To me I play RPGs for the boundless opportunities and choices the players can make. The whole serendipitous nature of what happens at the table is what I love.
"The sum of the whole is greater than its parts"

Insufficient Metal's response is similar to mine. The act of discovering a character in play, alongside the elements of performance and collaborative creativity, all bound by a structure of rules, with elements of randomization inserted in create something very unique to RPGs. To me it's the weird hybridization of collaborative art and game that make RPGs special, and unlike anything else.

Quote from: The Butcher;393384Who needs a "point"? The point is that RPGs are fun, period, full stop.

Hells yeah.   Fun is point enough for me.

Quote from: skofflox;393380Hello All! First post from a long time lurker

Fuck you, go back to lurking.  The adults are talking.  

Consider yourself officially welcomed!  Go start some threads.

Quote from: Spinachcat;393406Hells yeah.   Fun is point enough for me.



Fuck you, go back to lurking.  The adults are talking.  

Consider yourself officially welcomed!  Go start some threads.

Oh my petal soft feelings...and if that is the way "adults" talk count me forever young!

does this reply constitute derailing :confused:
  if so sorry, I'll get back to my lurking...

Quote from: skofflox;393408Oh my petal soft feelings...and if that is the way "adults" talk count me forever young!

does this reply constitute derailing :confused:
  if so sorry, I'll get back to my lurking...

Nah you're doing good. Troll some more.

Quote from: Benoist;393367What is this thing that RPGs do that other games do not, from your POV? Anything at all?

Two things, mainly.

First, as a GM, it allows me to create a setting or milieu, a unique environment for the players.

Second, for the players... It allows them to create their own unique story with as much or as little plot as they care to have, with as much or as little drama as they care to include, and mostly, it's about the story that they collectively create.

No two player groups will create the same story or adventure. Ever.

The same group will never create the same story, even if the GM uses the exact same module or adventure as before.

It's unique. It's creative. It's driven by the group at the table, the GM and the players together.

No other games do this, and most game can't even come close to the depth and scope that a single tabletop RPG game session can cover.

---
Robin Law's gaming Styles

GameDaddy Scored as Storyteller.
GameDaddy is more inclined toward the role playing side of the equation and less interested in numbers or experience points. GD is quick to compromise if he can help move the story forward, and gets bored when the game slows down for a long planning session. He prefers to play out a story that moves like it's orchestrated by a skilled novelist or film director.


Storyteller  83%, Method Actor 75%, Specialist 58%, Tactician 50%, Butt-Kicker 42%, Power Gamer 42%, Casual Gamer  33%

I like having a character with quantifiable skills -- a character that can accomplish things within his sphere(s) of experience independent of my own skill or acting ability. And I like the element of surprise created by dice(or other randomizer) in conjunction with the above. You may have an 80% chance to succeed at a certain task, but you never know when that 20% failure rate will kick in. It keeps things exciting. But again, only in conjunction with the first part. "Will he or will he not convince the Duke that it's in his best interest to negotiate a peaceful resolution?" is much more exciting than "Will I land on Baltic Avenue or Chance?"

I dunno, I never thought about it.  I guess it's being able to act like a kid and a grown up all at once

You get to make a motherfucking UNIVERSE, and bring it to life.

RPGpundit

Quote from: jibbajibba;393376There are no limits.

Escape from Colditz is a great game, when I play all my little counters have names and different prefered methods of escape but when they get away they can't join the resistance and mount guerilla war against the Nazis.

When we encounter a band of goblins we don't need to fight them we can negotiate, cut a deal.

When I rescue the princess I can cut her throat and feed her to my dogs.

Now you can do this in literature but in literature it's just you writing there is no sense of immediate feedback, in an RPG, even an online RPG the world exists beyond you so you get feedback and the world sets the framework for you to work in.

No other genre of entertainment does this.

It's why my own personal defintion of Role-playing games includes storygames and Larps and all that other marginal crap but has a problem with MMOs and the like because the boundaries of the world are too narrow

Quote from: RPGPundit;393462You get to make a motherfucking UNIVERSE, and bring it to life.

RPGpundit

This and this.

For me it's a creative outlet. I've always felt that creative urge, that drive to create characters, situations and bad fiction. I guess it's the sort of thing you've eithered experienced yourself or you have not idea what I am talking about.

Back in school I was always drawing comic strips (usually for the school mag but I even got a run on a proper newspaper) and writing short stories but who's got the time for that now?

Roleplaying games allow me to scratch that itch in a way that is fun, social and neatly structured. I could get most of those from playing bridge, which used to be main hobby, but it's not a crerative outlet. That is what makes rolepalying games special to me.

Quote from: Benoist;393367Is ANYTHING "special" about RPGs to you?

What is this thing that RPGs do that other games do not, from your POV? Anything at all?

The juxtaposition, intersection, or, hell, head-on collision between story elements, choice, and the rules.

Seanchai

Nothing specific about rpgs is all that special but the way it all comes together is special. Someone can create a universe and put that into a book, tv show, or movie. But RPGs have players interacting directly with that universe making it their own. Your universe may vary.

Quote from: Benoist;393367Which leaves me wondering in the end. Is ANYTHING "special" about RPGs to you?

To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.

Quote from: winkingbishop;393596To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their Wonder Women.

Fixed your typo.