Why We Do It

When I tell someone what my favorite hobby is and I see them give me a weird look I know exactly what they are thinking; Why do you play those games? or Why don't you just play a video game? So I guess it's time for a little explanation. Why do we do it?

It's not because it's easy. Writing games can take hours or days of trying to puzzle out every conceivable outcome for several situations. You have to spend time trying to find people with your same interest and cultivate your group carefully. You devote several hours to reading books and studying their contents until you can quickly repeat them, or at least find them again, if necessary. You spend days carefully crafting an individual and figuring out their motivations. We never got into the hobby because it was "cool".

For some of us it is about an escape. We need to take a break from our daily lives and be someone else for a little while or we need to experience adventures that we can't possibly have in real life. For some of us it is about cultivating a skill. The reading you do is both technical and narrative and you do so much writing that you become adept at captivating an audience. For others it is about cost. A video game cost around $60 and you will probably play through it once or twice. An rpg is about $35 for the book and an additional $15 for the dice for a game you can play for an untold amount of times.

For all of us it is about having fun. We get to be involved in a riveting story that unfolds with each game. We get to pit our minds against challenges and feel the rush of achievement every time we overcome them. We get to experience a world of infinite possibilities bound only by the limits of our imagination. We get to delight in the retelling of our greatest adventures and most hilarious moments. We get to make friends with others like us and with characters that we have grown fond of. We get to be in on a secret world that most will never see. So why do we do it?

We do it because the only thing can't fathom is life without them.