Viewpoint What do you get out of roleplaying?

[baggysack]

I wanted to make a Viewpoint thread to sort of shoot the breeze, get a better sense of the community here.

As of now, it's my winter break, and I've found I've spent the last two weeks either sleeping or writing. Even more recently, that writing has fallen into this type of forum-hosted, play-by-post roleplaying. I haven't cared this much since I was even younger, so it's gotten me thinking about where the feeling came from and what it does for me creatively.

How do you balance roleplaying with other creative interests? This could apply to writing projects, like if you're writing a novel, but a lot of players also illustrate their characters, and the effort others put into designing little BB-code templates reflects actual web design. Is roleplaying a way to practice or support what you already do, or is roleplaying/anything revolving roleplaying the hobby in itself?

In your opinion, is roleplaying more about making a good product (a good post as a player; a great plot, premise, and/or system for your game as a GM) or is it more about enjoying the process or exercise of making these things? Does it vary?

 

[still watching fma]

Rp for me, is about putting myself into the shoes of my favorite fictional characters or archtypes, and making my own decisions in the story. You know, I could fire up path finder kingmaker or pillars of eternity 2, but those stories are set in stone. Rps don't always work out, but the potential is infinitely more interesting than the plot set in any game or movie. This is coming from a guy who loves the lord of the rings, jurassic park, and pokemon. But I still find that being in the driver seat is more interesting being the passenger.

 

[Grey]

Honestly? 50% attracting new readers, 50% meeting cool people and having fun with the games.
It also helps me keep my writing skills sharp when I'm disillusioned with standard fiction, and I'm a big believer in iterative development so getting people playing helps me refine my system design.

 

[Crayons]

I'm one of those people who do it for enjoyment of the process. I love the act of writing, especially writing stuff without knowing where/how it's going to end up. I love amusing and entertaining my partners, I love the collaboration - creating and developing something together, and I love the escapism. For me, doing RP is something of a relief valve from worrying about outcomes. I have a creative career, and I am very perfectionistic with that. I need a break from myself, to be able to create freely without thinking about a finished product.

If I get too far into trying to create outcomes with RP, I become a control freak and not at all fun to play with. And that's how I see RP - it's play. Of course, play can be about practising skills you need in life too, and RP has been a great tool of self discovery in many ways.

 

[Grey]

I'll have to lure you into one of my RPs sometime, Crayons. I love being surprised by players as much as I love to find ways to surprise them (or reward them for having great ideas).
I know GM-led RPs aren't normally your bag, but mine seem to be a tad atypical, too.

 

[Crayons]

I'll have to lure you into one of my RPs sometime, Crayons. I love being surprised by players as much as I love to find ways to surprise them (or reward them for having great ideas).
I know GM-led RPs aren't normally your bag, but mine seem to be a tad atypical, too.

Happy to chat to you about it for sure mate!

 

[rae2nerdy]

I mostly do it as stress relief and a way to engage with my favorite fandoms. Even when I do original content it’s usually based on a premise from a fandom I enjoy.

I find building or fleshing out worlds to be the most enjoyable part of the process and something I enjoy working on with friends.

 

[baggysack]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'm definitely leaning more towards the process camp as well. I can probably think roleplaying for my appreciation for world-building, too, so I personally agree with that as well.

 

[Jet]

Honest to God I have no idea. I get a weird sense of satisfaction from a well done write. That's about it.

Started many years ago as a Fandom self inserter (typical lol). Putting badass anime me into the Naruto verse? Fuuhhhhck yeah that was cool for a bit. Stopped self insertion quick though, it bored me.

Over time I entered more serious circles and I had to up my game. Did that, sort of, became decent enough and then this whole game became an ego thing. Fucks sake did I write pretentious garbage for a minute there. It's that for a lot of people btw, don't get it twisted.

Then I quit for some years, got older, smarter, less up my own ass, came back an acceptable writer and I do it just because I can. Like someone climbing a mountain because it's there. Here people can see the climb, maybe that's what it is.

 

[Onmyoji]

All my other creative interests went down the drain because my work and health issues made me too exhausted for anything.
So roleplaying doesn't have to back up or battle other interests. It's just there and it's for fun.
Exhaustion made me downgrade from being a novella writer to writing short paragraphs. But as long as it's fun and my rp partners don't mind...
A very important thing for me in roleplaying is collaboration. I find it more fun when you're writing with someone else, when you all contribute to the plot and characters can interact in unpredictable ways.

Actually, one of the reasons I went back to roleplaying after a very long break was, I wrote a story together with another author. It was not roleplaying, I wrote the story and the other person just added extra scenes, but we also discussed the plot and characters and all that.
I had so much more fun writing it that way than writing alone... So I decided to revive roleplaying hobby. I see rp as a form of collaborative writing. And a very fun form!

So for me it's a way to have fun, improve my mood and create together with someone.
I do fandom rp often, so it's also a way to spend more time with favorite characters, which is less stagnant than writing fanfiction.
And to escape real life lol that is why I prefer to rp fantasy and never rp slice of life in modern world. XD

 

[CoconutLeaves]

Roleplay for me is to write a character how I want it done and respond to others. I always have this urge to play characters that have their own quirks, a bit odd, or too bold of them.

It also keeps my writing skills at a level I'm comfortable with and helps me remember my grammar and cohesion.

 

[ashwynne]

I've always loved trying to experience the world through other people's eyes. Writing and roleplaying have been excellent avenues for me to do just that.

I could work on my own stuff, yes, but I love the unpredictability of roleplaying. It's like a more complex version of a "choose your own adventure" book in which one person writes something and you then have to have your character makes choices based on that. Slowly you weave together a story, developing characters and exploring relationship dynamics as you go, which is just so fascinating to me.

There's also something to be said for stumbling onto partners who are just as enthusiastic as you are about creating a good story... people who create dynamic, engaging, characters, and who become equally invested in the tale that's being woven.

Humans are social creatures, I think it's incredibly natural that writing together, that sharing the experience, appeals to so many of us. I have a couple roleplays that are publishable book length right now and we got there with incredible ease and are nowhere near done. Why is that so much easier than writing alone? I'd posit it's because the social element of excitement--that moment when your heart rate speeds up because you have a notification of a reply and want to know where your partner is taking things--is much more rewarding than having everything mapped out in your head. There's excitement because YOU don't know what's going to happen and an equal amount of satisfaction in writing something you know will excite your partner.

Basically, I think there's a LOT that people get out of roleplaying xD

As to the specific questions you asked...

How do you balance roleplaying with other creative interests? This could apply to writing projects, like if you're writing a novel, but a lot of players also illustrate their characters, and the effort others put into designing little BB-code templates reflects actual web design. Is roleplaying a way to practice or support what you already do, or is roleplaying/anything revolving roleplaying the hobby in itself?

In your opinion, is roleplaying more about making a good product (a good post as a player; a great plot, premise, and/or system for your game as a GM) or is it more about enjoying the process or exercise of making these things? Does it vary?

1. For me, roleplaying is largely the hobby itself but it does help me keep my writing skills sharp and foster ideas for my own novel work. Also is great for exploring characters/character types and just generally honing the ability to craft good, interesting, protagonists (and antagonists).

2. As far as I'm concerned, roleplaying is about both in equal measure. I try to aim for consistency in the quality of my posts (or better, if anything) and to write an engaging, thoughtful, well-crafted story. If these two criteria aren't met then I'm not going to enjoy myself. Meanwhile, I find the process as a whole is equally satisfying... like a fun challenge for myself. Crafting sentences, immersing myself in the character, chatting about potential plotlines with my partners... all of it is super enjoyable to me.

 

[Virus]

Rping for me is just being the character that you want to be, figure out what they're doing, what they're about to say.

 

[Malozing]

I enjoy creating characters and exploring their personalities.

 

[baggysack]

Bumping this because I'd like to hear others' thoughts on writing for a narrative roleplay vs. writing something on your own. This just concerns the actual act of writing posts and characters and what-have-yous of roleplaying and not the whole collaborative element that most of you considered an advantage. It's difficult to find any disadvantages to "solo-writing" as writing, from my perspective, and I'm in a bit of a slump anyway.

And I'll restate my earlier question since it's the same deal:

How do you balance roleplaying with other creative interests? Is roleplaying a way to practice or support what you already do, or is roleplaying/anything revolving roleplaying the hobby in itself?

 

[Crayons]

Bumping this because I'd like to hear others' thoughts on writing for a narrative roleplay vs. writing something on your own. This just concerns the actual act of writing posts and characters and what-have-yous of roleplaying and not the whole collaborative element that most of you considered an advantage. It's difficult to find any disadvantages to "solo-writing" as writing, from my perspective, and I'm in a bit of a slump anyway.

And I'll restate my earlier question since it's the same deal:

My issues with writing solo are (unless I think of any more while I'm typing, lol) twofold.

Firstly, I find it hard to keep my engagement with what I'm writing. So I'll write out a scene or two that are vivid in my mind, and then be like "now what?" and my brain just goes to work on something it finds more interesting at that moment. I find that RP keeps me focused because I only need to write a few paragraphs, then my partner(s) write based on that, and them driving the story forward gives me inspiration to write my next part. There's also the constant dopamine hits when you send off your post and are waiting for a reply and when you get one and get all excited. So, part brain chemistry, part lack of ability to stick with one thing when other ideas are pinging through your brain nineteen to the dozen.

The second thing is all about confidence I guess. When I'm writing solo I'm constantly plagued by self-doubt. Is this actually good? Will anyone want to read it? Do I suck? etc., and there's really no way to turn it off, because nobody's giving you feedback as you go encouraging you. But when you write in RP, you are both/all constantly encouraging each other, and building on what each other creates. It's like everyone involved gets a built-in cheerleader. This also works for other kinds of collaborative projects, not just RP, but especially for RP, because I'm not creating a finished project, it's all about the interaction as it goes along, so there's no pressure to create something that people are going to judge.

I would like to actually write a novel where I'm doing it all myself just to see if I can. I've written short stuff before, and I almost can't bear to read it because I feel so embarrassed. Not because I think it's awful but just because other people might think it's awful. Basically I have issues, lol. (Yet I keep writing stuff and trying to get people to read it... it's a compulsion.)

Hope this answers your question!

Edit: Oh and also, I genuinely think that I think better if I have someone to bounce ideas around with.

 

[ChrisReaper]

For me RP'ing kind of gives me the best of both worlds. When I'm creating a story in a RP setting, I get to formulate the premise, plot and lore of the particular universe the story is set in, but at the same time I'm not burdened with the daunting task of having to write the entire story by myself like in a novel or screenplay. I really only have to worry about fleshing out one or two specific characters...while everyone else worries about their own character. In addition the creative process of world building with a group of other people, getting to share in the character's experiences, taking part in the said character's choices, decisions and events as they happen, is particularly enjoyable for me.

 

[Malphaestus]

My mind is incredibly active, and often times overflowing. What I most enjoy about roleplaying is the fact that whilst I'm writing I am engrossed, and can focus. It is a sense of expressionless euphoria which I've been pursuing for many years now.

I haven't found many roleplays which I can experience this sensation again, but me having had it once keeps me looking for it again.

 

[Grey]

If I understand the recontextualization of the question correctly, for me it remains essentially both - running or more rarely playing in a roleplay is a hobby in itself but it is also a creative passion of mine. Exercising the hobby is at the same time an opportunity to playtest my designs, refine my expression of ideas so that unfamiliar people can use them and springboard off them, and the... I suppose professional satisfaction of crafting a post that includes my pillars.
1. Moves the plot forward
2. Provides hooks for players to flex their strengths
3. Reveals something about the world and characters
4. Is evocative and pleasing to read

 

[baggysack]

So I'm still seeing collaboration being a big advantage. Probably safe to say that's inseparable from enjoying the hobby.

My issue is, similar to Malphaestus up there, I've mostly gotten a solitary satisfaction from roleplay. I actually have a hard time getting invested in other players' characters; I can't recall a lot of memorable moments from characters interacting with each other unless it was my character with a GM character, or unless it was predicated by OOC banter with friends. Maybe this has to do with the characters I write, or the roleplays I join -- maybe they die off too soon for me to care?

That's one of the main barriers I'm facing now, plus the instantaneous of having to post by this date or you'll get left behind, especially since writing is pretty on-and-off for me and there's not a big incentive otherwise other than "the roleplay doesn't die as fast."

 

[rae2nerdy]

Yeah I think it’s the shared aspect that recommends role playing over solo writing for me. I am certainly capable of developing worlds on my own but they tend to leave me burnt out and bored relatively quickly without any kind of external feedback.

Even when I did do solo writing I always found myself drawn to situations where I could get some kind of external feedback/collaboration going. Usually in the form of fiction exchanges or beta reading.

To me writing just isn’t interesting enough on its own to be worth dedicating my time to. I need that external sense of other people working with me to really stay focused and invested.

 

[baggysack]

By the way, you guys know there are support groups for writers, right? Not necessarily critique groups, but groups for creative writers to talk about what they make and support one another through the process. I think NaNoWrimo provides that option to people who participate in that. But there are also standalone Discord chats, online forums, pages on social media sites, and in-person meet-ups and groups.

Writing doesn't have to be a solitary activity, which is something I've learned, and which has me questioning the advantages of roleplaying.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I am also not interested in writing for its own sake though. I don’t have any driving need to tell a story or create a world or even make a character.

Solo writing to me is when you like writing for its own sake and you have something you want to say.

I’m more interested in hanging out with people and talking about topics that interest me. If a story gets written based on those topics fine. If not it’s no great loss.

To me the social aspect is the point not the writing.

 

[rae2nerdy]

That's one of the main barriers I'm facing now, plus the instantaneous of having to post by this date or you'll get left behind, especially since writing is pretty on-and-off for me and there's not a big incentive otherwise other than "the roleplay doesn't die as fast."

Also as a heads up 1x1 don’t work with that kind of rigid posting schedule. It’s really post when you can/feel like it. As long as you keep your partner up to date (don’t just disappear for a month with no warning) it’s totally fine.

 

[baggysack]

rae2nerdy
Oh yeah, I could see that. I've kinda flirted with trying 1x1 stuff but I always end up chickening out, aha