Viewpoint Unpopular roleplay opinions?

[Owlbear]

More unpopular than you'd think.

Nah, not really. I'm not saying that nobody has that opinion, but it's so few that trying to paint it as anything close to popular is a bit silly.

Edit: I mean, this is the largest roleplaying forum on the internet, right? Surely, it's at least a bit indicative of just how popular the opinion that "you can't play a character that's a different race, gender, etc from you" if there is literally no one who have ever answered that it isn't in literally every thread that have asked that question on this forum.

Also I'd kind of annoyed at how many threads there are surrounding this topic and needed to vent somehow.

I'm also annoyed by those threads. Although I'm annoyed by them because literally every replay is "yes, it's alright" but despite that fact a good half of all the replies are written as if it's somehow a brave stance.

 

[BackSet]

I mean, this is the largest roleplaying forum on the internet, right?

Are there statistics for this?

 

[Murdergurl]

That makes sense. My problem is more when people think playing outside your own gender/race/whatever is inherently wrong and that nobody should do it ever.

omg... Are people seriously appropriating character roleplay now? How fucking ridiculous! So what do you want? Inclusivity and acceptance, or appropriation? I can't even get over how dumb this is.

Excuse me, didn't know the Fiction Nazis were over here enforcing how/who/where I can write my fantastical scenarios.

Can you imagine if every author throughout history was held to the standard of only writing characters of their own sex/race/demographic? That would negate like 99.99% of all fictional works ever written!

So sorry, Tolkien... but you're 5'9''. You can't write about Hobbits and Dwarves.

Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet? Nope. Just Romeo, now. Too bad, so sad.

 

[Owlbear]

Are there statistics for this?

Alright, I might have been wrong on that part (I could have sworn I saw it somewhere but I can't find it anymore), but this is still a very large roleplaying site. Surely, if "people shouldn't play characters that are different from them yada yada yada" were popular enough that disagreeing with that would be an considered an unpopular opinion at least one person should have said so on this forum by now.

 

[Merciless Medic]

I mean, this is the largest roleplaying forum on the internet, right?

We are actually in the top 10, but we aren't the biggest. That title goes to RP Repository where they have 35,000 (majority are active) members. The second biggest site is Storyteller's Circle and the third biggest is Thorns Uprising. The 4th one is an 18+ RP site called Black Dahlia Roleplaying. Then fifth is Multerra RPG, then sixth is Legends are Lessons (which pretty much is mostly different eras with the dark sides of fables and myths).

We are number 7 and it says "Express yourself in [one] of the best roleplay sites online, RP Nation. Ask for advice, check interests, and share your stories in this site for all sorts of people from different fandoms, fantasy worlds, and futuristic eras."

Source: What Are The Best Roleplay Sites In 2021

Alright, I might have been wrong on that part (I could have sworn I saw it somewhere but I can't find it anymore), but this is still a very large roleplaying site. Surely, if "people shouldn't play characters that are different from them yada yada yada" were popular enough that disagreeing with that would be an considered an unpopular opinion at least one person should have said so on this forum by now.

Ahh, yes, but if people are self-aware about their perception of not playing characters that aren't you or what you have personally experienced with is a bad thing, then they won't be public about it because they will get a lot of backlash.

 

[Owlbear]

then they won't be public about it because they will get a lot of backlash

Doesn't "people won't voice this opinion because they fear the backlash" sort of imply that it isn't that popular then?

Again, surely if it was as popular as people keep insisting it is then there wouldn't be much backlash to it.

 

[Murdergurl]

I wouldn't worry so much about it being a legit "unpopular opinion". Like every tenth opinion or so that's posted here isn't even really that unpopular, and is obviously someone just venting. lol

 

[Merciless Medic]

Doesn't "people won't voice this opinion because they fear the backlash" sort of imply that it isn't that popular then?

Again, surely if it was as popular as people keep insisting it is then there wouldn't be much backlash to it.

.....

you right, YoU rIgHt XD

To be fair though, there are a lot of people with rather phobic views of people's livelihoods, and most of them don't voice it out online because they understand there will be a literal army and they won't know there is a bunch of likeminded individuals in a tight-knit community that share these phobic views, as well.

But yes, what I said does imply that. XD Then again, most of these people with phobic views can also be viewed as control freaks, been in a society where they constantly shove this into people's faces, or have had bad experiences with those types of people (which all three of these reasons are pretty much a majority of how implicit biases and biases in general are formed).

Granted, they aren't exactly unpopular or popular. It's more treated like Schrodinger's Cat because you won't know someone is phobic or is one of the -isms because they understand the societal backlash. You don't know how many people are like that and believe as such unless they are vocal about it (and you'll get people backpedaling when they say something too). So yes and no.

But this thread is usually used for venting anyway, like what Murdergurl said. XD So while it may be a popular opinion in here that this gatekeepy viewpoint is considered bad, other circles and places of interest that host RPs may have people view this gatekeepy viewpoint as common, prevalent, and makes them automatically toxic places to be in.

Again, it just depends on where you frequent and what those types of people may have.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I also want to point out that there is a lot of people who refuse to roleplay outside of their comfort zone not because they think people are going to attack them but because they don’t feel like they can properly portray anyone outside their lived experience.

And that absolutely is a popular opinion. It seems like every ten interest checks or so I see “I play females because I am female” and those people also only play people that are their same sexuality and ethnicity as well. (At least in my personal experience.)

So I wouldn’t assume it’s a matter of “Oh you will get attacked for being too woke or appropriating cultures or whatever.” That’s usually more in line of a justification for people who don’t want to play outside their comfort zone.

Not to say people who are super close minded don’t exist but I don’t think they are the majority. People who stick to their comfort zones however absolutely are a majority.

 

[Lurker]

Ooo I actually have a good one for this.

I personally don't care if my roleplaying partner controls my character up to an extent. I've been in a couple rp's now where they would do it and it didn't bother me all that much. Never major things just like moving to different places. I always thought it was in line with what my character would do anyway so I just let it go. I just don't have enough fucks to give with it.

 

[Vespere]

Ooo I actually have a good one for this.

I personally don't care if my roleplaying partner controls my character up to an extent. I've been in a couple rp's now where they would do it and it didn't bother me all that much. Never major things just like moving to different places. I always thought it was in line with what my character would do anyway so I just let it go. I just don't have enough fucks to give with it.

I see this more in my action sequences in RP where it’s necessary to describe what’s happening.

It’s never to a point of God-mode, but when people get touchy about my character even just slightly suggesting that I landed a punch, it’s suddenly me controlling their character.

Geez! Calm down. I didn’t say I pummeled you to the ground and obliterated your character from existence.

 

[Lurker]

I see this more in my action sequences in RP where it’s necessary to describe what’s happening.

It’s never to a point of God-mode, but when people get touchy about my character even just slightly suggesting that I landed a punch, it’s suddenly me controlling their character.

Geez! Calm down. I didn’t say I pummeled you to the ground and obliterated your character from existence.

Totally agreed. Some people are just super anal about it and it gets kind of pedantic in my opinion lol. The only time I would really mind it is if they started putting words in my characters mouth but I don't think I've ever seen anything that bad.

 

[Vespere]

Totally agreed. Some people are just super anal about it and it gets kind of pedantic in my opinion lol. The only time I would really mind it is if they started putting words in my characters mouth but I don't think I've ever seen anything that bad.

Yeah, when it gets to that level, I just yeet out of that RP. It’s no fun writing an action sequence when everything is calculated to the last step. I wouldn’t mind if people fought back and said they’ve kicked my character or physically retaliated, I just write a response to that and move on. It ain’t that hard. XD

I agree with that too. Or when they completely ignore my response and overhaul the scene. That would get on my nerves, but otherwise, minor things are fine.

 

[Murdergurl]

Lurker Vespere
Yeah, if you leave it to some people, they always come out without a scratch, and not a hair out of place because their character is so "badass".
Combat can also be touchy with some peeps because they dont want to give an inch and have the other person take a foot.

 

[WingsandTalon]

I'm not too sure if these are unpopular honestly but...

People who expect you to be available 24/7. I'm an adult with a job and a life outside of a computer, this includes work. Sometimes I want to log on to Discord and speak to my boyfriend, help a friend ect. I like to write yes, however, I also like to take a day off in between to relax.

People who blur IC/OOC. Okay, our characters are I dunno dating and that is wonderful. But that doesn't mean we are?

I'm not sure how to explain this but will try my best. When people seem to know magically how my character will react to a situation before it happens, like for example a certain action or thought.

If you have an issue? I know it can be difficult but please try to voice it rather than ignoring me. I won't bite, I will try and help however I can with the situation and work from that. When people just stop, it causes my anxiety to flair and I can't stand it.

 

[Murdergurl]

People who expect you to be available 24/7. I'm an adult with a job and a life outside of a computer, this includes work. Sometimes I want to log on to Discord and speak to my boyfriend, help a friend ect. I like to write yes, however, I also like to take a day off in between to relax.

I've personally never really dealt with this outside of ERP sites. Some of those "Dom" types get really possessive, and take the RPing too far. They make it a personal endeavor, and attach more connection than is actually there.

People who blur IC/OOC. Okay, our characters are I dunno dating and that is wonderful. But that doesn't mean we are?

In the instance you're speaking of, my previous comment pertains to this too.

I'm not sure how to explain this but will try my best. When people seem to know magically how my character will react to a situation before it happens, like for example a certain action or thought.

The word you're looking for, is called "Metagaming". This is where a player takes outside knowledge that their character should not possess (either through reading the profiles, or through OOC) , and incorporates it into their actions in the RP.

 

[Merciless Medic]

I'm not sure how to explain this but will try my best. When people seem to know magically how my character will react to a situation before it happens, like for example a certain action or thought.

The word you're looking for, is called "Metagaming". This is where a player takes outside knowledge that their character should not possess (either through reading the profiles, or through OOC) , and incorporates it into their actions in the RP.

*laughs in making characters that are amazing people-readers to dance on the line of metagaming or not*

Seriously though, I don't like it either. There are a few things I do that I see now that sound like metagaming, but I usually do it to further the plot. So I'm not sure if what I'm doing is completely wrong. XD lol then again, I do try to make sure I don't do that. But given that I play in a fandom I'm very familiar with, I tend to put more meta-knowledge of certain creatures into my characters so they know how to act appropriately (however, that makes it very metagamey, and it's very difficult especially when my character shouldn't know that a Pikachu likes having their cheeks massaged due to never seeing one in person before, and yet because of my knowledge I tend to make them seem like Pokemon gurus).

but yea, it's not good to do that too much, especially with people who don't like it when that happens.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I think for meta gaming specifically it’s when your character has knowledge of other characters that doesn’t make sense.

Ex. I had a partner once who constantly gave my character shit for having a big brother complex and being lazy in class.

The problem? The two characters were complete strangers and it was the start of the school year.

So they only knew that information because they read my character sheet not because it was information they would have access to in universe.

For information on in-universe lore that’s a perfectly fine. You can always say your character read a book about Pikachu or maybe heard the bit of trivia on the TV or whatever. Essentially the knowledge would be accessible by virtue of living in the roleplay universe. Versus basically having to be a stalker or a incredibly rude telepath in order to get information from about an individual person themselves.

 

[Murdergurl]

*laughs in making characters that are amazing people-readers to dance on the line of metagaming or not*

Seriously though, I don't like it either. There are a few things I do that I see now that sound like metagaming, but I usually do it to further the plot. So I'm not sure if what I'm doing is completely wrong. XD lol then again, I do try to make sure I don't do that. But given that I play in a fandom I'm very familiar with, I tend to put more meta-knowledge of certain creatures into my characters so they know how to act appropriately (however, that makes it very metagamey, and it's very difficult especially when my character shouldn't know that a Pikachu likes having their cheeks massaged due to never seeing one in person before, and yet because of my knowledge I tend to make them seem like Pokemon gurus).

but yea, it's not good to do that too much, especially with people who don't like it when that happens.

I imagine it gets harder to avoid metagaming if you are totally immersed in a fandom. Like, common knowledge of a fandom for fans would take a continuous conscious effort to remind yourself that a character might not know something. And then, like you said: to further the plot, the meta knowledge can kind of be bent into the RP, lest you waste post time to explain the discovery of something that pretty much everyone involved already knows is a basic element to the setting.

There is definitely a balance to be had between absolute realism, and the enjoyable progress of a story. Because let's face it, if people wrote a truly realistic outcome to most RP situations, we'd get caught up in so many boring details and never get anywhere.

 

[Sibelle Grey]

Honestly, in all my years of roleplaying, I've never personally seen anyone get "attacked" for playing another gender or minority group unless their portrayal was offensive and someone pointed that out. My unpopular opinion about that is that for a lot of people, it's a bit of a cop out. "The wokes will eat me if I do this wrong, so I won't even try!" The fact is, just like you ideally do a bit of research if you're roleplaying 15th-century nobility (at least, I do), you should be able to do enough research to portray other races without making them walking caricatures. There are entire blogs dedicated to walking you through what not to do, and POC aren't waiting in the wings to jump you for making a non-white character as a white person. And if you do make a POC character that's an offensive caricature because you didn't care enough to not be racist, you fully deserve to be called out for it. Sorry, not sorry.

Play other races. Play other genders. Don't make them caricatures. It isn't particularly hard. Nobody has to do it and people should absolutely play what they're comfortable with, but honestly, every time somebody goes 'I mean I can't play a Black or gay character because I have no idea what that's like" I'm just like . . . but do you see them as people though? Because most people are roughly the same and feel things roughly the same way, and would react similarly if tossed into a space AU.

The fact is, some people lack the sensitivity and empathy to play characters of color. A lot of them are the same people who won't even entertain the thought because they can't imagine POC being as multidimensional as their white characters. That's how you end up creating characters of color who are only their race, or LGBTQ characters who are only their sexuality.

If you don't play POC or LGBT characters because you'd rather not, then say that. But some people really act like the biggest obstacle to them playing characters who aren't just like them is people needlessly jumping down their throats about it, and like . . . in ten years of roleplay, I have never seen that happen. So somebody's lying. Say you only want to play white characters and go. It's not a big deal. But stop painting POC as irrational hall monitors who hand out virtual demerits for you not knowing everything about being a POC.

 

[Sibelle Grey]

It's just like when people say they don't play men because they wouldn't know what to do. I'm just like . . . but men are people too, and they aren't a monolith? People are allowed to roleplay whatever they want, but if I'm honest, that's the quickest way for me to x out of an interest check. Play whatever you think is enjoyable. Roleplay is a game. You don't need to justify it. And I'm sure plenty of people genuinely feel hesitant because they feel like it wouldn't be an accurate portrayal. I just instinctively know those people aren't a match for me, because again, they wouldn't be roleplaying the inventor of a very specific type of long-lost shoelace in the 13th century. They'd be roleplaying a member of half the world population. There's diversity in there. It kinda just tells me they probably reduce that gender to behavioral stereotypes.

 

[Vertex]

Honestly, in all my years of roleplaying, I've never personally seen anyone get "attacked" for playing another gender or minority group unless their portrayal was offensive and someone pointed that out. My unpopular opinion about that is that for a lot of people, it's a bit of a cop out. "The wokes will eat me if I do this wrong, so I won't even try!" The fact is, just like you ideally do a bit of research if you're roleplaying 15th-century nobility (at least, I do), you should be able to do enough research to portray other races without making them walking caricatures. There are entire blogs dedicated to walking you through what not to do, and POC aren't waiting in the wings to jump you for making a non-white character as a white person. And if you do make a POC character that's an offensive caricature because you didn't care enough to not be racist, you fully deserve to be called out for it. Sorry, not sorry.

Play other races. Play other genders. Don't make them caricatures. It isn't particularly hard. Nobody has to do it and people should absolutely play what they're comfortable with, but honestly, every time somebody goes 'I mean I can't play a Black or gay character because I have no idea what that's like" I'm just like . . . but do you see them as people though? Because most people are roughly the same and feel things roughly the same way, and would react similarly if tossed into a space AU.

The fact is, some people lack the sensitivity and empathy to play characters of color. A lot of them are the same people who won't even entertain the thought because they can't imagine POC being as multidimensional as their white characters. That's how you end up creating characters of color who are only their race, or LGBTQ characters who are only their sexuality.

If you don't play POC or LGBT characters because you'd rather not, then say that. But some people really act like the biggest obstacle to them playing characters who aren't just like them is people needlessly jumping down their throats about it, and like . . . in ten years of roleplay, I have never seen that happen. So somebody's lying. Say you only want to play white characters and go. It's not a big deal. But stop painting POC as irrational hall monitors who hand out virtual demerits for you not knowing everything about being a POC.

This!

It's just like when people say they don't play men because they wouldn't know what to do. I'm just like . . . but men are people too, and they aren't a monolith? People are allowed to roleplay whatever they want, but if I'm honest, that's the quickest way for me to x out of an interest check. Play whatever you think is enjoyable. Roleplay is a game. You don't need to justify it. And I'm sure plenty of people genuinely feel hesitant because they feel like it wouldn't be an accurate portrayal. I just instinctively know those people aren't a match for me, because again, they wouldn't be roleplaying the inventor of a very specific type of long-lost shoelace in the 13th century. They'd be roleplaying a member of half the world population. There's diversity in there. It kinda just tells me they probably reduce that gender to behavioral stereotypes.

And this!

 

[ChasmOfOrganicMatter]

Honestly a lot of RP feels like it kind of exists in a cultural and political space/framework that kinda just exists in a very generic western European/North American generally liberal-democratic territory (in the original sense of the term). That's not like, crippling per se but it feels like a lot of them basically are afraid to explore settings that exist outside of that kind of uh, NATO member state perspective. Not gonna pretend I've never been guilty of this but I suppose it's one of those POC things you notice growing up after a while.

 

[Cealen]

hmmm

i guess my rp unpopular opinion for this week is that i don’t really get why “gritty” rps have become so popular lately. it seems like everyone and their mother wants to do a “dark”, “gritty” rp nowadays that’s all ~mature~. i have always been ok with dark themes in my rps, but i’m talking about people making it the main *focus* of the rp that IT’S DARK.....! it feels almost like a childish portrayal of what is “mature” honestly, usually featuring characters Doing The Drugs (TM) which is strangely glamorized half the time even if people are trying not to because they wanna show off how ~broken~ and ~troubled~ their character is.

of course, i’m not shaming anyone who likes gritty rps, i’m just kinda ??? at how popular they are now. i took a long break from rping, and i never saw those types of rp being that popular, but maybe i was just sheltered from them :^). i keep on getting told by partners that my style of rp is so much lighter than those kinds of rp and how it’s such a nice break and all, so i def think there has been a boom in popularity around these sorts of rps. but yeah i just keep on noticing it and it gets under my skin a bit, so there’s my unpopular opinion? just wanted to let off some steam. again if you like those kinds of rps good for you, at least you are enjoying them :’).

 

[ChasmOfOrganicMatter]

hmmm

i guess my rp unpopular opinion for this week is that i don’t really get why “gritty” rps have become so popular lately. it seems like everyone and their mother wants to do a “dark”, “gritty” rp nowadays that’s all ~mature~. i have always been ok with dark themes in my rps, but i’m talking about people making it the main *focus* of the rp that IT’S DARK.....! it feels almost like a childish portrayal of what is “mature” honestly, usually featuring characters Doing The Drugs (TM) which is strangely glamorized half the time even if people are trying not to because they wanna show off how ~broken~ and ~troubled~ their character is.

of course, i’m not shaming anyone who likes gritty rps, i’m just kinda ??? at how popular they are now. i took a long break from rping, and i never saw those types of rp being that popular, but maybe i was just sheltered from them :^). i keep on getting told by partners that my style of rp is so much lighter than those kinds of rp and how it’s such a nice break and all, so i def think there has been a boom in popularity around these sorts of rps. but yeah i just keep on noticing it and it gets under my skin a bit, so there’s my unpopular opinion? just wanted to let off some steam. again if you like those kinds of rps good for you, at least you are enjoying them :’).

Blind guess on my end is that the more fantastical, light hearted stuff had been more popular for a while. Or maybe you just noticed more of what was always there lately.