[RPG] Why I play

The conversation over at the Forge had me wondering whether I was over-thinking the issue of my frustrating night. It's just a freakin' game, right? Why make a big deal out of it?

Well, here are some of the reasons I think it's important to make a big deal out of having fun while roleplaying:

1. It's a great social activity - at its heart, it's about having a conversation with people you like.
2. It's emotional - the best games are ones where I have felt, deeply - as deeply as when I've watched a good movie or read a good book.
3. It's creative - not only do you add things into the mix, but you experience in realtime everyone else's contribution.
4. It's unpredictable - you never know what someone will do.
5. It's funny - riffing of imaginary ideas is what I laugh at and can be funny with the most.
6. It's educational - I've learned a heck of a lot about storytelling from hanging out at the Forge, designing my own games & adventures and by trying to entertain other people.
7. It's liberating - I can pretend to be someone else, trying and figure out how they would react to situations.
8. It provides many different forms of fun - from just hanging out with friends, through method acting through to literally winning a competition against another smarter player.
9. Dollar for dollar, I think it's one of the best value-for-money forms of entertainment out there.
10. It's accessible - gone are the days of four year campaigns with unwieldy 700 page rule books. My Tuesday night group has a smorgasboard approach: one-shots and mini-series, dabbling in the best and newest that roleplaying has to offer.

So, yeah, gaming's something I'm passionate about. And I guess my things are a) I want to play with my friends and b) I want it to be fun. Given that I'm only playing for about 3 hours every fortnight, I think it seems reasonable that if I spent 1.5 hours not having fun, I should work out why and try and stop it from happening again.