Growing up I was never very interested in role-playing games. I took a brief hiatus from my disinterest to obsess about the Final Fantasy series (like most other non-RPG players), but after the disastrous FFX-2, I'm back in the thick of my anti-role-playing ways. As I type this, I can hear the music of Tales of Symphonia coming from across the room and I feel like a terrible girlfriend for only having played with him once. I planned to from the beginning, but after about five minutes into the game, when the story began to unfold, I became too disinterested to keep Colette alive during the fight sequences. I contest that she’s dumb and deserves to die, but it’s really no surprise that he hasn’t asked me to play the game with him since.

Other than Final Fantasy, I have played a few enjoyable MMO- and action-RPG games. The ones I put the most time into, Dark Age of Camelot, Morrowind, Anarchy Online, and now Fable, are probably in the lightweight division as far as RPGs go (at least the way I played them, Morrowind is a monster if it’s done right). But it’s not just about the game mechanics and the fact that I hate the type of management and the free-form style of RPGs (by God I need STRUCTURE). There’s something much more implicitly wrong. I can’t role-play.

When asked how I was going to play Fable, there was never really any question. “I’m going to be good, of course,” I said to everyone who asked me. They have all insisted that it’s not nearly going to be as much fun, but I don’t get enjoyment out of watching people unhappy or suffer, not inside or outside of a game.

I understand that it’s not real, but even in my wildest fantasies, I have no desire to be evil. I truly enjoy seeing the underdog get protected and the bad guys lose. In so many movies, we’re left with these absolute injustices or heart-wrenching moments. Am I supposed to learn something from that? I don’t want to focus on misery and disappointment. I want happy endings. I want the honorable person to come out on top. That’s the kind of thing that keeps me going from day to day.

So when I wander around Fable, and curse Whisper for being cheap and stealing all my kills (because that’s just not fair!), protecting the innocent, and defeating the bad guys, I feel a real sense of enjoyment from the game. I may be a terrible role-player, but I don't mind that title.

Now if only the villagers would please stop calling me a Chicken Chaser, then everything will be okay.