Experiences Does anyone else...?

[jord]

This is sort of a general thread for sharing quirks or habits that you've developed in your time roleplaying. (It also might be spurred by a little venting on my part. Don't tell anyone.)

All you have to do is toss something in the thread- it's up to you whether you start it with "Does anyone else...?"- and see if anyone else shares your experience(s).

Does anyone else find it really off-putting- regardless of your personal proficiency- when someone else says something like "I'm a very serious writer and take this very seriously, so please make sure you are up to my grammatical standards (even though 40% of the words in the search are typoed)"?

I don't know why it grinds me, but it really does.

 

[Nana_MelaNinja]

I can definitely relate to that. Might I add in people who describe their writing as "detailed", and then continue on to present RP responses that are two lines long or are filled to the brim with fluff unrelated to the plot. (Nothing against one-liners or the people that like to use them. Most of the time I'm just looking for something a little more substantial.)

So... does anyone else invent stories to explain why your previous partners ditched you, in the event that they ghost on you without a word? An example of mine is that one partner was a spy who went on a quest to recover the elusive eight episode of Moody's Point. Unfortunately, they were caught in the act and is now imprisoned in the foul underbelly of Nickelodeon HQ, never to be seen again. No, forget that post they recently made in the forums. It's an evil cyborg sent to replace them.​

 

[rae2nerdy]

I am waiting when - purple prose master of the written word becomes a roleplay label. It's a lot more honest than ( literate, detailed , etc ) in some cases and honestly not even that bad if you go into it with your expectations in the right place.

As for ghosting - I had someone I was roleplaying with get into a car crash once and leave for several months while they were hospitalized soo I just sort of assume real life health issues and don't mention it unless they come back.

The thing that tweaks me is sort of related to the OP and it's - people who are obviously passive aggressively venting about some other partner who pissed them off in their searches.

 

[Nana_MelaNinja]

I had someone I was roleplaying with get into a car crash once and leave for several months while they were hospitalized soo I just sort of assume real life health issues and don't mention it unless they come back.

How are they doing now? Hopefully they have made a full recovery.

In any event, I apologize for upsetting anyone with my last post. It was not my intention to do so. I was only trying to unwind and share my frustrations with the RP process with those who could possibly relate, and maybe laugh it off. Again, I'm sorry, and I hope everyone has a nice rest of the day.

 

[YarnDrawcia]

Does anyone else get completely turned off by romance, or is it just me? It's the one reason why I don't do 1x1's, because almost everyone on most sites where 1x1's are possible want romance. No, I'm not here to ship characters, I'm here to play out a story.

 

[jord]

I am waiting when - purple prose master of the written word becomes a roleplay label. It's a lot more honest than ( literate, detailed , etc ) in some cases and honestly not even that bad if you go into it with your expectations in the right place.

As for ghosting - I had someone I was roleplaying with get into a car crash once and leave for several months while they were hospitalized soo I just sort of assume real life health issues and don't mention it unless they come back.

The thing that tweaks me is sort of related to the OP and it's - people who are obviously passive aggressively venting about some other partner who pissed them off in their searches.

LMAO, I'll own up to at least half of that dig (though, maybe somewhat ironic, considering?). It wasn't about anyone in particular, though. I just noticed that reading something like that dampens a lot of enthusiasm for me. I don't see it too often, but when I do, it takes a really awesome post and sinks it for me, because it always has a tone of "Are you worthy to write with me?" (Not to mention that perfect grammar doesn't mean you're a good writer, and casts a lot of shade on people who are ESL.) I haven't engaged with anyone who's done it, nor am I calling anyone specifically out. Definitely not my intent! Just venting a little on how bumming it is to read something like that after being enthused about a search/thread. This thread isn't for subtweeting anyone, just general trends. Cheers, mate!

I can definitely relate to that. Might I add in people who describe their writing as "detailed", and then continue on to present RP responses that are two lines long or are filled to the brim with fluff unrelated to the plot. (Nothing against one-liners or the people that like to use them. Most of the time I'm just looking for something a little more substantial.)

So... does anyone else invent stories to explain why your previous partners ditched you, in the event that they ghost on you without a word? An example of mine is that one partner was a spy who went on a quest to recover the elusive eight episode of Moody's Point. Unfortunately, they were caught in the act and is now imprisoned in the foul underbelly of Nickelodeon HQ, never to be seen again. No, forget that post they recently made in the forums. It's an evil cyborg sent to replace them.​

How are they doing now? Hopefully they have made a full recovery.

In any event, I apologize for upsetting anyone with my last post. It was not my intention to do so. I was only trying to unwind and share my frustrations with the RP process with those who could possibly relate, and maybe laugh it off. Again, I'm sorry, and I hope everyone has a nice rest of the day.

I think you're fine, mate. I mean, I don't think anyone expects that their partner is suddenly incapacitated, because ghosting is so common. (I'll admit to doing it myself, sorry guys.) I definitely feel where you're coming from, but whenever I see someone who ghosted on me posting, I kind of smile just a bit because I wonder if they (like I've felt, in my ghosting days) are hoping they don't run back into me/are a little embarrassed by it.

Does anyone else get completely turned off by romance, or is it just me? It's the one reason why I don't do 1x1's, because almost everyone on most sites where 1x1's are possible want romance. No, I'm not here to ship characters, I'm here to play out a story.

All the TIME, honestly. Like, I do like some romance occasionally, but not EVERY plot needs it, you know? I've been turned down before for not wanting romance, which kind of sucked!! I guess, to each their own, though.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Does anyone else get completely turned off by romance, or is it just me? It's the one reason why I don't do 1x1's, because almost everyone on most sites where 1x1's are possible want romance. No, I'm not here to ship characters, I'm here to play out a story.

I feel your pain. There are some platonic roleplayers on this site in the 1x1 section ( I am one of them ) but it's like finding a diamond in a coal mind to sift through all the pairing / romance based searches to find them.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Nana_MelaNinja
To the best of my knowledge yeah they made a full recovery. As I mentioned they disappeared for a few months and then came back after they left the hospital. They were very apologetic about their absence even though obviously no one was in the least bit upset. They seemed to be doing fine though.

As to your post it didn't upset me in the slightest. I was just adding my own experience as the OP had requested. Honestly the purple prose thing was meant to be a joke. Since a lot of the time the long winded "detailed" posts are really just a lot of purple prose or padding. Which I personally don't mind but I can understand how it would be frustrating.

jord
Oh no I wasn't intending that to be a dig at you or anything. I was just adding something that frustrates me in general. To be honest I didn't really see yours as all that passive aggressive. What I meant specifically is when someone makes an interest check like the one below.

EXAMPLE
( interest check ) Please read this entire paragraph and not just the first few sentences because I've had a lot of people who don't read all of the stuff I write and it's super annoying and I'm tired of people asking questions even though I answer them right in the middle of all these words and if you don't want to spend the time reading all of this than you're probably an illiterate n00b or a power player anyway so don't bother contacting me.

Like that's a lot of passive aggressive hostility for one paragraph and I hate it when people make their entire post just more of the same. It's fine to have a pet peeve and vent about it. But an interest check isn't the place for that. It's supposed to be a way to advertise for new partners not complain about ones you didn't like.

 

[jord]

rae2nerdy
Oh, shit, dude, that's my bad. I misread it, totally my fault! But, re-adding on, I kinda laughed a little bit, because you're so right. "Detailed" really shouldn't be a synonym for "purple prose," and yet...

It also gets me when there are "Answer this secret question to prove you've been paying attention" lines in there.

On another note, sending writing samples isn't my thing, but I'll do it on request; what really gets my goat is when the asker gets upset when you ask for one back. Does anyone else wish you'd sent your worst sample when they get huffy you asked for one?

 

[rae2nerdy]

rae2nerdy
Oh, shit, dude, that's my bad. I misread it, totally my fault! But, re-adding on, I kinda laughed a little bit, because you're so right. "Detailed" really shouldn't be a synonym for "purple prose," and yet...

It also gets me when there are "Answer this secret question to prove you've been paying attention" lines in there.

On another note, sending writing samples isn't my thing, but I'll do it on request; what really gets my goat is when the asker gets upset when you ask for one back. Does anyone else wish you'd sent your worst sample when they get huffy you asked for one?

That is weird like presumably if you're asking for a writing sample you obviously feel like it's going to tell you something valuable about your partner. So by that logic why wouldn't your partner want the same assurance/information?

I can't stand people that act like roleplaying is a one way street ( and guess which direction that street is heading? ). Like no if I wanted to help people write their own fan-fiction or whatever I'm pretty sure their are other places I could go to do that. If I'm asking you to roleplay it's because I want to do a story we'll both enjoy.

Even more frustrating don't stick me with all the leg work then get mad at the ideas I come up with. That happened to be when I first started roleplaying and it made me so mad I nearly quit. Like I spent days fleshing out a story and asking my partner over and over for input only to get monosyllable replies. And then when I get all the information up ( my character sheets, the setting and lore, the plot, and my first response ) they go around and complain because they thought it was a fandom roleplay and acted like I tricked them.

Like....words could not express how pissed off I was. I had spent DAYS going over what I was doing and asking continuously for some kind of feedback only to have them blame me at the end because I had somehow neglected to read their mind via the internet.

 

[jord]

That is weird like presumably if you're asking for a writing sample you obviously feel like it's going to tell you something valuable about your partner. So by that logic why wouldn't your partner want the same assurance/information?

I can't stand people that act like roleplaying is a one way street ( and guess which direction that street is heading? ). Like no if I wanted to help people write their own fan-fiction or whatever I'm pretty sure their are other places I could go to do that. If I'm asking you to roleplay it's because I want to do a story we'll both enjoy.

Even more frustrating don't stick me with all the leg work then get mad at the ideas I come up with. That happened to be when I first started roleplaying and it made me so mad I nearly quit. Like I spent days fleshing out a story and asking my partner over and over for input only to get monosyllable replies. And then when I get all the information up ( my character sheets, the setting and lore, the plot, and my first response ) they go around and complain because they thought it was a fandom roleplay and acted like I tricked them.

Like....words could not express how pissed off I was. I had spent DAYS going over what I was doing and asking continuously for some kind of feedback only to have them blame me at the end because I had somehow neglected to read their mind via the internet.

(I feel like I'm monopolizing this thread, whoops.)

But I feel that SO HARD. Whenever I put out a detailed search, I feel like I need to apologize when I mention "I really want to build a world/plot together, so I'm not your dude if you've got writer's block," and I always do tack on a little apology, which is kind of lame because you're so right. This whole thing is supposed to be a two way street. I'm not looking for someone to facilitate my fantasy and mine alone, and I kinda hope for partner's who feel the same way.

 

[Nana_MelaNinja]

Does anyone else get completely turned off by romance, or is it just me? It's the one reason why I don't do 1x1's, because almost everyone on most sites where 1x1's are possible want romance. No, I'm not here to ship characters, I'm here to play out a story.

Mmm, I think that really depends on the plot itself. If, for instance, we were playing a purely survival-based RP, then I probably won't be open to a romance. But for some people, shipping their characters is kind of the point of the story. I guess that's another thing we can chalk up to personal preference.

I agree that there's a startling number of people looking specifically for romance-dominated plots. It's got to be well over half of all the interest checks out there. (Not to hate on them, either.)

I think you're fine, mate. I mean, I don't think anyone expects that their partner is suddenly incapacitated, because ghosting is so common. (I'll admit to doing it myself, sorry guys.) I definitely feel where you're coming from, but whenever I see someone who ghosted on me posting, I kind of smile just a bit because I wonder if they (like I've felt, in my ghosting days) are hoping they don't run back into me/are a little embarrassed by it.

Yeahhh, I might have been was totally venting in my first post. I've been a member on this site for about seven months now, and in that time I've been ditched in about 75% of all the RPs I've participated in. I don't want to get too frustrated when it happens, because it is fairly common and I know people can get a little uncomfortable expressing their disinterest in continuing an RP. But it's still kind of a crappy feeling, lol.

Nana_MelaNinja
To the best of my knowledge yeah they made a full recovery. As I mentioned they disappeared for a few months and then came back after they left the hospital. They were very apologetic about their absence even though obviously no one was in the least bit upset. They seemed to be doing fine though.

As to your post it didn't upset me in the slightest. I was just adding my own experience as the OP had requested. Honestly the purple prose thing was meant to be a joke. Since a lot of the time the long winded "detailed" posts are really just a lot of purple prose or padding. Which I personally don't mind but I can understand how it would be frustrating.

That's good to hear! And I'm glad that I didn't upset you. I must have misread your post as well, which indicates that I could use a nap. I still hope everyone has a nice day!

 

[YarnDrawcia]

Well, I've always found romance to be boring in fiction, especially when it's the central theme, so it could just be me.

In regards to purple prose and fluff, I don't get as easily annoyed by it as most people. But I do get bored of reading such unimportant things eventually.

 

[Borkus Lazorus]

I agree that there's a startling number of people looking specifically for romance-dominated plots. It's got to be well over half of all the interest checks out there. (Not to hate on them, either.)

Does anyone else get completely turned off by romance, or is it just me? It's the one reason why I don't do 1x1's, because almost everyone on most sites where 1x1's are possible want romance. No, I'm not here to ship characters, I'm here to play out a story.

Oh, you know why..........

//misyoginistic chauvinistic sexist joke over

Anyway, romance is fucking boring and I agree with all of you. I want to roleplay my badass setting full of giant dragons and badass flamethrower guitar-wielding raiders on two-headed cows, not watch Jane Doe and John Doe do the mangle-mash.

Anyway, the simplest answer to your question, Nana_MelaNinja about why people quit that I invent the story of real life. Some people are not as emotionally invested into the hobby of roleplaying as anyone else. They've got salaries to get, taxes to pay, kids to feed, injuries to heal at hospitals, sometimes periods of emotional stress due to conflicts in their life.

Real Life ain't the perfect environment for role-playing but you get what you get.

Does anyone else find it really off-putting- regardless of your personal proficiency- when someone else says something like "I'm a very serious writer and take this very seriously, so please make sure you are up to my grammatical standards (even though 40% of the words in the search are typoed)"?

That's why I typically ask for a writing sample before I know what I'm getting into as a security check for any liars. Might sound very tour de forcey and stuck-up pretentious bullshit measures to get what I want but it separates the people who are normal roleplayers from the people who are great roleplayers.

Never had this experience but I think it began to grow more and more on chat sites and so forth when I wrote a multi-paragraphed response and my partners only wrote one sentence.

RPnation is more consistent in the regard I can find more viable partners.

Anyway, does anyone else accidentally done god-modding or experienced god-modding before on this site in particular or on other sites?

I've accidentally done one before back in the early days of role-playing and I've experienced low-level shitheads who've done it before as well. Fortunately, on this site, I haven't seem to been able to encounter any god-modders.

 

[YarnDrawcia]

Oh god, back when I was a newbie roleplayer, the roleplays found on the NOOK (Barnes and Nobles device, and it's RPing heydays have long since past) was practically riddled with these. It's especially bad during battles between cat clans.

Once I had roleplayed a cat in one of these clans, it was auto-hit killed by some enemy cat's fourteen foot claws.

Fourteen foot claws.

And if you try to bring back a cat because they were auto-killed without giving you a chance or permission to kill them, everyone within the clan and other clans will lose their minds.

Needless to say, I avoided cat clans for the rest of my days on the NOOK and I still avoid Warriors roleplays.

 

[Mx.Trinity]

Does anyone else over analyze their own writing to make sure they don't use the same words repeatedly?

 

[Nana_MelaNinja]

Anyway, the simplest answer to your question, Nana_MelaNinja about why people quit that I invent the story of real life. Some people are not as emotionally invested into the hobby of roleplaying as anyone else. They've got salaries to get, taxes to pay, kids to feed, injuries to heal at hospitals, sometimes periods of emotional stress due to conflicts in their life.

Real Life ain't the perfect environment for role-playing but you get what you get.

Yep, I definitely understand that. It's not so much that I get disappointed when real life prevents someone from RPing, as it's happened to me before. It's when people suddenly leave an RP without notice when they have the time and ability to do so that gets me. BUT I'm trying to get over it and accept it as part of the experience. It is what it is, I guess.

Fourteen foot claws.

O_O

Yowza.

 

[jord]

That's why I typically ask for a writing sample before I know what I'm getting into as a security check for any liars. Might sound very tour de forcey and stuck-up pretentious bullshit measures to get what I want but it separates the people who are normal roleplayers from the people who are great roleplayers.

Never had this experience but I think it began to grow more and more on chat sites and so forth when I wrote a multi-paragraphed response and my partners only wrote one sentence.

RPnation is more consistent in the regard I can find more viable partners.

Anyway, does anyone else accidentally done god-modding or experienced god-modding before on this site in particular or on other sites?

I've accidentally done one before back in the early days of role-playing and I've experienced low-level shitheads who've done it before as well. Fortunately, on this site, I haven't seem to been able to encounter any god-modders.

I can respect people who want samples, tbh. It's the easiest way to figure out if you'll click with someone's style. I tend to be very action-oriented, and I don't mesh as well with people who are very environment-oriented, so samples keep us from wasting our time.

I tend to find that I'm most irked by the way people say things (because I don't wanna mingle with people who have a superiority complex).

As for god-modding, I haven't many too many of them. I used to run into them every third post back in the Neopets roleplaying scene. But that does lead me to another DAE: Does anyone else let very close RP friends "god-mod," so to speak? Like I wouldn't call it actual god-modding, but I have a couple partners who have been with me for years at this point who sometimes know how to push a plot somewhere I didn't even KNOW I wanted it to go by kind of sort of controlling both our characters to start us down that sweet, sweet path.

I don't think I'd ever let a regular schmoe do that, though.

Oh god, back when I was a newbie roleplayer, the roleplays found on the NOOK (Barnes and Nobles device, and it's RPing heydays have long since past) was practically riddled with these. It's especially bad during battles between cat clans.

Once I had roleplayed a cat in one of these clans, it was auto-hit killed by some enemy cat's fourteen foot claws.

Fourteen foot claws.

And if you try to bring back a cat because they were auto-killed without giving you a chance or permission to kill them, everyone within the clan and other clans will lose their minds.

Needless to say, I avoided cat clans for the rest of my days on the NOOK and I still avoid Warriors roleplays.

God, I remember Warriors roleplays. I specifically remember I had a cat named Arrowpelt and derailed a thread arguing with some guy about how cats would totally know what arrowheads are, so it was a legitimate name. I could go for a Warrior plot now, lmao.

Does anyone else over analyze their own writing to make sure they don't use the same words repeatedly?

How about all the time? Catch me with that CTRL+F 24/7.

 

[Leveque]

Sorry, but if I were to express my true feelings about what annoys me here, all of you would just see me as an online bully.

So I'll say something else instead.

Does anyone HATE it when people don't put any effort into making their characters?

 

[kibou]

I totally get disappointed when people say "detailed," but then their writing isn't as good as I'd hoped it to be. I mean, I think a lot of people tend to think that whatever writing level they're currently at is "good writing" since they don't have the perspective their future self with more experience has. It's like when a 14 year old thinks they're mature, because that's as mature as they've ever been.

So even if it is disappointing it doesn't bother me that much anymore when someone says "detailed" and their posts are full of pointless prose. Instead I try to word my player searches so that they emphasize what traits I'm looking for- willing to collaborate on character relationships and plot, being able to take constructive criticism if need be, making well-rounded and realistic characters (although this is a bit too subjective as well and has the same problems as asking for "detailed" players,) and etc.


I also don't like romance depending on the circumstances. Definitely not if it's someone just saying "hey I bet your character would fall in love with mine" when the characters haven't interacted yet or their personalities don't seem compatible. I'm okay with it if it develops after interaction and is in-line with plot needs and their individual character traits. And they're sure as hell not going to have the perfect relationship right away either.


Related to reading posts to make sure words aren't used way too often- anyone else constantly look over their posts for any kind of redundancy? Including varying sentence structure, information given, ways of phrasing stuff, and so on. Sometimes I have to re-write a paragraph one or two times because specific aspects just seem too redundant. :/

 

[Nana_MelaNinja]

As for god-modding, I haven't many too many of them. I used to run into them every third post back in the Neopets roleplaying scene. But that does lead me to another DAE: Does anyone else let very close RP friends "god-mod," so to speak? Like I wouldn't call it actual god-modding, but I have a couple partners who have been with me for years at this point who sometimes know how to push a plot somewhere I didn't even KNOW I wanted it to go by kind of sort of controlling both our characters to start us down that sweet, sweet path.

I don't think I'd ever let a regular schmoe do that, though.

Haha, well none of my friends are avid about RPs as I am, so I don't have any experience with that. *sobs* However, I would totally be open to a situation like the one you mentioned, so long as they respected our boundaries, it doesn't derail an existing plot, and their ideas aren't too out there. Yes, please. Sign me up.

Also, hi fellow Neopets refugee! I think that was the site where I did my first RP. Ah, memories.

So even if it is disappointing it doesn't bother me that much anymore when someone says "detailed" and their posts are full of pointless prose. Instead I try to word my player searches so that they emphasize what traits I'm looking for- willing to collaborate on character relationships and plot, being able to take constructive criticism if need be, making well-rounded and realistic characters (although this is a bit too subjective as well and has the same problems as asking for "detailed" players,) and etc.

Related to reading posts to make sure words aren't used way too often- anyone else constantly look over their posts for any kind of redundancy? Including varying sentence structure, information given, ways of phrasing stuff, and so on. Sometimes I have to re-write a paragraph one or two times because specific aspects just seem too redundant. :/

That's good advice. I'll keep that in mind when developing my next IC. Thanks for sharing! And to your last point, I keep Thesaurus.com bookmarked for that very reason, lol. I have the tendency to overuse the words "eager" and "anticipate" for some bizarre reason. I found using a thesaurus to be very beneficial in that regard.

 

[adrian_]

Does anyone else get completely turned off by romance, or is it just me? It's the one reason why I don't do 1x1's, because almost everyone on most sites where 1x1's are possible want romance. No, I'm not here to ship characters, I'm here to play out a story.

I just like the hypocrisy of "Does anyone else get completely turned off by romance" Thank you for the laugh, my friend.

 

[YarnDrawcia]

I don't get i-

I think I just got the joke.