Hello my name is Ulysses! I have been playing pathfinder for nearly 5 years. I have experience mostly as a player and a minimal amount of experience as a DM though not enough to be confident volunteering as one at this time.
In my view, pathfinder and ilk are the only non-elite forums where individuals can bond via the imagination. It is very important to me for this reason. I think we lost touch with what makes us human when we stopped telling stories around a fire. DnD, pathfinder, etc... are the only modern equivalent.
There are other such forums but the price of admission is years of dedication. Such as being a musician in a group for instance.
But tabletop roleplay is available to a wide range of societal strata. This is my favourite thing about the game. I can bond with friends via the imagination. They express themselves in their play style, the ideas they come up with for characters, the choices they make that affect the world we created together, I can see their heart and their deep self when I see their imagination.
For me TTRPGs are a platform where we can explore what it means to be alive in the world of the imagination. It is a reminder of the true power we all wield, to transform the world around us. It is the reflection of a world that is not purely mechanical, but also alive!