Thursday, October 14, 2010

Reasons for RPGing II

Thank you to those who commented.

It was interesting to see that few of you outright acknowledged escapism, which the UK gamers we interviewed were quick to identify as one of their primary reasons for RPG gaming. So that's where I'm going to follow-up with you :)

So, here's my follow-up in two parts. Feel free to comment on either or both.

Part I:

Some interviewees viewed their weekly or monthly sessions as a unique space in their everyday lives. That it provided a break in the routine of their personal and/or professional life. Space away from duties, responsibilities, mortgages, children, or whathaveyou. How do you consider your gaming time/sessions relative to the other aspects of life?

Part II:

RPGs are inherently anti-modern. By anti-modern I mean they work contrary to the fast-paced, hyper-mobile, rootless nature of modern society. RPGs are time-consuming in set-up and play, their focus on medievalism (in the case of D&D) inherently looks backwards to an over-simplified past. From this perspective, one might (I'm not saying I do, I'm just saying one might) argue that RPGs offer a retreat from modern society. Agree or disagree?

1 comment:

  1. I'm slightly beyond the age demographic of your study (44 years old), but here are my thoughts.

    Part I: After 30 years of playing, I don't consider gaming to be a break from my life, but rather an integral part of my life. Nor do I really consider it a form of escapism. Since I only play once every two weeks, I would have to say that reading is a much more important form of escapism.

    Part II: I've been playing, and pretty much the same way, since before society became quite so fast-paced and wired-in. So, I don't consider gaming a retreat from modern society - it's just the way I've always played. Society moved on without me; I've been slow to embrace many of the aspects of modern living in both my personal and professional life. I do not own a cell phone or any other wireless mobile device, and I don't use a computer for gaming; indeed my role playing adventures are written out by hand and my maps are also hand-drawn. All of my gaming material is hard-copy - I don't use PDFs. It's probably no surprise that I prefer traditional paper and pencil role playing games and board games to computer or console games, or analogue simulacrums thereof, namely 4E. RPGs are, indeed, time-consuming to prepare for and play, but that is why it's a hobby rather than just a way to kill time.