Walliver
Two Thousand Club
bro you just described me
Experiences Whats making you angry today? Rp pet peeves
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Murdergurl
will turn your insides into your outsides
okay, just to clarify (because this isn't the first time that someone on this site has suggested that I might be depressed or unhappy with my life), I am not unhappy. I am not depressed. I'm simply creatively frustrated.Murdergurl I apologize for using an offensive term it wasn’t my intention to upset you.
My point is that you just seem unhappy with your life as a whole and not as if you have a specific pet peeve. Because whenever people offer suggestions to help make your roleplay experience better you immediately shut them down.
Which I think is where the “downer” comment comes in. It’s not that your ranting it’s just that you seem determined to be unhappy.
My life is a whole lot of things, but it isn't terrible. I consider myself fortunate to have a lot of the things I have. Because there was a point in my past where everything was this horrible downward spiral. And I crawled out of that, and came out pretty damn okay for what I had been involved in.
It's just that I am very busy with a lot of my day now. And at some point, it would be nice to unwind with some creative writing. It's always been a thing that just brings me a lot of satisfaction. And well, I don't really have it anymore because, quite simply, the crowd has changed. The subject matter has changed. Even the venues have changed, and sometimes I'm left wondering where everyone has gone off to.
I get it, I'm long in the tooth for this hobby. But I've clung to it because it has been something that I enjoyed for the better part of twenty-five years. It's just that the last few years have been... slim pickings, to say the least. But a lack of options does not make me change what I'm interested in. I'm not going to suddenly like superhero themes, or anime fandoms, or academy settings just because that's what everyone is into now.
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Sugarnaut
a nightmare to you specifically
Science Fiction but Aliens are required. 
Palu
Unlucky Member
It's a toss up between not so subtle humble brags and those that go full ham in hyping up their character right from the get-go. Like wait for the RP to actually start first.
Murdergurl
will turn your insides into your outsides
^this is pretty much me. lolScience Fiction but Aliens are required.
Where were you seeing this? I'd like to sign up.
^this is also me
"This roleplay is easy and the rules are easy to follow. It's really beginner friendly!"
Me, has ADHD and has a small attention span: "Okay cool, lemme check."
*checks rules*
*literally 2 pages full of rules, detailing the fighting mechanics and stat system*
If I gotta read a 500 page book just to remotely understand the rules, then no - it is not easy. If it would be easy the rules wouldn't span five times around the globe.
Me, has ADHD and has a small attention span: "Okay cool, lemme check."
*checks rules*
*literally 2 pages full of rules, detailing the fighting mechanics and stat system*
If I gotta read a 500 page book just to remotely understand the rules, then no - it is not easy. If it would be easy the rules wouldn't span five times around the globe.
saniachan
Team of Conflict
Oh, how I wish that kind of interest check has a tl;dr version with the more detailed bits in a spoiler tag or something...
A Sparkling Zombie
Once bitten, twice sparkling!
Only 2 pages? That sounds simpler than D&D and Pathfinder.
Walliver
Two Thousand Club
people who always want to do too much. like, everything you do is always over the top, action has to happen all the time, there’s hardly any dialogue except for when something really big happens. It’s awful
Murdergurl
will turn your insides into your outsides
HonestlyOnly 2 pages? That sounds simpler than D&D and Pathfinder.
A Sparkling Zombie
has a point, though. If a system game had a mere two pages to read in order to use it, that'd be fucking miraculous. I'd actually consider giving a system RP a shot if all I had to read in order to understand the mechanics was just two pages.I have over six pdf books on starfinder and like 12 hardback D&D manuals in 3.5e. Two pages is nothing
A Sparkling Zombie
Once bitten, twice sparkling!
Right? I would actually love to see what this system is like.Honestly
I have over six pdf books on starfinder and like 12 hardback D&D manuals in 3.5e. Two pages is nothing
UnhappyUnion
New Member
I've always become irritated when I try to set up a game with a tight, cultural theme, but it gets disregarded in favor of a rainbow mish-mash of characters who do not resemble the theme.
Some major examples include trying to run a setting that is soundly European but a person wants to play a character with dark-skinned features with no reasoning as to why they look different than everyone else. Are they from another land? Why don't you tell me about that land? Oh, you don't want to? What? I'm racist?
oh well...
Some major examples include trying to run a setting that is soundly European but a person wants to play a character with dark-skinned features with no reasoning as to why they look different than everyone else. Are they from another land? Why don't you tell me about that land? Oh, you don't want to? What? I'm racist?
oh well...
Walliver
Two Thousand Club
I can sorta relate but also sorta not?
Like, I guess if they wanted to play a dark-skinned character in a European rp, I’d be fine with it. If an rp is all pasty white people with European features it gets kinda boring and flavorless as far as character creation and character background. But the refusal to explain why they’re there if you ask, that I have faced before and it is not fun (though mine was with mutants instead of different ethnicities). I would say that you need an explanation, but you also need to be open to different kinds of characters in all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. Just a tip from a semi-flexible GM.
UnhappyUnion
New Member
I respectfully, but strongly disagree. The interpretation of 'pasty white people' being boring and flavorless is a problematic line of thinking. Without dipping into my individual creations and concepts, let's look at history. One has a rich selection of different European powers to inspire creativity from of 'pasty' white people ranging from terrifying vikings, to the English and their mighty navy, the multi-faceted and mighty Roman Empire, sophisticated and philosophical forward thinking Greeks, and numerous other examples.
Among the surface level indicator of origins being skin-color, those cultures hold dozens and dozens of variations within them without ever having to do drastic changes to appearance. There is more than enough flavor.
I enjoy worlds that actually have meaningful distinctions between people and cultures instead of a mixed bag of people tossed together for the purposes of only appealing to the player, rather than working together with other players to make characters that compliment and lift each other's stories.
Simply put, if one strives to make a believable grounded world, you have to start with the people of said world. How do they look? Why do they look that way? If it's a group of mixed people, why is that?
Sugarnaut
a nightmare to you specifically
Yeah, I'm not going to entertain the idea that wanting to play a person of color in a thematically European setting is unrealistic.
If your prime example of having this strong of a reaction is "let's look at history", you've already lost all credentials to explain your stance.
My pet peeve is when I just want to use TupperBot on Discord to rp as my character's dog but instead it uses my OC named "Dog" and it's just embarrassing all around.
If your prime example of having this strong of a reaction is "let's look at history", you've already lost all credentials to explain your stance.
My pet peeve is when I just want to use TupperBot on Discord to rp as my character's dog but instead it uses my OC named "Dog" and it's just embarrassing all around.
Melpomene
Writer of Tragedy|Art by ROYTHEART|
I haven't used TupperBot yet but hearing stories like these makes me want to all the more
Sugarnaut
a nightmare to you specifically
It's genuinely my favorite thing to add so much nuance and small moments between characters. Highly recommend.
Miaow
Bad job, Superstar!
I thought you might enjoy some of these articles
Scientists raid DNA to explore Vikings’ genetic roots
While our modern ideas of these ancient seafarers paint a very homogenous picture, their reality was decidedly diverse.
Vikings were never the pure-bred master race white supremacists like to portray
Early Vikings wouldn’t understand nationalism – the secret to their success was to embrace other cultures.
theconversation.com
Out of Africa: Six Famous Black Figures from European and New World History - Academie Duello - Learn Swordplay
People with "dark skin” and “Europeans” are not separate and mutually exclusive groups. There has never been a time when Europeans were exclusively white people. Europe was never a culturally or racially isolated place. Europe has been connected through trade and politics with many different...
www.academieduello.com
Black history
Explore the histories of Black people in Europe with stories and content from Europeana
Olivette Otele: “The history of Europe’s blacks has been struck by a partial amnesia”
The presence of people of African descent in Europe is generally viewed through the prism of slavery and colonization, obscuring a much older shared history.
UnhappyUnion
New Member
We can look at genetics if historical themed or inspired is a bit too much for you. So, when people reproduce, they pass along certain features. Two light skinned people reproduce, you produce a light skinned baby. Two dark skinned people reproduce, you produce a dark skinned baby. Intermixing tends to produce people with darker skin, favoring those features.
Next, we can look at geography. People who are on islands tend to only really reproduce with those on the island, well, because that's the only potential mates. These people come together to form a culture. Much of the time cultures are opposed to other cultures, especially before our current enlightened era. Other features such as mountains, bodies of water, thick forests, and so on also lead to isolated pockets of people with closely resembling features.
I could very well have a dark-skinned culture in a thematically European setting as part of the general make-up of the world. I never actually implied that's unrealistic because we can make whatever want in a world, but simply tossing random outlier people into cultures that the setting defines as having light-skinned features, is disrespectful to the world builder and disrespectful to the very concept of identity in the first place.
It's good worldbuilding.
Our features, cultures, and who we are actually mean something and make us well... who we are... and that's beautiful.
I thought you might enjoy some of these articles
Scientists raid DNA to explore Vikings’ genetic roots
While our modern ideas of these ancient seafarers paint a very homogenous picture, their reality was decidedly diverse.www.nationalgeographic.com
Vikings were never the pure-bred master race white supremacists like to portray
Early Vikings wouldn’t understand nationalism – the secret to their success was to embrace other cultures.Out of Africa: Six Famous Black Figures from European and New World History - Academie Duello - Learn Swordplay
People with "dark skin” and “Europeans” are not separate and mutually exclusive groups. There has never been a time when Europeans were exclusively white people. Europe was never a culturally or racially isolated place. Europe has been connected through trade and politics with many different...www.academieduello.comBlack history
Explore the histories of Black people in Europe with stories and content from Europeanawww.europeana.eu
Olivette Otele: “The history of Europe’s blacks has been struck by a partial amnesia”
The presence of people of African descent in Europe is generally viewed through the prism of slavery and colonization, obscuring a much older shared history.en.unesco.org
I'll gladly read these articles, but I believe you are strawmanning me. I never said dark-skinned people did not exist within Europe, but they were not the norm and were clearly exceptions. My statement proposed people playing characters with exceptional features without cause or reason other than them being that way. It's a grave misunderstanding of history believing that we always were a rich melting pot. That's just not true.
Twin Fantasy
My Boy
Fun fact: There were tons of black vikings and also black men in Ancient Rome had equal rights and opportunities as white men. Also, Jane Austen's final unfinished manuscript featured a black character who was part of a new money family. "Othello" is also pretty famously about a black guy. So yeah people who think POC just didn't exist in predominantly white ancient/medieval settings are just kind of wrong. It's like saying white people have literally never lived in Japan because the population is 99% pure Japanese.
Plus if you really wanted a medieval RP with zero nonwhite influence, that'd mean, y'know. No gunpowder, no spice trade, no fireworks, no silk, no purple clothing since Phoenicia was the main source of purple dye and it bordered Asia and Africa, basically nothing except royal inbreeding and typhoid fever.
But also oftentimes "medieval settings" are in fact "medieval fantasy settings", and if having black people in Europe is unrealistic, so are dragons.
UnhappyUnion
New Member
The opinion you share is clearly the main issue I have with many people and their perceptions on worldbuilding and characterization. I am critiquing how people portray and include groups that were considered outsider and outlier groups - not suggesting the notion that these people did not exist within Europe. The main issue arises when people attempt to use exceptions as norms. The Roman Empire, those who were at the core of the power, were in-fact olive skinned (though many people chalk this up as white) influencing a vast empire that stretched into Africa. These people did obtain equal rights and were considered Roman citizens, but there was a messy history of the core Italian Romans still seeing race and culture believing those from hotter climates to be tricky and dangerous, while those from the northern cold climates being brutish and lethargic. Many of the Romans within Itality believed them to be the 'perfected' group of people above the rest of their empire.
First and foremost, black vikings existed, but there was not 'tons of them.' The vikings were an adventurous sort of people who had a nasty habit of kidnapping children around the age of twelve to train them to perform labor, perhaps one day joining them as full-fledged raiders. However, what was not true is miraculously Africans decided to start wearing viking garb - no there is more to that and it is disrespectful to culture, history, and what not to not look at why these variations in the norm existed.
The notion is never medieval RP with only non-white influences as you somewhat rudely suggested. It is worldbuilding that makes sense. So, if someone wanted to play a dark-skinned character in an original setting, but the surrounding nation is light-skinned people, then where are they from? They surely cannot be a random exception - who are there parents? Is there culture of people in the nation already? Are they migrants?
Now, if one wanted a realistic pseudo-European setting, having a mishmash of all skin colors and features without rhyme or reason to it is certainly not realistic and non-immersive. That is just not how the world worked.
Now, if it's fun for everyone to just throw in a diverse cast with little thought about the world as a whole - then more power to you. But largely these opinions come from people who read one little headline or article with an agenda, then they run with that opinion rather than truly understand how people got where they were.
Murdergurl
will turn your insides into your outsides
totally feel you on that one. Like in a period piece that is set decades (or more) in the past, but then you have players that want to create characters that are brazenly all about modern social dynamics that simply wouldn't be tolerated in the setting. But omg, I guess I'm a bigot for trying to keep an accurate depiction of the times.
GojiBean
Your resident irradiated Kaiju King
Greetings everyone.
The RpN Staff are officially putting an end to this ethnic debate.
UnhappyUnion's original post stating their desire to set up a specific set of cultural, historical, and ethnic rules within the worldbuilding, and being disappointed when that work is disregarded by others who either don't read the lore/worldbuilding information, or simply ignore it because they don't care to play within the worldbuilding restrictions established by UnhappyUnion when creating the RP, is valid and must be respected.
It's not racist to design an RP world a certain way with a "dominant" ethnic group for the focal region in which the story will take place, due to cultural/geographical/other reasons, and wanting an explanation for how/why a character with a deviant ethnic background ended up in said region. Migrant parents or grandparents, for example, are perfectly valid explanations, and that's all UnhappyUnion is asking for if deviations are made for their designed worlds.
If that's not how you role-play, then don't worry about it and don't reply to their comment.
Myself and the team are glad that this has been kept largely civil. However, we're starting to see red flags indicating that this can and may escalate if not put to an end here and now.
So, with respect from myself and the team, please put an end to this debate. Further comments made in response to the original post will be deleted by RpN Staff.
If you detect genuine racism in a comment or response, either in public threads or PM's, please report it to RpN Staff immediately.
Thank you.
The RpN Staff are officially putting an end to this ethnic debate.
UnhappyUnion's original post stating their desire to set up a specific set of cultural, historical, and ethnic rules within the worldbuilding, and being disappointed when that work is disregarded by others who either don't read the lore/worldbuilding information, or simply ignore it because they don't care to play within the worldbuilding restrictions established by UnhappyUnion when creating the RP, is valid and must be respected.
It's not racist to design an RP world a certain way with a "dominant" ethnic group for the focal region in which the story will take place, due to cultural/geographical/other reasons, and wanting an explanation for how/why a character with a deviant ethnic background ended up in said region. Migrant parents or grandparents, for example, are perfectly valid explanations, and that's all UnhappyUnion is asking for if deviations are made for their designed worlds.
If that's not how you role-play, then don't worry about it and don't reply to their comment.
Myself and the team are glad that this has been kept largely civil. However, we're starting to see red flags indicating that this can and may escalate if not put to an end here and now.
So, with respect from myself and the team, please put an end to this debate. Further comments made in response to the original post will be deleted by RpN Staff.
If you detect genuine racism in a comment or response, either in public threads or PM's, please report it to RpN Staff immediately.
Thank you.
qunqun
Give me your herbs, worm.
I think a lot of the ways I create characters is solely out of spite and idk what that says about me tbh
vada
Junior Member
All weekend I had all the motivation to write but no free time. Now I finally have the time, and the motivation is gone
sigh
sigh
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