Why do you RP on Gaia?

[hoshinami]

Since i was a little kid, my imagination has always been very active. I used to use stuff animals with my sister to create stories. We'd do the same outside with sticks and our pets. I always had my nose in a book, always reading. Its what i did. I still do. Moving to RPs with other people was inevitable. My first rps where really in high school with my friends. We'd play before school and at lunch. Eventually i moved to rping on line, most of the people i first rp'd with where people i knew in real-life on a proboards site. Later i started rping on gaia. I don't rp here on gaia much anymore, but i still make my own rps and play them with my friends. An IM rp actually got my typing up fast enough that it doesn't take me forever just to type something up. I tend to rp some every day because it helps me relax and unwind. Rping lead me to get involved with a group that played Dnd in college and i've been playing that as well ever sense. I have played many different games and I even make up my own stories for me to dm. I'm actually working on a campaign right now, that is set in a world i've created in the pathfinder rules for the group i currently play with to go through. I do play other systems as well, and the groups i've played with for these various systems all tend to give out rp experience. I've met some really good friends though rps, and i doubt i'll give it up any time soon.

[I Asche I]

I rp'd when I was younger, on Neopets. I tried it on Gaia, but couldn't get into it. The people here were different, and it was intimating that nearly every thread I looked at expected paragraph after paragraph of perfectly typed filler, and had a little "Advanced Lit+ only" notes tacked on them.

This was 7 years ago when I joined, and I haven't peeked in Barton Town in quite some time, but I've quit roleplaying and writing altogether since then.

My life is occupied with working full-time, building a life with my significant other, playing Pokemon, drawing, and goofing around on Gaia (namely the Pokeforum).

[Kafka]

Aut Vincere

Diavolica

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

It's interesting you bring that up. I know some people who purely RP on tumblr. What DI you find the pros and cons to be in your personal experience with micro blogging RP?

In my opinion tumblr just isn't a great format for collaborative writing. Rather than a single thread the posts are all over the place due to each character having its own blog, quotes are difficult to read, quotes get cut off, and so on. xd Character blogs can take over non-RP tags, too, but that's more just a personal gripe rather than an example of why I don't think it works well as a format for RP, haha. I'd guess the massive fandom presence there is why it's so popular for RP, as unwieldy as it is.

[x Karurie x]

I enjoy writing.

Expanding my imagination.

Meeting new people who turn into friends.

However, the RP's we do aren't on Gaia as much anymore, unfortunately.
It's all taking place on Tumblr which I find is very restricting.

[kitten tea]

The only time I ever RP'd was during the halloween event of 2007. There was many RP threads going around, and I decided to actually play along. Though the thread was a long a few hundred pages, they really didn't mind that I was joining. 4laugh
It was fun I guess, it gives your avatar a whole new meaning. Their actually able to take on a name, a type of speech, and just character really.

[Starflec]

I hate writing so I'm not much of an RPer. In middle school I RPed nonstop, but maybe that's because writing quality didn't really matter when I was that young.

[Raylkim]

I'd love to know why you RP on Gaia, or RP in general.

- I enjoy acting and playing roles. It's fun to place yourself into others shoes and figure out how they'd respond to everyday life. I think if I ever got into it, I'd love to do it as a career. If only I wasn't terrified of the idea of crowds and people. Aha. sweatdrop

If you don't RP on Gaia, why is that?

- I don't roleplay here since I'd be restricted to certain genres. I'm an adult so I like my over PG-13/NSFW rated stuff sometimes. Even if I did roleplay here, I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with allowing people to publicly see my works even if I think I do a decent job.

Are there better places to RP?

- I use Skype or Tumblr since I have all the freedom I could ever need in those places. I also think they're faster pace places so I enjoy them more. I'm very impatient when it comes to waiting for a new post. xd

How do you find RP on Gaia and on other sites?

- Well, I'd start by bringing it up to my friends to see if they'd be interested in joining. If not, I'd just use certain tags on Tumblr to find strangers that may end up being my friends. I like meeting new people in small amounts.

I guess the biggest question is why RP at all?

- I see it as an escape from reality, otherwise I'm not really sure how to answer this question. It's like asking why do any certain hobby at all.

[jettisoned corpse]

Aut Vincere

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.

I used to RP in AOL chat rooms back when I first got on the internet. I was 12 then (26 now).

It didn't last long but the reason I liked doing it so much was I am just a big kid at heart and even at 12-14, I still wanted to pretend to be things I wasn't. I'm pretty nerdy/geeky and anti-social when it comes to real life people, and I found it easier and more enjoyable to interact with people and act out RPs on the internet back then.

I still have a very active imagination and express it through being an artist and a story teller working on my own story. I don't have any interest in RPing these days because I feel I don't really fit in being older, and not having the same interests as people on Gaia do. I also doubt I could be dedicated enough for it as I'd prefer to spend my time on more important hobbies of mine like art, writing, and video games.

[Psycho Koneko]

I originally got into Role-Playing on another site due to being completely bored and wanting to try something new.
I think that was around '05-ish, but my memory is kinda fuzzy as to when I first started.

I don't RP as much on Gaia anymore due to lack of finding decent ones to join.
That, and I already have a good buddy I Role-Play with on a near daily/weekly basis.
We typically use Skype these days, but every so often we come back to Gaia and recycle threads.
We can make formats and what-not on here.

Anyway, I still Role-Play to this day because it's fun and a great way to pass the time.
It's really helped me develop my writing skills as well as widen my vocabulary over the years.
As for the whole "escaping reality" thing, I can see that being a draw for some people.
I generally stick as close to "canon" as possible and am not a fan of OCs, so I don't know if that entirely applies to me.
However I do enjoy playing fictional characters, acting out adventures, and generally having fun even if their actions are unhappy ones.
It's essentially the same thing as pretend-play we all did as little kids if you really think about it.
I've made a really awesome friend out of RP'ing, so it's something I've enjoyed and fully intend to continue doing.

[Qelvena]

It's kinda like watching a movie or a TV show. You get to imagine up your own character to your liking. Who doesn't want to create themselves a superhero or some awesome martial artist once in a while?

I love roleplays because they allow me to do just that- roleplay. I like imagining myself as a virtual character, doing some serious a**-whooping or whatnot.

Besides creating an "alter ego", RPing helps me with my writing skills. I love learning, okay?!

That being said, I'm not a superb roleplayer. However, I try to be xD

[Azavezel]

It seems kind of silly that the only thing I can form opinion on lately with Gaia is on this very subject. Silly and embarassing.

Nevertheless, why people roleplay. There are mainly 5 common points of motivation as to why people engage in such a thing.

1. Social Interaction
2. Writing
3. Shipping
4. Escape
5. Wish Fulfillment

1. Social Interaction:

When roleplaying, it's very simple and easy to make friends [and enemies] when in the heat of things. Character involvement brings personal involvement, and connections tend to be made towards those who become roleplay partners. Friendships, romance--even marriage can be resulted as a start from two people meeting in a roleplay. It lets people go out and make friends with like-minded interests and opinions. It's like going to conventions. For some, it's about the networking.

2. Writing:

This is a no brainer. Better grammar, better writing focus, better characterization, better worldbuilding, better setting placement, more attention to details with readers--improvements will happen. Period. The only way one can get worse is if they stop trying. For many (myself included), this is a way to improve their writing for higher and grander goals. This is one of the core reasons many take involvement.

3. Shipping:

This is self-explanatory really. People get to be characters and experience relationships, alongside creating their own and seeing where actions lead to. The interactions with characters can help bring to different scenarios and events that can cause all sorts of positives to occur, alongside negatives if done poorly. A surprising amount of people end up doing it for this reason.

4. Escape:

Like with reading, roleplay lets people forget about their day and lives, and dive into a fantasy that takes them from all of that. It's a sanctuary of imagination that adds with others to create a concrete setting where both troubles are all vented and pushed out of the way for moments of peace and entertainment. This is a very big appeal. Arguably the second biggest. It's an amazing stress relief [unless things go wrong], and it can help people in many deeper, psychological ways.

5. Wish Fulfillment:

Ever wanted to do anything you've ever wanted? Yet imagining it just isn't enough? Roleplaying. Dungeons and Dragons, the more or less bible of roleplaying and what popularized the hell out of it, is based and made entirely with this in mind. You can do anything you want. Literally anything. No censorship. No worries of judgment. You're with friends, doing fun things for fun. Maybe you want Superman to unleash his inner "sugoi" and get together with Wonder Woman, or feel like shipping Ian with Liam and see where such a thing would go. It lets people explore their imagination while giving maximum amounts of satisfaction. Stress relief is an understatement. Unfortunately, many take this to their heads and can ruin it all for others with their oppressing sense of wish fulfillment. It's definitely a double-edged sword without proper actions taken place to limit it.

Overall, it's an experience that can be both completely atrocious, and simply indescribable in ways it can affect you and others. Nothing makes you feel better knowing you've made characters that people legitimately enjoy and feel for.

I personally am a massive fan of self-insertions within different settings, simply because of imagining scenarios due to conflict of beliefs and cultural understandings. The stark differences brought by alienation can be rife with conflict, understanding, and many challenges that can definitely charge up a roleplay into both a light-hearted, and very serious tone. Potentially even extremely grim and depressing in a darker turn of events [not in an edgy dark, but a serious and consequential dark]. Unfortunately, people tend to have likened inserts as sues. Which makes most inserts never possible due to anxieties brought by such a stigma. Sigh. So much potential...

[The Drunken Jester]

I don't really RP anymore. But I'm pretty sure I know why I used to, and even why I don't now.

I liked to RP because I love stories and I always have. And an RP is just that, it's an interactive story where you control just one of the characters and depend on someone else to control the others.
When I was first learning how to really write stuff I was still at a point where you couldn't really depend on yourself to take the story in an interesting direction, so having someone else, who was also trying to give their character the upper hand, helped the conflict.

Now that I'm older and my urge to control every aspect of the story has kicked in I don't really like RPing any more, since I can't really trust anyone else's brain to behave the same way mine does. Where I want the story to go might not be the same as where they think it should go.

RPing also helps you interact with people on a less personal level. If you've ever been like me and just never been comfortable with interpersonal relationships then RPing, depending on the scenario, is a good way to try to interact with people without actually having to... interact with people. If you mess something up then it doesn't matter as much since it's just a story.

I found that less satisfying over time so I stopped RPing because of that too.

[Kyla_Ewens]

Why I RP on Gaia. Well it started out of being really alone. I was in college when someone showed me the site, but I wasn't very interested at the time so I didn't do anything with it. Then a bunch of s**t happened in my life and I found myself without many people to talk to. Suddenly I didn't really care if I wound up interacting with a bunch of jerks, because maybe it would lead to meeting some nice people.

So I started RPing a little bit, just kind of hanging out and getting the gist of it. Then slowly, I did start making some friends. I'd RP with the same group every day and we just kept getting closer. I even started a long term relationship with one of them.

Several years later, that same person is now my husband, and three of my best friends, whom I met right here on Gaia were in the wedding party. I owe that wonderful day to RPing on Gaia. Together we'd create these amazing stories, and go on adventures and write about the things that weren't possible to do in real life.

[Jittany]

RP is kind of like a game for writers. it's fun and it helps me creatively sometimes, esp during my dry spells.

other times i want to bash my head into a wall because of how whitebread boring people are. i mean, it just takes some time to find those few people who are worth the effort, esp in the gaia rp community.

[CynHimawari2828]

Well I like to RP mainly for the reason that I like RPGs. You see, in RPGs there is already this story line, one that you can only follow. The only way of deviation is the way you can collect things, other tasks that are required to move further into the storyline, etc.
However, in an RP (especially in social networks) you can do all sorts of things, except of course the dreadful "godmode". In that case, it's fair rule since that just makes everyone upset, and people like to RP together to enjoy the time, not to get upset.