Why do you play RPG's? No, really, why?

[Hyperion]

Write-In Choice: They're fun.

 

[Lilura]

To power-game them, to break them, and then to complain how EZ and shitty they are.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

I like to play a role, because I'm a huge hypocrite.

 

[Jazz_]

Bodies of water, crackling fireplaces, luscious lichens on trees.

 

[thesheeep]

I want to be a dragon.

 

[Ramnozack]

So I can download nude anime porn mods and bang my waifu with my avatar who represents what I identify as IRL. A chick with huge tits with a 12 inch cock.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

If you want something even more in-depth than my previous answer then perhaps you could look at five movies I've bought recently which I was a fan of before I even got into computer games, or even P&P games:

Monster variety and exploration of the fantastical are indeed very important for me...

 

[Sacred82]

muh immershun.

 

[octavius]

Thinking a bit more about it...I like very different CRPGs, but the two things all have in common is exploration and character development (finding new loot and watching those little numbers go up).

 

[HeatEXTEND]

I like to play a role, because I'm a huge hypocrite.

 

[Alkarl]

Thinking a bit more about it...I like very different CRPGs, but the two things all have in common is exploration and character development (finding new loot and watching those little numbers go up).

Definitely this. I really enjoy games that offer risk/reward scenarios with their exploration. Do I hang around town, til I'm strong enough to head out? Or do I attempt to sneak/run through to another area immediately to find better weapons/upgrades?

 

[Elemental_wanamingo]

I like the illusion that I can roleplay my character. I can choose more than size and stats for my avatar. I can choose the way he or she fights. Or doesn't. In dialogue I can be annoying asshole or helping everybody. Or I can just try to maximise my options so I can do all missions. Sometimes there is even a puzzle that requires reading. I also like that I can do the missions in a way I like and hopefully in the end I can see my choices have made a difference. I also like turn based combat even though it is way too simple and stupid to admit I like it already a lot like it is :/. I also like the planning and choosing skills and trying to weigh the different styles based on what is interesting. I like that there are dozens of items with very little difference and it takes some effort to figure out which one is the best for different scenarios.

Turn based also kinda hides the stupidity of the ai better. In fps games it is easy to spot the patterns in the ai behaviour and often times they just blindly charge at you. Not only is it repeating and breaks the immersion a bit but it also forces me always to make a choise. Whether to try to ignore the ai issues and just play the way game seems to expect you to. Or just abuse the ai weaknesses to max just because it can make a challenging bit of gameplay super easy. Of course this is just result of the way the levels are setup in fps and rpg games.. In rpgs you are expected to enter into the encounters always in very similar manner and the fight is limited to very small area whereas in fps games you can run around all around the level while in a fight.

So to sum it up. I like it slow and simple with lots of variation and meaningful ending.

 

[Chainsaw Gutsfuck]

Turn based also kinda hides the stupidity of the ai better. In fps games it is easy to spot the patterns in the ai behaviour and often times they just blindly charge at you. Not only is it repeating and breaks the immersion a bit but it also forces me always to make a choise. Whether to try to ignore the ai issues and just play the way game seems to expect you to. Or just abuse the ai weaknesses to max just because it can make a challenging bit of gameplay super easy.

Well I don't see how turn based combat can hide poor AI design. If an enemy is blindly charging at me he will look pretty foolish whether he is doing it in turn based mode or in real time.

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

Escapism, because a world where rats keep bowls of gold inside them and I can get girls moist just by making a couple of conversations is too good to be true.

 

[Dorateen]

Fortune and Glory.

Spoiler

 

[boot]

I like feeling that I've mastered a game. Learning the best character builds, strategies, progression, and so on, that I've understood and dominated all of a game's systems. Aside from that, RPGs are very unique and I'm used to them. Filled with words, stat driven, UI takes up most of the screen half the time, there's nothing like 'em.

 

[Sigourn]

I simply don't like any other type of games.

It's really the truth. RPGs are very interesting games, something which I don't get from action games or adventure games or any mix of them. Though in hindsight, it is the escapism that makes me enjoy them so much. When playing RPGs, I stop thinking of the world around me, which is something that no other genre achieves for me.

 

[ore clover]

I also like turn based combat even though it is way too simple and stupid to admit I like it already a lot like it is :/.

Turn based games are the path to the Übermensch. Show no shame; be proud of your metamorphosis!

 

[Black]

For the same reason I visit Codex.
No idea.

 

[janior]

tits

 

[SophosTheWise]

I don't fully know since I don't like most games I play, let alone most RPGs. But most of all, I'd say it's the feeling of 'grand adventure', the feeling of journey, hardship, meeting characters, experiencing a story, choice & consequences. I could care less about character builds and skill progression. If I want to calculate skills and game systems, I could just do a bunch of excel sheet excercises. I also don't want to 'master a game'. I don't really gain anything from achievements, breaking systems, beating enemies on hard. I don't know, I feel like I have that enough in my real life already. I came to a realization that I don't really care all that much about systems, as long as a game can draw me in and I can soak in the atmosphere.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

I don't fully know since I don't like most games I play, let alone most RPGs. But most of all, I'd say it's the feeling of 'grand adventure', the feeling of journey, hardship, meeting characters, experiencing a story, choice & consequences. I could care less about character builds and skill progression. If I want to calculate skills and game systems, I could just do a bunch of excel sheet excercises. I also don't want to 'master a game'. I don't really gain anything from achievements, breaking systems, beating enemies on hard. I don't know, I feel like I have that enough in my real life already. I came to a realization that I don't really care all that much about systems, as long as a game can draw me in and I can soak in the atmosphere.

You can get most of what you want with adventure games. You basically just described an adventure game. For the C&C addition you just turned your preference into a choose your own adventure instead of straight adventure.

 

[Neanderthal]

I find i'm not gettin enough disappointment in me daily life so I play modern RPGs to top it up.

 

[Melcar]

It's mostly combat systems and character building/progression for me, but having an interesting and strange fantasy/scifi world and lore is also important. Don't really care for all the other stuff.

 

[Dux]

RPGs vary a lot. Some games offer a special kind of feeling through exploration primarily, others offer a lot of choice or customisation which can really flesh out a character, or characters. Sometimes it's a combination of the game's efforts and your own to create a story. It can be something that the game developers never even thought of. For example, all the stories that I've come up with in New Vegas and Morrowind. A few games are heavy on the choices, making it easier to jump into any particular character you've thought up. That's what draws me, I guess. Playing a character and doing the most with it, or just undertaking an epic journey in a make-believe world. It's escapism on a larger scale than many other genres.