There's an annoying saying that goes "It's not the winning that counts, it's the taking part". Dunno whether that's solely a British saying or not, but i thought i'd base a thread on it. You lucky people!

When i'm playing a character, i tend to like a system where i can improve my characters standing, stats and skills. If i start at rock bottom, then i like it all the more when i'm at the stage when i can kick serious butt. I guess you can say that this is my primary motivation in my play. I love the advancement of my characters. I play to win, because if i win, then my character reaps the rewards of new stuff, experience and possibly an improvement to his chances of winning next time.

This is not to mean that it is my sole reason to play RPGs, i like the immersion as much as the next guy, but that isn't my primary source of enjoyment. Getting better is my primary source. I guess you could say that the game is my primary source of enjoyment, not the play.

When i say i play to win, i would also point out that if it is against the odds, then it is all the more satisfying. I can take setbacks, i can take losing once in a while, i can take loss of standing, stats, skills in the short term because it makes me more determined to 'win' next time.

So how about it? Winning or taking part?

Both.  Of COURSE I like getting XPs at the end of a session -- I want my character to be a better whatever-he-is, why not?  

Naturally, I wouldn't bother if I weren't enjoying what I'm doing.  So...both.

Winning is a big one with me, but not so much in the sense of advancing my character.  It's more tackling the current mission/puzzle/adventure/whatever.  I love playing games as games, and overcoming the challenges in a well-designed scenario scratches that itch.

Taking part, however, is probably a little more important to me.  Not in the sense of immersion or story creation or amateur theater, however.  The biggest satisfaction for me comes from the social aspect of being with friends and people who share my interests.  The game's not necessarily a secondary thing, but co-equal with the Cheeto eating and bullshitting.

Taking part. I enjoy winning in game - survival is always a good strategy to pursue - but I couldn't care less about character advancement. None of my games have XP in any way shape of form in them.

-clash