Poll: Hatred Towards Roleplaying

[The Pinray]

I RP in the Bethesda games. But it's all in my head. I'm not writing anything down or talking for anyone. That's a tad odd in a single-player game. But yeah, walking to Ivarstead with the werewolf twins is usually a boring, silent affair. So I spice it up with imaginary conversations. I just inject some damn personality into the world.

Don't need to as much with the Fallout games. Especially New Vegas. Those games practically bleed personality.

I love making backstories for my characters. It's part of the fun. Just meta-gaming and doing ever quest possible and getting the best gear/weapons does not interest me in the slightest.

It's a ROLE-PLAYING game so I may as well role-play.

I used to in some MMOs, but everyone is so obsessed with the meta and their imaginary little numbers. They're so boring. It's a game! Have some damn fun!

 

[kyogen]

I love rpgs, but I find that I really only do any kind of additional character rp'ing when a game starts to lose my interest for one reason or another and I want a little bit of a hook to keep playing. I don't look down on gamers who have fun doing full-blown roleplays--if it's fun for you, awesome!, keep it up--but it's not my thing. I'm more interested in seeing how far the game itself goes and where its limitations are.

 

[BENZOOKA]

The closest I get to role-playing are single-player PC games, and even with those:

I never create a backstory, I always base the character on myself. What characteristics, at the time, I feel like to stress the most, give some variety though. Sometimes after playing a longer time, the choices and actions I've made, can create a kind of backstory. So I might play the character based more on previous things in the game, rather than what I'd choose in the moment or what seems the most beneficial. But that's about it. RPG mostly stands for additional freedom of what to do, for me.

 

[Shuguard]

I don't really do any type of role-playing instead i just make the games harder for myself, since being able to use every tool i have (usually all of the ones available) makes a game too easy. So i'll do something dumb like i can't used ranged attacks, melee, or magic only, or i can only jump-attack, etc.

I still can't understand how one role-plays in Minecraft though. That one still perplexes me.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I find it impossible to roleplay in any multiplayer game.

But in single player games, I BECOME the character I'm playing, whether it's a custom character or John Marston or Ezio Auditore or John-117 or whatever.

Roleplaying it how you properly immerse yourself.

It is awesome.

captcha: Describe this brand (National Geographic) with any word(s).

My answer: boobs.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I love it! Roleplaying is half of the reason I buy Elder Scrolls games. They are so incredibly good for it.
It offers nearly unlimited amount of replay and it is as fun as you allow it to be.

 

[Kizi]

I don't do it but I can definitely understand why people enjoy it. I used to play around doing something along those lines when I was a kid and playing video games but I gradually stopped doing so.

 

[A Weakgeek]

In tabetop: Hell yes! In videogames: Hell no!

Videogames are way too restrictive for me to get into a character, I'd have to ignore so much stuff to stay in character, mostly stupid NPCs in SP and retarded players in MMOs. In tabletop I use usually several days to think of a backstory etc. before actually getting to rolling the character stuff.

 

[evilneko]

Whoah, cool, thanks for the link to Aurora; that sounds awesome. As for SEV/SEIV, just so you know, the original developer went out of business, so an updated version that fixes the Windows 7 bugs is unlikely, barring a fan patch.

Where did you hear that? Malfador is still around, as is his publisher.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Whoah, cool, thanks for the link to Aurora; that sounds awesome. As for SEV/SEIV, just so you know, the original developer went out of business, so an updated version that fixes the Windows 7 bugs is unlikely, barring a fan patch.

Where did you hear that? Malfador is still around, as is his publisher.

Well that's good news. I can't remember the exact site, but it was one of the things I saw mentioned when I was looking for information on how to get the game running.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I roleplay on a text-based system pretty extensively. As such, I've never met these obsessive LARP types who can shift into character well outside of their NERO chapter's locations and time slots. I do know a few LARPers, but I can't say I've ever jumped in.

I would've liked to, but being disabled, running around in a private forested area is kind of off-limits. I'd probably end up doing most of my roleplaying from a camp cot and a pressure bandage on a swollen ankle.

Not knowing many Mind's Eye Theater types either, I've never had the opportunity to try that out in a more controlled environment, like a café or a warehouse.

 

[Silverfox99]

I like role playing. I do in any game I play. I am a dice jokey. What I have found out in my experience is that most people enjoy role playing, but it is the people that are bad but strongly opinionated that ruin it and creep people out. I have a strong dislike for the people who try to speak like there are in the middle ages. Most of them don't know anything about the language at the time and it just comes off as wrong. Add the fact of how serious they are at being wrong and the creep vibe washes over you making you feel like you should go kick a puppy to feel less creepy.

 

[A Weakgeek]

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).

I never understood this "community theater" attitude. A good GM always states what kind of game hes looking players for. As in, how much roleplay and how much combat you should expect. I myself find "roll players" who minmax their character and metagame the whole session, planning how to get most gold and exp annoying too. But I don't think they should "stick to videogames" or something like that. They just need to find a group with like minded players.

Although being too much into roleplaying might not be your problem here. A player who gets whiny over your ingame decicions and quits the game isnt roleplaying, hes being a fucking douche. For example, if I somehow played a Lawful good paladin in a group of evil characters, my character would be pissed. He would either leave or try to kill some of them, but I would roll a new character afterwards, not quit or get mad at the group! (probably I'd be a little mad to the GM, if he didnt warn me about my character totally not fitting into the group)

 

[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).

I never understood this "community theater" attitude. A good GM always states what kind of game hes looking players for. As in, how much roleplay and how much combat you should expect. I myself find "roll players" who minmax their character and metagame the whole session, planning how to get most gold and exp annoying too. But I don't think they should "stick to videogames" or something like that. They just need to find a group with like minded players.

Although being too much into roleplaying might not be your problem here. A player who gets whiny over your ingame decicions and quits the game isnt roleplaying, hes being a fucking douche. For example, if I somehow played a Lawful good paladin in a group of evil characters, my character would be pissed. He would either leave or try to kill some of them, but I would roll a new character afterwards, not quit or get mad at the group! (probably I'd be a little mad to the GM, if he didnt warn me about my character totally not fitting into the group)

I don't think any of us "roll players" were the type who minmax and metagame all the time; that seems pretty boring. We certainly did make choices based on our characters' personalities rather than "how do I get the best gear;" that level of roleplaying is great and fun and all that. But a few people wanted to talk in-character all the time, or they'd insist on abandoning a quest or w/e because "that's what their characters would've done," even though we all knew the DM put a lot of work into that quest and the rest of us were willing to go with the flow so the DM could tell his story (within reason, obviously). And they'd let their in-character disagreements spill into real life tensions, which just annoyed the whole group. It was just a bunch of needless drama.

We were all new to D&D at the time, and I don't think our DM was aware at the start that there would be two conflicting types of roleplayers / roll-players.

 

[A Weakgeek]

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).

I never understood this "community theater" attitude. A good GM always states what kind of game hes looking players for. As in, how much roleplay and how much combat you should expect. I myself find "roll players" who minmax their character and metagame the whole session, planning how to get most gold and exp annoying too. But I don't think they should "stick to videogames" or something like that. They just need to find a group with like minded players.

Although being too much into roleplaying might not be your problem here. A player who gets whiny over your ingame decicions and quits the game isnt roleplaying, hes being a fucking douche. For example, if I somehow played a Lawful good paladin in a group of evil characters, my character would be pissed. He would either leave or try to kill some of them, but I would roll a new character afterwards, not quit or get mad at the group! (probably I'd be a little mad to the GM, if he didnt warn me about my character totally not fitting into the group)

I don't think any of us "roll players" were the type who minmax and metagame all the time; that seems pretty boring. We certainly did make choices based on our characters' personalities rather than "how do I get the best gear;" that level of roleplaying is great and fun and all that. But a few people wanted to talk in-character all the time, or they'd insist on abandoning a quest or w/e because "that's what their characters would've done," even though we all knew the DM put a lot of work into that quest and the rest of us were willing to go with the flow so the DM could tell his story (within reason, obviously). And they'd let their in-character disagreements spill into real life tensions, which just annoyed the whole group. It was just a bunch of needless drama.

We were all new to D&D at the time, and I don't think our DM was aware at the start that there would be two conflicting types of roleplayers / roll-players.

Firstly, I'd like to apoligize if it seemed like was saying that all "roll players" are like that. Thats only the polar opposite to your "hardcore roleplayers". Also, again, I don't feel like being an ass because of in-character disagreements counts as roleplaying. Those are the same type of people who get worked up over factions in WoW or kill/death ratios in FPSs, in other words: Idiots.

As for the abandoning quest thing, im a bit on fence about that. I ofcourse think that the most important thing is to keep the game going and have fun, especially at the start. But if the GM keeps getting the group into these types of situations, after having plenty of time to get to know the characters, Well thats just bad GMing. Unless the guy has written the whole game into stone from the start, and is railroading like hell, in which case, fuck the game anyways.

 

[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).

I never understood this "community theater" attitude. A good GM always states what kind of game hes looking players for. As in, how much roleplay and how much combat you should expect. I myself find "roll players" who minmax their character and metagame the whole session, planning how to get most gold and exp annoying too. But I don't think they should "stick to videogames" or something like that. They just need to find a group with like minded players.

Although being too much into roleplaying might not be your problem here. A player who gets whiny over your ingame decicions and quits the game isnt roleplaying, hes being a fucking douche. For example, if I somehow played a Lawful good paladin in a group of evil characters, my character would be pissed. He would either leave or try to kill some of them, but I would roll a new character afterwards, not quit or get mad at the group! (probably I'd be a little mad to the GM, if he didnt warn me about my character totally not fitting into the group)

I don't think any of us "roll players" were the type who minmax and metagame all the time; that seems pretty boring. We certainly did make choices based on our characters' personalities rather than "how do I get the best gear;" that level of roleplaying is great and fun and all that. But a few people wanted to talk in-character all the time, or they'd insist on abandoning a quest or w/e because "that's what their characters would've done," even though we all knew the DM put a lot of work into that quest and the rest of us were willing to go with the flow so the DM could tell his story (within reason, obviously). And they'd let their in-character disagreements spill into real life tensions, which just annoyed the whole group. It was just a bunch of needless drama.

We were all new to D&D at the time, and I don't think our DM was aware at the start that there would be two conflicting types of roleplayers / roll-players.

Firstly, I'd like to apoligize if it seemed like was saying that all "roll players" are like that. Thats only the polar opposite to your "hardcore roleplayers". Also, again, I don't feel like being an ass because of in-character disagreements counts as roleplaying. Those are the same type of people who get worked up over factions in WoW or kill/death ratios in FPSs, in other words: Idiots.

As for the abandoning quest thing, im a bit on fence about that. I ofcourse think that the most important thing is to keep the game going and have fun, especially at the start. But if the GM keeps getting the group into these types of situations, after having plenty of time to get to know the characters, Well thats just bad GMing. Unless the guy has written the whole game into stone from the start, and is railroading like hell, in which case, fuck the game anyways.

It was just at the start of the game. We couldn't even get the game started because the hardcore roleplayers wouldn't agree to participating in the "prologue" quest :|

I'm sure not all roleplayers are like that, of course. There's probably a good balance to be struck somewhere between character freedom, storytelling integrity, and most importantly, fun. I just personally have a bad experience with serious roleplaying

 

[Trifixion]

Sure...been playing tabletop RPG's for over 30 years, after all, so I got used to 'getting into' whatever character I was playing. As for video games, did/do that all the time in Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim.