Other Roleplay Pet peeves

[Edric Blight]

Hopefully no one has mentioned this before but when you tell ME how to play MY character. Like, come on…

(Disclaimer: I get telling someone “you can’t do that” if they make their character OP but I’m just talking about in general like clear over stepping and trying to control another person’s character and how they play them.)

 

[sevyn]

[ aot spoilers kinda ] attack on titan ocs who are titan shifters. most of the time, it's done very poorly, just for the sake of making their oc "powerful" and different from most other characters, ignoring how it effects the lore and structure of the aot universe. there are nine titans for a reason; ymir's three daughters consumed her body after her death, creating a molding titan ( who could alter the composition of it's body at will ), a principle titan ( driven by abstract principles, as the name suggests ) and a monstrous titan ( deformed appearance with animalistic tendencies ). this later split into nine titans, three for each — colossal, armored, warhammer; female, founding, attack; jaw, beast, cart.

it's clichéd, boring, and above all, it makes no sense in canon.

 

[Onmyoji]

I have no idea about AoT which was referred to in the previous post, but as a fandom roleplayer, canon compliance is something I tend to get picky about, especially when it's about the characters or canon events I'm emotionally invested in. So it can definitely be a pet peeve regarding fandom OCs and AUs.

I will even quite my reply to the Question of the day thread because it kinda aligns with what I just said.

Even if it's AU there has to be some kind of inherited characterization from the original or some principles that would make the AU, well, AU and not a separate story with different characters having old names slapped over.

I do enjoy playing with personalities and circumstances of the original fandoms but there is a thin line between AU version of a character and complete OOC. This line might be different for different people though. So when I found rp partners for my fandoms, successful rp happened only with those who had similar views on the characters/events and their alternations.

 

[StuartAnderson]

I know the feeling. I'm trying to become less self-conscious about my writing. English is my first language but I am very inexperienced compared to most. I've been roleplaying for about 18 months, most people here seem to have been witing for over a decade.

I just try and focus on the progress i've made. I used to write one liners and now i'm a comfortable multi-para writer and the quality as gone up.
You should be proud too; being fluent in a second language is really hard and to be able to roleplay in it? that's impressive!

 

[sevyn]

honestly, same, but i’m almost always met with “ughh why do you have to be so serious, it’s just an rp, it’s just a hobby” like… yes! it is an rp!! for a specific fandom, one that i enjoy, and supposedly my partner would too!! so why would they be so insistent on straight up ignoring major parts of established canon? that sucks the fun out of it for me, i have to say.

i completely agree. literally what is the point of writing for a fandom if you don’t know how to play fandom characters? golly gee. i love doing alternate universes, and if someone intends to disregard the laws of the original universe, i’d rather they just say they want to do an au… but yeah, this is kind of why i’m slowly losing interest in rp and finding more interest in writing fanfic. not only does it avoid a plethora of other problems ( ghosting, uneven doubling, people without ooc-ic boundaries ) but it also means i don’t have to stare at my screen in mild contempt, thinking “he would not fucking say that.”

 

[Edric Blight]

I don’t mean to sound like an asshat right now and luckily I don’t see this a lot- but when I have a designated IC thread with someone and a specially designated OOC thread with someone and they start talking OOC in the IC thread.

Like listen, I love OOC chat don’t get me wrong, and I love ya but please- don’t do OOC in the IC thread.

Just makes my OCD cringe since I like things organized.

 

[Kekse]

Partners who don't forward the story. Replying to what I wrote, great. But don't stop there! Move on to what happens next so I have something to react to and forward as well! I'm not a GM roleplayer.

 

[StuartAnderson]

When you're planning out an RP, why do some people just blatantly avoid a questions?

I've had it several times recently. I had one last night, where they answered the 1st and 3rd and didn't answer the second? you blatantly saw it, you can't claim to have accidently missed it when it's between the two!
so why didn't you bother? do you think I want to roleplay with someone who doesn't read my messages or with someone who can't be bothered to respond to them?

(For the record, it was only 3 questions, so hard to miss 1 and they were roleplay related)

 

[Chill Alley Cat]

Mary sues! I hate developing a huge conflict in a story only for another player’s character to be immune to any disaster.

I usually play morally grey characters, but I understand the difference between a good person and a perfect impossible flawless concept of a living thing. One is a nice well off human being who can make mistakes and be effected by their changing environment, the other is annoying and unbearable.

 

[princessxsugarcookie]

When people hound me/pester me for any kind of post. Whether it’s an ooc message or a reply to the roleplay. Especially if it’s been less than a day or two.
I am pretty busy, and I make sure to state this right away. I work 6-5, 5 days a week. Normally my hours are longer depending on what’s going on. Sometimes I don’t have the brain power to make a post or I can’t check my messages. I do try to at least ooc once a day to check in. But please do not ask “are you still interested?” so quickly. It wears me down and makes me lose interest.

Another thing I’ve noticed more recently are know it alls. I’ve had some people shoot every single one of my ideas down because they didn’t think that was likely or possible. Which I can understand, but every single time? Not to mention when these happen during AUs or originals.

 

[saniachan]

When none of my RP-related brain dumps are actually related to the current IC plot. Like, a bunch of inspirations yet nothing could move the RP itself along.

 

[Yunalescaa]

I don't care that we said it here 100 times, I'm gonna say it again.

I am literally begging you all to use a normal sized font in your RP search or offer like...a mobile friendly/disability friendly option. I've had to nope out of so many search threads purely because I am blind as hell and can't read your 8.5 neon orange font to save my life. Please. I'm on my hands and knees here. I promise your thread will still have your aesthetic if you're working off 10.5-12 sized font. It will still be cute if you use dark colors. I promise you it will be fine.

 

[GrumpySwallow]

Here's some for RP in MMORPGs.

Person 1: I'm looking for RP.

Person 2: I'm looking for RP too!

Person 3: Hey, I'd like to RP as well!

Me: I want RP too. Let's get together and start a scene!

Other folks: Sure! I'm up for anything!

Me: Cool! How about we meet at (Location)? My character is there right now doing (Action).

Person 1: Nah, I don't feel like that.

Person 2: My character wouldn't go there.

Person 3: *Doesn't respond*

Me: ... Okay then. Do y'all have ideas? I'm open to suggestions!

Then I never get an answer.

---

Me: Okay, let's check the RP server's forum and see what events are taking place!

Bar RP.

Bar RP.

Bar RP.

Bar RP.

Bar RP.

Bar RP.

Player in game chat: Hey! I just finished setting up my house and it's ready for RP!

Me: Awesome! What is it?

Player: It's a bar! 8D

 

[Yunalescaa]

I don't know why people are determined to make super unlikable characters. Every story needs an antagonist but when every character is just down right mean/a bitch/a dick what is the point? Come up with something more compelling than a mean girl.

 

[floripher]

when the rp is 18+ only and they don't state it at the beginning. make it clear, obvious, and say it early on. please for the love

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Saying it tongue-in-cheek, but on the flip side, characters who are too nice, who's only personality flaw might be something like clumsy, or socially awkward, or blunt, where it's meant to be endearing or has no real impact on the character's life or plot potential.

I've seen one socially awkward klutz who worked out really well, and that was because they felt like a real person, and it wasn't the way they always operated. The player knew how to plug her into drama and show her as being flawed in her actions and judgments. In fairness, most games have an early death before characters can really come to life, whereas this one lasted at least a couple of months, but virtually all similar characters I've seen have behaved more like tropes.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Comple

Saying it tongue-in-cheek, but on the flip side, characters who are too nice, who's only personality flaw might be something like clumsy, or socially awkward, or blunt, where it's meant to be endearing or has no real impact on the character's life or plot potential.

I've seen one socially awkward klutz who worked out really well, and that was because they felt like a real person, and it wasn't the way they always operated. The player knew how to plug her into drama and show her as being flawed in her actions and judgments. In fairness, most games have an early death before characters can really come to life, whereas this one lasted at least a couple of months, but virtually all similar characters I've seen have behaved more like tropes.

I always find it baffling specifically for socially awkward or blandly nice characters. Because I’m like “this is literally who 90% of the people on this site are IRL”. It really shouldn’t be that hard to just write your own personality believably.

I feel like it comes down to two things

1. People don’t want to be accused of writing self inserts

2. People want to write aspirational characters rather then realistic ones. So they want they’re characters to be like nice dialed up to eleven rather then regular normal people nice.

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

2. People want to write aspirational characters rather then realistic ones. So they want they’re characters to be like nice dialed up to eleven rather then regular normal people nice.

This is the explanation I default to, partly because I forget self-inserts are a thing. A lot of players like to fulfill a dream instead of tell a story.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Also something else I thought about is the players may be trying to avoid criticism.

So something that happens to me (and I am oddly grateful that it does because I am the kinda of person who doesn’t take it personally) is people go from being nice to mean on a dime.

Like literally within a single post they will just attack. Now I just block and move on because I don’t need to waste my time with jerks.

But for someone who is less experienced or has a more timid personality I can see them trying to appease others by making the blandest nicest character who never gets into an argument. Cuz they do not want someone else to get mad at them for their character (because self inserts work both ways. It’s not just you putting yourself into your character ifs also your partner putting themselves into characters too).

 

[Damafaud]

Ah yes, because the character I play has a flippant attitude toward suicide and makes off-hand joke about self harm, it is a natural conclusion that I am also the same and thus a horrible person.

Like please. I'm obviously not my character and I detailed why she was like that OOC, so obviously you weren't reading my messages KAREN
Some people need to separate IC and OOC better -__-

 

[Kaiju Cat]

I understand wanting your oc to be unique but it wouldn’t make sense to deviate from the canon lore too much that they don’t fit and are obviously a clone of a canon from another series.

 

[SirPrompto15]

Joining the RP site too late and Some rps that you are interested in have been inactive for awhile.
In a similar way, I always get interested in a fandom too late and miss interesting things.

 

[hearts4.naa]

There's a 1x1 RP interest check that seems cool, until I get to the list of desired ships and they either listed "Professor x (College) Student" or "Master x Slave." Even worse, the OC's love interest is a literal child in an anime or TV show. Ech.

 

[nerdy tangents]

People who lack self awareness.

Them: it’s really rude to hound people for replies

Also Them: *twenty minutes after they post* hey are you finished with your reply yet?

Them: I don’t understand why people ghost me!

Also Them: scream at you the second you try to leave the roleplay.

It’s such a red flag that I pretty much block immediately.

 

[MetalGarurumon]

Have someone who refuses to compromise on anything and the RP feels really stale and stagnant, like I don't feel like I have any room to take creative liberties, every-time I see there's a OOC message I cringe.