Roleplay Pet Peeves

[rae2nerdy]

Well I've always viewed the dislike section as less "pet peeves the character has" and more "these are things that the character takes super personally"

Which may be why I renamed it to Beserk Button on my most recent character sheet (and left out a likes section. Liking things is Lame. Gotta be edgy.)

I wasn’t describing pet peeves though? I was literally describing things people would take personally and illustrating why using basic terms like “bullying and kindness” aren’t a good way to indicate things that your character takes personally. Because near about everyone is going to have some kind of personal feeling about kindness or bullying.

Thus why I said you need to give examples of things that matter to your character specifically.

So if your character takes bullying personally then explain WHY. Don’t just say “X doesn’t like bullies.”

 

[BackSet]

I agree with that. I usually feel... Weirded out when I see characters consistently referred to by their physical appearance when the reader should already know their name. Like, I can take epithets when they are more special to the person. Like Andrej Sawpowski (I hope I am spelling that right) would call Geralt "The Witcher" when referring to him in the books every now and again. Or Stephen King would refer to Roland Deschain as "The Gunslinger" every now and again in the Dark Tower series.

It really depends on the epithet, but something like physical appearance, whether it be skin color, hair color, or eye color always rubs me the wrong way.

That kind of breaks down if the character doesn't know the other character's name, doesn't it?

 

[Melpomene]

That kind of breaks down if the character doesn't know the other character's name, doesn't it?

That's why I specified if the name is already known.

 

[Auriferous]

Over-the-top or uninspired epithets. I know it's convenient to distinguish people by their hair color but it always makes me wince when I read it. I'd say 90% of the time, it's perfectly fine to use the character's name. Or, you know, reference their occupation. I'd much prefer seeing "the student did x, the student did y" over and over again than "the bluenette".

Oh wow that's so true. I don't mind it all that much at the very beginning when trying to establish a character's appearance (although I would probably never use it since it's not really my style), but later just use the name. That's what the character has one for.

 

[BackSet]

That reminds me of a peeve of mine. The post using my character's name when the character in that post doesn't know my character's name yet. Like, if they said "He walked up to [name of my character]." And the two characters haven't even met yet it bothers me.

 

[Breech Loader]

When somebody tells you they'll be on at a time - or even a day - and then they're not.

 

[BackSet]

When somebody tells you they'll be on at a time - or even a day - and then they're not.

Some people have ral life problems that keep them from being on. Sometimes they're sudden and don't leave time to get on to alert you to them.

And sometimes people die though I doubt that's ever happened here.

 

[Breech Loader]

I know, and I tell myself that every time... it still is my biggest peeve though.

 

[Abendrot]

GMs who will accept literally any CS that they see.

You would think that Heaven Mariaah Worthington-Smythe with her fucking minigun in a medieval fantasy setting would be a touch overpowered, but nope. Greenlit.

 

[Truff]

I'm sure this has been said over and over again but...

when I specifically ask for a partner who can give me some detailed writing and I end up with someone who can't give me more than 1 or 2 sentences. If you're someone who likes to shoot one sentence replies back and forth, great. Good for you, find a partner who also enjoys that style and have fun. But I just don't mesh with it.

 

[Tove]

I'm sure this has been said over and over again but...

when I specifically ask for a partner who can give me some detailed writing and I end up with someone who can't give me more than 1 or 2 sentences. If you're someone who likes to shoot one sentence replies back and forth, great. Good for you, find a partner who also enjoys that style and have fun. But I just don't mesh with it.

This. I've had that happen on several occasions. I'll put in my request thread how much I am able to write and ask at minimum what I'm looking for in return. People will say it's no problem they enjoy detail and writing multiple paragraphs responses then in the actual roleplay said detailed paragraphs becomes three sentences or less. If I ask about it their response becomes "I'm not used to writing more than a couple of sentences."...Yeah.

 

[Breech Loader]

I suppose detail means different things to different people. I like detail and I like fast back and forth. It's not a simple matter to find people who can do both.

 

[Dark lord steel]

I suppose detail means different things to different people. I like detail and I like fast back and forth. It's not a simple matter to find people who can do both.

Oh I know. It's either "I'll take a week to respond" or "here have one line"

 

[BackSet]

I do group roleplays where you don't really want fast back and forth cause you don't want people getting in eachother's ways (but also if someone takes a week to respond I presume them ghosted and go to track them down). But I'm with y'all on the details thing.

 

[Breech Loader]

People say "I've got a life, y'know." Well, lucky you that you're so filled up you can't even think of a solid post while busy and then can't find a few minutes at lunch to pick up your phone/laptop/desktop to make that post.

 

[Tove]

Well, honestly we all have lives outside of the community and even roleplay for that matter. Schedules can get so busy some might not have the free time to do back and forth. In my job it's hectic. The last thing I'm thinking about when I'm busy is coming up with a post or when I go on my lunch is getting in a post but I don't much care for rapid posts that's just me though. Everyone has different schedules and things they are able to do in a given moment and things they can't do.

 

[BackSet]

When you haven't had a reply from someone in a while but you see that they're on and it's like "you've been on every day for a week doing other roleplays. At least tell me when you're not interested anymore or something!"

 

[PhoenixMire]

When you haven't had a reply from someone in a while but you see that they're on and it's like "you've been on every day for a week doing other roleplays. At least tell me when you're not interested anymore or something!"

Yeah that's really frustrating. I understand lack of motivation, I really do. I understand it all too well. But it's nice to, at the very least, let someone know you're feeling unmotivated and can't reply or want to quit.

 

[BackSet]

Too much purple prose. Some purple prose is okay but my god does it get annoying sometimes. Are you just throwing in words for padding now? Is that even a real word? Why is this description of your character's eyes so long! They're just eyes!

 

[Nue]

Too much purple prose. Some purple prose is okay but my god does it get annoying sometimes. Are you just throwing in words for padding now? Is that even a real word? Why is this description of your character's eyes so long! They're just eyes!

Yeeees I often see this when people are trying to reach some kind of post length requirement. It really reminds me of when you're trying to write an essay on something you know barely anything about, so you just kind of blather and talk about the same thing for ten paragraphs.

Imo, if you don't have a lot of material for a response: just focus on giving it *one* thing that progresses the story or gives other players something to react to

 

[FearItself]

When players build characters whose whole dynamic is to go against the plot and thinks that they are engaged in a battle against the DM.

 

[Becker]

When players build characters whose whole dynamic is to go against the plot and thinks that they are engaged in a battle against the DM.

The amount of times i've seen this happening in threads.. smh..

Edit: It gets worse when 'that guy' decides that consistently making remarks/constantly undermining about the group's leadership ability will somehow improve the quality of the storyline...

 

[peritwinkle]

People say "I've got a life, y'know." Well, lucky you that you're so filled up you can't even think of a solid post while busy and then can't find a few minutes at lunch to pick up your phone/laptop/desktop to make that post.

I don’t understand where the bitterness comes from, writing is a manifestation of creativity and it doesn’t just dawn on you. Roleplaying isn’t a job, you do it for your own pleasure and entertainment. Sometimes I have free time but I don’t feel like writing.

 

[FearItself]

People say "I've got a life, y'know." Well, lucky you that you're so filled up you can't even think of a solid post while busy and then can't find a few minutes at lunch to pick up your phone/laptop/desktop to make that post.

Idk man. Rping is fun and all but it can sometimes take upwards of an hour to crank out a post. I have a job and a kid and a wife who all need huge chunks of attention and one cant always find an hour to work on it. Not to mention the stress associated with life its hard to make a post when your stressed oit.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Idk man. Rping is fun and all but it can sometimes take upwards of an hour to crank out a post. I have a job and a kid and a wife who all need huge chunks of attention and one cant always find an hour to work on it. Not to mention the stress associated with life its hard to make a post when your stressed oit.

I don’t understand where the bitterness comes from, writing is a manifestation of creativity and it doesn’t just dawn on you. Roleplaying isn’t a job, you do it for your own pleasure and entertainment. Sometimes I have free time but I don’t feel like writing.

Totally agree with both of you. Some people don't have a lot of spare time, but they want to RP occasionally when they do feel motivated and have some extra time. Life always takes priority over RPing. RPing is a hobby. It should be fun, not a chore. The moment you feel heavily obligated to reply and to stick to a specific schedule, then there's no longer a point to it at all.

For me personally, I don't do well with replies that are too infrequent - if someone only replies every week or two on a regular basis, then I lose interest. But not everyone is like me, and that's okay. It all comes down to finding an RP partner that fits with you and is okay with your schedule.
Getting upset at someone for not finding time to reply doesn't help anyone.