Why do you RP on Gaia?

[Lelietu]

I'm working on a paper right now concerning why people RP, so I'd love to know why you RP on Gaia, or RP in general. If you don't RP on Gaia, why is that? Are there better places to RP? How do you find RP on Gaia and on other sites?

I guess the biggest question is why RP at all? There are a lot of other things you coud be doing with your time. For those of you who don't RP, what do you find yourself doing in your spare time?

I tend to RP a lot but I find it hard to find creative and talented people to RP with. Personally, I really love writing, but not everyone here is an English major.

[warn the sailors]

i rp on gaia because you can find decent people every now and again, and the staff don't care if you give out your email address.

it really just boils down to that for me, haha. if i had a better site to search on, i would -- i'd like to rp on the site i search on, but gaia's pm system and the whole idea of rp'ing through threads kill me -- but, for the time being, i just have gaia.

i still have a freewebs up from when that was the cool thing to do, haha. a couple of them, actually.

[Kafka]

Because my friends who RP are here, haha. It's no better or worse than any other place with RP, though any place with a forum format definitely has an advantage because it's easier to follow what's going on. RP on twitter, tumblr, Facebook? Exercise in futility. xd

[Lulu the Mainspring Lady]

Because I can connect with others.

My passion is writing and there's a level of engagement I get with others that I don't get to the same degree outside of it. I tend to feel lonely if I can't RP. It's odd.

[bizu]

I USED To RP.
Why?
I could engage in activities that I otherwise couldn't at home. Mom went to work, I was a stay-at-home child who took care of herself. Television was mind numbing, and I had little to engage myself with. Sure, I could watch an episode or two of cartoons, but I wasn't engaged as I would be while playing video games. I could create my own story in the Sims! I could explore Cat Woman's world, even if I wasn't supposed to. Role playing was a cheaper version. The time investment was a bit higher, and patience was needed, but as a child from a household's who's language wasn't English, it was another way to exercise my writing skills. I could be anyone; I could do anything.

It was like a lucid dream, to a new world.

[heavens tifa lockheart]

Why does anyone do any hobby? I enjoy writing a great deal and would do it in my free time anyway. RPing both lets me interact with others and gives the stories a level of unpredictability that I enjoy. It's the adult version of everyone bringing their toys to the playground. Things are larger and wider and deeper when you find other good writers to create stories with.

I've RPed in a lot of different places. Currently, I'm RPing on Dreamwidth.

[The Blue Bride]

Because I can.

[Srintella Tiagara]

I enjoy to role play because it's a way for me to relax. To let out all the ideas in my head. Or maybe I do have mix personalities and one way for them to get out is through role playing. It's fun, it's a hobby..I guess.

I haven't found another place to role play other than gaia. Everywhere else has too many strict rules.

[Urd Tanzanite]

I RP'd a lot when I was first here. Why'd I do it? Never did it before and I wanted to try it. It was that simple.

My first RP was on based on the world of One Piece. I was first mate on a pirate ship. It was a way to explore the world collaboratively, because the roleplayers were all familiar with the rules of the world, it was possible to interact with each other in ways that we could all agree on (the OP only had to mod when there was a question on how powers interacted).

However, it was a later RP that made me realize just exactly why this was so much fun. It was another semi-literate manga-anime RP based on the world of Negima. It so happened that almost a dozen of us were online at the same time and someone initiated a duel that drew in everyone else and everyone took sides.

That forum thread grew pages in a matter of minutes this as players fought, ran away, cast offensive and healing spells, ambushed, pot-shotted (I played Mana Tatsumiya, a sniper) one another.

It lasted for an hour in real-time as both sides fought for advantage and ground (occasionally PM'ing each other to coordinate).

It was a glorious chaotic mess that I fought to stay on top of, reading posts even as I composed my own responses (minimum three lines). And at the end of it all, I was drained, my fingers trembling and my eyes dry and scratchy, but it was an experience that I still look fondly on years later.

[Chibi Halo]

I did it on the last site I was on and I do it on here for one simple reason. It's a great way to keep my writing fresh. I love the whole process from creating a character to writing the posts. And it's even better when I'm RPing with some good friends and we try to one up each other with our posts. That's when the creativity really flows for me. That's why I love forum based RPs because it's an exercise in group storytelling and writing and I love to work out stories.

[Exotic Tea]

I don't RP at all. I think it takes a special kind of person to be able to Rp. It takes imagination and enthusiasm; two things I dont have.
I just can't get into that whole playing another role thing.

[Paradox Prince]

I don't RP on Gaia but I started here.
I stick to a rp partner on Skype these days rather than Gaia because Gaia is.. less immediate and I'm impatient I don't like to wait but every once a year or so I get the urge to find a roleplay here..
I do it as a hobby, more than anything, and to give myself in general creative ideas for my artwork, some kind of substance that I can simply pull from. Fanartists, or people that suddenly decide they want to draw fanart, do the same thing with the commercial media of their choice (be it show, novel or youtube). See Definition: Imagination. Something that will spark that need to draw it into reality.
The idea of having characters "playing" in your head at all times appeals to me, because I like to be the god of my own mind universe. It gives me a personal, reason to build they and the world they exist within my word is the law.. A lot of people call this a "headworld".

[Catena Carswell]

Because it's fun and it's good writing practice.

As for why on Gaia, that's because avatars.

[Barefoot Necromancer]

Kitty Gnar-Gnar

Because it's fun and it's good writing practice.

As for why on Gaia, that's because avatars.

Pretty much this.

[Sakura Latte]

Because it's fun?

Also, I've found a few friends through the RPs I'm in.