Deal Breakers. What makes you "walk" away?

[Tyro]

School or high school settings. Just...nope! It's rarely done well and unless people are on the ball, incredibly boring. I've been in RP's where I've played a character that's trying to figure out a plot or build a story or simply attempt to express a character and it's been railroaded by all the characters being forced to remain in a class. Now, I didn't get the same memo the others did so rather than playing a school jock that tried to get with all the girls, I was playing characters that weren't randomly ignoring the teacher or hitting on the girls. Or randomly giggling. I'd also find that the one's I'd join up for never had an end goal. They just made the setting then assumed that it was interesting enough to just let characters pootle around aimlessly. So, if you weren't playing a cool kid, you weren't doing it right.

I also think they're seriously difficult to do properly. I think of TV shows that portray school kids and usually it's either wacky hijinks happening inside school or there's high drama. No one wants to reenact Geography class on a muggy Thursday afternoon or something like that. It's dull and a waste of time, to me.

 

[Stray Cat]

1. In a 1x1 scenario when I prompt my partner that perhaps we should plot, and receive something to this degree: "No, I don't like to plot." "I'd prefer we start and see where the story goes." In this same scenario I am almost always asked to start the roleplay, but how am I doing so if you refuse to plot, I find it difficult to write without direction.

2. Or when if I ask my partner a question in regards to plotting, or even make a suggestion towards the plot and receive genius answers such as "Okay." "Sure." "Do, whatever you want" "I don't care." How am I supposed to work with this?

I will 99 percent of the time walk away in the case of both scenarios.

 

[YarnDrawcia]

As I've recently discovered, someone who doesn't separate speaking from narrative text, double posts, lacks grammar and punctuation, and does and describes things that are completely illogical in the RP's universe (like a HELICOPTER in a POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON ROLEPLAY). And the GM is perfectly okay with this.

No...just...no, I'm leaving. Goodbye.

 

[Supernumerary]

When the person starts to god mod, I just end it right then and there. I just can't handle that. It drives me insane.

 

[Umbrie]

When the person starts to god mod, I just end it right then and there. I just can't handle that. It drives me insane.

i find it hard to quantify what counts as a God Mod because it varies from site to site and group to group. the closest things i have Experienced are Min Maxing and Power Gaming. Minmaxing being where you build a character who is god tier at one thing, but sucks horribly at another or few, and Powergaming, being the act of picking a particular character concept purely for the power it grants, such as intentionally playing a vampire because you want all the cool powers of a vampire, but most powergamers complain when you bring up their weaknesses.

vampires, demons, angels, lycanthropes, and dragons are the five powergamer races, but faeries, i consider stronger than any of them when played with a lick of common sense. there is a reason most of my fey characters are childish, because i want an excuse to not break the story with the mountain of story breaking things a faerie can do.

 

[rosaryxdoll]

Seconding you here. I don't know about the motivation part, but it doesn't really matter. I will NOPE out so hard if it looks like I'm going to be putting in all of the work.

 

[Divine_Stalker]

Everyone being the same race in a fantasy setting.

There are several races for a reason...

 

[Supernumerary]

i find it hard to quantify what counts as a God Mod because it varies from site to site and group to group. the closest things i have Experienced are Min Maxing and Power Gaming. Minmaxing being where you build a character who is god tier at one thing, but sucks horribly at another or few, and Powergaming, being the act of picking a particular character concept purely for the power it grants, such as intentionally playing a vampire because you want all the cool powers of a vampire, but most powergamers complain when you bring up their weaknesses.

vampires, demons, angels, lycanthropes, and dragons are the five powergamer races, but faeries, i consider stronger than any of them when played with a lick of common sense. there is a reason most of my fey characters are childish, because i want an excuse to not break the story with the mountain of story breaking things a faerie can do.

Once they start making up my character's reactions into their replies before I even get a chance to, it's over. When they start doing stuff with my character that I didn't even do yet, then no, it's no good. It's completely done.

 

[Umbrie]

Once they start making up my character's reactions into their replies before I even get a chance to, it's over. When they start doing stuff with my character that I didn't even do yet, then no, it's no good. It's completely done.

that is called Puppet Mastering. where you narrate the actions of another player's character without thier permission.

 

[Epiphany]

For me personally, my dealbreaker is something a good chunk of players here probably search out deliberately!

I don't want to play in a game where I have to come up with the plot.

"Sandbox style", "open world", "Always Accepting" are immediate code words that tell me "This is being run by someone who isn't interested in doing the work". At best, they'll set up the setting and then all plot becomes basically PC on PC drama. At worst, they don't even really have a setting, they just have a theme or a basic concept and want the players to build out the world for them. When the host plans to run a character in the same game, that usually tells me they're expecting me to run the game as much as they do (well, that or they plan to run a GM NPC who steals the show).

I totally get lots of folks like those games. Enjoy them! Me, if I come to play in a game, it's because I have a character concept I'd like to try out in someone's world and I want to see the plot, an overarching series of events that moves the story forward and gives the characters something to do besides each other.

If I really want to come up with the plot, I'll just run my own game.

 

[MagnoliaCottage]

One thing that hugely bums me out is reading an amazing ad, and then they write
"Email only"
I am sooooo so bad at checking my emails! I'm really good at Skype and Discord, I think, because they launch when my laptop starts up and I get notified with every message. But emails? Totally swept under the rug for me. Another thing that can turn me off from roleplaying with someone is the fandoms they are in-- I'm totally fine with people being fans of stuff! But one time I saw a girl list 50 Shades of Grey as her top fandom, I noped out hard solely and entirely because of it.

 

[Weaver]

-Violation of basic roleplay etiquette. Posting reactions for another character, dismissing another character's abilities as "easily beaten", etc, etc. It's a large umbrella, but built into literally every site I've been to. And, yet...somehow, some players miss these fundamental rules.

-Forced Plot or Premade Characters: I roleplay to express myself, not to express somebody else.

-Refusal to Abide By GM Rules/Setting: As was mentioned before, I have a hard time playing in any group which allows a clearly incompatible concept to be introduced. I once ran a modern, semi-realistic superhero roleplay where players were expected to explain how their characters' powers might work in real-life. Not quantum physics, but at least some measure of believability. I was immediately treated to one player demanding World of Darkness style werewolves "because Nazi scientists had medical experiments in World War II." Allowing that concept would have meant opening up the roleplay to all manner of incompatible fantasy elements, but she would not be convinced.

-Ignoring Actions, or Posts: Your partner wants to be acknowledged. I guarantee it. If it becomes clear you're not reading their posts...they're going to leave. End of.

-"I'm Bored, RP With Me": I don't know anyone who is flattered by the knowledge that the work that went into building their world, characters, storyline, etc...is only being seen because their partner wanted "something to do". If you're not legitimately interested, it's not fair to the rest.

-"Because Magic": I know I'm probably not speaking of the majority of players, but...for me, even magic has to have something that makes it work. Without that, magic becomes a "victory macro" that can just be invoked whenever. Detail your powers, describe where they come from and how they work. Give others a fair chance to help or hinder.

 

[Cute_Newt]

I'm probably reiterating what a lot of people have already said but I can't help but pitch in my two cents:

1) Lack of genuine interest/lack of personality because...and I hate to say it...the person behind the character matters. If we have no chemistry as people I doubt very much our characters will be getting along very well. This isn't always the case but when people avoid chatting/plotting with me, it's a definite turn-off.

2) Flat characters. I can't stand them. I put a lot of time and effort (as some people have mentioned!) in developing my characters. Sometimes they have YEARS worth of work put into them. I guess I expect other people to be thinking about the ifs, whens, whys and hows but people seldom do...

3) Writing ACTION without REACTION. RP posts consist of two parts, people: reaction AND action. React to your partner, everything your partner does. Where their character stands, his facial expressions, the way they drift into thought...YOUR character WILL react to that! People don't just stand around and acknowledge ONLY dialogue (and if they do they're shallow and unworthy!). Get with it, folks! Reaction is just as important as action!

4) Dwindling activity and slowly, shortening posts because...honestly? This says to me you've lost interest which causes me to do the same. If there are real-life issues in the way, however, I can easily understand that. ^^ You just have to let me know!

5) Auto-ing i.e. taking control of MY characters (without permission!). My characters react the way I want them to, not the way YOU want them to. 'Nuff said.

That's all I can think of right now but I certainly can understand some things other people have listed!

 

[ChenZen]

Consisten grammar errors and typos

 

[Tove]

When you ask potential partners to give ideas about pairings or plots but they will only say: mermaid x mermaid is interesting or just put up a pairing with absolutely nothing else.

 

[Umbrie]

in my case, i intentionally use Capitalization as a means to emphasize certain keywords in my post. which isn't the standard use but is one of my Typing Quirks. this is because i came from roleplay sites where Asterisks were used to bold and where Italics or something similar required intensive coding i couldn't figure out when i first started using this quirk. but the quirk was a common practice in the old world of roleplay a literal 20 years back that i hold onto.

 

[Primeval Night]

For me, it’s definitely forced romance and doubling for the sake of romance. I mean, if the characters’ relationship progress that way sure. But just because I play a character that opposite the gender of yours doesn’t mean my character wants to get in your characters pants. D:<

Also lack of substance. I like detail. I write in detail. I like description. One-liners are a straight nope for me.

And finally being criticized for playing a certain canon the way I want. I mean, as much as I want to portray someone as accurately as possible, I'd also love to put my own twist into things.

 

[Tove]

When a person contacts you for a possible roleplay deciding that insulting you will make you want to roleplay with them.

 

[Weaver]

I'm adding minimum word counts to my list. Quality of content will always trump quantity, especially in dialogue scenes. It would have to be a badly-dubbed Anime in order to require several paragraphs just to reach enough words to respond to a question.

I'm all for post quality, detail, all that jazz; it's what makes a roleplay interesting. But throwing an arbitrary standard on it isn't going to achieve anything more than just filler.

 

[Umbrie]

I'm adding minimum word counts to my list. Quality of content will always trump quantity, especially in dialogue scenes. It would have to be a badly-dubbed Anime in order to require several paragraphs just to reach enough words to respond to a question.

I'm all for post quality, detail, all that jazz; it's what makes a roleplay interesting. But throwing an arbitrary standard on it isn't going to achieve anything more than just filler.

i hate filler. but most para and up roleplayers use filler.

 

[Weaver]

i hate filler. but most para and up roleplayers use filler.

For short exchanges, like conversation and some combat scenes, I prefer collaboration to artificially inflated posts. Not everyone does this; it's just what works for me.

 

[Lovelace]

When it's obvious that no matter what you do, the other person's character fulfills the RPer's plans for that particular RP. They don't allow the character to develop naturally and react to the stimulus put forth. They push through any obstacle to accomplish the "Goals" of the RP.

I've seen the opposite side of this when they contribute with NOTHING towards the plot and expect me to be the sole leader of what's happening. This I cannot stand.

 

[Weaver]

I've seen the opposite side of this when they contribute with NOTHING towards the plot and expect me to be the sole leader of what's happening. This I cannot stand.

Especially in a 1x1, your partner needs to be able to contribute; not just to plot, but to setting, NPCs, the general feeling of the roleplay. It's a more intimate arrangement, where both players can afford to focus on each other, rather than having to coordinate an entire group, but that means fewer ideas making it into the mix. Being able to lean on each other will add to the variety and pace of the story.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, and you get this: If all you're doing is dragging along an audience of one...aren't you just writing a book?

 

[Lovelace]

Especially in a 1x1, your partner needs to be able to contribute; not just to plot, but to setting, NPCs, the general feeling of the roleplay. It's a more intimate arrangement, where both players can afford to focus on each other, rather than having to coordinate an entire group, but that means fewer ideas making it into the mix. Being able to lean on each other will add to the variety and pace of the story.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, and you get this: If all you're doing is dragging along an audience of one...aren't you just writing a book?

Quite so. Roleplay is COLLABORATIVE writing. This is what I keep yapping about all the time unfortunately...

 

[Dynasty Girl]

Controlling my character(s) is a BIG no-no for me. Another pet peeve is Changing the tone of a Roleplay halfway through for example if the Roleplay starts off a light Hearted Comedy and then all of a sudden throwing in Zombies out of the blue (I like zombie Roleplay I'm just making an example) those are the only 2 things that can make me completely walk away from a Roleplay.