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Discussion: Why do you Roleplay

Tags: #ZonnoSpark +1  #RP:Discussion 
  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    Hello fellow roleplayers, Amadeus here, the +1 in ZonnoSpark +1, and today we will be discussing an important part of Roleplaying. Why do you roleplay?

    This discussion is one I began to ask myself while I took a break from this site to deal with real life. I began to play Skyrim again after a three-month break, and as I was playing it I began to ask myself one question. Why do I roleplay? I found my answer and it is quite simple, it allows me to escape reality, helps me cope with everyday stress, and allows me to instead live in a world of Dragons, Magic, Elves, and more. I could create a more interesting person than myself, I can be Mage whose magic follows no reason or rhyme, or a brave Warrior going around saving people and slaying dragons.

    So I am here, to ask you the same question my fellow roleplayers. Why do you roleplay? Is it to escape reality? To cope with stress or the loss of a loved one? Is it something completely something different? I would like to know.

    And like always, I politely ask you to reply to someone else's comment once you've posted yours - the fun is in the discussion after all!

  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    Whether we admit it or not, Skyrim is old. Roleplaying, breathing life into a character, creates an entirely new way to see and play the game. The Dark Brotherhood could be a despicable guild in one playthrough, a necessary evil in another, and tame and boring in another. Roleplaying gives a whole new perspective to a game, and five years on we need that more than ever.

    Plus, the puzzle of creating a character, new spells, guild, or whatever it is your doing, is both fun and challenging, the perfect combination that keeps us coming back for more.

  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    Zonnonn said:

    Whether we admit it or not, Skyrim is old. Roleplaying, breathing life into a character, creates an entirely new way to see and play the game. The Dark Brotherhood could be a despicable guild in one playthrough, a necessary evil in another, and tame and boring in another. Roleplaying gives a whole new perspective to a game, and five years on we need that more than ever.

    Plus, the puzzle of creating a character, new spells, guild, or whatever it is your doing, is both fun and challenging, the perfect combination that keeps us coming back for more.

    Right, I do believe Roleplaying can bring life and you can play the game different. For your example, you can roleplay as an assassin who believes in the Dark Brotherhood's goals because you see that evil people need to be dealt, which opens up the discussion of who would you consider evil and who is good, and you can keep expanding that, and soon enough you begin to role play as if you have contacts from NPCs in the game itself.

    I do agree role playing can add depth into Skyrim and with the additions of Mods on consoles, you can add further depth to it, by picking which mod would be great for this playthrough or does this mod help my roleplaying ability.

  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    I roleplay for the knowledge it brings me, and the fun. For TES games it doesn't really matter, most of my characters have my personality since there's not really any difference in quests and everything seems black and white or if they're grey it's usually cliche but in games like Dragon Age or KOTOR everything's grey and thus you can play like someone other than yourself and it brings a certain knowledge when you think like them instead of yourself, it helps you see into other people's perspective in real life as well as in-game. Besides, it's pretty fun and in KOTOR you can be quite surprised by the choices your character makes (as weird as that might sound) because there's too many to remember.

  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    Amadeus the Baptista said:

    Zonnonn said:

    Whether we admit it or not, Skyrim is old. Roleplaying, breathing life into a character, creates an entirely new way to see and play the game. The Dark Brotherhood could be a despicable guild in one playthrough, a necessary evil in another, and tame and boring in another. Roleplaying gives a whole new perspective to a game, and five years on we need that more than ever.

    Plus, the puzzle of creating a character, new spells, guild, or whatever it is your doing, is both fun and challenging, the perfect combination that keeps us coming back for more.

    Right, I do believe Roleplaying can bring life and you can play the game different. For your example, you can roleplay as an assassin who believes in the Dark Brotherhood's goals because you see that evil people need to be dealt, which opens up the discussion of who would you consider evil and who is good, and you can keep expanding that, and soon enough you begin to role play as if you have contacts from NPCs in the game itself.

    I do agree role playing can add depth into Skyrim and with the additions of Mods on consoles, you can add further depth to it, by picking which mod would be great for this playthrough or does this mod help my roleplaying ability.

    Ebonslayer said:

    I roleplay for the knowledge it brings me, and the fun. For TES games it doesn't really matter, most of my characters have my personality since there's not really any difference in quests and everything seems black and white or if they're grey it's usually cliche but in games like Dragon Age or KOTOR everything's grey and thus you can play like someone other than yourself and it brings a certain knowledge when you think like them instead of yourself, it helps you see into other people's perspective in real life as well as in-game. Besides, it's pretty fun and in KOTOR you can be quite surprised by the choices your character makes (as weird as that might sound) because there's too many to remember.

    Couldn't agree more with all of the above. The game is old for sure, but with things like mods there for us console folks that weren't an option beofor (Beyond Skyrim: Bruma for example) and new lore coming our way from ESO, it somehow seems fresher and the best time to start roleplaying as we can customise more than ever.

    I RP because I like to experience someting new to a degree, but more than that I like to hit certain notes or feel an emotional connection. That's hard to explain, but you know how the game sometimes moves you, or gives you that "oh wow" moment? It could be rounding the last bend as you approach High Hrothgar and hear that music play as you approach Jurgen's old house, or just as the sun sets over the plains of Whiterun, or the peace and melancholy of the Forgotten Vale... I like to try and frame those moments, if that makes any sense. Sometimes they can be defining, and so I like to explore that resonance through different eyes.

    That's likely too poetic, but sometimes shifting perspectives can help you see the game differently - and opening the mind is always important.

  • Member
    August 3, 2017

    Ebonslayer said:

    I roleplay for the knowledge it brings me, and the fun. For TES games it doesn't really matter, most of my characters have my personality since there's not really any difference in quests and everything seems black and white or if they're grey it's usually cliche but in games like Dragon Age or KOTOR everything's grey and thus you can play like someone other than yourself and it brings a certain knowledge when you think like them instead of yourself, it helps you see into other people's perspective in real life as well as in-game. Besides, it's pretty fun and in KOTOR you can be quite surprised by the choices your character makes (as weird as that might sound) because there's too many to remember.

    Skyrim's very clear moral directions can be a bit frustrating sometimes, it'd be good to really be stumped about what to do in a quest like with Saadia. But as Monty Python says, always look on the bright side of life! Any unpolished quest is just an opportunity to roleplay, be it creating an 'alternate' ending to a quest, increasing the reprocussions of your decisions (which I usually do by stabbing someone) or anything like it.

     

    Paws said:

    I RP because I like to experience someting new to a degree, but more than that I like to hit certain notes or feel an emotional connection. That's hard to explain, but you know how the game sometimes moves you, or gives you that "oh wow" moment? It could be rounding the last bend as you approach High Hrothgar and hear that music play as you approach Jurgen's old house, or just as the sun sets over the plains of Whiterun, or the peace and melancholy of the Forgotten Vale... I like to try and frame those moments, if that makes any sense. Sometimes they can be defining, and so I like to explore that resonance through different eyes.

    That's likely too poetic, but sometimes shifting perspectives can help you see the game differently - and opening the mind is always important.

    Couldn't agree more Phil. One of my favourite moments in my many (many) hours of Skyrim is after completing the Companions with my very Nordy Nord. The atmosphere, the music, the chants of the ancestors as I gathered the word of power, I felt like I could take on the world, which would be exactly how my character felt.

    But like you said, sometimes it can be more simple than that. I'm gonna use my Nordy Nord again as an example. I was mosying along in the mountains near Dawnstar, and happened upon a lovely view of the surrounding countryside. And eventhough the graphics had aged and the horizon turned to grey blobs, I just felt proud to be there, you know?

  • Member
    August 4, 2017

    For me, as a builder, I've turned to roleplaying as there are really no new "glitches" to discover and exploit in builds.  So now it's about the backstory and roleplaying a certain way that I've turned to in my builds.

  • Member
    August 4, 2017

    Ragin Cajun said:

    For me, as a builder, I've turned to roleplaying as there are really no new "glitches" to discover and exploit in builds.  So now it's about the backstory and roleplaying a certain way that I've turned to in my builds.

    I always figured Roleplaying had or should have a big part in making builds, especially ones based off of lore or something, but then again I only made one build and it was meh. I am glad to hear that you focused on backstory and role-playing now. :)

  • Member
    August 4, 2017

    I just like the feel of immersing myself in something unrealistic, and taking another spin on someone new. I've done everything there is to do in Skyrim - but when I roleplay some argonian healer I discover things I never would have discovered as my Nordic Khajiit Werewolf.

    It's just something special.

    (Plus, because I suck at lockpicking, all my roleplay characters suck at lockpicking :D)

  • Member
    August 5, 2017
    Sorry, Wulf, I'm on mobile so I can't reply directly. Being able to see things different from play through to play through is awesome, and completely changes your interpretation of something. Like a traditional Nord could see Blackreach as a blight on the land, while an explorer or scholar would see it as fascinating. There really isn't a black and white in Skyrim, and role playing held you realise that.