or something of that sort) everyday, because you're, in a way, motivated by the role playing community you're part of. That said, I'm not opposed to doing my own work/coming up with my own thing. Oh and, I think it really helps a lot with fleshing out characters (especially if plots work out for the better).

There's also that "I've struck gold" moment when you thread with somebody who's super compatible with your writing style/with the ideas you have in mind. Plus writing up apps is fun. And so is reading about other people's character/reading their writing in general.

I met a lot of great people through role playing, some of which don't do so anymore, but it's really something I enjoy and love and something I like doing as a way of expressing creativity.

[spring]

I got hooked on it when I realised how fun it was to make up stories and characters and play them out like I wanted to.


Like a puppeteer.

[Zozma]

Why? Because I love to write, I love creating characters, and I love telling stories. It's not nearly as fun alone as it is with a partner. Part of the fun for me is giddily waiting to see what my partner comes up with and excitedly PMing or IMing them with new ideas and receiving excited PMs/IMs from them. <3

[TSUKASA]

I originally picked it up because I was bored, really.

But when I make a character I like, I get really into it. I want to see how they grow, who they meet, experience tons of things whether it be happiness, pain, anything that adds to their character. Just making relationships, both friendships and romantic ones, in and of itself is really fun to me. Developing them and seeing how they react to other people is also much more enjoyable when you do it with other people who are doing the same thing, in my opinion. It really makes me feel like my character isn't just some text and images, like as if they are an actual being and I'm just someone who is helping them communicate who they are.

When I think of it like that, I almost feel like as if I have to roleplay and I don't mind that one bit. Things aren't going too well for me because I can't find myself to give up on a particular character of mine for this very reason, haha. Just doesn't feel like her story is over yet...

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

My reason for roleplaying varies between different time periods the years I've RPed. Back the first time I've RPed, I did it because I wanted to "show off" at how good I am in writing. I was 10, okay, and writing was essentially the skill that identified me as a person, or so I believe anyway. Then I started roleplaying in a Suikoden RP because duh I like Suikoden. So when I began RPing in forums for real, I didn't do it out of interest in writing or creating stories but to fill in my needs as a fan and meet with other people who have the same interest. A few years after that, I decided one day I wanted to roleplay Pokemon and I've been a sole Pokemon RP for the longest time. I've only branched out to a few non-Pokemon sites last year and almost all of them are still fandom-based.

Right now, I'm into mass crossover roleplaying, a decision prompted by the same reason why I decided to roleplay in the past. I wanted to RP Soldier Blue from Toward The Terra and there really was no place for me to do that but in a mass crossover RP. I'm not much into original sites. I might be what you would call a fandom roleplayer but no matter what preference I have, I do hold the same sentiments with you guys. I want to write, make stories, and share interests with other people.

[gojira]

honestly, i've never thought about it. one day, i picked up roleplaying, and never looked back. i don't really have an aim in roleplaying, either.

maybe it's because of the people i've met and the friends i've made?

(it all comes back to the question of what would i do with my free time if i stopped.)

[lafayel]

Jul 22, 2013 12:48:01 GMT -8 lafayel said:

I remember when I first started rping and found it relieving. It helps me think outside the box, evolve ( my writing, feelings, and that good stuff ), relieve stress, to enter into another world where I can become someone else, so much feels. I also like making nifty graphics to share with others & for the world to see. That's how I found out about adobe and it's neat bag of tricks. I don't know what I would have done without my adobe. :U *makes grabby hands* haha...! I stopped there because it would go on & on. ;___;

When I was in my teens, I would pray that my time with rping would never stop. Odd, yes but it's true. I even thought, I hope the years don't fly by and I come to realize I'm too old to rp. a deep thinker. i hate that about myself.

Like I've mentioned in another thread ( look above ). C:

[OJOUSAMA]

For me, it started off on the 4Kids forums, waaaay back when they didn't have those flashy customization avatars and your post counts mattered cause that unlocked avatars for you and showed how active you were. I was a big Sonic fan and often wrote fanfics to support sonamy or shadamy or w/e and then I joined these role playing threads and I found it really amusing to interact and write with other people. From there, I moved on to pokemon role plays because who doesn't want to role play a pokemon adventure? And then I took a giant step into the animanga role playing community and here I am now, ta da.

So I guess I'd have to say that, in general, it's fun, and it's less work on my part. I don't have to write fanfics to satisfy my fandom needs anymore, I can just role play with other people and get more done. Plus I have OCD (Original Character Disease) where I can't stop making characters and I actually enjoy writing up profiles and applications. And then lastly I enjoy meeting people and making friends in the role playing community. None of my irl friends role play, but I've made some great friends on the internet because of role playing, and it's always a blast to role play and plot with them.

[Deleted]

i like writing. i like making characters. it's fantasy. it's an escape. you get to be someone else for a little while.

and being part of a community, especially since i can't get out much irl, is also great. the enthusiasm of coming up with plots together, getting to know someone through their posts and outside of them. it's fun. you bond over it. writing solo can't compare.

[murk]

it's my escape. tbh writing and art always has been my escape, even when i was younger i used to write stories and whatnot all the time because it was just plain fun and i loved it. when i was in fourth grade my friend and i who were obssessed with avatar: the last airbender started like uh. larping almost??? except it was more kids playing with their imaginations. we had our own universes, she was katara and i was toph and everyone else was just like NPCs and i'd spend hours at her house just doing that with her. in fifth grade i found roleplaying, and i learned that it was almost exactly like that except with writing that i was still obsessed with and since then i haven't stopped. it's been almost five years |D;;

but really it's my escape. i just kind of put my characters through hell when i feel bad and it's been working so far so-

[HIMA]

i realised i wrote a lot of oc fics. and i like ocs. so when i got introduced to rp it seemed like a really good idea for me. first i thought it would be practice in developing characters for the future, but im not sure how well that's worked out for me. well, i just want to play out ideas in my head, and relationships i've seen in anime and stuff. idk, it's like playing dolls, like puzzle said to me once. i'm just playing dollies

[GMOT]

it's an escape for me. i don't really remember exactly how i started, but i've been doing it since i was like ten/eleven years old. (i think i started on neopets with animal rps?) at first, i really wanted to sure that i was a good writer and i could make good characters (lol, i was ten we all know where this was going.) but it later became my escape from the troubles in my life. i like it, i get transported to a whole new dimension or country or life.

[hana]

At first, it was more of a “why not” kind of feel. Started out in a Naruto site (but, it somehow made me cringe every time I tried to join a new recent one so I backed out from the Naruto rp in general) I love Naruto, I just can’t rp it anymore. Now, it’s a part of my life, and it helps with what I’m currently studying at the moment—video game designing. It’s like: “Hey, I got this amazing idea for a character,” but it also can work to fuel my recent designs for any drafts of a plot I have for a game, or any character I’m currently working on. The little things like items, where they come from, how they act…everything can be used as a reference for future projects. I can honestly say I don’t regret joining the rp world, it also makes me work that much harder with my writing—since English isn’t really my first language and that feel when you get someone who’s writing really surpasses your own, and they complement you to the most honest degree it just makes me want to work that much harder and get better.

That’s basically my “why” I joined. Started out as a “maybe I’ll just drop it” kind of thing. Eight or seven years later, I’m still doing it. No regrets ♥