Why do you roleplay?

[CloudyBlueDay]

A question that popped into my mind recently was why I started it all and why I continue to roleplay! Roleplaying was really the first thing I discovered as a child on the internet. I was roleplaying in places that weren't quite meant for it. (Try comments sections on coding websites?) I made a lot of friends and really developed a love of writing through it, and now it's a pastime I greatly enjoy.

What's your story?

 

[junebug]

Simply put, I started roleplaying as an escape from everyday horrors life. I've grown attached to roleplaying and it most likely still is an escape in some way. Things have improved tremendously in my life, but there's always still a small part of me, aside from roleplaying because I love love writing, that uses it as an escape from reality. Sometimes life is just a little too hard for me, but when I come online and I get to talk to people (and write), laugh, socialize without fear... I really enjoy it. :)

 

[Nemopedia]

I started because my English teacher in secondary school had a burnout, but no replacement. So, with no English classes for almost half a year I was worried about passing my English class. My creative solution to this was to start roleplaying, because indulging yourself in the language itself teaches you the fastest.

It was meant temporarily, but here I'm after almost a decade! :D

 

[Aero Blue]

I was always a bit of a make-believer.

As it happened, writing - just at a base level - came easily to me at a young age. Not so much the language itself, since English was a second (third, I guess, but I learned the first two concurrently) language to me, but just the whole putting ideas on paper/forum and presenting them.

And basically it opened an avenue of 'fun' for me. I have basically never had aspirations of being a writer in any formal capacity, but roleplaying is just mighty good fun; I more or less treat it as co-op video gaming haha.

 

[Elle Joyner]

For me it's because I need an outlet for imagination and roleplaying has just always been more enjoyable for me than solo writing... It's almost therapeutic in a way. I love forming stories and characters and worlds and bringing them to life with other creative people!

 

[Shiri]

I started because I had so much to tell. I had no notions of etiquette and proper prose, but I wanted to try this thing that I kept seeing people talk about. At the time I remember it being very hard to make new characters. I didn't understand that you can make a new character simply by mixing the characteristics and personalities of characters I already like.

Then I started roleplaying with a friend and everything became so much easier. We shoved our universes together and everything seemed to click into place. I still roleplay with this friend when they have the time and we always somehow manage to keep things fresh. They've moved now so roleplay is one of the few things were can still do together over the distance.

I do it because it is enjoyable and it helps me keep in touch with friends who have moved away to pursue their dreams. I am thankful that they feel comfortable enough with me to remain my roleplaying partners.

 

[Vars]

I started because it was new and fun.
I kept doing it because I was good at it and it came easy to me.
I do it now mostly for escapism purposes. Or theraputic outlets to work out problems.
Sometimes to challenge myself with writing certain things.

But mostly escapism.


Slightly related:
I always wondered why people of different languages choose to rp in English specifically. Especially if the reason isn't to better their English. Aren't their other-language rp communities? Or are English users pretty unique in this hobby?

 

[Greenie]

I started roleplaying because I loved writing stories and it was a way to write stories with other people. I didn't even know what roleplaying was before seeing it on a forum... collaborative story writing :D

 

[Obsidian Miscreant]

There was a time when I really enjoyed roleplay.
It made me extremely happy, and provided me with an outlet for all of the ideas I had once kept locked inside my imagination. I had always been an avid reader, so for me roleplay was also a way for me to write stories of my own.

Yet lately I've been finding it increasingly hard to continue.
I've noticed me attempting to convince myself that this is still fun instead of genuinely feeling that way.
I don't feel satisfied anymore. Nor do I feel as if I'm contributing anything remotely noteworthy in the stories I'm part of.

So, when it comes to the question "Why do you roleplay?"
I can only reply with "I don't know."

 

[Dipper]

Me being an imaginative child who wanted to be something - or someone - not myself, it was only natural that I would gravitate toward roleplay. Think about it. You can do and be anything you want with just a few words. Not to mention writing itself has become immensely entertaining. I can't stop.

 

[Nemopedia]

I always wondered why people of different languages choose to rp in English specifically. Especially if the reason isn't to better their English. Aren't their other-language rp communities? Or are English users pretty unique in this hobby?

I tried to find roleplay forums in different languages. They are there, but not as large, and as popular as the English forums. It is because of the size and activity that there is a larger choice to make in regards of what you want to roleplay, which makes the English writing sites more popular.

Dutch, for example, has maybe one forum (that I found) that is somewhat active, but the choice of what is offered is limited (mostly Naruto, or romance). The rest of the forums were either purely fandom based, died, or both.

As for why they seek out English sites, that they will have to answer themselves. For me it was because I wanted to become better, but now because I enjoy it. Writing in Dutch vs English just has a different feel for me. I can't explain what, but it just does. XD

 

[A.O. Taku]

I'm not really sure...

I always liked coming up with stories and characters, and tried writing to put those thoughts into existence. I'd say the very first time I saw and actually considered what I see as "proper actual forum RP" was when I got invited to one out of the blue on another site. Gave me an excuse to build more characters, which I love doing.

But anyway. I guess I RP because it forces me to write. Without external pressure, I don't accomplish very much. And even with it...

 

[Finhawk]

I once figured I'd try out this weird thing called 'roleplaying' when a couple of online buddies started one and invited me along. That first RP was pretty terrible and looking back on it now, I committed so many RP sins that I feel ashamed for my younger self. But I had loads of fun with that RP at the time and I very much wanted to venture to other adventures after that first one faded away and died.

I think what I've always liked most about stories in general are the characters. I really like picking out behavioral/verbal/whatever habits they have, what sets them apart, their motives, what shaped those motives in the past, and the like. I like asking questions and having those "oh!" moments when some reveal makes everything click. Naturally, I also like creating characters of my own and getting into their heads once in a while. It's quite nerve-wrecking to try to come up with believable characters with answers to the loads of questions I like to ask while trying to keep them all different. But I do like the challenge as well and succeeding at it is quite the amazing feeling.

So, I suppose the answer is: Because it's fun and I like character creation.

I always wondered why people of different languages choose to rp in English specifically. Especially if the reason isn't to better their English. Aren't their other-language rp communities? Or are English users pretty unique in this hobby?

When I started RPing, I didn't even consider searching RPs in my first language, I suppose I just instinctively knew there'd be no point in trying to RP in Finnish because who the hell even talks Finnish? And RPs in Finnish on top of that? There's just way more to choose from in the buffet of English RP and I want to devour all the things.

Also, at this point, English just feels way more 'natural' to me when it comes to writing. Finnish is just... derp. And I can write potato in Finnish. Which is why I should write more in Finnish.


Instant edit: Aaaand I've almost always done most of my internet shenanigans on English sites/forums anyway so I suppose it was only logical for that pattern to extend to RPing as well.

My poor neglected first language... :,I

 

[Vars]

@Finhawk That's strange to me because I have some Finnish friends and it seems like the Finn RP community is EXTREMELY active. Especially LARP.
Like no lie I am super jealous of how often those Finns are LARPing.

edit: but it's all fandom-related so I guess that's the problem.

 

[Finhawk]

@Finhawk That's strange to me because I have some Finnish friends and it seems like the Finn RP community is EXTREMELY active. Especially LARP.
Like no lie I am super jealous of how often those Finns are LARPing.

edit: but it's all fandom-related so I guess that's the problem.

Huh, I guess I judged my fellow Finns too hastily then, how foolish of me. Though I'm no LARPer so I cannot rejoice from that part. :,D

But thanks, perhaps I should do my research next time. :v

 

[envogue]

Sad to say, most of the reason I roleplay is because no one else is writing the stories I want to read. Well, except for my roleplay partners and fanfics, but definitely not in book form. :) It used to be like escapism, but now it's to read stories with my favorite themes and elements.

 

[Cloudburst]

I began to roleplay because I had began to fail in my everyday writings. Gradually I taught myself to write as I spoke, and how to emulate the flavors from other writers. Soon I began to apply my roleplaying skill to my pseudo-novel writing skill, and began to use those skills interchangeably. Now I roleplay as a flag to state that I likely won't be able to complete a full novel.

 

[The Mood is Write]

You know, I honestly started because I found a forum about pokemon and it invited people to come in and have a journey. I think I did three or four posts there before me and another member fucked off to MSN, and then AIM.

It became something like a mix between escapism and self-expression, and initially I had no idea how to separate self from character, which led to awkward four years e-dating a pedo. -cough-

Though, eventually I started taking it 'seriously' and investing actual effort into it, and began to love it more and more.

These days, I just love making and sharing stories. I can write novels (the rough drafts at least), but it's not quite as fulfilling as working with someone who you can talk to about it as you go.

Socialization is another big reason I RP. Growing up, I had only one friend if I had any. In elementary, it was one person. In middle school it was another. High school, I had a few people who put up with me plus one friend.

It took until college for me to make multiple friends, and even online, socializing was a struggle until I started to RP more, which helped me meet people with similar interests. As someone perpetually lonely, RP helped ease me into learning how to deal with people and gave me reasons to try to get along with them. :>

 

[esoteric]

I stumbled across roleplaying on accident, but immediately fell in love. I've always enjoyed pretending to be someone or something else and as a child I had what people call "an overactive imagination"... really those plebeians just don't appreciate art, tsk. I started out in such a cringey way (think *'s to signify movement and one liners) but as I met new people my skills developed and I worked harder to create actual content.

It was actually hilarious thinking back, around the age of thirteen I started idolizing certain roleplayers and I would suck up to them like crazy and eventually I joined their clique. The community was so dramatic back then and there were wars of all kinds. People arguing about certain people being godmodders, joining rps they obviously weren't capable of, rejecting characters just because they didn't like the player, etc...

I still remember the usernames of some of the rp idols from my youth. Well at least their nicknames. Chi, Wa-chan, Lavi, Daz, Rev and ohhhh Pet!

But yeah this little history lesson of mine isn't just nonsense, it's what I stick around for. Roleplaying excites me! It influences me to write better and create original worlds and characters. And the communities I have found throughout the decade I've been rping have shaped me as a person. I told some of my rp friends stuff I never told anyone irl. We could chat about deep and surface stuff and then escape to a roleplay to completely forget our real selves.

 

[Chris_Reaper]

Well I'm an actor as well as writer. Im still trying to break into main stream Hollywood with only a few straight to DVD films under my belt. I find that role playing is a great way to keep my writing skills sharp as well as keep my acting ability in top form. Not to mention that RP'ing is a treasure trove of inspirational ideas for future screenplays and great character references...and finally RP'ing is just a hell of a lot of fun.