Other What's Wrong With Romance?

[QuirkyAngel]

True lovers of romance will be able to think of 101 different romantic situations to put their characters through. Some comedic. Some tear-jerking. The question of pairings is whether the players are trying to design a romance story or if they are just making a pair for the sake of a pair. Because, whether it's romance or sci-fi, an rp without plots won't get very far. It has nothing to do with the romance. Starting with a pre-determined pair is fine. The question is a simple matter of where the pair will go, what their struggles will be, and how they'll overcome their challenges.

I think a pairing-based roleplays can work well if the players involved actually take an interest in each others characters. Not romantically, but as individual characters with individual problems/quirks. Obviously if both characters involved are Mary-sue/Gary-stu type characters that are both perfect, with no issues whatsoever, there's nothing to take interest in. Hence the boredom. Also, pairing/romance rps will probably include a lot of slice-of-life which, if you don't have the flavor for, can get boring as well. A date is just two characters getting to know each other, after all. And if the players aren't interested in each other's characters, there's no point.

I think geeking out hit the nail on the head when it comes to selfishness being a major reason many pairing-based roleplays don't last very long. I mean, as a general rule, players are interested in characters that take an interest in their character. If the investment isn't equal, one side will eventually get bored. If both players are simply interested in showing off their character, without taking notice of each other's characters, you can forget romance. The rp will probably die before the rp hits the first few posts. With other genres, there are other things keeping player interest--the villain, the setting, the lore, battles, mystery, etc. In pure romance, it's just the romance...and if it isn't good...then there's not much else hooking player interest.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I was just e

 

[rae2nerdy]

Oops still haven’t figured out the app D DisneyGirl I was just expanding on your statement. And putting my two cents in. I’m the kind of person who is very comfortable with what I do and don’t like.

I don’t care if you like pairings and I don’t.

I just like to give a more detailed reasoning for success because a lot of people like their roleplays to succeed but don’t know how to make that happen.

So I like to give tips.

 

[Kalika]

I wouldn't honestly say it's looked down upon, so to speak.
However they aren't something I see most seeking out these days, I don't.
It's not really needed for story-line progressions but if it happens, it happens.
It's not something I'll go out of my way for.
I could careless what everyone else does, just do what you enjoy writing.
That's all that matters, anyway,
Your own opinion.

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Not sure if anyone said this or not, but I figured I’d throw this into the ring.

To me, it’s probably best not to enter with the intention of a romance with characters. While I haven’t done any romances myself with any of my characters, I feel that it really should depend on the characters in question and how they interact with one another. Sometimes, some characters just so happen to have really good chemistry together, and it would make sense for them to become a couple. Forcing romance with characters that have no chemistry just looks more awkward and unbelievable than anything.

I know a lot of people have responded to this, and given their view on it. I admittedly didn’t read through all of the replies. So I have no idea if what I said was said. I figured I’d just throw it in anyway in case it wasn’t.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I wouldn't honestly say it's looked down upon, so to speak.
However they aren't something I see most seeking out these days, I don't.
It's not really needed for story-line progressions but if it happens, it happens.
It's not something I'll go out of my way for.
I could careless what everyone else does, just do what you enjoy writing.
That's all that matters, anyway,
Your own opinion.

I would say it’s actually pretty common in 1x1. Its pretty much “ relationship roleplays “ as the format revolves around two characters.

Now what percentage 1x1 represent of all roleplays is another thing entirely

 

[QuirkyAngel]

So yeah I have no idea where the idea of romance being looked down on came from.

Elitists. Pre-puberty guys. People who don't consider erotica to be 'real' literature. The internet is a wide place and I'm certain you'll find a biased circle somewhere out there... just google 'hate romance' or something along those lines.

Though, I do think it's more the interactive nature of romance in roleplays, rather than the romance genre, that's being looked down upon (one of the oldest genres since humans first began writing). Humans have always been interested in love. It's what makes babies and continues the circle of life, not to mention a powerful emotion. That said, stereotypes exist for a reason...and it's not like the the romance genre doesn't have it's fair share of fantasizers wanting to fulfill their romantic desires through online writing/roleplaying either. As you said, it might have more to do with the people popularizing the genre rather than the genre itself. Also, it's a genre that's been overdone and overused to the point where standards for 'good romance have become quite high. Nothing's original anymore. Yet it's still quite popular to the point of being overrated...thus bashed by certain circles. Like Twilight. I read the first book. I didn't think it was the greatest piece of literature ever, but it isn't as bad as haters make it out to be either (no worse than the average chick flick).

My brothers used to make fun of me for being into the cheesy, gushy love stories as well so I can relate to the OP

To me, it’s probably best not to enter with the intention of a romance with characters. While I haven’t done any romances myself with any of my characters, I feel that it really should depend on the characters in question and how they interact with one another. Sometimes, some characters just so happen to have really good chemistry together, and it would make sense for them to become a couple. Forcing romance with characters that have no chemistry just looks more awkward and unbelievable than anything.

But then it wouldn't really be a romance roleplay, would it?

One of my first introductions to online roleplaying was when I was asked to rp the prince in a Cinderella twist. I agreed because the plot sounded interesting. Also because my standards weren't too high and I didn't mind doing a favor. It didn't last too long because the other player had real life issues to deal with, and the rp was cancelled, but it wasn't a bad experience. Writing a character in love is writing a character in love. I say having characters fall in love naturally is much harder than having love that is pre-planned.

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Elitists. Pre-puberty guys. People who don't consider erotica to be 'real' literature. The internet is a wide place and I'm certain you'll find a biased circle somewhere out there... just google 'hate romance' or something along those lines.

Though, I do think it's more the interactive nature of romance in roleplays, rather than the romance genre, that's being looked down upon (one of the oldest genres since humans first began writing). Humans have always been interested in love. It's what makes babies and continues the circle of life, not to mention a powerful emotion. That said, stereotypes exist for a reason...and it's not like the the romance genre doesn't have it's fair share of fantasizers wanting to fulfill their romantic desires through online writing/roleplaying either. As you said, it might have more to do with the people popularizing the genre rather than the genre itself. Also, it's a genre that's been overdone and overused to the point where standards for 'good romance have become quite high. Nothing's original anymore. Yet it's still quite popular to the point of being overrated...thus bashed by certain circles. Like Twilight. I read the first book. I didn't think it was the greatest piece of literature ever, but it isn't as bad as haters make it out to be either (no worse than the average chick flick).

My brothers used to make fun of me for being into the cheesy, gushy love stories as well so I can relate to the OP




But then it wouldn't really be a romance roleplay, would it?

One of my first introductions to online roleplaying was when I was asked to rp the prince in a Cinderella twist. I agreed because the plot sounded interesting. Also because my standards weren't too high and I didn't mind doing a favor. It didn't last too long because the other player had real life issues to deal with, and the rp was cancelled, but it wasn't a bad experience. Writing a character in love is writing a character in love. I say having characters fall in love naturally is much harder than having love that is pre-planned.

Fair point. Though, my post was more aimed towards RP’s that aren’t romance based (which I know I didn’t specify, so my bad there). In my experience of never doing a romance RP specifically, I found that in some RP’s, my characters had terrific chemistry with others. While the characters didn’t get in a relationship for various reasons, I felt that that then was a good example of when I feel a romance is done right.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Fair point. Though, my post was more aimed towards RP’s that aren’t romance based (which I know I didn’t specify, so my bad there). In my experience of never doing a romance RP specifically, I found that in some RP’s, my characters had terrific chemistry with others. While the characters didn’t get in a relationship for various reasons, I felt that that then was a good example of when I feel a romance is done right.

Can't argue with that. Natural romance is more realistic =)

Concepts like 'love at first sight' and 'feelings that last a thousand years' are more for idealistic romance, which I imagine to populate the romance genre. It's a flavor. 'Chemistry' for me is nice, but it's not necessary for writing love. Or for a having a character in a relationship. As long as you can pick one thing for your character to admire about another character, a somewhat believable love can be written. It could be appearance. It could be smarts. It could be a one-time kindness. Love isn't sensical (at least not the idealistic version of it). It's a feeling...and some of it shallow. That said, I also understand not wanting to force characters together either. Nor do I actively search for romance in rps. It happens or it doesn't.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Elitists. Pre-puberty guys. People who don't consider erotica to be 'real' literature. The internet is a wide place and I'm certain you'll find a biased circle somewhere out there... just google 'hate romance' or something along those lines.

Though, I do think it's more the interactive nature of romance in roleplays, rather than the romance genre, that's being looked down upon (one of the oldest genres since humans first began writing). Humans have always been interested in love. It's what makes babies and continues the circle of life, not to mention a powerful emotion. That said, stereotypes exist for a reason...and it's not like the the romance genre doesn't have it's fair share of fantasizers wanting to fulfill their romantic desires through online writing/roleplaying either. As you said, it might have more to do with the people popularizing the genre rather than the genre itself. Also, it's a genre that's been overdone and overused to the point where standards for 'good romance have become quite high. Nothing's original anymore. Yet it's still quite popular to the point of being overrated...thus bashed by certain circles. Like Twilight. I read the first book. I didn't think it was the greatest piece of literature ever, but it isn't as bad as haters make it out to be either (no worse than the average chick flick).

My brothers used to make fun of me for being into the cheesy, gushy love stories as well so I can relate to the OP




But then it wouldn't really be a romance roleplay, would it?

One of my first introductions to online roleplaying was when I was asked to rp the prince in a Cinderella twist. I agreed because the plot sounded interesting. Also because my standards weren't too high and I didn't mind doing a favor. It didn't last too long because the other player had real life issues to deal with, and the rp was canceled, but it wasn't a bad experience. Writing a character in love is writing a character in love. I say having characters fall in love naturally is much harder than having love that is pre-planned.

My point in the original was more in the fact that

This is a roleplay site. So whether or not there are people who hate the romance genre in books/pop culture/etc that isn't really relevant to this website. Because this website exists to promote roleplays.

As such you're not going to find that kind of elitism on this site because no one is going to hold an elitist view to something that is in like 99.9% of all roleplays.

Especially if we're focusing on 1x1s rather than groups.

Groups, you might get a slightly different reading from but that's because they aren't designed to focus on romance in general. It's very hard to make a roleplay where there are like five or more people and have them all be focused primarily on romance. It's not impossible it's just an unwieldy proposition.

And that's not because "omg romance is lame and dumb" or "people writing kissy face love stuff are stupid girly girls".

It's hey there are 5+ people in this story that need to have something to do. They can't all just be focusing exclusively on a love interest because A. we might not have an even number and B. having like a large number of pairs working individually makes for an incredibly difficult and disorganized group.

As for 1x1s - 99.9% of those are designed to cater to a relationship of some sort. And when it comes to relationships 99.9% of those are purely romantic.

So the idea that romance is being attacked in the roleplay community is just baffling to me. I do primarily 1x1 roleplays where you might as well rename the whole format " Pairing Love Based Roleplays " for the amount of romance in them.

And even in groups, it's not that people mind romance it's just that it's harder to do from an organizational standpoint and keep the group moving forward. It's a mechanical issue of the roleplay not a problem with a specific genre.

-------------------------------------------

As for attacking romance in the mainstream. Yes, there are man baby dudebro misogynists that think anything geared towards women is automatically inferior. Guess what? We don't have to give them legitimacy by acknowledging their bullshit. Let them say that writing romance is only for girly women who can't hack "real writing".

I'll just pick up a copy of Nora Roberts and JD Robb from the local library and laugh at their ignorance. It's a shame some people don't read. Really we should feel bad for them.

Look the romance genre isn't perfect and there are legitimate criticisms that can be lobbied at it. So rather than focus on a problem that doesn't exist on this site specifically why not focus on the good part of this site. The fact that the community is on your side. There aren't any dude bros whining about girly love stories ruining their masculine internet on this site.

Just a lot of people saying more or less

meh do whatever you want just don't be an asshole

or OMG LOVESTORIES ARE TEH BEST LETS WRITE MORE.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

My point in the original was more in the fact that

This is a roleplay site. So whether or not there are people who hate the romance genre in books/pop culture/etc that isn't really relevant to this website. Because this website exists to promote roleplays.

As such you're not going to find that kind of elitism on this site because no one is going to hold an elitist view to something that is in like 99.9% of all roleplays.

Especially if we're focusing on 1x1s rather than groups.

Groups, you might get a slightly different reading from but that's because they aren't designed to focus on romance in general. It's very hard to make a roleplay where there are like five or more people and have them all be focused primarily on romance. It's not impossible it's just an unwieldy proposition.

And that's not because "omg romance is lame and dumb" or "people writing kissy face love stuff are stupid girly girls".

It's hey there are 5+ people in this story that need to have something to do. They can't all just be focusing exclusively on a love interest because A. we might not have an even number and B. having like a large number of pairs working individually makes for an incredibly difficult and disorganized group.

As for 1x1s - 99.9% of those are designed to cater to a relationship of some sort. And when it comes to relationships 99.9% of those are purely romantic.

So the idea that romance is being attacked in the roleplay community is just baffling to me. I do primarily 1x1 roleplays where you might as well rename the whole format " Pairing Love Based Roleplays " for the amount of romance in them.

And even in groups, it's not that people mind romance it's just that it's harder to do from an organizational standpoint and keep the group moving forward. It's a mechanical issue of the roleplay not a problem with a specific genre.

-------------------------------------------

As for attacking romance in the mainstream. Yes, there are man baby dudebro misogynists that think anything geared towards women is automatically inferior. Guess what? We don't have to give them legitimacy by acknowledging their bullshit. Let them say that writing romance is only for girly women who can't hack "real writing".

I'll just pick up a copy of Nora Roberts and JD Robb from the local library and laugh at their ignorance. It's a shame some people don't read. Really we should feel bad for them.

Look the romance genre isn't perfect and there are legitimate criticisms that can be lobbied at it. So rather than focus on a problem that doesn't exist on this site specifically why not focus on the good part of this site. The fact that the community is on your side. There aren't any dude bros whining about girly love stories ruining their masculine internet on this site.

Just a lot of people saying more or less

meh do whatever you want just don't be an asshole

or OMG LOVESTORIES ARE TEH BEST LETS WRITE MORE.

*shrug* An issue is an issue, whether it's related to this site or not. If the OP wants to speak about it, let them speak. Granted, it would probably be more fitting to move it to the general discussion thread, dismissing it isn't entirely necessary either.

 

[rae2nerdy]

*shrug* An issue is an issue, whether it's related to this site or not. If the OP wants to speak about it, let them speak. Granted, it would probably be more fitting to move it to the general discussion thread, dismissing it isn't entirely necessary either.

I wasn't dismissing it. I was just offering a more helpful method of handling the problem on this particular forum. As I said in my post to the OP directly.

You're not going to reach the audience you want with your complaint because they either don't exist on this site OR they won't read the thread if they do.

So you're not starting a dialog about romance your just going to get an echo chamber effect of people either saying

Yes people have been awful to me

Or What are you talking about romance is the most popular genre on this site?

So a better way to deal with the haters is to dismiss them. And instead, focus on the parts of romance that make you happy.

You'll get the boost to yourself and your friends that comes with having a community on your side and telling you that your genre is good.

While at the same time you're ignoring the haters which are depriving them of the only thing they want in the first place - attention.

Ignoring trolls is the best way to get rid of them. And what better way to ignore them than to not acknowledge they exist and instead write all about the kissy face girly sap fest that is love stories and relationships in roleplays?


---------------------

Additionally, if the OP does just want to do a rant thread where people can come to complain about how Romance is dogged that's also fine. There are tons of venting style threads on the site already. Where people can talk about what makes them drop roleplays, the worst people they've roleplayed with, etc.

So if OP is just wanting a place where romance roleplayers can complain about being dogged on by others that's fine. It wasn't my reading of the thread but if that was the intention I take back my previous criticism. It's fine to vent if that's what you want to do.

But like the way I read it was an attack on the community. A sort of "why do you guys hate this thing that I love?"

To which most of the community was like "What are you talking about? We love the thing you love. We would just appreciate less selfish assholes or poorly written stories being a part of this thing we both love."

I mean if that wasn't the way it was intended. That's cool. I could have misinterpreted OP's intentions. It happens.

But to me I'm like... either I don't understand what you're trying to get out of this. Or you're going about getting the reaction you want ineffectively.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

I wasn't dismissing it. I was just offering a more helpful method of handling the problem on this particular forum. As I said in my post to the OP directly.

You're not going to reach the audience you want with your complaint because they either don't exist on this site OR they won't read the thread if they do.

So you're not starting a dialog about romance your just going to get an echo chamber effect of people either saying

Yes people have been awful to me

Or What are you talking about romance is the most popular genre on this site?

So a better way to deal with the haters is to dismiss them. And instead, focus on the parts of romance that make you happy.

You'll get the boost to yourself and your friends that comes with having a community on your side and telling you that your genre is good.

While at the same time you're ignoring the haters which are depriving them of the only thing they want in the first place - attention.

Ignoring trolls is the best way to get rid of them. And what better way to ignore them than to not acknowledge they exist and instead write all about the kissy face girly sap fest that is love stories and relationships in roleplays?

True enough. It's much better to handle the problem, than make a thread complaining about it. But there's no rule saying that a the OP can't make a thread complaining about it either. The thread seems to have garnered quite a few responses.

 

[rae2nerdy]

True enough. It's much better to handle the problem, than make a thread complaining about it. But there's no rule saying that a the OP can't make a thread complaining about it either. The thread seems to have garnered quite a few responses.

And again my problem wasn't the complaining it was the focus of the complaining. As I saw it they were taking the community to task for something the community wasn't actually doing. Rather than saying - ugh I hate it when X happens. Who agrees/disagrees?

 

[QuirkyAngel]

And again my problem wasn't the complaining it was the focus of the complaining. As I saw it they were taking the community to task for something the community wasn't actually doing. Rather than saying - ugh I hate it when X happens. Who agrees/disagrees?

And again, my point is if someone wants to make a thread saying 'ugh I hate it when X happens. Who agrees/disagrees?' why complain about it?

 

[rae2nerdy]

And again my problem wasn't the complaining it was the focus of the complaining. As I saw it they were taking the community to task for something the community wasn't actually doing. Rather than saying - ugh I hate it when X happens. Who agrees/disagrees?

And again, my point is if someone wants to make a thread saying 'ugh I hate it when X happens. Who agrees/disagrees?' why complain about it?

Because that isn’t the point of this thread. Or at least that isn’t how I saw this thread.

This isn’t “ Don’t you guys hate it when people treat you like a lesser writer for doing romance.”

It’s “ Why do you guys say that romance is dumb or lame. It really hurts my friends feelings and it’s rude”

Those are different things. One is a general complaint. The other is accusing people of feeling a particular way without actually taking the time to see if that’s a problem in the community. Idk it seems rude to just assume people don’t like your style of roleplaying

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Because that isn’t the point of this thread. Or at least that isn’t how I saw this thread.

This isn’t “ Don’t you guys hate it when people treat you like a lesser writer for doing romance.”

It’s “ Why do you guys say that romance is dumb or lame. It really hurts my friends feelings and it’s rude”

Those are different things. One is a general complaint. The other is accusing people of feeling a particular way without actually taking the time to see if that’s a problem in the community. Idk it seems rude to just assume people don’t like your style of roleplaying

Ah, I see. I didn't get that sort of feeling when I read the post, but I can understand the dissatisfaction that comes with perceived accusation. Op pretty much amitted its a feeling she gets rather than anyone actually saying it to her on the site.

 

[DisneyGirl]

Ah, I see. I didn't get that sort of feeling when I read the post, but I can understand the dissatisfaction that comes with perceived accusation. Op pretty much amitted its a feeling she gets rather than anyone actually saying it to her on the site.

Thank you. My point exactly

 

[rae2nerdy]

Thank you. My point exactly

Yeah and I think the point I was trying to make ( which I apologies I was on my app so I couldn't reword it better earlier ) was that the conversation you are intending to have isn't reflective in your opening post.

I'll use a example of a Thread about Cinema Sins.

So when I first joined the thread it was titled Cinema Sins, which if you don't know is a youtube channel dedicated to doing snarky nit-picky reviews of movies.

The OP was talking about how they hated it when movie critics tore down movies for no reason and brought up all kinds of silly nit picky reasons for hating them.

Well the first few responses to this opening post were along the lines of - Okay but that's literally the Cinema Sins brand. That's their whole schtick. That's what makes them unique among youtube reviewers. And for that matter they don't make up silly reasons for hating a movie they just say snarky nitpicky things because it's their brand.

If you want a more nuanced look at movies try different youtube reviewers like X Y or Z.

Well the OP kept going on and on about people who just hated movies because that's the popular thing to do. And again people are trying to explain that this isn't how movie critics work. They are giving their opinion of the movie based on their experience. Or in the case of Cinema Sins they have a gimmick.

Well after some back and forth it comes out that the person is a fan of the Twilight series and they really hated all the irrational hate that the series got. ( I think mostly the books but the movies too I assume ).

Well that's not exactly what the thread was about but again people tried to explain how critics weren't shitting on Twilight to shit on Twilight. They had legitimate reasons for their opinion.

Finally we get to the point where the OP gets to the REAL reason for the thread. They had seen a couple of teen boys make "reaction" videos to Twilight where they said it was "gay and dumb" because it was for girls or some such thing.

By that point we're two pages in and everyone is like.... But that has nothing to do with Cinema Sins.

That is like a totally different topic.

---------------------

So a lot of my complaint originally was like... Okay but "What Is Wrong With Romance?" doesn't actually have anything to do with roleplaying or this site? Like it's just about people who have essentially seen teen boys say romance is lame and dumb and are upset. Which is valid but it's not really the way the thread was presented at first glance.

( I'm not saying actual teen boys where the culpret btw. Just that kind of silly misognyistic attitude )

So like instead of going the roleplay route maybe tackle the actual sexism or misogny in the idea that romance is somehow lesser just because it's geared towards girls. Or just make a thread where romance roleplayers can complain about people being douche's just because they dislike romance as a genre.

I get that's what you were trying to do. I am just saying that in my case the intention got lost in translation.

 

[pasta]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the genre itself but there are some players that can make it frowned upon. For instance: rushing romance. It’s really unrealistic in any genre it’s paired with. It’s all about the journey. Like, you wouldn’t skip the whole quest and go straight to the boss fight. There’s also forcing romance, forcing the player to follow what you want to do because of your fantasies, etc. And I feel like with romance the most, you see people getting really attached to their characters. It’s like they basically just put themselves into the story. The genre is chill~ it’s just there can be a few rpers who go overboard. I mean, that’s what happens in any large genre of literature or fandoms. You’re bound to have crinegy people.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the genre itself but there are some players that can make it frowned upon. For instance: rushing romance. It’s really unrealistic in any genre it’s paired with. It’s all about the journey. Like, you wouldn’t skip the whole quest and go straight to the boss fight. There’s also forcing romance, forcing the player to follow what you want to do because of your fantasies, etc. And I feel like with romance the most, you see people getting really attached to their characters. It’s like they basically just put themselves into the story. The genre is chill~ it’s just there can be a few rpers who go overboard. I mean, that’s what happens in any large genre of literature or fandoms. You’re bound to have crinegy people.

Yeah from what I understand the OP was more complaining about misogyny as it pertains to the romance genre in general - and the romance roleplay subgenre in particular. Which would be an interesting discussion to have actually. With people sort of giving their own perspective on reading or writing romance.

I'm aromantic so writing romance isn't really in my wheelhouse. But was a voracious reader as a kid and read plenty of romance novels. I was never particularly looked down upon for it. Hell my male best friend would often read them with me, he even lent me the first erotica I ever read. I mean he was a bit of an odd duck like me but it's not like we were horribly bullied because we read or read romance in particular.

And as an adult I work in a library. So obviously reading is seen as a good thing and we don't play favorites with genre. So it's honestly an interesting take to look into how other people view reading romance and how the people around them made them feel about it.

In my case my mom just wished i would go outside and do something with real people.

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

RPs that are solely about romance are usually boring to me. It's not a lot of fun to just RP two people falling in love just because I'm not into that. I don't look down on people who do romance and I've done a few romance oriented RPs myself, but I enjoy some other sort of plot, with romance maybe as an aside.

I don't really have a reason why I don't like to do solely romance RPs, other than they bore me. It's just a personal preference; you do you.

 

[rae2nerdy]

RPs that are solely about romance are usually boring to me. It's not a lot of fun to just RP two people falling in love just because I'm not into that. I don't look down on people who do romance and I've done a few romance oriented RPs myself, but I enjoy some other sort of plot, with romance maybe as an aside.

I don't really have a reason why I don't like to do solely romance RPs, other than they bore me. It's just a personal preference; you do you.

You know that's a really interesting question which I might have to make a seperate thread about. Or well just a thread about romance in general and how it's seen by society.

Because I think (for me) the answer to your question is sort of tied to the point the OP was trying to make.

People think writing romance is easy. Because it's just a silly love story right?

It's sort of this mentality that made Fifty Shades of Grey such a monstrosity. ( along with misogyny, greed, an abuse fetish, and a really problematic idea of "love"). But the stuff in parenthesis isn't restricted to Fifty Shades. You'll get things like the #cockygate fiasco or Handbook for Mortals.

All these things presume that romance is an easy genre to get into because writing silly little love stories is cake.

It's really not.

It's very hard to balance a romance with enough background enrichment that you actually give a damn. If it's just something like fifty shades where it's Cardboard Lampshade and Rich Douchebag. Why do I care? Why should I want to see these people get together? They're by turns boring, stupid, or horrendously offensive.

Romance stories first and foremost must make you care about the characters. Because if you can't care about the characters than why are you reading the story.

The same holds true for romance roleplays. And I think this is the part where a lot of people really fall flat. They don't know how to make a character in such a way that you care if that character gets a happy ending. They care because it's their avatar for their own personal fantasy. But they don't know how to make YOU as an outsider care.

And if YOU ( the partner ) don't care than what's the point of the story? Now that's not to be nasty or take romance roleplayers down a peg. It's something a lot of people struggle with in terms of writing. It's just in other genres the rest of the roleplay elements make up for it. In romance where all you really have at the end of the day are the characters and their connection. Well no connection no roleplay.

 

[Malkav]

At the end of the day, aren't all roleplayers living a fantasy to a certain degree?[/justify]

This is why I roleplay as a normal stable person with a good career.

 

[rae2nerdy]

This is why I roleplay as a normal stable person with a good career.

I know that was a joke. But honestly it's kinda my favorite character type to play in slice of life style roleplays. The just regular joe shmoe moving through the day to day of some fantastical setting. But I'm like total worldbuilding trash and love making up super awesome worlds where people just live regular ass lives.