Gaming Questions From A Newbie That Have Made Me Think

Skywalker · December 21, 2014, 03:45:36 PM

The purpose of RPGs is to connect, to create, to experience, to explore and to have fun.

trechriron · December 21, 2014, 05:25:06 PM

Quote from: Natty Bodak;805311... "Have adventures of your own."

Not only is that a wonderful answer it NEEDS to be printed on t-shirts. and TV commercials. and coffee mugs.

Can I steel that for a cafe press store? :-D

Tabletop Roleplaying Games (front)

Have Adventures of Your Own (back)

soviet · December 21, 2014, 07:52:45 PM

To tell stories and deprotagonise the GM. No? Boy, tough crowd. :-)

I'm not sure there really is one answer for 'roleplaying games' beyond something fairly generic like fun, just like there wouldn't be just one answer for the goal of sports or the goal of seeing movies. I think once you start talking about specific games, or even campaigns, that's when you can get a meaningful answer. Even leaving aside storygames and the like, AD&D is different from MERP which is different from CoC or CP2020.

Natty Bodak · December 21, 2014, 07:56:46 PM

Quote from: trechriron;805455Not only is that a wonderful answer it NEEDS to be printed on t-shirts. and TV commercials. and coffee mugs.

Can I steel that for a cafe press store? :-D

Tabletop Roleplaying Games (front)

Have Adventures of Your Own (back)

Donate my share of the millions to charity!

Phillip · December 21, 2014, 08:17:27 PM

In one sense, it's like asking, "What's the goal of a board game?"
Answer in both cases: It depends on the game.

In another sense, the implication is that the inquirer sees no point in a game that has no clear victory condition or even end-of-game condition. (I've encountered this regarding the old dungeon-expedition arcade game Gauntlet.)

"To have fun" is a good answer. Some others:
A leading question: "What's the goal of the common childhood game Let's Pretend?"
"Whatever you choose to pursue, within the scope of what interests your fellow participants."
"To pretend for a while to be someone who has adventures that are a diverting change from one's real life."

Phillip · December 21, 2014, 08:34:39 PM

Quote from: Catelf;805294Fun?
Um, it might be something lost in translation,

Yes. Used as a noun, 'fun' can mean a comedic activity - usually mockery as in "to make fun of." Apart from variations on that particular phrase, though, that sense is becoming rather archaic. Most often, it means an experience of pleasure associated with a playful activity, or is an adjective signifying that, as in the pop song lyrics: "Sex is natural, sex is fun, sex is best when it's one on one."

Quotebut I tend to define "fun" as something more to the funny definition, and I would not call the tension during a battle or other decisive actions to be "funny".

I would clearly admit to it being entertaining, though.

Old One Eye · December 21, 2014, 09:02:57 PM

Roleplaying is pretending to be someone. A game is where rules are added. The only general goal of a roleplaying game is to pretend to be someone while using rules to govern how one pretends. This generic goal is pretty useless to even so
much as mention.

Any given campaign almost certainly has defined goals, which is how I would have answered the question. My current campaign has the very specific goal of stopping the Cult of the Dragon from summoning Tiamat.

And just like how real life carries on whether goals are met or failed, the campaign can likewise carry on.

Matt · December 24, 2014, 09:54:26 AM

Quote from: cranebump;805301"To see your enemies driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their [significant others]."

Have even barbarians become PC?

Telarus · December 24, 2014, 11:41:28 AM

The goal of a role playing game, 'why' we play them (like many games), is to FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS. After that, it's all down to the specifics of the setting and group of characters.

I like RPGs because it is a game form that generates a narrative (quantified outcome), the players of the game are emotionally invested in the characters and they are the audience of the story being generated. Each game session you get to 'find out what happens' to the stuff in the game world you care about, while directly influencing that outcome with the strategies you choose while playing that session.

Old One Eye · December 24, 2014, 12:08:08 PM

Quote from: Telarus;805906The goal of a role playing game, 'why' we play them (like many games), is to FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS. After that, it's all down to the specifics of the setting and group of characters.

I like RPGs because it is a game form that generates a narrative (quantified outcome), the players of the game are emotionally invested in the characters and they are the audience of the story being generated. Each game session you get to 'find out what happens' to the stuff in the game world you care about, while directly influencing that outcome with the strategies you choose while playing that session.

Fnding out what happens is a goal of every sporting event ever. It is one of the reasons we watch films and read books.

Such a generic goal says absolutely nothing. For the goal to have any meaning, it must be tailored to the specific game. The goal of a Shadowrun game may be to perform industrial espionage with extreme violence. That has meaning.