Poll: Hatred Towards Roleplaying

[DrgoFx]

Alright, to start off I know there is a good chunk of the escapist that enjoy roleplaying. That being said, I have to admit, I love roleplaying in video games. So when I hear people say "Roleplayers are so lame and have no life" or something along those lines in any form of gaming discussion, I just get a slight bit ticked. Now granted, I'm not a hardcore roleplayer and I have done most of my roleplaying on forums with giant two - four paragraph posts. But I have roleplayed in MMOs, specifically Dungeons and Dragons Online and I roleplay in RPGs, specifically Skyrim mostly. I've also taken a huge amount of interest in table-top RPGs.

Here's my problem, as much as I'd love to defend the RP Crowd, because we do deserve defending, we have a few odd balls. We can't deny that some of us are a bit out there, but needless to say, other games have odd balls too. For example, the MLG nut-heads in shooters. I'm surprised they still exist.

So with all that said and done...How many of you actually roleplay in your games? Like really roleplay with backstories and personalities, and maybe even talk to yourself like you're voicing your character.

 

[ReadyAmyFire]

I don't. But then I mostly play sims or RTSs so it would be a bit strange. I get asked to RP in chatrooms on the seldom instance I venture into them but I just can't be bothered. I tend not to want to write a story when I'm trying to relax.

 

[him over there]

I only text role play with others in groups. Sometimes in WoW everybody in our guild acknowledges each other like we're in the game world and we try to play pvp seriously like a real band of warriors. I don't see the point in subbing in my own story in a single player experience, especially since role playing falls flat when done alone because the world isn't as flexible and reactionary as a fellow human. Unless of course it's done with a wonderful satirical undercurrent like a running commentary a la Super Bummerman:

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I find role playing in a single player game to be more than a bit odd. Doing it with a group is one thing, but making up a story based on what you did in a videogame, with no intention of writing it down[footnote]like an after action report in a strategy game or space trading sim; they're still a bit odd, but at least it's writing practice, plus people like to share them[/footnote], just seems weird to me. Then again, I find the concept of actual roleplaying (as opposed to roll-playing) in D&D to be a bit odd; most of the people I've known to do it would have been better off with either community theater or the SCA.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

eh i don't really roleplay, but i see the reasons why someone would want to IRL and in video games, (i've done a few small things here and there), it's a "whatever floats your boat" perspective from me, i just enjoy what the game/modder has to offer, and i'll occasionally do small things here and there, but nothing a real RP'er would consider.

 

[dyre]

I thought I enjoyed "roleplaying" until I started playing D&D and played with some more hardcore roleplayers who really get into their characters. I mean, I like making a character who is a certain alignment and has certain moral beliefs, and making choices in-game based on those beliefs, but I can't get into talking like my character would all the time. Some of my friends have even gotten so into their characters that in-game conflicts led to irl "I can't play with you anymore" stuff.

I guess the best way I could put it is that I like to play roleplaying games (both tabletop and computer) with the attitude "I'm playing as this guy," not "I am this guy," you know?

I still like video game roleplaying though. That's fun.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I thought I enjoyed "roleplaying" until I started playing D&D and played with some more hardcore roleplayers who really get into their characters. I mean, I like making a character who is a certain alignment and has certain moral beliefs, and making choices in-game based on those beliefs, but I can't get into talking like my character would all the time. Some of my friends have even gotten so into their characters that in-game conflicts led to irl "I can't play with you anymore" stuff.

I guess the best way I could put it is that I like to play roleplaying games (both tabletop and computer) with the attitude "I'm playing as this guy," not "I am this guy," you know?

I still like video game roleplaying though. That's fun.

Those are the ones I'm referring to when I say they'd be better off doing community theater. You don't have to spend much time around people like that for it to sour you on the whole experience XD

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I find any form of role playing to be strange, awkward, and incredibly embarrassing for all involved parties. I have no problem playing RPGs, but when you start crafting back-stories and dressing up, it just gets weird.

 

[endtherapture]

I've tried roleplaying in Skyrim.

But then I just end up metagaming and doing random shit anyway. Or just doing murders with a theme (like once I killed all the "hunters" I found so I would be the best hunter in Skyrim).

I prefer taking on the role of someone like Geralt of Rivia and then roleplaying AS him. Stuff like TES is just far too much of a blank slate to get into.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Not so much in video games. I just don't really care enough about the characters. I know I definitely wouldn't in an MMO as well, just seems weird to me. I love Tabletop roleplaying though, not that I get the opportunity to do that very much. My friends would usually rather play Magic.

 

[dyre]

I thought I enjoyed "roleplaying" until I started playing D&D and played with some more hardcore roleplayers who really get into their characters. I mean, I like making a character who is a certain alignment and has certain moral beliefs, and making choices in-game based on those beliefs, but I can't get into talking like my character would all the time. Some of my friends have even gotten so into their characters that in-game conflicts led to irl "I can't play with you anymore" stuff.

I guess the best way I could put it is that I like to play roleplaying games (both tabletop and computer) with the attitude "I'm playing as this guy," not "I am this guy," you know?

I still like video game roleplaying though. That's fun.

Those are the ones I'm referring to when I say they'd be better off doing community theater. You don't have to spend much time around people like that for it to sour you on the whole experience XD

Lol yeah, I'm staying away from that sort of roleplaying for the rest of my life, I think. Thankfully, the hardcore roleplayers eventually left our D&D group, and now the rest of us are just content playing D&D like a video game (DM tells a cool story; we follow along and make occasional important choices in that story, as well as the usual breaking into castles and killing monsters and that sort of stuff).

 

[krazykidd]

I don't ever role play . I voted that shit's weird. I prefer to not have a blank slate chracter and see where his story leads him .

 

[shootthebandit]

Alright, to start off I know there is a good chunk of the escapist that enjoy roleplaying. That being said, I have to admit, I love roleplaying in video games. So when I hear people say "Roleplayers are so lame and have no life" or something along those lines in any form of gaming discussion, I just get a slight bit ticked. Now granted, I'm not a hardcore roleplayer and I have done most of my roleplaying on forums with giant two - four paragraph posts. But I have roleplayed in MMOs, specifically Dungeons and Dragons Online and I roleplay in RPGs, specifically Skyrim mostly. I've also taken a huge amount of interest in table-top RPGs.

Here's my problem, as much as I'd love to defend the RP Crowd, because we do deserve defending, we have a few odd balls. We can't deny that some of us are a bit out there, but needless to say, other games have odd balls too. For example, the MLG nut-heads in shooters. I'm surprised they still exist.

So with all that said and done...How many of you actually roleplay in your games? Like really roleplay with backstories and personalities, and maybe even talk to yourself like you're voicing your character.

i dont have anything against the people who play the games im just not a huge fan of the games themselves too much grind in most RPGS

 

[Jynthor]

Yes I roleplay but only in TES. I make up my character's backstory, set some rules and act like my character would. That includes eating and sleeping. Kind of like New Vegas' hardcore mode I guess.

 

[Sixcess]

On about half of my City of Heroes characters I've written up little origins for them in the bio section - admittedly of those most are very very tongue in cheek. Similarly in CoH I'll quite often choose my missions based on who the character would be most likely to want to fight, or throw in the odd in-character comment if I'm on Virtue (the RP server.) It can be quite fun in such a larger than life setting.

But that's about as far as it goes. RP servers in MMOs often deserve their terrible reputations - being filled with drama queens, power gamers, posers, bios written by the illiterate and/or insane, and of course the ERPers. Goldshire, Silvermoon City, Pocket D... these are not places to go on RP servers if you value your innocence...

 

[Fleetfiend]

I really enjoy roleplaying, but I'm kind of embarassed to admit it. I get really annoyed when someone in any form of roleplay decides not to take it seriously. But I agree with the common sentiment of it being odd to roleplay in single player games. I do roleplay in forums, some multiplayer games (Minecraft, Champions Online), and D&D, and that's about where it ends.

 

[DustyDrB]

I roleplay in certain games. It doesn't go very deep, but I do it because it's the only way I can enjoy certain games. Skyrim is a prime example, so I'll use that to describe it:

1) I make rules. These can be basic things like what weapons I use (which I adhere to strictly) and whether I'm fine with killing innocents or not. They can be character behaviors. For example, my first Skyrim character was a hunter, so I'd make a point to actually hunt and then sell the hides and meat. This also can affect whether I support or join certain factions (my first character destroyed the Dark Brotherhood rather than join it).

2) I make simple motivations. These just help give a little meaning to why I would get involved in the bigger events in the game. I just started a second character this week. His main thing is that he is a bit of a psychopath who wants revenge on the Empire for the events at the beginning of the game, so he is trying to acquire the skills to do that. I'm not bothering with the main quest at all (seriously, haven't even killed a dragon, nor do I plan on it). One of his rules is that (unless other obligations in the contract make it impossible) he kills his assassination targets in Werewolf form to cover his tracks. I figure that I'll do the Dark Brotherhood quest line, a few Daedric quests, and then the Stormcloak side of the civil war. Then that playthrough is done.

I don't make a deep backstory and I don't give my characters their own dialogue. I just do what I can to give things more context and make the world come alive a little more than it does on its own. It elevates the experience a great deal for me. Otherwise, thing just seem random and inconsequential.

 

[DrgoFx]

I thought I enjoyed "roleplaying" until I started playing D&D and played with some more hardcore roleplayers who really get into their characters. I mean, I like making a character who is a certain alignment and has certain moral beliefs, and making choices in-game based on those beliefs, but I can't get into talking like my character would all the time. Some of my friends have even gotten so into their characters that in-game conflicts led to irl "I can't play with you anymore" stuff.

I guess the best way I could put it is that I like to play roleplaying games (both tabletop and computer) with the attitude "I'm playing as this guy," not "I am this guy," you know?

I still like video game roleplaying though. That's fun.

How I basically roleplay is in a sense of is it reasonable? Like, when I feel my character would say something, I generally like saying it personally if he doesn't have a voice. Like in my few experiences with tabletop, I tended to go about with "Oh shit...that's a tough choice...um...My character does such and such." And then if the DM says something like "You found a valuable artifact" I would then same in the voice of character "Thank [insert god here] I'll be sleeping well tonight!"

I tend to switch a lot. When playing Skyrim in particular, I do the same thing. Like when talking to Mercer on my thief I "talked to him" as my character. Sure, it's a bit weird, but it's fun. As an actor though, it helps me and at the same time being an actor makes me know it's pretend and the actual roleplayer doesn't feel that way about me.

 

[StriderShinryu]

All the time. If a game allows me to create my own story, or alter the given story in some way, I'm all in for RP. This extends to MMOs as well where all of my alts do tend to end up acting and dressing differently and rarely talk out oc character unless I'm in an obvious OOC zone with friends.

I actually feel that people who don't RP are really only experiencing part of the game. In MMOs particularly this often means choosing the weaker part of the game as most MMOs don't offer all that much greatness in the actual moment to moment gameplay.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

Yeah, I can enjoy roleplaying in games, depending on the game itself. I'm having a blast roleplaying my two characters in Skyrim right now.