Why do you RP?

[Aven]

OK, so I was talking to Onas and this interesting topic came up why are you here? Not how did you find the site, but why did you start RPing in the first place. I honestly don't remember why I started. I remember that I started ten plus years ago back in the day on MSN chat, when that closed down I moved to MSN Groups. When that died, I moved over to Proboards. After that I've been looking for places just like this to RP, places full of awesome people, a great story, and lots and lots of comedy.

Truth be told, I've always loved to write and tell stories, I've always had a fascination with how they play out. I love to read, I love movies, video games, anything that tells a story I love. No matter how good the story though, I always hate to see it end. I want to know more, to keep it going. I suppose that's part of the reason I started to RP. To keep the story going.

Anyway, I've rambled on enough now for the real reason I made this thread. Why did you guys start?

[Yautja]

I've always enjoyed stories, writing and creating with words. But I started out in chat rooms jus bs'ing. One day we got on the subject or writing, and it was suggested that I check out the RPG chats of Yahoo. So I did and instantly fell in love with this new game. Conference rp's, mostly about zombies and stuff. One night while we were playin, this guy caught me after, and asked why I wasted my talent in throw away rp's, and I was like, "Never seen anything else."

So he recruited me to his site, which was my first role play experience in a forum. It was shut down for violation of service agreements thanks to two writers, but, I got a taste for the long term writing style of a forum. After that, it was a few short months before I found the Verse, and dove in. The rest is history!

[Deleted]

Well for me let's start at the beginning. So little Sidney went to two years worth of preschool then kindergarten in New Jersey. It was all good and I loved school. From there we moved to Hawaii where the Coast guard sent my dad next. Well the first day of first grade for me started off with a behind the scenes state holiday known as "Beat a Haole Day" (For those who don't know Haole means white person or American) So I cam home with a black eye on my first day of first grade. Awesome start to the next three years of my life.

Well the teachers were no better, they spoke in the native Hawaiian language most of the time in class. So when I left Hawaii in third grade I was still only able to read at the level I was able to when I left kindergarten. Well what I did learn if the key words I would need o read to be able to fake it through life and how to get others to read what I needed so I could bullshit my way through life. Well slowly I learned a bit more of how to ready and write as the years passed. I ended up failing out of high school because of it.

Well when I left High School as a big fat failure. lol. (don't worry I am not actually don on myself about it all. I love who I am and am happy with what I have done with myself.) I told myself I would eventually be about to do it all and I would write a novel of my own that I will get published. So I started exploring writing and that lead to an outline of what I wanted to write. I wrote the characters for it and started developing them. Eventually that lead me to write Sidney on a few sites. Eventually I found the Verse and feel in love with it's story and the people on it were awesome. So that lead me here eventually.

I have come a long way since high school and have a long way to go till I am as good as I hope I will be some day. So there we go that is what brought me to forum Rp's.

[Edith Hunter]

Oh. Uh. Hi.

I think it started near the end of primary school for me. About... 10 or 11 years old. That last year - year 6 - whenever creative writing came up, something just clicked for me. The stories I wrote back then weren't that great, but the fact I was full of crazy ideas kind of came to light. The class helper - Pam - was the one that noticed it the most, I think. Told me when I went on to secondary school to keep writing. So I... did.

From there, I'd always be thinking up characters that fit into existing settings. I played a lot of final fantasy games, legend of zelda, etc back then so it was kinda fantasy to start with. Then I fell into MSN chats, and when that died I found this online chat site called The Keep, ran by Nexxushost RPG. They had a few other chats, but TK was where I kind of made my home the most. I bounce around the others, but eventually went back... and I'm still there. I met one of my closest friends there - Terence Grimm from The Verse if anyone remembers that guy.

In recent years that site has kind of... dwindled. The player base has turned into some very... new writers mixed with a bunch of old elitists that don't really RP anymore. Just kind of bs around in OOC. Sometimes? A good RP pops up with decent and friendly players in. But drama always kills it.

Somewhere along the way, I also got into forum RPs in tandem with going in The Keep in hopes of a good write. First forum I was on was a Balamb Garden (final fantasy 8) place. Then my friend introduced me to Chris and I got onto the 'Verse. And... everyone knows the story 'til now lol. Or most do.

I have to say, I'll always prefer chat RPs for the fact I am impatient. If I have a great RP I'll always save logs, especially if it's a story I'm working on with a friend. However, as much as I love to write I can also get lazy - I am very jaded in my many many years of writing, and yet I still do it.

Because I love it, I guess. More recently, I've got my own novel in the works 'cause National Novel Writing Month kind of bombed for me when I got ill a week or so towards the end. So I decided to just keep writing the story. It's been going great so far - despite some problems and losing bits and files corrupting... But I am determined to actually WRITE and FINISH something.

I think there are a few factors of why I still keep writing.

The interaction with other writers - especially when you gel well with others.
The fact every now and again someone will turn around and say "Hey! You're pretty good!" and I'm like "Uh... thanks?" because I was always unaccustomed to praise lol.
And I love writing kick-ass action scenes, as well as quirky little back and forth conversations. Witty repartee as they call it.
And just the fact it's something I can actually say I'm good at. I'm not much for patting myself on the back, either!

And I like to waffle on...

[Abigail Gunn]

Escapism, pure and simple. I had a rotten home life, and I spent all of my time online or gaming anyway, but I was missing a real form of expression. In the solo games I tended to play, there was no element of interaction with anyone else. There was no human element, no catharsis, and I was getting entertainment but missing something. I first started roleplaying on Neopets when I found the roleplaying category on a forum and it sounded fun. I was probably 10 or 11, maybe. From there, I joined avidgamers sites, then found my way into MUDs, where I became the token inappropriate, annoying troll preteen that no site is complete without. I gave up writing and socializing online in general for a few years, and when my life drove me in the direction of being isolated again, I came back to my old habits.

I joined a medieval site first, played an Irish blacksmith. I didn't feel a connection anywhere, and I eventually fell out of it. When I found Plagued, I found some people who felt real. They were intelligent, funny, feisty, and my first experience with Plagued was the resident troll pasting excerpts from a global mod's thread in the mature board (which was password protected) into chatbox and critiquing it Roger style while she flailed in embarrassment.

It was a train wreck, but in a good way.

It was the sort of living room bullshit and camaraderie that you only get from people you're comfortable with in a safe, comfortable place. There was no PC, there was no censor, we were all about the same age, and we weren't concerned with sterilizing anything for anybody. I didn't get a lot of that freedom of expression, so it was a breath of fresh air to find people who were relate-able, quirky, funny, and just human in all respects.

I write because I'm good at it, because I love it, because I get lost in it, and I roleplay because it brings me in contact with people who understand that. I've gotten close to people, learned their lives and shared mine. I never really thought I was someone that other people could relate to. I always felt like I was too X or not Y enough, and I didn't share my thoughts because I had zero expectation of reciprocation, understanding, empathy... but, as I found out, most of the people I open up to understand who I am and what makes me that way. And, more importantly, they're all okay with it, and with me.

So, validation, escapism, and, short and simple, I'm really damn good at it.

[Roger]

Never really thought about it or not as much as I have just now reading this thread. I suppose I've always been "Roger." By that I mean from a young age I enjoyed creating ever expanding and detailed imaginary worlds. You know it now by my many guides going more in depth into Firefly or BSG than you'd ever want to go.

When I was really young my brother and I played a game we called "everything mixed together" which is exactly what it sounds like. We'd take what we liked from whatever fictional universe and blend the worlds together and we'd do a sort of live action RP with each other. Keep in mind we did this when we were real young, like 3-10 years old.

From there a friend of mine created "the Galaxy" which my brother and I then basically took over control of. We had about a dozen people involved in it at its height. It was combination RP and strategy game but this was pre-Internet (or at least we never used it) so everything was pen and paper with all sorts of history and records of battles drawn out in many copy books and binders of loose sheets. It was chaotic and a little childish but very fun.

Around 16 I'd finally drifted away from most of those friends and my brother was busy in college. That's when I got into online communities and am still a member of my two main ones. In the dominant of the two, we had an active "creative works" section which I participated in writing short stories often involving cameo characters from the group. Around the same time I also found my way to my first real RP site. Years later I'd realize how bad the site was, the staff in particular, but at the time I didn't know any better and I used that as a creative outlet.

It was during that period that I learned my creative spark/boredom spikes in December. Every December I'd find myself at a new site or RP. Sometimes they'd join my growing list of sites, sometimes I'd drop them. So it was in December of 2011 I believe that I found the 'Verse. I watched as a guest for a few weeks before finally applying and joining the greatest community I've yet to find online. The rest is history.

Analyzing myself, I think I RP because there is that deep "Roger" quality within me that is very creative and creative in a very ambitious sort of way, the kind of drive to create, order, and explain a full universe. But I also think that RP has helped take the place of my brother. I joke to my parents that he raised me more than them. It's not an insult though. My parents both loved me very much. My mom quit her job to take care of us and was always around. My dad worked a lot but was always very loving when he was home. However, my brother and I were inseparable and did everything together. He went to college, then law school, and now he doesn't live in the same state. Suddenly my constant companion was gone and there was nothing filling that creative/entertainment void. I found the replacement in RP.

So that's what you guys are, just a replacement!

[Abigail Gunn]

Mar 1, 2014 14:17:48 GMT -7 Roger said:

So that's what you guys are, just a replacement!

TIL that we are all brothers in Roger.

Haroo.

[Deleted]

Mar 1, 2014 11:08:11 GMT -7 Aven said:

I love to read, I love movies, video games, anything that tells a story I love. No matter how good the story though, I always hate to see it end. I want to know more, to keep it going. I suppose that's part of the reason I started to RP. To keep the story going.

This. I can't stress this enough to people, it's all about the story.

[Deleted]

Mar 1, 2014 11:08:11 GMT -7 Aven said:

Anyway, I've rambled on enough now for the real reason I made this thread. Why did you guys start?

I think I started writing in college. And I used to write posts super late at night. More than likely never sober, because well, college.

I've always enjoyed reading and writing. I have an English minor, which in of itself doesn't illustrate much, other than my appreciation for writing.

Big movie and tv show junkie, which pretty much drives the muse.

Uh... idk what else to say. I have a pet hedgehog named Mr. Pickles. He helps me write sometimes.

[Deleted]

Much like Jules, I found my way into RP as a kind of escapism. I started back in in 2011. I had just dropped out of college in the begining of my third semester, and was still recovering from an illness that had ravaged me during my entire first year of school. Early-mid summer saw the end of that battle, though the actual illness remains a mystery.

Like Roger and Onas, I've always liked writing and creating, so I figured I'd take a look at this online roleplay thing. I started on a Star Wars site that, while very well done, was not conducive to either new role players or casual fans of the source material. From there, I found the Verse, and exploded onto 10 sites in a very short amount of time, running 14 different characters. Mind you, these were not reskins of previous concepts. Each one was 100% unique. Eventually, some sites died, some moved, and some just lost their appeal. When Sid started BSH, I followed and had a blast. And when DoS came about, I hopped over here as well.

And Onas, when you hack on me for not having enough length or whatever in my posts or my app, ask Roger or Sid what my stuff used to look like. It's actually an embarrassment xD

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