Lots of reasons.  I've always enjoyed reading fantasy, science fiction, horror and comic books so RPG's give me a chance to interact with those kinds of worlds.  Creating a character who may or may not resemble my actual self  and seeing the world through his eyes.  Seeing the unexpected things that can happen when my friends and I get together.  Replayability (you can play through published adventures with a different group of players, or even different characters, and do things entirely differently than before).

Quote from: 1989;1140472...

The core of the medium is that of a skirmish-scale wargame, focused on the location of desired resources and using them to facilitate the upgrading of player avatars. That's Dungeons & Dragons as it is, stripped of all pretension and other obfuscating bullshit. It is no surprise that failures in this medium are those that don't work with this model of gameplay; it's also no surprise that successes adhere to it, or define their own paradigm of play that then gets adhered to (e.g. Call of Cthulhu).
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This is the most uninspiring explanation of RPGs I've read. I hate this play-style. It does not represent the whole of our hobby, but instead represents our specific first steps. Just because this focus is where we started doesn't force us to be limited by it. Gary Gygax wouldn't like playing in my games and I'm certain I wouldn't have liked playing in his. I love the guy. I'm very grateful what he pioneered (as I am grateful to Dave Arneson, Frank Mentzer, Micheal Moldvay, Eric Wujick, Steve Jackson, Kevin Siembieda, Mike Pondsmith...). I'm certain Mr. Wujick would disagree with you. I had the honor of playing in one of his games at a convention. We didn't use rules. There was ZERO focus on leveling up. I'm not sure if your trying to be "edgy" rude or are just naive.

Anyways...

For me, roleplaying is like improvisational jazz. As the GM, I'm kind of like the conductor. As a former musician, the act of roleplaying gives me much the same satisfaction. Except the medium is imagination vs. music.

We are creating a story together. Not writing it ahead of time, or outlining acceptable conclusions, or boxing the narrative. Instead we are seeing what will happen. It's collaborative and evolving. As the GM I have no idea what the players will choose to do. As the players we have no idea what's coming next. We just agree to react as appropriately as we can with one another. And we watch the magic happen. :-)

Some people like a little more "game" in their play. Others like a little more "narrative". Some want to explore power fantasies while others want to be horrified at their shortcomings. There is a WIDE spectrum of desires at the table, but after the dust clears we all have one thing in common. What Happened. The after report of the session may involve intrigue, terrible conflict, mind-numbing horror, heart pounding action, inspiring romance, or even shocking betrayal. But it ends in What Happened. I revel in enjoying that thing, that reminiscence of enjoyable play, that remembrance of make-believe more than anything in the world. It was the act of creating, or RE-creation, inside our collective imagination that warms my heart, wipes away all my frustrations, and (IMHO) brings me closer to my fellow creatives.

There is frankly not other medium like it. It's why some of us have a near-religious belief in its benefits and want to recruit as many adherents as possible. :-D It's hard to beat as a recreational hobby.

Fantastic descritption, Trechriron!! I agree wholeheartedly.

Quote from: trechriron;1140872This is the most uninspiring explanation of RPGs I've read. I hate this play-style. It does not represent the whole of our hobby, but instead represents our specific first steps. Just because this focus is where we started doesn't force us to be limited by it. Gary Gygax wouldn't like playing in my games and I'm certain I wouldn't have liked playing in his. I love the guy. I'm very grateful what he pioneered (as I am grateful to Dave Arneson, Frank Mentzer, Micheal Moldvay, Eric Wujick, Steve Jackson, Kevin Siembieda, Mike Pondsmith...). I'm certain Mr. Wujick would disagree with you. I had the honor of playing in one of his games at a convention. We didn't use rules. There was ZERO focus on leveling up. I'm not sure if your trying to be "edgy" rude or are just naive.

Anyways...

For me, roleplaying is like improvisational jazz. As the GM, I'm kind of like the conductor. As a former musician, the act of roleplaying gives me much the same satisfaction. Except the medium is imagination vs. music.

We are creating a story together. Not writing it ahead of time, or outlining acceptable conclusions, or boxing the narrative. Instead we are seeing what will happen. It's collaborative and evolving. As the GM I have no idea what the players will choose to do. As the players we have no idea what's coming next. We just agree to react as appropriately as we can with one another. And we watch the magic happen. :-)

Some people like a little more "game" in their play. Others like a little more "narrative". Some want to explore power fantasies while others want to be horrified at their shortcomings. There is a WIDE spectrum of desires at the table, but after the dust clears we all have one thing in common. What Happened. The after report of the session may involve intrigue, terrible conflict, mind-numbing horror, heart pounding action, inspiring romance, or even shocking betrayal. But it ends in What Happened. I revel in enjoying that thing, that reminiscence of enjoyable play, that remembrance of make-believe more than anything in the world. It was the act of creating, or RE-creation, inside our collective imagination that warms my heart, wipes away all my frustrations, and (IMHO) brings me closer to my fellow creatives.

There is frankly not other medium like it. It's why some of us have a near-religious belief in its benefits and want to recruit as many adherents as possible. :-D It's hard to beat as a recreational hobby.

Yes, I should have been clear that these are not my words. I point this out not to say I don't agree with it, but just to not take credit for someone else's thoughts. I found this on a discussion forum somewhere and copied it to my notes.

I think I do agree with that sentiment in many ways. For sure, though, people do mix in all sorts of other things to RPGs (and I have, too!) -- the three pillars, if you will -- and that's what makes RPGs unique. I guess this gets back to -- I hesitate to mention it here -- Game Theory. Coherency. I will say no more.

On my own RPG journey, I've been everywhere from pure immersion diceless roleplaying to basically wargame, hack-and-slash style (but not with grids!) -- still theatre of the mind.

Quote from: trechriron;1140872This is the most uninspiring explanation of RPGs I've read. I hate this play-style. It does not represent the whole of our hobby, but instead represents our specific first steps. Just because this focus is where we started doesn't force us to be limited by it. Gary Gygax wouldn't like playing in my games and I'm certain I wouldn't have liked playing in his. I love the guy. I'm very grateful what he pioneered (as I am grateful to Dave Arneson, Frank Mentzer, Micheal Moldvay, Eric Wujick, Steve Jackson, Kevin Siembieda, Mike Pondsmith...). I'm certain Mr. Wujick would disagree with you. I had the honor of playing in one of his games at a convention. We didn't use rules. There was ZERO focus on leveling up. I'm not sure if your trying to be "edgy" rude or are just naive.

Anyways...

For me, roleplaying is like improvisational jazz. As the GM, I'm kind of like the conductor. As a former musician, the act of roleplaying gives me much the same satisfaction. Except the medium is imagination vs. music.

We are creating a story together. Not writing it ahead of time, or outlining acceptable conclusions, or boxing the narrative. Instead we are seeing what will happen. It's collaborative and evolving. As the GM I have no idea what the players will choose to do. As the players we have no idea what's coming next. We just agree to react as appropriately as we can with one another. And we watch the magic happen. :-)

Some people like a little more "game" in their play. Others like a little more "narrative". Some want to explore power fantasies while others want to be horrified at their shortcomings. There is a WIDE spectrum of desires at the table, but after the dust clears we all have one thing in common. What Happened. The after report of the session may involve intrigue, terrible conflict, mind-numbing horror, heart pounding action, inspiring romance, or even shocking betrayal. But it ends in What Happened. I revel in enjoying that thing, that reminiscence of enjoyable play, that remembrance of make-believe more than anything in the world. It was the act of creating, or RE-creation, inside our collective imagination that warms my heart, wipes away all my frustrations, and (IMHO) brings me closer to my fellow creatives.

There is frankly not other medium like it. It's why some of us have a near-religious belief in its benefits and want to recruit as many adherents as possible. :-D It's hard to beat as a recreational hobby.

You say that roleplaying is like improvisational jazz and yet Gary was playing before there was any formal codified rules.  I am not at all certain that either of you would not like to play in each others games.

Escapism and the chance to be a Big Damned Hero. No more complicated than that.