Viewpoint Doubling, what is it & why do people like it?

[Shawdios]

I’ve been in the RP circle for around 6 on and off years, and one thing I’ve never really pinned down is what exactly doubling was.

I hear about it and see it constantly in request threads but I’ve never gotten a solid idea on what it was?

As far as I know it’s where people do two pairings at the same time?

Regardless, defining a RP with romantic pairings just isn’t my thing. I do wanna hear why people find it so appealing!

(Be respectful)

 

[BittyBobcat]

Doubling is a term primarily used in 1x1 rps that refers to one player playing two or more characters at once. Some people specifically use it to mean two characters, but I more often see it generalized to multiple characters rather than just two. Usually it isn't counted as doubling if you play a main character and minor character(s) that rarely show up or only appear once. As far as I understand, it doesn't inherently have anything to do with romance and I think most associations with it stem from its common usage in 1x1 rp (where romance rps tend to be more common).

 

[Shawdios]

Huh, intresting.

I switch between Main characters when it’s needed, I.e. one goes off screen and stops interacting with my partner’s character so I switch to one who is or is about to.

I don’t know if that counts but I tend to do a lot of characters if it’s needed.

If my partner wants to RP more than one character I’m not bothered as long as they can handle it and give them both proper attention.

 

[nerdy tangents]

You actually had it right Shawdios .

The majority of people who use the term doubling are talking about transactional roleplays.

You play a love interest for my character and I play a love interest for your character.

What BittyBobcat described is more typically called “playing side characters” or sometimes it’s just “I play multiple characters.”

Now that isn’t to say that some people use doubling in the way Bobcat mentioned but I would say their the minority.

The vast majority of people who use the term means specifically “let’s play two pairings”.

The idea being they have a character they want you to play for them so they are offering to play a character for you in return

 

[Shawdios]

The majority of people who use the term doubling are talking about transactional roleplays.

You play a love interest for my character and I play a love interest for your character.

The vast majority of people who use the term means specifically “let’s play two pairings”.

The idea being they have a character they want you to play for them so they are offering to play a character for you in return

Honestly how do those stay fun? I would rather have two characters each, that we both are having fun with, mix together and see who ends up with who than having it be transactional.

It could be just me not understanding Romance, and attraction, but it doesn’t seem like a happy roleplay for the parties involved.

 

[nerdy tangents]

A fellow aro ace here. I think in theory it isn’t romantic necessarily. Think of it like this ;;

If you have two roles in a plot then you are gonna pick the role you like and ask your partner to play opposite you.

Ex. The shy nerdy girl gets asked out by the friendly jock. I want to play the nerdy girl can you play the friendly jock?

That is pretty much the foundation to all 1x1 roleplays. You play the person opposite my character so the plot can move forward.

All doubling is doing (in theory) is just saying

if you also want to play a shy nerdy girl then you can and I will play a friendly jock as well.

But usually if your like “actually I want to play a friendly jock and a prom queen” they aren’t gonna really care. As long as you are playing the original request “friendly jock” the rest is just figuring out who wants to play what.

The messaging is a little weird but in practice it’s really just “please play this one specific role for me and in return I will play a role for you.”

 

[Shawdios]

Yeah that makes sense now that I think about it.

But it still doesn’t seem like stable way to start a roleplay of off.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Yeah that makes sense now that I think about it.

But it still doesn’t seem like stable way to start a roleplay of off.

It's a little convoluted I grant you but typically speaking if you actually talk to the people it's a lot more stream-lined.
Keeping in mind the purpose of a interest check is to be specific but also vague enough that you catch the widest net possible.

So just saying "I want you to play character X for me." in theory is easier but it can also turn off people who will feel like they are being taken advantage of.
But saying "I play multiple characters" is too vague if you want your partner to play a specific role for you.

So it's kind of trying to find that middle ground where you play multiple characters but within specific character roles.

 

[Abyss]

Honestly how do those stay fun? I would rather have two characters each, that we both are having fun with, mix together and see who ends up with who than having it be transactional.

It could be just me not understanding Romance, and attraction, but it doesn’t seem like a happy roleplay for the parties involved.

So, I've never doubled, but I think a part of it could also depend on why you like to write. For example, I think that if you double, you can also get satisfaction out of writing to make someone happy and that might be enough to make it enjoyable for both parties. Or you could see as it as something like a team sport or playing another type of game where you have to take turns. Sort of like how in baseball they switch the teams between roles or in karaoke you take turns singing, etc. If everyone is enjoying themselves and happy to give equal effort, then I can see why it would be enjoyable.

And even if it is transactional, I don't necessarily see a problem with it if both people are giving in equal effort and are happy with what they're getting from the bargain. It might feel more like work to write a character that you wouldn't 100% be interested in playing under other circumstances, but people go to jobs they don't love all the time in order to fund their hobbies all the time.

I’ve been in the RP circle for around 6 on and off years, and one thing I’ve never really pinned down is what exactly doubling was.

I hear about it and see it constantly in request threads but I’ve never gotten a solid idea on what it was?

As far as I know it’s where people do two pairings at the same time?

Regardless, defining a RP with romantic pairings just isn’t my thing. I do wanna hear why people find it so appealing!

(Be respectful)

Doubling is usually where someone has a plot or pairing in mind and they're looking for someone to play a specific role or character for them. In return, they're offering to do the same for their partner. I think doubling tends to increase when someone is looking for a very highly requested role. Essentially, there are some roles or tropes that a lot of people love and because more people want to play (insert role here) then a lot of times people double so that they both get to play (insert same role here) and as a result no one minds also playing the less popular role. I also see it frequently with niche fandoms or tropes/genres.

 

[Scoundrel]

Honestly how do those stay fun? I would rather have two characters each, that we both are having fun with, mix together and see who ends up with who than having it be transactional.

Why are you assuming that people who double won't have fun with the characters they play?

I mean, surely the target audience for an interest checks that involve someone playing, say, Naruto is someone who wants to play as Naruto.

 

[Shawdios]

Why are you assuming that people who double won't have fun with the characters they play?

I mean, surely the target audience for an interest checks that involve someone playing, say, Naruto is someone who wants to play as Naruto.

My apologies for assuming, I personally just don’t find the appeal.

 

[nerdy tangents]

My apologies for assuming, I personally just don’t find the appeal.

I think it’s the specificity that’s throwing you off am I right?

You would prefer to be given a choice in which role you play in a roleplay?

So to use the above example ;;

Rather than be told you have to play Naruto you would rather the person just have a list of different characters to choose from?

So you could play Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, or an OC depending on which one speaks to you as a writer?

 

[Owl Knight]

It's always so amusing to read RPs that are doubled because it's often like trying to read two books simultaneously. I always feel like I'm twisting my brain into a pretzel.

 

[Steve Jobs]

Hmm, the definition of doubling that I usually see is that each person plays 2 characters so that both can be paired off/have involvement with each other so that the plot doesn't become focused on just one character (esp with Canon characters or romance).

From personal experience I don't mind it as long as the all characters are involved with each other. Instead of essentially, having two separate character threads happening simultaneously, we approach it like we would with a group RP. It just happens to be that these specific pairings are end game.

An example from when I was young is when my RP partner and I played (DemonxHuman). The demons were sent to Earth as a duo for something (this was many years ago so I don't remember the specifics) and the humans were friends that eventually had to stop them.

All of that said, I agree with many that there is a transactional element there but I also see some utility in treating it as a way to add more characters to what would otherwise be just two people and a bunch of Npcs. Since I didn't always have the time/energy to run a group RP, 1x1s with doubling allowed me to test out new ideas while having more people occupy the world that I (or my partner) made up.

 

[Jannah]

I just want to point out that doubling is not always a transactional thing. A lot of us do it simply because we enjoying having more than one main character present. For example, I may want to play a pair of siblings or something. Doubling allows for me to do that. It also feels more authentic in a sense (at least to me) as realistically there's more than two people in the world. Plus some plots may require more than two main characters.

Of course I also bring in plenty of side characters as needed too. Those are fun to develop as well, especially if they're recurring.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Jannah I feel like we need different words for multiple characters and doubling.

Because doubling is about the transactional nature of the situation.

To use your example : it’s not “oh I want to play two siblings.”

It’s “I want you to play two siblings and I will also play two siblings.”

It’s about the specificity of the exchange of who plays what. You are essentially picking your partners characters AND your characters.

Whereas in your example you as an individual want to play two characters + side characters (aka multiple characters) but you aren’t making any kind of assumption about who your partner plays in return. I mean I am assuming your just requesting they play multiple characters as well not two specific characters to match yours?

 

[Jannah]

Jannah I feel like we need different words for multiple characters and doubling.

Because doubling is about the transactional nature of the situation.

To use your example : it’s not “oh I want to play two siblings.”

It’s “I want you to play two siblings and I will also play two siblings.”

It’s about the specificity of the exchange of who plays what. You are essentially picking your partners characters AND your characters.

Whereas in your example you as an individual want to play two characters + side characters (aka multiple characters) but you aren’t making any kind of assumption about who your partner plays in return. I mean I am assuming your just requesting they play multiple characters as well not two specific characters to match yours?

Yes. I don't care which sort of characters they play. Hell, I don't even care if they only want to play one character instead of two. I just like to play two characters sometimes because there might be a specific dynamic I want to explore.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Jannah which is why I don’t think that’s doubling.

It’s like if you and a group of friends hang out you wouldn’t call that a double date right?

You would only call it a double date if you and your partner were hanging out with another romantic partnership.

So to me playing multiple characters is like hanging out with your friends. There can be any of characters involved the only requirement is that it’s more then two.

Whereas doubling is like going on a double date specifically. You are setting out to do a pairing specific story with two pairings involved.

 

[elusivethought]

I've doubled before. 3 times with same partner, actually. We planned the pairings, of course, but it was less 'I'll play this character if you'll play this one for me' and more my partner often brainstormed two companion characters (most of which had incredibly interesting backstories together, or intertwined story arcs together), then I played off of them. My partner was the brains of the operations for sure LOL.

It was fun though, because though we had our romantic pairings, we also had familial and platonic relationships explored through the others and NPCs as well. The characters were often like a small D&D group, just the four of them, with extra NPCs joining as needed. They would support and complement one another (when they weren't fighting) with unique abilities and specialities. Most of the narrative focus was character growth.

I'm not one for doubling anymore, mostly because I don't have time to write much. But I enjoyed it.

 

[Addicted to Coffee]

Think it is to give the other writer a convenience who they want to pair up with