Viewpoint What is your unbreakable rule?

[peritwinkle]

Lol, I get this. When it happens I just reassert in my own post that it's morning and July, and ignore the other player ignoring it the first time. Just like.... barrel ahead with it and make them look twice if they need to. XD

I would not be able to overlook it, especially in the first posts. I know small confusions usually happen, but if you could not bother to read even my starter carefully, nah. That says a ton about how much effort that person will put into the rest of the rp.

That being said, I have roleplayed with people who made such mistakes every now and then, but were generally amazing writers and good roleplayers despite those little incidents. But I do keep this as a general rule of thumb still, and I haven't been wrong yet.

 

[Melpomene]

A very recent one for me has become certain depictions of sexual assault and violence.

Overall I actually am a pretty lenient person. Like the only reason I can't RP with you is if, OOC I feel we don't click or like I am talking to a robot I just feel uncomfortable so I just leave, or if you write in such a way that it is not contributing to anything or I actively cannot understand what you are saying.

But most of the time I will try to work it out and it is not unbreakable.

But rape has become something which first I thought could be done distastefully. It still can be but before I could just power through it and be fine. But now, after having experienced it myself, I must say I very much cannot stand if a character is raped and the depiction is not taken seriously enough, in my opinion. And by seriously enough I mean that it happens for a reason other than "pity points" or just because the author does not know what else to do. It is not because it triggers any PTSD necessarily, but just because it went from me rolling my eyes to being physically sick seeing it being depicted like that, so now that is one of my unbreakable rules because, in a way, it almost romanticizes it rather than depicting it as the horrible thing that it is.

 

[ashwynne]

I very much cannot stand if a character is raped and the depiction is not taken seriously enough, in my opinion. And by seriously enough I mean that it happens for a reason other than "pity points" or just because the author does not know what else to do. It is not because it triggers any PTSD necessarily, but just because it went from me rolling my eyes to being physically sick seeing it being depicted like that, so now that is one of my unbreakable rules because, in a way, it almost romanticizes it rather than depicting it as the horrible thing that it is.

Yeah, this is a BIG one for me. In a wartime setting where it drives home the brutality and inhumanity of war I have no real issues, but pretty much any other scenario I just don't think it's necessary. If it's a relevant plot point that will legitimately impact things in an insightful and meaningful way then sure... but otherwise? No thanks. And most of the time it's exactly as you say where it's used for "pity points" rather than anything meaningful which I can't stand.

 

[Soap]

Typos. Even one means game over.

Nope. Disagree.

Roleplays are about fun. I much prefer serious roleplays too. I couldn’t see myself in a laidback thing where one-liners and non-thought out posts are, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t apart of that once. I’ve been in one that’s been going on for almost a year now. We’re all really close, respectful, and care for one another. The point is, a typo isn’t going to hurt anyone or damage the roleplay enough where it’d be less interesting or less enjoyable.

But everyone has different opinions, personally it’s better for me when everyone is enjoying it because it’s good posts with good people. And I just don’t see a typo changing any of that for me.

 

[Araellion]

Typos. Even one means game over.

My two cents~
Out of pure curiosity, how do you define a typo? There are words that have multiple different spellings that are all correct. And when it comes to grammar you can 'break the rules' either for artistic purposes to make a point, or simply to make things flow better.

Not trying to attack or be mean or anything, I just love discussions about grammar rules so I'm genuinely curious.

 

[BackSet]

Hold up! We are not bringing this discussion back!

Let's discuss this instead so as to avoid going back into that mess.

People who don't know how to properly use punctuation. Like, they don't put spaces after periods and have no idea what a comma is.

 

[Araellion]

Aawwww, you're no fun XD

I guess my unbreakable rule would be one liners. Even in fast paced sections, just describing the thoughts and actions of a character can easily bring you up to a solid paragraph.

 

[Ayama]

Yeah, this is a BIG one for me. In a wartime setting where it drives home the brutality and inhumanity of war I have no real issues, but pretty much any other scenario I just don't think it's necessary. If it's a relevant plot point that will legitimately impact things in an insightful and meaningful way then sure... but otherwise? No thanks. And most of the time it's exactly as you say where it's used for "pity points" rather than anything meaningful which I can't stand.

I have such a distaste for it overall that it's just a no-go for me no matter what the RP is ^^" Heck, I avoid movies and TV shows that have it for the same reason. It's difficult for me to picture/imagine something worse than that. I RP to feel good/happy and, while this doesn't necessarily mean writing about sunshine and roses all the time (where's the fun in that? ;P ), it does mean that I choose not to write about things that will make me distinctly unhappy to even think about.

 

[rae2nerdy]

So on the subject of dealbreakers my personal ones are Mental Health and Toxic Relationships, this is because my mother has suffered through both in my lifetime and it left me with a very strong distaste for those scenarios. I know some people do roleplay to work through their traumas and I salute them for doing so. I just personally can't do it.

I will say that 100% of the time, if I tell my partner WHY I don't do Mental Health/Toxic Relationships their super happy with removing those themes from a roleplay. A lot of them have even expressed how they never thought about the themes from the perspective of real life before. I sort of blame pop culture in that regard. You see all these "crazy" characters and "romantic" relationships that really romanticize what are lifelong issue that people genuinely struggle with.

 

[ashwynne]

I have such a distaste for it overall that it's just a no-go for me no matter what the RP is ^^" Heck, I avoid movies and TV shows that have it for the same reason. It's difficult for me to picture/imagine something worse than that. I RP to feel good/happy and, while this doesn't necessarily mean writing about sunshine and roses all the time (where's the fun in that? ;P ), it does mean that I choose not to write about things that will make me distinctly unhappy to even think about.

Totally understandable!! For me, I like to roleplay to explore difficult topics and themes/concepts that aren’t explored much, so feeling sad and miserable after reading/writing is something I want sometimes. It helps me grow my worldview and be more empathetic towards other people so I don’t write off any topics entirely as long as they’re used appropriately and with gravity and respect. Totally reasonable that people don’t want them at all though, I just think all subjects have a place in literature if handled correctly.

 

[Daino]

One liners and power-play are definite ones, but I also dislike if the person in the RP gives you nothing to work with in their replies. No feelings, no thoughts, nothing to build on. That just grinds my gears. Replies don't have to be long at all, but quality over quantity

 

[low fidelity]

no one-liners & i will not roleplay with minors.
some people on here really get upset that i don't rp with people under 18, and its frustrating that they don't respect my boundaries. sigh.

 

[BackSet]

no one-liners & i will not roleplay with minors.
some people on here really get upset that i don't rp with people over 18, and its frustrating that they don't respect my boundaries. sigh.

I'm not a miner. I don't even own a pickaxe.

I'll see myself out.

 

[CecilDMMasters]

I've had people try to say not controlling the other persons character is impossible. But I've had several long term partners manage to not do it. Controlling my characters is a pretty fast ender for me. And that includes assuming their reactions.

I had one RP where one of my characters had already jerked away or slapped people's hands away for patting him on the shoulder or leaning in to jokingly whisper in his ear. Yet someone decided their drunk character who for some reason had a crush on him was able to walk up and wrap her arms around him and give him a long 'passionate' kiss.

Like, no, once she came up with vodka and rum breath talking about her admiration he would be walking away. And grabbing him would likely mean he put her drunk rear on the floor.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I've had people try to say not controlling the other persons character is impossible. But I've had several long term partners manage to not do it. Controlling my characters is a pretty fast ender for me. And that includes assuming their reactions.

I had one RP where one of my characters had already jerked away or slapped people's hands away for patting him on the shoulder or leaning in to jokingly whisper in his ear. Yet someone decided their drunk character who for some reason had a crush on him was able to walk up and wrap her arms around him and give him a long 'passionate' kiss.

Like, no, once she came up with vodka and rum breath talking about her admiration he would be walking away. And grabbing him would likely mean he put her drunk rear on the floor.

What that character did was super crude and their player should've asked, but if you take into account every chance for a character to react to what another is doing, then that will grind the rp to a halt.

Like if someone's character walks over to say something to mine, their player is assuming that my character isn't going to interrupt them or leave before they're finished talking. Without that assumption, their post would just be "(their character) walks to where (my character) is", which is a one-liner. Unless it's an action that the character being acted upon would feel strongly about, like your example, it's better to just assume your character's action is made as planned and retcon it if the other player disagrees.

 

[Jannah]

I have a few. The main ones are the following:
-One liners. I always make it very clear in my searches that I'm looking for in-depth storytelling.
-Canon characters in fandom universes. It's a huge no for me. I enjoy playing in many fandom universes, but I will NOT under any circumstances write canons. I'm not into it as half the fun of RPing for me is creating characters. Plus those are not my own characters to be messing around with.
-Forced diversity. If you want to include a character that is a member of a minority, great. Heck, I do it all the time myself. However, give them a personality beyond that. Believe me, I've seen characters where their only purpose for existing was for everyone to know how gay they are and that the evil homophobes have made their life awful.
-Weird fetish-y type stuff. I get it, people have their kinks. However, I'm not into roleplaying those. Go do it elsewhere, please.

 

[Windsock]

Being dead.
I'm guilty of it myself!

 

[Shirokane]

Canon characters full stop. I will not rp with them in any way. It's why I prefer rping in original universes for that reason.

Also erotic roleplay/NSFW content is a instant no for me. I'm not a minor and I can't stand the stuff. It's why I don't like doing those type of things and generally say "x got married and had kids!" kind of thing.

I care for grammar somewhat as long as it isn't a massive runon sentence.

What I don't like is: restrictions of powers/abilities (number of them) unless it's like certain ones you cannot use.

 

[Delinquent]

What I don't like is: restrictions of powers/abilities (number of them) unless it's like certain ones you cannot use.

Would you mind if I ask why?

 

[Shirokane]

Would you mind if I ask why?

Because I'm the type to use alot for one character to actually make them feel natural to me. Been doing that for years. I personally don't like being limited to like two things from the rps I've seen.

What I mean is: having like magic time users coming up and killing your character over and over without no restrictions to their power as a whole. That ruins roleplays.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Would you mind if I ask why?

If you limit everyone to one power per person, it results in everyone going for the big guns like telekinesis. Letting people make characters with multiple, less impressive powers keeps things fresh.

 

[Delinquent]

If you limit everyone to one power per person, it results in everyone going for the big guns like telekinesis. Letting people make characters with multiple, less impressive powers keeps things fresh.

In my experience, letting people pick more than one power rarely results in anything other than everyone running around with at least two of the big guns.

 

[BackSet]

Who cares about fancy flashy big guns. Give your character interesting and outside the box small guns that are actually super useful and interesting if applied creatively.

 

[SP3CT3R]

In my experience, letting people pick more than one power rarely results in anything other than everyone running around with at least two of the big guns.

Judge the strength of a character based on all of their powers, not the powers individually. From what I've seen, even the types who want to be as OP as possible will pick secondary powers based on what's thematically appropriate and not what makes them ludicrously powerful.

 

[Idea]

I say, if the issue is balance, just judge the powers properly to begin with. This can admitedly be pretty hard, but it's doable.

But more powers can be fun too. Usually involving some sort of purchase system, where power scaling and number have associated point prices.