Forums » RP Discussion » Why do you RP?

I know the obvious answer is "for entertainment", but what exactly do you consider entertaining in an RP? Are there any other reasons you enjoy roleplaying? I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts!

Personally, I love RP as a chance to explore ideas, provoke thought, and experience emotion in situations I may or may not wish to experience in real life. It's an opportunity for me to examine psychology - either through human characters or otherwise - and sociology (what are the consequences of a person's actions?). There's also a significant amount of world building where I'm concerned, as it lets me piece together cause and effect like a puzzle! Occasionally, I get excited and toss a random idea out there, but usually, I like detailed settings and characters. Aside from that, I also really enjoy the uncertainty principle inherent in RP; I love discussing where our RP will take us next!

I love a good story like everyone else here, but I enjoy world building as well. It isn't the reason I started RPing, but it's the reason I came back to it after those MySpace days. I especially like designing rules for the world my characters inhabit, the way magic works, the relations between neighboring states and their values. I'd like to eventually design games with these ideas in mind, but until I can support myself by making games, this is a fun alternative and great practice.

I think my biggest drive for Roleplaying is that I get to experience what my characters experience. It's a way for me to live several exciting lives! I get really emotionally connected with my characters; when they're happy I feel happy, when they're in love I feel all sappy, and when they're upset...well, I've been known to actually cry during heartbreaking RPs. To me, it's a way to experience so many different exciting aspects of life and go on grand adventures with my characters. I absolutely love it for that very reason.

I think b/c I've been raised on fantasy and sci-fi since I was wee little bean (My parents are nerds), I never really LOVED life when I was younger. I mean, I didn't hate it, but everything was so boring in comparison to what I had seen in games and movies. I think that making characters was kind of a way to make up for that; I can put myself in fantastic situations that I wouldn't otherwise be able to.

Now I just do it b/c I like to torture and love my characters at the same time and b/c I've found some great friends b/c of it haha

I'd have to say this is the reason I actually use my characters to roleplay with rather than just drawing them up. While my earlier reasons still stand, this post I one hundred percent agree with and may better explain why I'm actually on this site and not doodling in a notebook. Thanks for putting into words so well!

As a non native English speaker... to improve my English skills. I am a very passionate writer and I love to write. I love a good story, a good plot and meeting new people when I want to show off my writing. I also hope my partner is happy as well role playing with me.

Plus, my obscure muses get to shine allot.

Why do I like roleplaying? ...Best question ever asked. I honestly don't know how or why I started roleplay at first. But now... To give my characters a home. To let them lead me through the story, and let their actions speak for themselves. I'm not even the one writing my responses sometimes; my characters, like some people may claim of their own creations, have minds of their own.

But another reason is to give me the drive and inspiration to write stories again. I love roleplays that make me tick and go out of my comfort zone into an area I like. Roleplay is my self-discovery into what my inner soul holds.

And of course... Finding friends along the way that share your interests is always a nice perk. I do have more reasons, but those I'll leave for... Further questioning.

To get away from reality. Plus its like reading a crafted book between two writers. What couldnt be better?

I RP just because sometimes life isn't always the best, and I have these moments at the ends of those kinds of days while lying in bed wishing myself to step into another person's shoes and experience a happier or maybe even more sad kind of experience.

When I'm on RP Repository, which I should say is the only site I feel comfortable RPing on, I can do that. Sure the character is my own but he or she can be dropped into a different world with a different scenario. It's like a game that has tons and tons of replayability (Am I spelling that right?) and content and gives no limit to how much you can do.

I guess you could say it gives me a sense of freedom that could otherwise never be possible in reality. It's like Michonne said. It helps people escape reality and on that point I think we all have a common reason to RP. To escape whatever situation you're in and whether it be bad or good imagine it as a whole different universe. Yes it's for enterainment as well but, it's way more fun then any other form of entertainment out there, for me anyways.

In the second paragraph and the second sentence it strikes an idea. What if two people started an RP but before starting they switched characters, just for fun, or to see how each other would perform (preform?) with something they're not comfortable with. Wouldn't that be pretty cool?

I actually don't do this as entertainment per say, but rather in the interest of being a writer. I like roleplaying because you can see how different people reflect themselves off their characters and their different writing styles. Which I find interesting and helpful for me as a writer. Its basically for the fact of meeting friendly people who have the same interests as me and gaining their friendship and to better my writing skills as a whole. Which I assure you they have bettered because of roleplaying. There is also the sense of WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?! Which you usually don't get in life too often. Its kind of the same way with reading like you get really hooked with a book then you can't stop reading because you have the question WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT!? Which if you're really dedicated to writing you should feel in writing a book and replying to a RP.

I also love writing and Roleplaying, since I see them as the same, because of being able to enter another insane and crazy world through a few words on a page and your imagination. Like when someone writes:
"She walked down the dark deserted street only the street lights to guide her as her light blue eyes cried, pleading with the light to leave her be in this day of travesty. Her dirty blonde hair shining as she walked by each light with the steady beat of her heart as she lowered her head as her heart slowly broke on this wretched street right in front of her feet."
Or something like such makes me truly imagine the scenario in my mind and it makes my day! Just to escape the world and its troubles, stress, angers, annoyances to enter another more Utopian world of our liking from another perspective. That's what I love and why I roleplay honestly.

To sum this up a bit I roleplay to better my writing, make friends, escape the world, see the world in another persons perspective, and most of all let my imagination run free as it wills.

Role playing is like the most social form of video game out there. You ignore everything in the real world to play with others, and everything you do, everything they do, it's all entirely their choice. There is no command that makes a character do something, you're only limited by the Game Master's rules, and other then that there is no set path.

I first started rping about 8 years ago with my now ex gf. It was kind of an escape as we were both in dark places (and I still am but ah)

My life is boring.