"How dare you call my sorceress lazy."

"YOU said she was lazy!"

My understanding is that, in most game sessions like this one, the party would just be tossed together in the middle of an adventure.

Now, when I say "game sessions like this", I'm not talking about the RPG itself. I'm talking about a quick game of it that may or may not continue with the same group of players in the future.

An example of this would be when weekly games are hosted at stores with volunteer / paid game masters, and one's character is actually kept track of by the company that makes the game.

If you just show up to play one week, they're not going to work out some epic backstory as to how you're joining the party. You're just going to be tossed into the party, and told what you're up to that week.

My point is mostly that I think Ellen could be justified saying "you just are together in a party, and this is the adventure we're doing." We're just not doing that because I have a more interesting (hopefully) idea in mind.