Viewpoint Unpopular roleplay opinions?

[SP3CT3R]

Ooh! Here's an unpopular opinion: I hate threads that are like "is it okay for people who are x to play y".

Because most of the time the answer is: yes, yes it is. It's not that hard a question. Can white people play black people? Well, last I checked Black Panther was created by a white guy. And Justice League (the cartoon) was written by white guys and had John Stewart as their Green Lantern (in fact, Hal Jordan only ever got a cameo in that show). Seriously, guys.

To be fair, I've seen people come under fire a few times for innacurately portraying characters that aren't their gender/race/sexuality/etc. Roleplaying is obviously far more casual than writing for an audience, but people just worry about stuff, sometimes.

 

[Darklord95]

To be fair, I've seen people come under fire a few times for innacurately portraying characters that aren't their gender/race/sexuality/etc. Roleplaying is obviously far more casual than writing for an audience, but people just worry about stuff, sometimes.

That’s why I very rarely write gay characters, I don’t want the drama of doing it wrong.

 

[SP3CT3R]

That’s why I very rarely write gay characters, I don’t want the drama of doing it wrong.

And there's nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't come after you for slipping up while writing a gay character, but it's understandable to worry about other people doing so.

 

[Jannah]

That’s why I very rarely write gay characters, I don’t want the drama of doing it wrong.

I can write gay characters, I just prefer not to since a lot of the RP's I do either don't centre around romance or said gay characters would likely have to be closeted anyway due to the setting.

 

[AndPeggy]

Ooh! Here's an unpopular opinion: I hate threads that are like "is it okay for people who are x to play y".

Because most of the time the answer is: yes, yes it is. It's not that hard a question. Can white people play black people? Well, last I checked Black Panther was created by a white guy. And Justice League (the cartoon) was written by white guys and had John Stewart as their Green Lantern (in fact, Hal Jordan only ever got a cameo in that show). Seriously, guys.

Rarely in the RP scene does anybody play exactly themselves. It would be so boring! Players usually don't care if someone they're rping with is using a character that doesn't share their own exact attributes.

People should play whatever they want long as it's done with good intentions.

 

[Delinquent]

Ooh! Here's an unpopular opinion: I hate threads that are like "is it okay for people who are x to play y".

Those kind of threads really gets on my nerve.

Mostly because people always act like "people can play whatever characters they want" is somehow an unpopular opinion that needs to be rigorously defended despite literally no one ever disagreeing with it in said threads.

 

[BackSet]

Those entire threads are just idiotic.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Those kind of threads really gets on my nerve.

Mostly because people always act like "people can play whatever characters they want" is somehow an unpopular opinion that needs to be rigorously defended despite literally no one ever disagreeing with it in said threads.

Those entire threads are just idiotic.

It's not idiotic to just ask questions. As I said above, there are actual people who think it's not okay to be X and play a Y character. I've seen them firsthand. And, in general, hating on people for not knowing better is how you drive them out of the hobby.

 

[Delinquent]

As I said above, there are actual people who think it's not okay to be X and play a Y character.

I'm sure those people exist, I just think that they are much fewer than people like to pretend they are.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I'm sure those people exist, I just think that they are much fewer than people like to pretend they are.

True, but it doesn't take a lot of dissenting opinions to make people unsure.

 

[Delinquent]

True, but it doesn't take a lot of dissenting opinions to make people unsure.

To an extent, sure. But at this point the "Is it okay to be X and write Y characters" threads are more common than the people saying it isn't.

And again, my issue isn't the question as much as it is how people answer it.

 

[AnnJam]

Taste testing a partner and getting a feel for their vibe is a entirely valid approach to roleplay. I think it is altogether acceptable to start a roleplay with a basic idea and save the world building and major plotting until a few posts in. Saving the most mentally exhaustive process until after it's known you like how they interacts in-character before a commitment.

 

[Jannah]

Taste testing a partner and getting a feel for their vibe is a entirely valid approach to roleplay. I think it is altogether acceptable to start a roleplay with a basic idea and save the world building and major plotting until a few posts in. Saving the most mentally exhaustive process until after it's known you like how they interacts in-character before a commitment.

Here's an unpopular opinion based on that: I generally don't do worldbuilding at all in RP. I stick to our world or at least one similar to it. Worldbuilding is just too much effort to put into a RP that will likely not make it past the first page. I save the worldbuilding efforts for my own personal writing.

 

[Lucyfer]

Here's an unpopular opinion based on that: I generally don't do worldbuilding at all in RP. I stick to our world or at least one similar to it. Worldbuilding is just too much effort to put into a RP that will likely not make it past the first page. I save the worldbuilding efforts for my own personal writing.

Nope, this is exactly why I tend to stick to fandom universes, honestly. So I agree -- just in that instead of using our world, I'll go to ones other people created, haha. It's for the same reason, though.

 

[Jannah]

Nope, this is exactly why I tend to stick to fandom universes, honestly. So I agree -- just in that instead of using our world, I'll go to ones other people created, haha. It's for the same reason, though.

I do fandom RP sometimes, but only with OC's.

 

[Lucyfer]

Jannah , it depends a bit on the world for me -- some I'll do OCs only, some I'll prefer a mix of OCs and Canons. Haven't found one where I just want to play as canons only, but who knows?

 

[AnnJam]

I generally don't do worldbuilding at all in RP. I stick to our world or at least one similar to it.

Same, I don't think it is necessary for starting a roleplay. Regardless whether its set in modern time/our world, or if its some fantasy made up world. I feel in general everyone knows what a basic space opera setting is like, what a fantasy setting is like, what a modern setting is like and so on. Enough that they can start writing their first post without knowing the geopolitical state of the world . . . I'm sorry Kathrine the RP is starting with the characters running into each other in the woods, I don't think the genealogy of the royal family is so terribly important that we can't start RPing before we figure it out. Don't think that it'll be coming up within the first 10 posts of the game . . . do you?

So yeah here, here!

 

[Jannah]

Same, I don't think it is necessary for starting a roleplay. Regardless whether its set in modern time/our world, or if its some fantasy made up world. I feel in general everyone knows what a basic space opera setting is like, what a fantasy setting is like, what a modern setting is like and so on. Enough that they can start writing their first post without knowing the geopolitical state of the world . . . I'm sorry Kathrine the RP is starting with the characters running into each other in the woods, I don't think the genealogy of the royal family is so terribly important that we can't start RPing before we figure it out. Don't think that it'll be coming up within the first 10 posts of the game . . . do you?

So yeah here, here!

Exactly. If any of those details are important then I'm sure that will be addressed once needed.

 

[Jannah]

I'm not sure if this is unpopular per se, but it is something that definitely irks me. I find RP's romanticizing any sort of romantic relationship where there's a power imbalance to be disgusting. By power imbalance I mean things like massive age gaps, teacherxstudent, slavexmaster, etc. I will RP some pretty dark themes, but the moment these power imbalances are introduced into "romantic" relationships then huge nope. There's nothing glamourous about abuse and such.

 

[AnnJam]

I'm not sure if this is unpopular per se, but it is something that definitely irks me. I find RP's romanticizing any sort of romantic relationship where there's a power imbalance to be disgusting. By power imbalance I mean things like massive age gaps, teacherxstudent, slavexmaster, etc. I will RP some pretty dark themes, but the moment these power imbalances are introduced into "romantic" relationships then huge nope. There's nothing glamourous about abuse and such.

Here's an unpopular opinion inspired by this: I don't see anyone wrong with individuals who pursue romantic narratives that deal in subject matter, wherein the characters engage in a relationship that is based in power dynamics. It is okay to tell fictional stories about real world dynamics the writers are aware are in fact unhealthy; fiction is a safe space to explore oneself and the subject matter they find attractive. To demonize specific narratives because they feature within a romantic context, but not other narratives that deal equally in questionable or illegal subject matter but lack romance, is a act of sabotage on the roleplay community; don't make RP feel like an unsafe space to explore actual dark subject matter.

Honestly the majority of people who engage in power dynamics actively know the inherent abuses that come with it and don't actively glamorize abusive relationships. Which is to say majority of us aren't on twitter UWU gushing about how we want to be in relationships with students from our local places of education.

 

[Jannah]

Here's an unpopular opinion inspired by this: I don't see anyone wrong with individuals who pursue romantic narratives that deal in subject matter, wherein the characters engage in a relationship that is based in power dynamics. It is okay to tell fictional stories about real world dynamics the writers are aware are in fact unhealthy; fiction is a safe space to explore oneself and the subject matter they find attractive. To demonize specific narratives because they feature within a romantic context, but not other narratives that deal equally in questionable or illegal subject matter but lack romance, is a act of sabotage on the roleplay community; don't make RP feel like an unsafe space to explore actual dark subject matter.

Honestly the majority of people who engage in power dynamics actively know the inherent abuses that come with it and don't actively glamorize abusive relationships. Which is to say majority of us aren't on twitter UWU gushing about how we want to fuck students from our local places of education.

Considering some of the stuff I RP I get why people do it, but I still don't like it. Personal preference I suppose.

 

[AnnJam]

Jannah that is 100% okay. I was just inspired by your take is all.

 

[lothiriel]

Unpopular opinion : I like to write at least 8 sentences for my partner's love stories while I just write 3 sentences for my own OC's story because I'm blushing like hell whenever my OC's love interest does something.

 

[CrystalDisc]

Unpopular (?) Opinion: The OOC connection is more important than the IC connection. See, I'm the kind of gal that needs personal investment in not only the characters, but the player as well, and if we ain't clicking-...

 

[Jannah]

I don't mind if people ghost me. I suspect it's because I have pretty unpredictable muse myself, though, due to my mental health. It's hard for me to remain committed to a single RP forever, especially if it's slow moving.