Topic: A study aknowledge the impact of tabletop RPG on creativity

[Zut]

Here's the link to the abstract:

Table-top role playing game and creativity
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871187112000478

They even contrasted it with video games.

Not such a big discovery for regular players, but still a nice encouragement.

[arakish]

I do know role playing had an impact on my twin daughters' artistic talents while they were still alive.  It improved it immensely.

rmfr

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

The topic's title is misleading, though. As written, "the current study aims to observe whether individuals who engaged in table-top role playing game (TRPG) were more creative", and not to observe whether TRPG impacts creativity. That's an important difference, as TRPG may merely attract creative people more than ERPG, and that creative people may tend to play TRPG (therefore lowering the likeliness of a creative person being a non-player), rather than TRPG improving creativity. Notice that the way the study proceeds can indeed show what the study aims to observe, but not the influence on creativity TRPG may have, for whose study an observation of the evolution of the creativity of the same sample pool should be performed, rather than a static (in time) observation.

[arakish]

How true.  How true.  I commented before I actually read the article after printing it while at school before class.

I agree.  I think trpgs DO attract more persons who are creative to begin with than do erpgs.  IMHO, erpgs don't take any creativity to play, only deductive reasoning (if there are lots of puzzles), or very good prestidigitation skills (operating those hand things (I don't know what they are called)).

I just know I only like erpgs because I can play them at ANY time, saving the game as I go along.  Additionally, I tend to go for those erpgs that do not require those "hand things".  I prefer to use a mouse/trackball with some keyboard.  However, in general, I do not truly like erpgs.  They only give me something to do when I am so totally bored with nothing to do, or as a break from the tedious studies, readings, and writings I am doing while going for my Ph.D.

In fact, when I reach a problem whose solution is totally evading me to the point I want to take a sledge hammer to my computer, I'll start up Quake 2 in God mode, sit and blow everything away for a time until my frustration cools off, go back to the problem, and almost instantly the solution pops into my head.  And sometimes, I find this funny.

rmfr

[Zut]

Ho! Yes, you're true OLF, I didn't read it carefully enough.

[jdale]

Well, either it shows that better people roleplay, or roleplaying makes people better. I consider either one a win! 

[Apeman]

It took rolemaster 30 years to evolve new Arms law charts that don't have Leather Death Armor.  It may take.30 more before the powers that be realize that players want a streamlined initiative system and a integration of tactical details using miniatures.

D20 / Pathfinder got those elements right and we're still using calculators to determine the impact of moving x3 speed to go 18 feet in a cavern with no light.  Then when we hit, using a calculator again to multiply the 45 hit points by 1/8 to determine how much damage our goblin PC did to a dragon.  Then rolling a critical that says "zip".