Most satisfying part of RPGs?

So in another thread we are discussing one of the things that make players unhappy in a game and it got me thinking about what I enjoy most when I play, and wondering about the rest of the play-grounders.

For me as a player its about saying no to the DM. He attacks my ally and I grant them an AC bonus or resistance. He casts a spell and I counter it. He tries to rush the casters and I eviscerate the attackers with AoOs. He puts a McGuffin out of reach and I break his mind with movement shenanigans. He drops in a brute to crush us and I introduce him to GWM. Obviously this covers different builds and even editions, but it gets to the core of what I enjoy. Not a single aspect of play, but being able to use different aspects of play to establish my own are of control.

When I DM my focus shifts to making a world come alive. I really try to do the little things to suck my players into the world. Enemies act as intelligently as their stat block says. Art in a dungeon is consistent in style and theme. Smells and textures get described when relevant. NPCs have more depth than an Everquest quest-giver. When my players get sidetracked by the story of a mosaic in the BBEG's castle I call it a win.

What is it that keeps you coming back to the table?

Assuming the Game itself is "working" (ergo the social Dynamics and overall chemistry outside are Good or better, meaning only Game reasons are relevant) for me as Player its the following (in descending order):

A well done, liiving, logical, "reacting to things we do" World.

Interesting Inter Group Play (includes main NPC`s")

Character Developement (mechanical and other)

Good Stories/Plots

Funny stuff

Tactical and strategic Play

As a player:

Having a "Success" = Winning an Argument IC is probably the best. Then in random order: Winning a fight, solving a puzzle, IC interaction (PC's and NPC's.)

I also enjoy making characters but it depends on my mood.

As a GM:

Players remembering NPC's, seeing how players solve encounters in the strangest of ways.

I enjoy making NPC's too but that also totally depends on my mood.

I'd say:

1) Seeing the others having fun (including the DM).
2) Finding solutions to problems in front of us. [As long as it doesn't require to anticipate. So more "reactive problem solving" than "preemptive problem solving"]. This include tactical combat.
3) Seeing a narrative unfold. The narrative does not need to be prepared / railroaded, but I like to see how the universe evolve and react to what is happening.
4) Helping at game design for houserules/homebrews, or design of the universe.

As a player, I love turning failure into success. Be it granting a bonus to an ally that allows them to pass a save or managing to talk an NPC out of calling the guards on our party, I just love the feeling of 'not today'. Knowing this, when I play I make a lot of builds that are centered around this sort of failure-to-success mechanics. I really love paladins because I can do that while I also get the joy of tanking and rolling way too many dice.

As a DM, I love when players care about my story. When they write down notes and when I bring up a name again they notice and inquire. When I make a piece of description that ties two unrelated plot threads together or that gives a nasty twist to the tale and they gasp in surprise. When they jump up from the table after defeating a particularly nasty enemy. The feeling of building something that both me and my players enjoy is so satisfying.

That magical moment, a few sessions in, when your character clicks, and takes on a life of their own. When it really IS what your character would do, and you're as surprised as the rest of the table by it. There's nothing quite like bringing a character to life.

As a player: Interpretation. For me this is even more important than story or challenges. I love to be in someone else’s shoes and try to live through their skins and experience the world through their eyes. If a GM lets me flow with my character (rather than ignoring it and using it as an expendable element), I can spare way many errors.

As GM: Describing locations, I love to describe interesting places in an improv manner and giving them characteristics that make them unique. If they are in a fortress, I like to describe how the ominous walls rocket to the sky almost blocking it entirely or if it’s a gnome’s village, I like to describe how there are mills everywhere from all shapes and sizes, and how everywhere you look there is always something moving or some contraption doing interesting stuff.

Seeing players/DMs treat the game as more than a strategy RPG. That is, seeing creatures make poor tactical decisions like taunting in combat or refusing to help someone they got in a fight with.

Or, simply put, drama between the characters, rather than the people.

I like being attached to a part of the machine, seeing my character via x-ray through layers of rules and math clinking along as I pull on levers and twist dials from my vantage point in reality, but also zooming in to my avatar's first person to acknowledge the results of those choices and witness the world and my fellow characters answer to them.

I like the indelicate treatment of a hosted daydream by players whose shared perspective and expectations I can thwart with mere words.

Having players show up excited for my games every week and hearing them discuss their plans for next session as they walk to their cars.

I mean, I like worldbuilding, making custom monsters, introducing weird and unique Dungeons and battlefields, but at the end of the day all of that stuff is just a means to making my players look forward to next week.

Discovery.

Finding a secret passage, meeting an unfamiliar enemy (and determining their weakness), obtaining mysterious objects, unravelling a complex scheme, learning new skills, figuring out the answer to a tricky puzzle, gaining perspective on a character, seeing what's around the next corner, anticipating what'll happen next time...all of these fall under the same umbrella, for me.

The most enjoyable part of an RPG, for me? I've long said it was Exploration / Discovery, getting to explore a GM's cool new world. And, while that's true, there are a few components of that that really stand out. One is forming connections to the NPCs, or even to places and things, that cause me to add motivations to my character, like, "protect that farmer who stood up for us" or "visit the Singing Stones as often as possible" or "transform the power of 'the Destroyer of Worlds' into something better". Another is when that element was so impactful, it shows up in my / the group's parlance (like "Earl, the Everburning Torch"), or in my dreams. Lastly, getting to explore virgin territory, and making it ours - sure, maybe other people have seen the floating rocks before, but we are the first to utilize them, and we have done so as… something entirely unexpected, that in no way intersects or interacts with The Plot (ie, we interacted with this element, not because we were forced to by The Plot, but because we wanted to).

But the most satisfying part? That's probably watching the world react to our actions, rather than just us reacting to the world. Seeing the fruits of our labor grow strong in a world that doesn't inherently twist the desires of Man in abhorrent fashions.

Yes, there's many other great things in RPGs. But I think that these are the best, for me, as a player.

(EDIT: just had to add that I also really enjoy when the players Explore one another's characters.)

(EDIT: also had to add that I really love characters leaving behind a legacy - like Evards Black Tentacles, this is Quertus' Spell Star; this is the church that Armus founded; this is the weapon that Crystal forged; this is the ship that the party designed.)

As a GM? To crush my players, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their women, of course. :smallwink:

(EDIT: just had to add that I really enjoy those "lightbulb" moments, when the players finally put things together, and see the bigger picture / finally understand what is meant by the phrase "mad elves" / etc)

What I like most as a player is to solve the plot in a way the GM hasn't thought about, but which he really likes. Not necesserily a shortcut, but a fun and Original way to solve the plot.
Also a party that works well together. While some of the most fun parts is inter-party 'conflict', in the end you have to work together.