Viewpoint Unpopular roleplay opinions?

Nue

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What are some of your opinions about roleplay that you think might be unpopular?

Here's a few of mine;

- I think one liners and short responses in general get a little toooo much hate. Sure, there are times when a few lines aren't enough and you need to write a longer response.. but I also think there's situations where the reverse is true, too. For instance, I feel like a lot of fight scenes go better when the responses are shorter.

- I wish people would stop using uncredited art as face-claims. (Especially because if you reverse image search a lot of them and find the original, instead of just pulling it off google images or pinterest, you'll find a lot of these artists actually don't want their work reposted at all..)

- Slightly related to the last one, I don't think faceclaims should be required, really. They're cool to have but I don't understand when people insist on you using one, given roleplay is mostly about the writing.
 
A single paragraph is more than enough per reply and has enough detail. People just done understand detail isn't word count. The amount written is less important than the speed in which it is produced at. Short replies facilitate fast rps and long replies slower rps. That is it.
 
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I think this less applies to RPN because I don't see it as often here. However, literacy levels are arbitrary and kinda dated / dumb.
 
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I think this less applies to RPN because I don't see it as often here. However, literacy levels arbitrary and are kinda dated.
The name "literacy" is...yeah, a bit silly. However, I don't think they are dated, nor is a given style necessarily better than the others, but different "literacy levels" or "details levels" and the like, are I would argue very distinct in the mentality with which they are approached. Not that they are fixed categories either, but one does tend to fall closer to a particular end of the spectrum (or the middle) than the others. I go more in detail about this in the following thread, in case you're interested:

 
Oh I totally agree with you about shorter posts and one liners! I’ve been RPing for years now and I used to love writing multiple long paragraphs every post and would get irritated when my RP partners wrote any less.
But as time passes... I dunno, I’ve gotten really sick of the “novella” style long paragraph RPs. I love writing long posts when the moment calls for it, but I wanna write one liners sometimes, too. I don’t wanna feel like every RP post I make is an obligatory essay. RPing is supposed to be fun... not homework.

I also love platonic ships, both OC and fandom. I just wanna see two characters develop a really sweet platonic bond without any romance! But so often I see people advertising for romantic pairings... and it’s especially difficult to find someone willing to play platonic ships for some of my favorite fandoms. It seems like all anyone cares about is romantic shipping.
 
Age is not the same as maturity.
Some of the most immature people I've ever met where 25+.
And I've met some perfectly mature teenagers in my time.
 
The majority of my observations, and opinions about role play are savagely unpopular. The reason for this (times and players having changed so drastically) is also very unpopular.
 
I really enjoy slow moving, character focused, long winded RPs. And I’m willing to let plot suffer in order to better develop the characters in the role play.
 
Just putting it out there that I have multiple RP's on the go at the moment where we post 3+ paragraphs as a minimum and usually EACH get in 2-4 replies per day. Longer does not always mean slower when you have a partner who is also inclined to write longer posts.

As for unpopular opinions...

I think Character Sheets are largely unnecessary. 99% of the time they become completely obsolete as my character develops throughout the roleplay and all the basic traits that are core to their personality would be obvious from the outset of the RP. Half the fun for me is getting to learn about the other characters through reading my partners writing, so when you know every detail before you even start it loses a lot of the natural delight of discovering new things through character interaction. They might be useful for personal use to get to know the character yourself, but sharing them/requiring them in a roleplay isn't necessary imo.

I still make them if my partner requests them, but boy do I find them unnecessary haha. I can find enjoyment in writing them, but it's always sort of bittersweet lol.
 
I really enjoy slow moving, character focused, long winded RPs. And I’m willing to let plot suffer in order to better develop the characters in the role play.

This I agree with so much. As someone who roleplays more for the characters than just the story alone, I really enjoy taking in the small things such as long scenes of dialogues rather than constant action scenarios.
 
If you can only find time to post once a week you should probably not RP.

Oof. Right in the kokoro.

------

I don't need characters to be quirky or deep or flawed. They can be as generic as they possibly can 'cause even they'll still need to make hard decisions if they show up in my RPs.
 
I think Character Sheets are largely unnecessary. 99% of the time they become completely obsolete as my character develops throughout the roleplay and all the basic traits that are core to their personality would be obvious from the outset of the RP. Half the fun for me is getting to learn about the other characters through reading my partners writing, so when you know every detail before you even start it loses a lot of the natural delight of discovering new things through character interaction. They might be useful for personal use to get to know the character yourself, but sharing them/requiring them in a roleplay isn't necessary imo.

I still make them if my partner requests them, but boy do I find them unnecessary haha. I can find enjoyment in writing them, but it's always sort of bittersweet lol.
Man... I agree.

I like making character sheets. But I tend to write a lot of stuff on a character sheet that other people would consider useless - like maybe my OC plays piano as a hobby but has never taken lessons, he just tries to figure it out on his own. Maybe he's also obsessed with coffee but can't stand tea. Maybe he's scared of the ocean and hates going to the beach because of how intimidated it makes him feel. Maybe he likes insects. Maybe winter is his favorite season and he loves the cold.

These are all things that my RP partner doesn't need to know immediately. They'll find it out through the course of the RP, anyway - if the topic of coffee vs tea ever comes up, then they'll discover how my OC feels about it, lol. But otherwise it's useless info that doesn't need to be put onto the CS. It's only there for my personal enjoyment (figuring out my characters' little talents and likes and dislikes makes me feel more attached to them, usually).
I also tend to write a few long-ish paragraphs about their personality that I don't feel the need to share, and for some reason I especially dislike sharing my character's history. Why can't my RP partner and their OC discover my OC's backstory later on? Why does all of this info need to be on a CS?

When people ask for character sheets, I end up giving them a smaller, summarized and cut version of the longer and more detailed sheet I wrote. I keep the detailed stuff for myself. And I'm okay with it if my RP partner doesn't want a CS at all.
 
Re: Character Sheets.

It depends, I think in 1x1 yeah they’re unnecessary as you can just ask people directly if they understand what’s going on. I might ask for an elevator pitch (a paragraph overview of the character) but that’s about it.

In groups they’re vitally necessary. Because they are a means of making sure you have diverse cast, your players can follow simple instructions, and that they fully understood the lore of the roleplay. You can’t really get all that in a simple elevator pitch with multiple people.

Now I don’t think the CS needs to be like a job interview or multiple pages long. But having something to look over to make sure someone is following along is definitely a must.
 
Re: Character Sheets.

It depends, I think in 1x1 yeah they’re unnecessary as you can just ask people directly if they understand what’s going on. I might ask for an elevator pitch (a paragraph overview of the character) but that’s about it.

In groups they’re vitally necessary. Because they are a means of making sure you have diverse cast, your players can follow simple instructions, and that they fully understood the lore of the roleplay. You can’t really get all that in a simple elevator pitch with multiple people.

Now I don’t think the CS needs to be like a job interview or multiple pages long. But having something to look over to make sure someone is following along is definitely a must.
oh I totally agree. I neglected to mention groups because I only ever do 1x1. But CSes are pretty necessary in groups, I understand that (especially from past attempts at GMing lol)

1x1s though - yeah. A short, simple paragraph just to make sure we're both going in the right direction is good, but I don't need an actual CS, personally.
 
Ah yeah, good point with groups. I also never do group RP so that didn't occur to me.

My favourite roleplays and characters have been the ones where we did no sheets at all and just dove in with basic plotting beforehand. The most we knew about each others characters were their gender, age and role in the RP. I'd sometimes whip up some basic character information for myself to reference privately, but beyond that I've never thought more was needed.

Case in point... a lot of RP's I'm in end up requiring secondary characters to help keep things flowing well. Those secondary characters pretty much never have a CS made for them and yet within a few engagements with that character you already know most/all of the basics you would through a CS. They sometimes become really dear favourites, all without requiring a sheet, and you know exactly who they are simply by way of actually reading their reactions to things. It's a really natural way to get to know a character.

I'll admit that having them at all (even just a short paragraph) can be useful for getting a feel for your partner, but typically in the 1x1's I've been in you spend a fair bit of time plotting ahead of starting the RP. That time of plotting lets you get to know your partner's writing style to some extent and it *should* put you both on the same page, no CS required.

Just my personal take on it. I don't complain when people ask for them but I tend to put way too much time, effort and detail into them only to find my character grows and changes to be something completely different from what I started with anyways.
 
Roleplaying (in my probably unpopular opinion) is a hobby at the end of the day. I shouldn't have to respond to you once an hour when I have other things to focus on.
 
Roleplaying (in my probably unpopular opinion) is a hobby at the end of the day. I shouldn't have to respond to you once an hour when I have other things to focus on.

I agree so much with this. Why I tell people it's okay if they only get back once a day/week. That way they dont feel pressured into it. Plus it gives me something to look forward to.
 
I agree so much with this. Why I tell people it's okay if they only get back once a day/week. That way they dont feel pressured into it. Plus it gives me something to look forward to.

Once a day or week is plenty for me. Sometimes I really just need a few days away from writing to give a good response. But I'm glad someone else gets it!
 
Related to this is neediness. Like when people are constantly fishing for compliments and telling you how shit their roleplay experience has been and how glad they are about you being not a piece of shit.

Like at a certain point it just because like my job is to be your therapist and no thanks.
 
Romance 1x1 required plays are an overplayed Trope and you should feel as bad as I do about enjoying them.

Also, ignore my spoiler, it's just my negative opinion about other people's opinions.

A single paragraph is fine, but a one liner within anything besides a 1x1 is usually just useless. I would have to say that 60% of my plays have died to people starting with decent detail then spiraling into and endless level of one liners that lack any sort of depth or attention to detail. I understand that combat can be sped up by shorter posts, but I can put out multiple paragraphs to a single combat action, if you're going to do something, do it right in my opinion. If you're going to take a swing at me, describe the visceral contortions of your characters muscles and the boiling rage that fuels their need to destroy my characters face. I've seriously had posts that were

"Examplencharacter attacks you really hard and it hurt."

And that was the whole post.

I dont care about word count, but I've always cared about detail.

And someone shouldnt roleplay if they dont reply at least weekly? Hah, I've had partners not reply for years, and pick up a story right where it left off. Literally happened like last week. Doesnt bother me. Working adults dont always have the time to devote to 2-3 replies a day let alone per week. Hell I've had monthly reply plays that were incredibly satisfying.

If you ignored my warning, I'm not sorry, and you should feel bad if you want me to be for any reason. You're not my mom! You cant tell me how to feel! Nyeh! Flips a table.
 

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