Aren't your "RPGs" just playing pretend?

>Aren't your "RPGs" just playing pretend?

ye

Yes, but with more rules because we're all autistic.

Yes, got a problem with that?

You call it autism. I call it not having to listen to 'uh uh, my guy has an invisible laser shield so your bullets don't hit him'.

Isn't that the same for philosophy and religion?

savage

It's actually a really frightening thought. Like, I'm not devoutly religious, but a few members of my family are. And yet, I can't help but wonder what it means if it's all not real.

For instance, that means the Muslims are killing and dying in the name of nothing at all. It's the equivalent of killing on a schizophrenic delusion, because your cause isn't objectively real.

The absence of God is pretty terrifying.

I'm going to argue that the statement could be simplified down to "people perform [action] because of [goal]"
A romantic would argue that any sufficiently devoted action justifies any given goal.
A materialist would argue that any action must be performed for something physical and real.
A rationalist would turn this into a clusterfuck of attempting to justify [action] in the pursuit of [goal]
Etc.

We can keep deconstructing this. We could go so far as to question if gold actually has meaningful, inherent value as so often claimed. I think, ultimately, we're going to find that the only things with inherent value are human needs. Once the needs are met, everything else becomes luxury.
Building back up, we could argue for machines to provide necessities without straining humanity. A romantic may argue here that there are needs a machine cannot meet. And so the earlier obfuscation returns, which each categorized belief weighing in with an opinion.

What then matters, is that the individual is not an ideological movement. His views will be different, so long as he is not a zealot who alters his beliefs to match another's ideology.

So, to directly respond to your statement "The Absence of God is pretty terrifying" I'm going to say that it doesn't matter, so long as the individuals who are killing in the name of God find that the action meets their needs.
Whether the action does or not is up to you.
I'm also going to step back and say, that killing those who kill in the name of God may often meet the need for security, which I do count as an essential need of the individual. Threats imply there is a risk that a need will not be met, and so dealing with threats is covered.

Perspective on what a threat counts as is up to the individual.

Let's not start on individual vs. society. That's a whole can of worms that gets away from the points being made. I know how Veeky Forums likes to meander.

No, they use rules so they're mostly just arguments.

>Aren't your (((RPGs))) $60 before DLC, microtransactions, unique currencies, loot boxes, etc.?

No way, my bullets are made of adamantium, that means they go through everything, even laser shields

Sure.
The same could be said of literature, films, video games, pretty much everything non-fiction.

Primary difference is in this case is that it's social, and (ostensibly) creative on the part of the consumer.

There's no one who interacts with other humans and isn't playing pretend.

We had a freeform game once where party has to face god. Setting was our time, no supernatural elements. Party - small icecream makubg bussines. Suddenly god appears, he say that he sorry for all the things his absence make real, and allows every human have free insanely good icecream once per day. So bussines crash and party decide to kill a god.

The only reason it's terrifying is because human beings are so egotistical for many people the worst thing of all is them not existing anymore.

Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, and everybody's gonna die. Just roll some goddamn dice and have a good time.

Isn't your face just a stock image?

Hell to the yeah.

Yeah, but my laser shield is super hot. Your bullets are vaporized before they hit me.

Oh good, now you're suffering from lead poisoning from inhaling vaporized lead! WTG!

Think things through a little better maybe, kid?

Nuh uh, you said your bullets are adamantine. Adamantine doesn't give me lead poison. You can't change their material mid flight. If you do, I am calling my big brother here to kick your butt.

Cringe

You're watching people kicking a leather ball on TV lying on the couch alone, you can't really say shit about my hobbies.

Yes but since I'm not as good at pretend as I used to be when I was 5, I need to buy all those books. So I'm gonna need some money dad.

ur a git

Kinda. Sorta. It's fun.

He's right, though. There's no meaning but what you make for yourself.

>Isn't your "watching sports" just tribal warfare urges, sublimated into an impotent consumerist form?

Playing pretend, but with STRUCTURE

How do you even GM a game with no rules?

My players would just be like "i go to the nearest stock market, make a fortune and settle down fuck your adventure"

So basically they don't want to play?

haha wew

One of them always signs up but never does anything proactively and two times he just wanted to abandon the main quest

Surely the idea that ISSIS or whoever are right and all their bullshit is justified is much more alarming?