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[INFP] INFPs getting lost in RPG's

Curtis B

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Hey Guys!

I've found that I don't really enjoy video games, except for RPG's, which I enjoy immensely for a few weeks to a few months at a time. Have any other INFP (or other types, for that matter) found this to be the case?

Would anyone know why this is the case? Does it provide some sort of a sense of accomplishment? Does it appeal to our search for identity, investing one's self in the character?

:)
 

Cygnus

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All the good parts of reality minus the bad parts. First off, you aren't "in the moment" like you are in real life. You aren't consistently nagged to pay attention to real time.
Then there's the "video game safety net." As in any video game, your actions will not result in any harm to your physical body or cause pain, although they will harm your character, so you may behave less fettered than in reality.

That said, you are more invested in your goals because the game is designed to be stimulating, unlike reality. To achieve long-term goals, you no longer have to commit to long, grating, mundane tasks with no chroma or certainty of gratification at the end.

Platformer video games involve the need for some dexterity on part of the player, but RPGs remove this factor.
 
L

LadyLazarus

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I think RPG's indulge their Ne by allowing them to get as close to traversing into a fantasy world as is physically possible within regards to today's technology.

I believe it might also be a Fi thing(depending on the video game) with the story being all about you,and seeing yourself as the hero who fights for what they believe in,which I feel is a concept Fi doms tend to/may find very attractive.

I also enjoy RPG's,mostly for the story,I can't say I get sucked in like you described though,I either play for 10 hours straight or don't touch the game for a month.
 

digesthisickness

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Considering the title, it'd be great to hear actual INFP opinions.
 
G

Ginkgo

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Hey Guys!

I've found that I don't really enjoy video games, except for RPG's, which I enjoy immensely for a few weeks to a few months at a time. Have any other INFP (or other types, for that matter) found this to be the case?

Would anyone know why this is the case? Does it provide some sort of a sense of accomplishment? Does it appeal to our search for identity, investing one's self in the character?

:)

Considering the title, it'd be great to hear actual INFP opinions.

Character creation can be fun. I like the idea of becoming a symbol and then demonstrating how that symbol interacts with the world, as it would in real life.

Tabletop RPGs offer a far more expansive opportunity for you to see the consequences of your actions; they're not tied down by quasi-linear story-arcs or limited game engines.
 

flowerkin

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I'm an INFJ, but RPGs are one of my favorite things in the world. I have dreams about them if I'm in the middle of one at the time.
 

Seymour

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I like RPGs a lot, both tabletop and online. The online ones I find a bit more constrained over time, but still they tend to be my favorite kind of computer/console game. I like the sense of progress, and development of character, and interactions with a party or team (if that's positive, which is all too rare except amongst friends/acquaintances).

I also like some other kinds of games (twitch games where I can lose myself in the moment and react are also good). I tend to get impatient with games that require lots of fiddly planning and consistent micromanagement over time (since I'm a computer programmer, I exhaust that part of my brain at work).

I do like tabletop RPGs, where my (inconsistently operative) silver tongue can kick in, or Ne can suggest a wild alternative solution. There's nothing quite like watching the other players be dumbstruck over one's rule-changing maneuver.

Addendum, in fantasy games I tend to like: mages, priests, druids, and sometimes rogues. The mage, the healer, and walking unseen apparently appeal to me.
 

digesthisickness

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The title of the thread caught my attention because my boyfriend (INFP) is exactly the same way. He gets attached to a 'series' and loves the character creation, crafting, systems, role-play, etc. It's pretty much the only kind I ever see him play - and he plays a LOT.

It's also curious how his characters are always so colorful and unusual, and for some reason, he always tends to prefer the mages, the magical characters. While I love the RPGs too, I tend to always make mine female, blonde, and well, kind of like me, but much much better and then tend towards two-handed weaponry and in your face fighting.

I told him I do it because to me, THAT me, IS a fantasy.
 

Cygnus

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[MENTION=8031]Ginkgo[/MENTION] [MENTION=8074]Seymour[/MENTION] I wish I got myself a tabletop. And people to play one with, although I could just sneak into a store where they sell them early in the morning and demand to join the first group that comes in to play one.
 

Seymour

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[MENTION=8031]Ginkgo[/MENTION] [MENTION=8074]Seymour[/MENTION] I wish I got myself a tabletop. And people to play one with, although I could just sneak into a store where they sell them early in the morning and demand to join the first group that comes in to play one.

I'm an older guy (45), but I found my current gaming group from a listing at local gaming store about 15 years ago. It's now a splinter of a splinter of the original group, but still I'm grateful for it. I like the creativity involved, and also the expanded social circle (however geeky). Most of the other players are involved in a local theatre group, which I think adds a bit to their role playing.

I've felt a little over-socially-enabled (ironically) for some gaming groups, so your mileage my vary as an INFP. On a related note, my partner works for Google, and I've been to some social events at his workplace. Compared to many of his coworkers, I feel like James Bond by comparison. For example, I can start, maintain, and end a conversation with minimal awkwardness. Some of his Google coworkers should aspire to so much. I say all this as someone who is very self-conscious and shy, and who doesn't consider himself to be the most socially adroit.

So, all that is to say if you have geeky interests as an INFP, but are emotionally tuned in and socially aware, it may take a few attempts before you find a congenial group of folks. So don't go too hard on yourself it it takes a few attempts.
 

TickTock

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Yes. RPGs have always been my favorite games, I pretty much stopped playing all other games as I got older but I still love RPGs - especially Final Fantasy. I stopped playing them though because I got lost in them in to the early hours, I didn't even know where the time went, hours flew by and it would be the morning. I loved the whole world, the imagination, I felt like I knew the characters - like they were my friends. That kind of weirded me out to be honest, that I had this secret world that I couldn't wait to get back to. It's sort of like the Avatar effect.
 

Southern Kross

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I tend to get impatient with games that require lots of fiddly planning and consistent micromanagement over time (since I'm a computer programmer, I exhaust that part of my brain at work).
Seconded.

I don't like RPGs precisely because I do find them too fiddly and detailed - also I just can't get mentally/emotionally invested in them. My interest is limited to indulging my INTJ friend in his deep love of it.

As an aside, Seymour, I find that 5w4s really love this stuff (My friend is a one too). Do you agree?
 

Paige93701

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I like the sims 3 I love the whole character creation aspect of it :)
 

Seymour

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Seconded.
I don't like RPGs precisely because I do find them too fiddly and detailed - also I just can't get mentally/emotionally invested in them. My interest is limited to indulging my INTJ friend in his deep love of it.

I suspect my level of "too fiddly and detailed" goes a fair distance, but I suspect doesn't compare (over the long haul) to an INT.

Seconded.
As an aside, Seymour, I find that 5w4s really love this stuff (My friend is a one too). Do you agree?

That's an interesting question. I can see several ways it would appeal to 5w4s in particular. First, RPGs are kind of competency porn. As you play you progress, level, your character gains skills, etc.

Secondly, they have interesting systems to figure out, interactions to learn and optimize... plus the skills one picks up as a player as one improves.

I could see the w4 playing into character creation, aesthetic feel, etc.

Still, I think there are various reasons to enjoy video games, and type doesn't explain all.
 

Ghost

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I've found that I don't really enjoy video games, except for RPG's, which I enjoy immensely for a few weeks to a few months at a time. Have any other INFP (or other types, for that matter) found this to be the case?

I enjoy RPGs and simulation games but rarely play these days. In high school, I went through a phase of playing Balder's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and the like. I got a bit obsessed, staying up late to play them and then sleeping through classes the next day.

Anymore, I don't play games with that kind of dedication and interest. I still have that tendency to be enamored with something new for a few months.

Would anyone know why this is the case? Does it provide some sort of a sense of accomplishment? Does it appeal to our search for identity, investing one's self in the character?

I used to like immersing myself in a fantasy world. Conquering the game was secondary to experience the world and its narratives. I liked exploring and testing the boundaries. Getting higher level stuff, like weapons or spells, was fun. Seeing what was possible in those worlds was exciting.

I know some people build up a fantasy version of themselves or create a complete in-world backstory, but those things never occurred to me. The character is just an avatar for the actions I choose. I still do me-like things but with fewer inhibitions. When I choose an alignment, it's because I feel like I am that kind of person. There was no investment in the character beyond the initial choices for aesthetics.

With Playstation Home, I spent more time clothing my avatar than chatting with people or playing games. :blush:
 

OrangeAppled

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I dislike games. I don't like board games or computer games. I dislike sports. I dislike the rules & things set up around winning or goal-reaching even. Most of the story lines are not compelling to me. I dislike sci-fi & fantasy fiction a lot (with few exceptions), & they tend to have that flavor. I echo what others say about these games seemingly requiring a lot of detail & effort to set-up & maintain. I'm not really into anything "geeky", and I'll be honest & say I have a distaste for "geeky" things, finding it sort of, er, "un-sophisticated" (yes, I know that makes me snobbish & full of it).

So in short... no.

IDK, I guess if I'm going to do make-believe, then I like it to be my own original stuff in a more arty context. I'd rather write a short story or script, draw a comic strip, or just imagine something in my head. I like to use my sense of style to sort of create & inhabit characters of sorts, but it's more like a mood or concept than a full blown personality.
 

xenaprincess

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not into them, and I'm not sure why.
I just cannot relate or be bothered.
 

Southern Kross

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That's an interesting question. I can see several ways it would appeal to 5w4s in particular. First, RPGs are kind of competency porn. As you play you progress, level, your character gains skills, etc.

Secondly, they have interesting systems to figure out, interactions to learn and optimize... plus the skills one picks up as a player as one improves.

I could see the w4 playing into character creation, aesthetic feel, etc.
Yes, all this but also the 5w4's romantic bent that fantasy lends itself too. There's a sort of sentimentality in the sense of justice, chivalry, teamwork, and sense of purpose etc.

My 5w4 friend made an incredible campaign mod for Warcraft and appeals to all those very 5w4 traits we both mentioned above. There was an air of melancholy too it and a moral greyness. It was interesting to watch. But I digress...

Still, I think there are various reasons to enjoy video games, and type doesn't explain all.
Of course.

I'm supposed to be a sweet, sensitive INFP girl and I like first-person shooters. :laugh:
 
G

Ginkgo

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The title of the thread caught my attention because my boyfriend (INFP) is exactly the same way. He gets attached to a 'series' and loves the character creation, crafting, systems, role-play, etc. It's pretty much the only kind I ever see him play - and he plays a LOT.

It's also curious how his characters are always so colorful and unusual, and for some reason, he always tends to prefer the mages, the magical characters. While I love the RPGs too, I tend to always make mine female, blonde, and well, kind of like me, but much much better and then tend towards two-handed weaponry and in your face fighting.

I told him I do it because to me, THAT me, IS a fantasy.

I think the end goal of RPG character development almost always involves becoming a deity, demigod, or some sort of supreme being who's mastered a certain niche in the RPG's universe. That said, mages tend to boast the most classic "godlike" qualities so the transition feels pretty natural and logical. The first real RPG I played was Morrowind; I started as a thief because stealing hot items gave me a rush. Eventually I ascended to becoming a master in conjuration - the ability to summon my own personal bouncer/companion satiated any sort of "god complex" I might have possessed at the time. Even though I haven't played any games lately, the fluid, strategic feeling of crowd control, juggling opponents, and misdirection that mage gameplay provides appeals to me. I think there's a rough correspondence between a preference for that sort of gameplay and the INFPs tendency to "work behind the scenes".

If I was actually in an RPG universe I'd probably be a Spell Thief or Bard for the same reasons.
 
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Ginkgo

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[MENTION=8031]Ginkgo[/MENTION] [MENTION=8074]Seymour[/MENTION] I wish I got myself a tabletop. And people to play one with, although I could just sneak into a store where they sell them early in the morning and demand to join the first group that comes in to play one.

That might work. Repair to abide by the DMs parameters though.
 
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