faerylunala
Mal
Honestly, I think it comes down to a matter of people disliking the confrontation of saying, "Hey, I'm not interested in this anymore. Can we do something else?/I'm going to drop out." It's hard to come out and say it, especially when someone else is so enthusiastic about the topic. I know the times I end up ghosting people are pretty reliably by complete accident. I open the message, read it, say, "Oh, I'll reply to this later because of (thing) I have to do first." and then subsequently forgetting. It's why I add in my interest check for people to poke me if it has been a couple of days with no response, because I do have a bit of a forgetfulness streak.
I do agree with what Daisie said. Roleplay partners can be pretty reliably found in friends who roleplay, as well. Though, my experience has been just a bit different, I actually made my friends through consistently roleplaying on the same threads they roleplayed on. Of course, this was also 14 years ago on Neopets where I made these friends (I am still friends with two of them) where the culture around roleplay was a bit different from what I remember. I believe it ultimately depends on the friends you make, and the roleplays you join.
I have noticed that, especially in 1x1 settings, you do have more fails than successes. I have noticed there is a bit of an expectation for one to pass that vibe check, as someone mentioned above. I believe it's because the nature of a 1x1 is more personal, and that's not really the case in a group setting to my immediate memory, so people end up being a bit more selective. In a group, if you don't gel with a member, you have an easier time adapting to only interacting as necessary. Whereas in a 1x1, it is only one other person whom you are interacting with. I know I am guilty of going based off of vibe checks for my 1x1's. For me, if someone isn't matching my enthusiasm and inspiration, then I quickly lose interest. Likewise, if someone isn't understanding that I am an adult who's got my own life offline and expects consistent responses then yes, I don't vibe well with people like that, either.
In my experience, if you get a roleplay partner in a bit of an older crowd, like ages 25+, you will likely find partners who are much more chill and relaxed. I've found the people who are relaxed are much easier to engage in a conversation and subsequent roleplay with, as well as being understanding to different things going on in a person's life. Also in my experience, the more chill a person is, honestly the more reliable they tend to be as a roleplay partner. I prefer partners who are flexible, who don't expect constant responses multiple times a day, and understand that a quality response does take time. Older people, I have noticed, fall into this category of not having that constant numerous times daily response expectation.
Overall, it is more of a trial and error than major success stories type situation, especially if you primarily do 1x1's. It requires a fair bit of patience and tenacity, and accepting the likelihood it may very well not work out entirely. It helps yourself to not take it personally if someone does ghost, and just shrug and say, "OK, I guess they aren't interested anymore." and moving on. It can sting a little, sure, but it is a fact of life that we don't always get along with everyone like we had initially thought we would. Keeping your chin up and persevering is extremely beneficial in roleplay. Eventually, you'll find your people!
I do agree with what Daisie said. Roleplay partners can be pretty reliably found in friends who roleplay, as well. Though, my experience has been just a bit different, I actually made my friends through consistently roleplaying on the same threads they roleplayed on. Of course, this was also 14 years ago on Neopets where I made these friends (I am still friends with two of them) where the culture around roleplay was a bit different from what I remember. I believe it ultimately depends on the friends you make, and the roleplays you join.
I have noticed that, especially in 1x1 settings, you do have more fails than successes. I have noticed there is a bit of an expectation for one to pass that vibe check, as someone mentioned above. I believe it's because the nature of a 1x1 is more personal, and that's not really the case in a group setting to my immediate memory, so people end up being a bit more selective. In a group, if you don't gel with a member, you have an easier time adapting to only interacting as necessary. Whereas in a 1x1, it is only one other person whom you are interacting with. I know I am guilty of going based off of vibe checks for my 1x1's. For me, if someone isn't matching my enthusiasm and inspiration, then I quickly lose interest. Likewise, if someone isn't understanding that I am an adult who's got my own life offline and expects consistent responses then yes, I don't vibe well with people like that, either.
In my experience, if you get a roleplay partner in a bit of an older crowd, like ages 25+, you will likely find partners who are much more chill and relaxed. I've found the people who are relaxed are much easier to engage in a conversation and subsequent roleplay with, as well as being understanding to different things going on in a person's life. Also in my experience, the more chill a person is, honestly the more reliable they tend to be as a roleplay partner. I prefer partners who are flexible, who don't expect constant responses multiple times a day, and understand that a quality response does take time. Older people, I have noticed, fall into this category of not having that constant numerous times daily response expectation.
Overall, it is more of a trial and error than major success stories type situation, especially if you primarily do 1x1's. It requires a fair bit of patience and tenacity, and accepting the likelihood it may very well not work out entirely. It helps yourself to not take it personally if someone does ghost, and just shrug and say, "OK, I guess they aren't interested anymore." and moving on. It can sting a little, sure, but it is a fact of life that we don't always get along with everyone like we had initially thought we would. Keeping your chin up and persevering is extremely beneficial in roleplay. Eventually, you'll find your people!
