Due to evolving technologies and the desire to sell you something on the Internet, there are many Youtube content creators making videos about RPG's but not actually telling you the most important part... How to actually Roleplay.
Youtubers like DM's Lair and Bob the Worldbuilder and Matt Coleville all attempt to rectify the game-play with ad-hoc methods of homebrewing, even selling you products with more patches to the mechanics.
The problem is, the more you add these patches, the further you get to the original spirit of the game.
The Main reason why we bring this up, is because many people coming into the hobby want to know what exactly does a player need to do during the Roleplaying Game.
What they tend to see 99% of the time is players sitting in on a session letting the Gamemaster dictate the players movement (like they are on a theme-park ride) and the players perform only as die-rollers with some out-of-character Q&A with the Gamemaster.
Spirit of the game:
In the 70's the spirit of the game was practiced by people that didn't use the miniatures and battle-maps like today.
Games like D&D and TRAVELLER were supposed to be played with imagination FIRST, with the mechanics of the game in the background to facilitate the chance of success or failure to replicate the idea of fate being for or against you in the time of struggles.
The rules in the book were guidelines to keep the player-builds in line with a setting.
Not all of us played like this, but there were a few (one group I had the fortune of playing with) where the GM used no screens, had a couple of papers with notes, and no mini's or maps.
We used our imaginations with this GM, the mechanics only came up when needed. Everyone was told
"Ok, let's start the game, everything you say from here on is IN-CHARACTER, no more out of character talk..."
So everyone stayed in-character until we had a break.
Today we see the wrong-think in Roleplaying Games occur time and time again.
It is more focus on the rules (which is ok if you play skirmish games like Warhammer 40K)
But the crux of the problem is nobody is using Roleplay anymore in their Roleplaying games.
Most will say: I'm roleplaying because I'm playing a role (Fighter/Wizard/Thief/Cleric) and I'm min-maxing to win the game, by gaming the rules.
REAL ROLEPLAY
What we promote is taking the persona of your character, as if the character was part of a book or novel.
The character is no longer yourself. If you play a Brash adventurous Fighter, he is going to be doing things that "YOU" would unlikely do. Where "YOU" my run from a fight, or never leap a dangerous lava filled chasm to get to the other side... Your Character would... if it meant the chance to save the princess.
Character death happens, but it is glorious and unforgettable. A tale to be told over and over...
Players have to keep in mind THEY are the ones responsible for moving their characters (not the DM/GM)
The the DM/GM must refrain from moving the players unless its to push past a boring walking sequence through the wilderness or empty desert.
Most of todays DM/GM's move the players or have lengthy token/Miniatures spending hours walking up a corridor and battles that take an hour or more to complete. Coupled by the out-of-character talk, this makes a long session even longer. This is rubbish gameplay in our opinions.
For my own RPG's I stive to get my players to at least do a bare minimum of Roleplay. It does take constant practice to achieve a great roleplay session. Often you may encounter setbacks but you must try to strive for a better performance each session.
Roleplay is not acting, it is personifying the character that you created. You will often hear idiots say "it's acting for failed thespians", and yes we call those people idiots.
A common thread of the RPGCrusade is to stay away from Maps and Mini's. Set the mechanics in the background but still do the rolls when called for, DM/GM stays in narration form, and players stay in character.
Use your mind to imagine what the narrator describes to you... and YOU as a player fill in, with your mind, the details... or use your characters actions to discover more details from the narrator.