Why do you build?
I can think of many reasons why someone might: to create a tangible representation of something that otherwise only exists in your imagination, to share and explore something with someone on the other side of the planet, to pass the time, to experiment with physics – and the list goes on. But that’s not the point of this article; the point is to relay the things that drive you, genuine ROBLOX builders, to create.
So, why do you build? Here are responses from the Twitter-following segment of the ROBLOX community.
To better yourself.
Whether you’re preparing to delve into the field of architecture or game design, or just looking to exercise the creative part of your brain, many of you build to improve yourselves. Take ydocydoc1, for example: “I build to improve my architectural skills, and compete against other users to try and create the most effective place in ROBLOX’s community. Though this is hard, I don’t stop trying.”
LOLFUNNY12345 has a similar attitude, saying “I build as a way to test myself and to help myself get more creative. The praise I get also compels me to build with more and more detail. I got a lot of motivation after John Shedletsky ‘favorited’ my Harbour Map.”
Another user said they build to try and achieve their goal of getting to the front of the Games page — the holy grail for a ROBLOX builder — by being innovative and creating things that haven’t been made before.
Because it’s an outlet for expression.
Many users see ROBLOX building as a form of creative expression that just works for them. One unidentified ROBLOXian said, “I build because I can’t draw and I can’t compose songs. ROBLOX building gives me an outlet that makes me a little bit more able to express my overly constricted imagination.”
Others responded with a similar sentiment.
SmoothBlockModel: ROBLOX is like the doorway between the real world and your imagination, simply anything is possible. Just spotting things while walking to school or going somewhere makes me think, ‘I wonder if I could build that on ROBLOX.’”
TREVOR818730: I build because I feel as if I can let out the part of me that contains my creativity. Building is like a key put into the lock that holds my ideas. These ideas translate to the game and become something unique.
Devin1002: I build to show others my true creativity. Most everything I build becomes a model, free for all to take. When I build, I get locked into a mode where nothing is in my mind, except for what I plan on building and how I plan on building it. Building on ROBLOX helps me improve my online game designing creativity.
Because you’re inquisitive.
ROBLOX allows you to experiment with game design, advertising, physics and more. Turns out, this experimentation is one of the key reasons some people use ROBLOX to build.
OOHLALAyayyyy: I like to build because it lets me express my ideas. For example, I can test water physics, which I probably couldn’t do in real life. I also once built a replica of my house. I never finished it. I took advantage of the decal feature and I downloaded images of the rugs in my homestead. I used some free models in this place but created a majority of it on my own.
To escape.
Lots of people look to building – much like playing games, watching movies, listening to music or reading books – as an escape from the stresses of day-to-day life. Paul2448 is one such person, using building as a way to “get his mind off other things” and “escape from the world for a while.”
He also notes that he’s always thought of building as trying to solve a puzzle, so his brain “always feels better” while solving the puzzle and building things.
Another user with a similar mindset said, “there’s no greater power in the world than the ability to create the world yourself,” adding that it offers an escape to a reality where the world becomes your own.
For fun.
Sometimes, the answer is that simple.
“I build mostly because of the fun,” says crossingdeath123.