Silver Kamen Talks: Why do we enjoy Role-Playing so much?

[Silver Kamen]

This will be the first real installment in my Series "Silver Kamen Talks". Also, I couldn't figure if I should write this in Gaming or Role Playing and Fan-Fiction, so it's in General Discussion.

Oh Elder Scrolls, you took the concept of adventure and the quest for glory to a whole new level. As much as the next person, I have enjoyed my time with Oblivion and Skyrim, slaying bandits and looting people's batches of cabbage, but I often wonder what makes me enjoy these types of games more than Battlefield, Batman, or even God of War?

I never thought too much before, but after finishing my own character design in A Role Playing Board and going at it for a few posts, the thought has occurred to me: Why do we enjoy Role Playing so much?

Now, we know that the concept of Role Playing is to create a character of your liking and shaping him to how you enjoy your personal style of playing. I know there are multiple types of Role Playing, such as Dungeons and Dragons, but for now I'll stick to the gaming aspect of the Role Play.

To the casual gamer, Role Playing games may not differ in appearance to other games that feature their own customization feature, such as fighting games or first person shooters, or even massively multiplayer online game. Although I do enjoy beating up other people's character with my own creation, whether it be in Soul Calibur, Call of Duty, or even Star Wars: The Old Republic or DC Universe: Online, there is always something off in these games when compared to others.

After revisiting these mentioned titles once more, I discovered that with the exception of Call of Duty (let's face it, gun customization is pretty cool, but it's all it has to offer), these games are very restrictive when it comes to immersing yourself in it's atmosphere. I can understand fighters since the focus is fighting, but for MMOs, I can never really enjoy them due to the leveling system: a system that either forces you to grind for more experience, begin pointless missions until you level up, or in some cases shell out your credit card to gain better equipment.

In Skyrim and other games, like Dragon's Dogma or Dark Souls, I was given complete control of my character's life, as I'm sure you all are familiar with in your experiences. I could go anywhere I wanted to, talk to anybody I wished to talk to, fight with any weapons that suit my style of combat. Granted, some MMOs have multiple fighting styles, but it's in specific RPGs that let you find your personal preference.

But wait, what makes these games better that MMOs, other that the freedom that you instantly gain? Well, that has bothered me a little bit, and I have been searching the answer for a while now. But again, I will refer to that Role Playing Board I joined. Even though he is the Game Master, I get to dictate what actions my character does in a given situation, I CONTROL his movements, I CHOOSE his weapon of choice, I DECIDE whether he runs or if he fights, and it is ME who determines whether or not he gets to go to a new mission or not.

Now I understood why I enjoy these games more than I did others: I make the choices that are presented for my character. I know it's an obvious given, but lets analyze this a little further: How often do we make choices that are as dynamic or as influential as the one we make in our game worlds?

I might be stretching it here, but it's not often that we can slay giants or hunt down mages for some gold and glory, but do some people really enjoy living the life of their game character? I can personally admit that there were a few times that I wished I was as awesome as my Stahlrim warrior who was proficient with swords and can transform into a werewolf at will, there were times that I wished that I was there to defeat Grigori.

But ultimately, I am happy with my own life.

Though I do know that there are a few people who would love to spend more time in their RPG than they do in the real world (Dragonbored parody), and I can understand that.

Bottom line: I feel that we enjoy Role Playing because we can create a character of our own imagination, and decide what choices and what actions we would like him to make in a given situation, and we also decide how we deal with the consequences of our actions in whatever way we feel is best.

[lhb412]

And you yourself role-playing as a syndicated columnist!

We're down the rabbit hole now, guys!

[Silver Kamen]

[klen7]

i'd say this probably goes with the Gaming threads, and could probably do without the branding ... anyway i used to play a lot of RPGs. now i play close to none even though i still get about 10 hours of gaming in a week. It probably has to do with the amount of time i have to game, but now i need something i can pick up and put down and just use to unwind. I also have become a completely social gamer, so if a game doesn't have online gameplay or none of my friends have it, i wont even bother... i have bought a few highly rated single player games that i have less than an hour in because i'd rather be playing something that i've played 100 times before with friends.

[XvGojira]