An Overly Long Tangent Talking About Why Drama Appears More Common in Online RP Communities

[UltraAlt]

On 10/11/2022 at 4:35 PM, McSpazz said:

As has been mentioned in my previous write-ups as well as in the classes themselves, most bouts of drama in RP tend to come from breakdowns in communication or a violation of consent. This does not, however, explain why online roleplay communities in particular get a reputation for being huge vortexes of drama. While some degree of exaggeration is at play, from my own experience, there is definitely truth to this.

 

Well.

My first internet RPG experience was on Compuserve.

The person that was leading the gaming group felt it was their "job' to create drama to force drama-related interaction between the players.

 

And like them, there are those in RPG groups (on and off the internet) that feel it is there "job" to create/cause drama.

That is what is furn for them, and that is how they play. They feel that drama is the whole point of an RPG.

 

Either the other players enjoy the created drama, or they quit gaming with the person(s).

 

I feel that an RPG should have a story. Characters should have a reason to interact.

I just don't feel that interpersonal conflict is the fun part of relationships.

[kito]

Not Sure I have run into a lot of RP drama in HC, Been Rping in it for about 3-4 years now I think? My biggest issue has been Meta Info, I always Tried to leave all the OOC info I could about my toons in my info as I did not want to "trick" people if I was RP a shape shifter or w/e. Sadly over time I have had to remove most my OOC info and now have to send Tells to people if we start to get past "General conversation RP"(sadly they often Feel I tricked them or loose interest as they liked the "hero" I was pretending to be over the Assassin my toon was) . I mostly just Avoid the GodKins in pocket D if there not at least lvl 50 I mean ITs a Super Hero RP they want to be Thor or W/E i'll RP with it But they at least need to put in the effort XD

I have had a few people be mad at Me and and take it out on w/e toon i'm playing But I count that with Meta info.

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by kito

[MistressOhm]

2 hours ago, kito said:

I have had a few people be mad at Me and and take it out on w/e toon i'm playing But I count that with Meta info.

 

Character-to-player and player-to-character projection is indeed a Faux Pas in RP circles.  But, it happens a lot. Always something we can work on, I suppose.  

[kito]

6 hours ago, Krimson said:

The correct response here is to start chatting OOC until you establish that the other player recognizes the difference between player and character. 

ya Tried that, even had to have the 4-5 other people I was RPing with around me Defend me and the difference between OOC and IC. Because I Was sending tell and they where just talking (( LIKE THIS )) yelling about w/e it was. In the end I just left and avoided them, I think they still yell at me when they get the chance I just avoided them so it is not often.

[DrunkFlux]

I thought about this recently to, in fact even made a post about it, how even 1-2 peoples rp if especially bad can get in the way of old friendships, even ruin them.  Like the unchecked god mode marty stu/mary sue who somehow gets away with it all the time somehow, even though there very rp would not allow anyone else to really get the spotlight.  Or even allow no room and elevate themselves to king/godhood, no equals allowed.  I cannot help but be left feeling even they are only where they are because they have a few yes men.  I even had one time I did try to rp with the old friend and the god-mode prone player decided to throw up a scene to pull them away.

 

That one person I realized got in the way just by being, practically, and even if I thought I got past my feelings somehow the same mistakes are made and i'm once again put off by it.  Granted, I have a lot of new friends and a few new crowds I hang out with now on and off, and I have a lot more fun with them, in fact they actually rp more seriously and I get variety when I hang out with them.  Its sad also since even they have had drama and still have some drama going on.

 

I guess many people are having problems because they cannot handle disagreements, and some cannot even handle not being on top of everything in the entire game and hog the spotlight.  Or even override the entire universe for there own world building with no room for anything else.  No one can come to a middle ground.

 

I also think some rp groups or sg's claiming to be rp aren't necessarily rpers at all.  I know an SG, I won't name them necessarily, who aren't really rpers much at all, the limited rp they do is such the characters are almost extensions of there own persons.   Not exactly munchkins but not quite rpers with any serious plots.  Of course my perspective may have been skewed because of the first paragraph, there may have been but I had since stopped hanging out with them a long time.

[kito]

5 hours ago, DrunkFlux said:

I thought about this recently to, in fact even made a post about it, how even 1-2 peoples rp if especially bad can get in the way of old friendships, even ruin them.  Like the unchecked god mode marty stu/mary sue who somehow gets away with it all the time somehow, even though there very rp would not allow anyone else to really get the spotlight.  Or even allow no room and elevate themselves to king/godhood, no equals allowed.  I cannot help but be left feeling even they are only where they are because they have a few yes men.  I even had one time I did try to rp with the old friend and the god-mode prone player decided to throw up a scene to pull them away.

 

That one person I realized got in the way just by being, practically, and even if I thought I got past my feelings somehow the same mistakes are made and i'm once again put off by it.  Granted, I have a lot of new friends and a few new crowds I hang out with now on and off, and I have a lot more fun with them, in fact they actually rp more seriously and I get variety when I hang out with them.  Its sad also since even they have had drama and still have some drama going on.

 

I guess many people are having problems because they cannot handle disagreements, and some cannot even handle not being on top of everything in the entire game and hog the spotlight.  Or even override the entire universe for there own world building with no room for anything else.  No one can come to a middle ground.

 

I also think some rp groups or sg's claiming to be rp aren't necessarily rpers at all.  I know an SG, I won't name them necessarily, who aren't really rpers much at all, the limited rp they do is such the characters are almost extensions of there own persons.   Not exactly munchkins but not quite rpers with any serious plots.  Of course my perspective may have been skewed because of the first paragraph, there may have been but I had since stopped hanging out with them a long time.

This one took me a while as well, finding "rp" SG witch had not real rp and slowly turned into just a discord RP. (How I have grown to hate discord) the good thing is it's easy to see after a week-month that they probably are not building or doing anything and it's easy to leave.  

For me the more frustrating SG is the "over rp" SG where they start a discord make a SG and then takes years to start rping they need to make the base perfect need to get the hysotry down you can't know anything ooc for w/e reason it's all got to be a surprise for IC for w/e reason.  

 

Both are just as toxic to me. But I'm happy for whoever like them and hope they have fun.

[Latex]

What I've seen in my time Roleplaying (not necessarily on Homecoming but across almost every online medium) is that cliques form quickly and a 'us vs them' mentality almost always takes root. The Roleplayer that broadly accepts all forms of RP without bias is extremely rare, even if claimed otherwise.

 

The casual Roleplayer with a joke-like character interacting with serious serious characters.
An erotic Roleplayer having an argument that sexuality has it's place in storylines.
The hardcore perma-death Roleplayer belittling other players who might not be at 'their standard' of Roleplay.
A Roleplayer that's more light-hearted/casual and speaks (( OOC )) mid-sessions to someone else's annoyance.

Just a few examples here, but there is always a sort of pigeon-hole-esque thing going on with a lot of RP Communities, people enjoy slapping labels on everything so they can be quickly judged as either 'my thing or not'.

The biggest RP drama's I've seen stem from three main sources;
IC Character Relationships (usually sexual) that bleed and blend IC/OOC and it can get to atomic bomb levels of drama.
"Metagrudging" when you dislike a player so you force them into IC situations with the intent to cause the player harm.
Permadeaths outside of the victims control, typically seen in RP-PVP Sandbox style games.

It's a niche hobby to Roleplay and like all niche Hobbies, elitism and stigma will always exist.

[Crystal Dragon]

That is very much the case, as you pointed out @Latex. Not many of us are willing to admit it, but truth be told, there's bias in nearly every aspect of gaming, whether it's PVP arena play, or story rich RP. Finding a respectful balance for your own interests can be difficult even but a lot of the time with RP communities is not necessarily pigeon holing, but rather categorizing their specific style, or finding something that fits to call their play preferences. It causes more drama than it's worth so many of us choose to just be a bit more secular about our play preferences, groupings, and try to avoid those that generally just ruin everyone elses good time.

[kito]

I also only half agree with you latex. The IC bleeding into oc I will always see as a meta game issue so I'll leave it out. 

 

But having a clique is not a bad thing for your rp space if you want to lean more in relationships or ERP.  you might not want to rp with the hardcore PvP player, as it's in a way a waste of both your time.  

 

 I see the issue being more pocket D in that way as it take every type of rp and puts them into one spot to just figure it out. Once you have your clique and your discord idk why people still go to pocket d and hangout in a circle not letting outher people join it has always confused me but guess if you don't want to sit in a base all day it's the only "rp" spot people know of.  

 

Altho maybe I missed the point.

[Crystal Dragon]

Some people use discord as a means to resume communication out of character when time doesn't allow them to log into the game. Bases tend to be more of a private location generally if they were designed for specific settings and purposes. I go to the D because I like seeing other people chatting and sometimes run into some pretty amazing roleplayers there and rarely run into them in-game anywhere else.

[Latex]

10 hours ago, kito said:

I also only half agree with you latex. The IC bleeding into oc I will always see as a meta game issue so I'll leave it out. 

 

But having a clique is not a bad thing for your rp space if you want to lean more in relationships or ERP.  you might not want to rp with the hardcore PvP player, as it's in a way a waste of both your time.  

 

 I see the issue being more pocket D in that way as it take every type of rp and puts them into one spot to just figure it out. Once you have your clique and your discord idk why people still go to pocket d and hangout in a circle not letting outher people join it has always confused me but guess if you don't want to sit in a base all day it's the only "rp" spot people know of.  

 

Altho maybe I missed the point.

Oh for sure, cliques will always exist and they're not necessarily a bad thing.

I think cliques turn rotten when it's so insular that the group of people might perceive their way of doing things is the only way. Or if they might never try other things because they're so ingrained on sticking to their own version of tried and true. When you start to think your way is the only form of RP you sort of bridge the gap between being a clique and being an elitist/gatekeeper.

I'm sure everyone has their standards of what is acceptable RP, I know I do! But I've absolutely dabbled in most aspects of RP, I guess I figured out what category/pigeon-hole to put myself into, though I find a great way to get past that is to have multiple characters that explore multiple different aspects of RP.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Latex

[kito]

14 hours ago, Crystal Dragon said:

Some people use discord as a means to resume communication out of character when time doesn't allow them to log into the game. Bases tend to be more of a private location generally if they were designed for specific settings and purposes. I go to the D because I like seeing other people chatting and sometimes run into some pretty amazing roleplayers there and rarely run into them in-game anywhere else.

 

I never said pocket d was a bad thing. Just bad for people who "know what they want" to rp with and are forced to all go there.  If I want to rp and not in a PvP or ERP mood I still have to wander to pocket d if no one on my f list is on. If there was a "ERP" or "hardcore" or "darker/adult" space in the game it would be easier to not jump into the blender and hope you get what you like. Same as then people who only want W/E rp there looking for do not need to waste any time. Might also be just a timezone issue but over  time I learned not to go to pocket d at all between x-y time as it more or less just tinder.  

 

Again it just a minor annoyance that I don't think could be "fixed".  

 

I don't see discord that way and have seen very few people use it that way, maby I'm just unlucky.