Friday, March 19, 2010

What do Role-Playing Games Give you to Beleive in?

What values do you find to believe in through your role-playing? I find:

  1. Imagination: RPGs allow you to exercise your imagination in a way that's different from any other activity I've ever encountered. Getting the party past a 20' wide pit is more than just a game challenge. It engages your imagination and brings other people along on that imagining.
  2. Creativity: RPGs engage creativity by inviting people to make up cool stuff and describe it to other people.
  3. Friendship: Sitting in a basement (or a bar, or a living room, or wherever) with your friends, eating waffles, and pretending to be 200-year-old Elves is bound to build a certain kind of camaraderie.
  4. Culture: I don't really give much of a damn about gamer culture; I'm talking about taking the culture that surrounds you, making it your own, and expressing it in new forms. Did you ever base something in your D&D game that you got from a book, movie, myth, story, or picture? That's expressing the value of culture.
  5. Do-it-Yourself: Make your own fun. Share it with others.

Anything to add?

3 Comments:

Blogger Calithena said...

This is a nice clear summary, Tony. Thanks - I happen to agree with you 100%!

March 20, 2010 at 11:24 AM

 
Blogger Lanth said...

I'd add teamwork. Working together to solve a tricky problem (whether that's a 10' pit or a troll) with friends is an exhilarating feeling. It combines imagination, creativity, and friendship, and adds the joy that only comes from being a valuable part of a powerful whole.

March 26, 2010 at 8:11 PM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

That's a good one! Yes, I'd add that too.

March 26, 2010 at 11:06 PM

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home