Roleplaying - what do you get out of it?

Role-playing is of course very ancient, if broadly enough defined.  There seems to be a general inclination towards inhabiting character that is at the core of humanity.  I think (and this is of course a very non-professional opinion) that we often determine who we are by imagining who we want to be.  The young kid wants to be brave, and dreams himself a fireman.  The wage-slave hears the advice "if you want to be the boss, you have to do what the boss does."

We imagine what we want to become.  This is even used in sports - many trainers recommend using "visualization" techniques, and there is some definite evidence that imagining yourself performing the perfect golf swing, say, really does help you do it.

But we also can imagine things that we're not really all that interested in becoming in our real lives, but rather just enjoying the escape of portraying someone very different than ourselves.  Sometimes, this can just be fun escapism.  We are all still kids, or at least I hope we are, in the sense that playing "pretend" is a lot of fun.  Who wouldn't want to be a starship captain?  Or a mighty warrior battling dragons?

And, we can also imagine characters that are rather more dark than that.  Aspects of ourselves that we know aren't ones that we should be manifesting in our day to day lives - people with problems.  People in bad situations.  For much the same reasons that we watch dramas on TV, I think.  It's fun, although perhaps not happy fun, to become engaged with a character who is brutal, or hurt, or damaged in various ways, or who is experiencing fear, or terror, or tragedy.

The central theme here is that by imagining ourselves in different scenarios, in putting ourselves in connection with characters, we make sense of the world, and develop a new perspective on life.  We thrill in sympathy with the characters we see in movies, or on TV.  We occasionally find ourselves disgusted or frightened in the same way.  I think that nearly everyone does this - how else to explain how much time and effort we put into telling stories to each other via all the forms of media we consume?

The main difference, really, between this, and playing in RPGs, is that in an RPG we get to make the decisions for the character we're playing.  In that sense, it's like collaborative storytelling, like improv theater.  We get a closer connection to the characters.  We don't always know what's going to happen.   We become creators of stories, rather than just consumers.

On a personal note, I've found this very useful over the course of my life, on a very practical level.  I can imagine a character who embodies certain qualities - say, someone who is a very good friend.  I often find it easier to think "what would this character do" in a given situation than to determine what I should do myself.  It's an odd sort of dynamic, but I think the bit of distance that this gives you allows for a more realistic assessment - a sense of perspective.  I've often used this to navigate situations in my life.  I can imagine a character who knows how to appear confident in a business setting.  I know that archetype - and can make it my own, at least briefly, and have a better chance of succeeding myself in a similar circumstance.

But, mostly, it's just fun to embody characters and interact with others doing the same.  That's the core of RPG games for me.

I'm fully aware, and very respectful of the fact that there are as many ways to approach and have fun with RPGs as there are players.  Some really like puzzle solving.  Others are more tactically oriented.  Some love scheming and plotting.  Still others really get into setting and detail.  For many, it's really just a social activity, a fun way to pass a few hours and hang out with friends, and share some laughs.  All of these are entirely valid approaches.  I'm merely pointing out that for me, it's more about the character, and more about the in-character interactions, especially the emotional content of those interactions, the finding of drama, pathos, tragedy, and joy, that I really enjoy the most.

I'm interested in other takes on this.  Please leave me a comment if you want...I'd love to hear your perspective on why you play RPGs and what you find valuable about it.