Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - Why RPG's are limiting the potential of the human soul

Jerome · 01-05-2001, 06:30 PM

Ok, please dont be offended by anything that i'm about to say, but feel free to give me your opinions...

Here's how i see it: RPG's are limiting our potential to fufill dreams and live life normally. Why i hear you ask, let me explain. RPG's are, even at the most basic level, just a way of escaping real life. They are usually set in either the far flung future
(usually abandoning all known physics and\or social limitations) or in a fantasy setting where "goodies" battle the "baddies" and engage in combat with mythical creatures that have NEVER existed except in the minds of its creators and the people who sample this defined media text. Why do we play RPG's? Perhaps it is for enjoyment and fufillment and mabey it is an intresting way to pass the time... but can we deny that we play it because it allows us to superceed our own physical or mental limitations? that we play it because we can BECOME BETTER THAN WE CAN IN THE REAL WORLD. I'm only fifteen years of age but i've come to realise certain things.

1) you cant slot someone into a catagory. You cannot define someone as "evil" or as "good". many people throught a life time will perform acts of minor evil (speeding tickets anyone?) and acts of great good (parenting children) diffrent peoples veiw's of good mean differing social standards. Is a doctor who saves a patients life more important and more "good" than a man who lives for eighty years, works for forty years, has a family and then one night dies?
Hitler (An evil man in my eyes) performed acts HE THOUGHT WAS RIGHT AND "GOOD" while others classed it as evil.

2) People must make the most out of life. I'll be dammed if i'm going to leave this barren hunk of rock without making some sort of impact.
(i plan to be a contraversial writer) Why sit around making a diffrence in an imaganery world when there is much "good" to be done outside of a 800x600 moniter and a mouse. Surely our time would be better spent improving ourselves rather than "killing-one-more kobold-so-i-can-reach-level-8"?

My final relisation is that people will disagree with me, and i hope you do because uniformed behaviour leads to dictorial regimes in my opinion, but i also hope that some part of my message sinks in on some level. Cheers.

01-05-2001, 06:30 PM	#1
Jerome Knight of the Rose Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Scotland Age: 38 Posts: 4,418	Ok, please dont be offended by anything that i'm about to say, but feel free to give me your opinions... Here's how i see it: RPG's are limiting our potential to fufill dreams and live life normally. Why i hear you ask, let me explain. RPG's are, even at the most basic level, just a way of escaping real life. They are usually set in either the far flung future (usually abandoning all known physics and\or social limitations) or in a fantasy setting where "goodies" battle the "baddies" and engage in combat with mythical creatures that have NEVER existed except in the minds of its creators and the people who sample this defined media text. Why do we play RPG's? Perhaps it is for enjoyment and fufillment and mabey it is an intresting way to pass the time... but can we deny that we play it because it allows us to superceed our own physical or mental limitations? that we play it because we can BECOME BETTER THAN WE CAN IN THE REAL WORLD. I'm only fifteen years of age but i've come to realise certain things. 1) you cant slot someone into a catagory. You cannot define someone as "evil" or as "good". many people throught a life time will perform acts of minor evil (speeding tickets anyone?) and acts of great good (parenting children) diffrent peoples veiw's of good mean differing social standards. Is a doctor who saves a patients life more important and more "good" than a man who lives for eighty years, works for forty years, has a family and then one night dies? Hitler (An evil man in my eyes) performed acts HE THOUGHT WAS RIGHT AND "GOOD" while others classed it as evil. 2) People must make the most out of life. I'll be dammed if i'm going to leave this barren hunk of rock without making some sort of impact. (i plan to be a contraversial writer) Why sit around making a diffrence in an imaganery world when there is much "good" to be done outside of a 800x600 moniter and a mouse. Surely our time would be better spent improving ourselves rather than "killing-one-more kobold-so-i-can-reach-level-8"? My final relisation is that people will disagree with me, and i hope you do because uniformed behaviour leads to dictorial regimes in my opinion, but i also hope that some part of my message sinks in on some level. Cheers.