Viewpoint Unpopular roleplay opinions?

[Vertex]

100% this. As a POC who has been RPing for a long while, I have never seen someone called out for making a POC. For that matter, I have not seen it happen with an LGBT character either. I don't care if you don't want to play POC, but just say that instead of jumping through all these hoops to justify not doing it. Like... is it fear of misrepresentation? Because unless they are just a conglomeration of stereotypes, I don't think misrepresentation is going to be a problem.

Tbh, the excuse I hate the most is the: "The story doesn't CALL for a POC" excuse, because like... So... what about it makes it specifically call for a white character? It has become kind of a popular excuse for some people to make. The same excuse is often used with LGBT characters. And like... once again, if you just want to roleplay someone who was straight and white... fine, that is completely fine. It is an RP site, you do you. But like... these are near dangerous mindsets to have because it treats POCs and LGBT characters as being not normal and like they don't deserve to be represented unless the narrative is specifically about their struggles.

100% ^^

 

[Sibelle Grey]

100% this. As a POC who has been RPing for a long while, I have never seen someone called out for making a POC. For that matter, I have not seen it happen with an LGBT character either. I don't care if you don't want to play POC, but just say that instead of jumping through all these hoops to justify not doing it. Like... is it fear of misrepresentation? Because unless they are just a conglomeration of stereotypes, I don't think misrepresentation is going to be a problem.

Tbh, the excuse I hate the most is the: "The story doesn't CALL for a POC" excuse, because like... So... what about it makes it specifically call for a white character? It has become kind of a popular excuse for some people to make. The same excuse is often used with LGBT characters. And like... once again, if you just want to roleplay someone who was straight and white... fine, that is completely fine. It is an RP site, you do you. But like... these are near dangerous mindsets to have because it treats POCs and LGBT characters as being not normal and like they don't deserve to be represented unless the narrative is specifically about their struggles.

I definitely agree. Like at this point I'm so tired of this narrative that people don't play POC and LGBT folks because they're scared of doing it wrong, when I'd bet my right arm most just don't want to. It doesn't take much to be honest about it, but you're right, the excuses that are used are so often more harmful than just saying "I'd rather play someone like me." It's so disheartening to still have people who will tell you to your face there's no point in a character like you existing in a narrative if it's not strictly necessary. Just play your white cishetero characters without disparaging marginalized people to justify that choice, it ain't hard. Own your preferences. And if you're uncomfortable doing so, ask yourself why that is. Odds are you know there are some biases there.

 

[Stone Cold]

Having multiple disposable characters make the RP interesting. I think a lot of people often have just the one character that they play all the way through and develop. But after a while, an RP will come to a natural stopping point due to disinterest. If you have multiple characters, there’s more potential for interactions and having some of them be disposable or play a smaller role helps to move the plot forward. These side characters can even have a recurring role, if we were to compare it to a standard sitcom or TV show.

 

[grimmmy]

Convinced group rps aren't fun without the right organization, and in-general they seem to make rp more complicated than it needs to be. I went back to site-based rp recently and everything is just so much more organized, from characters being more fleshed out to posting order issues being trivial to there being little to no crowding in threads. I don't think I can come back lol