Role-Play Can Ruin The Game

...when it hinders the shared fun.
What started out as "Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures" and was quickly referred to as an "adventure game" eventually became known as the first "role-playing" game. The hobby of role-playing quickly gained popularity and at least by the mid 1980s folks were referring to the collective hobby as "role-playing" (with or without the hyphen). Many rule systems start their explanation of the rules of play by defining role-play as something like putting yourself into the role of your adventurer or player character. Some compare it to acting a part as in a radio drama. "Good" role-playing for some groups may consist of staying "in character" during the game. The goal is to not play yourself, but to make game decisions by thinking what would my character do?
The effort to stay "in character" and make decisions at the table based on what you think your character would do can be problematic. It can get in the way of the group having fun and can even cause arguments and hurt feelings. When staying "in character" leads to an evilly aligned PC doing something objectionable or even harmful to the party of adventurers, thereby adversely affecting everyone else's fun, it is poor sportsmanship to claim, "It's what my character would do!" Playing a character is not an excuse to behave poorly, even if the character is not a nice person. Such behavior violates the implied social contract that everyone at the table is there to have fun. The game is based on mutual cooperation, shared entertainment and courtesy to other players. This must come first, for without a commitment to these principles there can be no fun.
Less obvious is the conflicts which arise over different character motivations. Each role-player will tend to pursue the motives of their character during the game which may run contrary to the motives of other characters in the group. The key word is "group". This hobby involves playing a cooperative game that requires groups to work together to succeed and enjoy the shared fun.
It is therefore a good idea to take the whole playing a role concept in perspective. The role-play may need to stop at some point for the people playing the game to discuss going forward and what makes sense in terms of the shared fun. The characters are imaginary constructs that serve a purpose only so long as the game is enjoyable. The characters are not real people and we all need to keep that in perspective. If we drop the role-play in order to advance the game along mutually agreeable lines we succeed, if not and the game is ruined, we fail. Playing the game in a manner that benefits the players, not just their character(s), is an important consideration.