Why do you play? (Or not.)
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Four reasons for me: Escapism, creativity, and collaboration. Plus laziness.
The first three are pretty self-explanatory; laziness factors in because it takes a lot of time and effort to be socializing in real life. I have to clear out schedules for a social event, get prepared, it costs money... and if I end up being bored or simply tired, I can't just turn it off and go watch TV or just go to bed.
And honestly, even in my college days I never understood the appeal of getting uproariously drunk together as a social event, which seems to be the most common party option available. I just feel it's better to do something creative with people with similar interests.
That being said I have mostly moved on to MMORPGs. Why? Again with the laziness -- MMORPGs require less effort than Mushing, and they're much prettier to look at -- but also there is a lot less drama going on, and at this point in my life I don't need online dramaz to add to my RL stress. MMORPGs also fulfill the Escapism requirement, and to a lesser degree Collaboration (the first M does stand for Multiplayer, after all!). I do find I am missing out on the Creativity side though; I have tried to inject background stories and such into my MMORPG characters, and there are RP communities active in most major MMOs, but... it's just not the same. Because of the medium's limitations, it is virtually impossible to develop the same level of rapport with other players as Mushing allows.
Maybe if some low maintenance Mush game pops up, and I find myself in need of a creative outlet, I might jump back in at some point.
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I'm surprised that (or I missed it if) no one has mentioned out of habit as a reason.
I mean I could find something else to do with my occasional free time in the evenings which scratches similar itches - some writing, creativity, isn't dependent on twitch reflexes, is kinda social, etc.
For instance there are table-top games I could be playing iRL, board games offered online, D&D campaigns over Skype or even the web, MMOs as @Scissors already mentioned... but I'm a long time MU*er, so that's something I'm just used to doing.
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Try BSG: Unification? Small place. Space is fun. And the game is very pretty and well set-up.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
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@Scissors said in Why do you play? (Or not.):
And honestly, even in my college days I never understood the appeal of getting uproariously drunk together as a social event, which seems to be the most common party option available. I just feel it's better to do something creative with people with similar interests.
Same, honestly. I come from a family with looooooooooooooooooots of alcoholism going on, so binge drinking culture grossed me out. This is probably why I got more into MU*ing while in college, along with the other obvious gateways like a more active campus nerd culture than my high school had, and part-time computer lab job.
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@Three-Eyed-Crow I know this makes me a social pariah but I don't really drink. No reason for it, I just.. I don't like the taste of beer and and I'm only okay with certain wines. Anything stronger just grosses me out a bit.
So I've been the designated driver my whole life. Meh!
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@Ganymede I have no clue about BSG (except everyone's girlfriend is a Cylon), but since it's YOU who recommended it, I'll go take a look soon.
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@Scissors said in Why do you play? (Or not.):
I have no clue about BSG (except everyone's girlfriend is a Cylon), but since it's YOU who recommended it, I'll go take a look soon.
Thanks.
It's a good game, seriously. @faraday's code here takes a lot of things into consideration, and they aren't insignificant. For instance, there's a command that allows you to roll someone else's pool. So, people can participate by proxy, if allowed to.
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Wow this thread has taught me that a lot of mushers don't drink.
Not sure what to make of this, as it is almost completely opposite of gaming culture in general around me as good portion of table top sessions involve at least some consumption of alcohol. (Never to the point of drunkenness and with DDs) and both gaming groups I am connected to frequently have parties that are your standard booze consumption affairs. -
@ThatGuyThere If it helps, I wasn't drinking well before I became a MUSHer.
Or smoke. I don't drink coffee either.Don't judge me.
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It's alright.
I drink enough to make up for some of ya.
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@ThatGuyThere I can't drink either, for medical reasons. I did back in the 90s some, but only socially. It might be confirmation bias, though, but I agree with you.
Partly some of it is broader gamer culture being kinda macho and bro-y, while MUSHing is really not. OTOH writer culture kind of glorifies the single-spirit swilling fedora type, and I've run into a few of mushers who styled themselves that way.
I really miss irish cream, though.
(Edited for typos because phone and hands like bricks today.)
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I play because I can't roleplay elsewhere. I mean, I probably can, but its a whole lot of effort and I'm not sure the results would merit it. But this has been my outlet for RP for a long while. But if I could go back to having a regular group of friends to RP with, I would. Unfortunately, life hit is all. Jobs and different schedules and relationships and such.
As far as what I get out of it, mostly wish fulfillment. I like doing things I wouldn't be able to do in RL (which is why I hate casual bar/coffee shop scenes). Give me some powers, give me some agenda to fulfill and let me start working out some problems. That makes me happy.
Unfortunately, I've found the MU* community only scratches the itch barely and I wish there were more games with more people that played like I like to. Instead I feel the constant need to tiptoe around people's feelings so they don't dramasplode on me, and I have to do it both ICly and OOCly and that's a whole lot of emotionally draining effort that I'd prefer to not have to spend. But this is what I got available to me so I make it work. Sometimes.
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@Three-Eyed-Crow said in Why do you play? (Or not.):
@Scissors said in Why do you play? (Or not.):
And honestly, even in my college days I never understood the appeal of getting uproariously drunk together as a social event, which seems to be the most common party option available. I just feel it's better to do something creative with people with similar interests.
Same, honestly. I come from a family with looooooooooooooooooots of alcoholism going on, so binge drinking culture grossed me out. This is probably why I got more into MU*ing while in college, along with the other obvious gateways like a more active campus nerd culture than my high school had, and part-time computer lab job.
I actually started MU*ing in college but during the second half. During the first half I did...other stuff and then I went to rehab and then I found suddenly I had so much empty time and no idea how to fill it! I'd written a paper on MUDs during one of the 'first-half' years and even though I'd only popped on a few to look at how they worked and 'interview' a few players and admins, I remembered they seemed kind of like possible fun. So I started playing and hey wow, suddenly the hours flew by! I could get all kinds of rushes from game things, and it was there -whenever I wanted- day or night to entertain me. Was it the most conventional way to stay clean? Likely not. Would some shrinks have suggested I was replacing one addiction with another type? Totally, but it was much less likely to kill me in a given evening.
My reasons for playing have changed a great deal since then, but that was my original and it was a pretty solid one. It worked.
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I'll play. I play because of nostalgia, pretend, being creative. Those are all really good answers and they all fit.
I started Mu*ing back in 1994, on Gemstone while I was still in high school. I was into tabletop RP in college and Mushes were a natural extension of a "sometimes" thing I enjoyed. I never got into WoD because, my TT group was mainly a D&D Shadowrun group. College had to end eventually and real life(and a kid) set in. So I gradually stopped.
While in college, I minored in theater. So yeah, I've always kinda been an attention whore and had a weird enjoyment of being other people. Mu* always kinda scratches that itch. I can think up an entire character background and description in minutes. Yeah, I even have an alter ego like Beyoncé in real life (let's keep that between us).
I've always been kind of arty. I went to a technical high school and did graphic design. I was the girl in the back of the class drawing instead of daydreaming. While I don't write creatively, I do play around with it and I even have a dream book--that I actually use. This just seems like a hobby for someone like me. I'll probably be doing it off and on until I'm an old lady.
Why don't I play? The simple answer is real life. When I graduated, I became a teacher. Those first couple years as a new teacher are intense. I just didn't have time to do it. Then it turned into having a baby, which rapidly devolved into single motherhood. But now my son's a preteen and doesn't require(or want)as much of my time, but I got married and I have a new big baby to take up my time. Along with football practice and basketball practice, plus work....well, this hobby takes a backseat a lot.
So often I envy the people that have a lot of time to sink into Mu*ing. I only have a sliver of time to put into it and most of the time it's really late at night, so even when I get into it again, it doesn't feel like it's worth my time like it used to. That and I don't bounce back from staying up late like I used to. So I play for a little while, then I pull out because it kind of becomes a little much.
