Roleplay Pet Peeves

As a game master, it KILLS me when my players just suddenly drop out of my roleplay with no explanation. I don't get (as) personally offended when people bail now that I'm older, but I still want to know what went wrong! Lots of people drop because of school, no big deal. But many moons ago, one of my most active and popular players ghosted from a roleplay. It turns out they didn't like my co-GM. They didn't tell me upfront because, I suppose, they wanted to respect my choice and not rock the boat. If they had said something on the way out, like "I like the story but I don't like the way you're running the roleplay" then I could have done something a LOT sooner. Although I probably wouldn't have because I was infatuated with my best friend oops
 
For me my biggest pet peeve in roleplay is rushed character development and story.

I guess part of it is also people coming in knowing *how* they want their character to develop as the majority of what i have experienced leads to this. Like if you character has done 3 posts and had very short amounts of interaction then you shouldn't expect it to be taken as realistic character development. Like I understand that for the first few posts you gotta lock down your character's personality but one tiny setback or a single sentence has not changed anyone's life imo. It may be the start but if your character changes every three posts you need a more focused personality.

I find this happens in a lot of my slower rps, just because it's been 3 months irl doesn't change the fact that it's been three minutes IC. I've had people push arcs by when people have made 2-3 posts max, which is appropriate in some cases but is not the end all solution. When I make a character I want to actually feel like they are a part of the world rather than rush to have them run past everything.

Life is a struggle but if you want something new I wish people would just address that rather than this weird fast forwards.
 
People who don't actually read my "searching for a 1x1 partner!" threads. I'm brand new to this site, so I haven't had this happen here yet, but... I've been RPing for about 9 years now and I've had it happen countless times on other sites. I've specifically stated in my threads that I only want partners who can post two to three paragraphs on average, and much more when the RP calls for it. And then I've gotten partners that start the RP out with one tiny paragraph. Their posts get worse from there, too; they just keep decreasing and decreasing until they write like a sentence or two. It's annoying. Look, I understand that some people prefer to RP in a faster pace with short posts, and that's great for them. But they need to find someone else who also likes to do that. I'm not one of those people.

I also make it clear what my likes and dislikes are whenever I search for a 1x1 partner, and it's obvious who has read my post and who hasn't. In the past, I've specifically listed that I can't stand "angel x demon" RPs or love at first sight, and I've had people approach me with "angel x demon" RP ideas - and in one of the more annoying scenarios, someone started an RP with me and their character immediately fell in love with mine at first sight...
 
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About 90% of the time, I handle introductions. I like them, I like setting a scene.

However, what pisses me off is when I see if my partner will start, because either I'm busy or the RP would start better with them and their character already established before I make my post, and they push it back on me. Like a passive 'nah you can start fam' and I'm like okay, sure but it'll take a day or two to get something up. I have other things to do and I say if they wanna start sooner, they're welcome to get something up first. In fact it would be a huge load off my shoulders. But they fiddle and say they hate starting or some BS like that. So I think, fine, maybe they'll be more cooperative when we get into things.

And then a few hours later, they send me a PM asking when the intro is gonna be up or saying they're ready when I am. Like come on! I said I was busy and that the ball could be in your court. If you're so ready to start, then start. Please don't feel like it's my duty to start all the time. It's just annoying. I've had maybe a handful of people offer to start in my 15 years of writing. I get for some it's difficult but if an intro for yu is difficult, then I don't know if I want to RP with someone who is that timid or unsure of themselves. If my partner doesn't know how to start, we can always hash things out further but to always be pushed to make introductions (and then have partners see what I've worked hard on and then bail) just grinds my gears.

After a while I just get burnt out making intros pretty much most of the time.
 
The whole thing about people not reading my request thread fully. Like I will specifically say I will not do blah blah blah and people will come to me saying they want blah blah blah. Like I feel rude for going no, but dude I stated clearly, and in the past I've made a NO NEVER section in my request thread. And I ask for decent grammar yet I still get people who type at an elementary schooler's level or worse. And okay, I get that some people English is a second language and they are learning, I completely understand that, but still like if I have to read your sentence at least three times to get a slight gist of what it is your are saying then please keep walking along. Also, I say that I want partners who can type at least 4 lines, and that is me lowering my standards to the lowest, and I still get people who give me like a line. Like okay, if our rp slips to two or three lines per post, okay, but if I give you three paragraphs and you give me two lines then we have a problem yo.

-Huff-
 
I have 3 big things for me that tick me off.

1: If someone takes a long time to respond (3-7 days) and all you get is a one liner, nothing else.

2: If someone your RPing with just stops responding for a week and then comes back and tells you they where gone cause they just got busy but knew it was coming up. (Of course if it was something they didn't know was coming that's understandable.)

3: When someone who wasn't in the location you are in on the RP somehow heard it and acts like they have it. (For example: If your in part of the kingdom but the other person is in another part of the kingdom and they act like they know what your character said.)
 
BackSet said:
The "18+ requirement". It makes no logical sense given rpn's anti-erotica rule. I'm sick of lying about my age.
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It’s not about sex though. If it was it would just be “follow the site rules.”

It’s more about people being comfortable roleplaying with people their own age.
 
middleagedgeek said:
It’s not about sex though. If it was it would just be “follow the site rules.”

It’s more about people being comfortable roleplaying with people their own age.
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Most of the ones I've seen are basically "be 18+ cause mature themes" and I'm like "you underestimate the ability of younger people to comprehend these things." This isn't the 20th century.
 
BackSet said:
Most of the ones I've seen are basically "be 18+ cause mature themes" and I'm like "you underestimate the ability of younger people to comprehend these things." This isn't the 20th century.
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Yeah have you asked those people what the nature themes are?

Or are you assuming they mean sex?

Edit- sorry on my phone.

What I mean is that Different people define maturity differently. Like for some people it’s gore, for some it’s themes of abuse or drugs. I once had someone simply mean they wanted to roleplay adults in adult situations like getting married or whatever.

I would just ask. Like most folk will tell you specifics if they just ask.
 
As someone who is 23, roleplaying with anyone under 18 just makes me uncomfortable. I also find that partners who are closer to my age are on the same wave length as me. Younger partners I feel so out of touch with. But that's just me! I know some people don't really care lol
 
MasterMalefica said:
As someone who is 23, roleplaying with anyone under 18 just makes me uncomfortable. I also find that partners who are closer to my age are on the same wave length as me. Younger partners I feel so out of touch with. But that's just me! I know some people don't really care lol
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Exactly I think a good way for younger roleplayers to look at it is what if they were the older person in the scenario.

Say your seventeen are you going to roleplay with a 13 year old, a 10 year old or even a 7 year old.

Chances are no. Just because it’s weird trying to roleplay with someone so much younger than you.

It’s the same thing if your 27 or 24 or even 20 and trying to roleplay with someone who is 17.

I will agree that using the excuse “mature content” is silly. It makes it seem like you condescending people younger than you.
 
It's reasonable for people to expect that in 1x1s, provided that they don't put it at the bottom of the thread and step on my excitement about a potential RP partner. In group roleplays, however, expecting everyone to be 18+ is super condescending.

Although it does make finding a 1x1 partner kinda difficult. It seems like in every thread it's just
  • MxF or FxF only
  • 18+
  • OcxCanon or CanonxCanon
Like, the main criteria that I have for a RP partner are all mutually exclusive.
 
Poor grammar/punctuation when plotting. Like, I get being lazy or on your phone but gosh, people who PM me and don't capitalize the beginning of their sentences or use proper English, tend to leave a poor taste in my mouth. If you're plotting with me and it looks like there isn't an effort to even convey your needs in a readable manner, I feel like we're already off on the wrong foot. I hate to sound picky but if someone reaches out and makes me question their literacy, it is a real turn off.
 
Genkai said:
Poor grammar/punctuation when plotting. Like, I get being lazy or on your phone but gosh, people who PM me and don't capitalize the beginning of their sentences or use proper English, tend to leave a poor taste in my mouth. If you're plotting with me and it looks like there isn't an effort to even convey your needs in a readable manner, I feel like we're already off on the wrong foot. I hate to sound picky but if someone reaches out and makes me question their literacy, it is a real turn off.
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I meet so many people like that. I once met a guy who didn't put soaces after periods. Couldn't read a single damn thing he said.
 
I've developed a couple more pet peeves in the year since I last posted on this thread.

Generally I am irritated anyone who asks me when I will reply to a thread or why I haven't yet. It's rude and it does not make me want to roleplay with that person again. I don't see a reason why someone's thread is more important than anyone else's.

Also, in RP, when someone will "latch on" to my character and make it so when I interact with anyone else they will have their character "interrupt" us by doing something out of nowhere, expecting my character to drop what they're doing and pay attention to them. Not sure if this has happened to anyone else, but it's really off-putting and childish of the writer.
 
Penumbra said:
I've developed a couple more pet peeves in the year since I last posted on this thread.

Generally I am irritated anyone who asks me when I will reply to a thread or why I haven't yet. It's rude and it does not make me want to roleplay with that person again. I don't see a reason why someone's thread is more important than anyone else's.

Also, in RP, when someone will "latch on" to my character and make it so when I interact with anyone else they will have their character "interrupt" us by doing something out of nowhere, expecting my character to drop what they're doing and pay attention to them. Not sure if this has happened to anyone else, but it's really off-putting and childish of the writer.
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Looking back that second one actually seems to happen a bit for me.
 
BackSet BackSet I think people with little RP experience do it the most often. Actually, I don't care if a character really wants to interact with mine and no one else's (that's their own issue) but I need something to bounce back off of. It can't be one sided. This is why I tend to avoid child/troubled characters since writers think that clinging onto someone (no doubt as a writing crutch) equates to development. That's really all I have to say about the issue.
 
Being shelved. I mean, okay, I get that you might have one or two favorite rps that you prioritize, but heck when I'm waiting for a reply for almost a week and you are writing reply after reply on literally every other thread and Even completely ignoring me when I'm asking if everything is okay or you lost interest, tell me!
Don't make me wait for a reply that will
A) never come or
B) only come when you got no other rp to reply to.
It's like our rp is just some annoying duty for you, and makes me feel like a stopgap that you'll only get back to when you're bored enough, and, sorry but I don't think that's fair...
-sigh-
 
- This trend of OCs having to incessantly be 6'4 - 7'2.

- OCs always being the best at what they do. Like, k dude, please don't make your char the best swordsman in the land when you don't even grasp how swords work. I don't expect anyone to be an expert in order to play a skilled character, but it becomes extremely irritating when they say they can't lose while bumbling around with a weapon they've never held and then cry to a GM when someone outplays them.

- "It's magic."

- Notification addicts who join more rps than they realistically can do, only to either dip (they'll never tell you they're out though!) or write such shitty responses that it ruins every rp they join. Honestly, what're you doing if you're in 12 rps and say you're busy??? And then make a few more threads yourself???

- Rpers who get rejected from a thread and would rather say the thread is too strict instead of admitting they're just not up to par with everyone else in it. Who are you to tell a whole thread the fault is their's because your writing didn't impress them?

- One-liner rpers who can't tell half a story and try to impress literate ones by telling them that they've had "years of rp experience."
 
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