An Unwelcoming Roleplay Community

[IternalSoul]

Xavior Hellzwing

There's certainly a problem. Gaian roleplayers have a lot of bad habits. Everybody has a horror story and failed RPs, and it makes groups cliquish and less trusting of outsiders or anything new. But generally, it takes a special kind of personality to both be on Gaia and want to write in a roleplay. It kinda creates an echo chamber, so it's harder for those on the inside to see the flaws, or how rude they appear.

Unless you're already indoctrinated, it's hard to get used to. And trying to compare 2017 Gaia to years ago, it's set me up for a lot of disappointment too, but really it's me that's changed the most.

These days, Barton has a smaller community, slower threads, older ages, busier people, lazier attitudes, and secret handshakes. It works for some, rubs others the wrong way. So there's rarely fresh blood, unless someone has a friend that wants to support them, or a thick skin.

Lots of problems and no solutions.

And I believe it's an unspoken rule not to critique others' writing and characters, even when requested, because to do so invites a critical look at their own material. Most roleplayers are already painfully self-conscious and it makes them defensive.

True, Gaias demographic has shifted. But would think members getiing older would mean members becoming more mature; it seems I thought wrong.

This lack of welcoming by the community is part of the reason gaia is on the decline. A shame; the roleplay community once once more receptive. and members generally were wamer.

[Slick Southpaw]

IternalSoul

Slick Southpaw

I definitely got lucky with my roleplaying experience, I managed to do it with friends and avoided the garish posting with asininely small print that seems to be the rage these days.

It's a shame it's downgraded to this level. My problem is that while I have the desire to roleplay, I don't have the time to do it anymore and it's so damn frustrating.

Same here! Perhaps that is the problem: in the past, my roleplay partners were also my friends. That, and time; it is an issue for me as well! I have found it more convenient to do 1 on 1 roleplays on Discord. Group roleplays however...

I'd love to do roleplays on Discord but I lack the friendship to group chat such an endeavor. emo

But I kinda like being able to look back at my threads and nostalgia after them. Keeping them PG-13 wasn't an issue (okay sometimes it was, but I lived with it). The part that sucked is when IRL took time away or your RP partner decided that they have zero interest anymore and just drop things.

[Gothic_Redemption]

I gave up on Gaia roleplaying a while ago. There seemed to be two camps: Each post must have an elabourate format and have 5000 words in the tiniest font imaginable, or you post a sentence or two, nothing more.

I fall somewhere in the middle, I average about 250-300 words or so in a post, I have no skill in making fancy post layouts, and I try to make sure that while my posts are not particularly wordy, that they have substance.

I've lucked out, before, in finding a roleplay that they didn't mind my brevity, but everyone else, in their longs posts, either would write 5000 words in which nothing at all happened, or they did fifteen things in their post with no room for me to respond in between, just leaving me to fill in the spots in between their actions with things that don't change what they posted.

Anyway, I grew very frustrated with that, and it turns out Twitter suits my roleplay needs more.

[Slick Southpaw]

Gothic_Redemption

Anyway, I grew very frustrated with that, and it turns out Twitter suits my roleplay needs more.

I had no idea that Twitter could fulfill that in RPing :O

Very interesting

[Bleeding Apocalypse]

Oh, absolutely.

The RP community as a whole (outside of guilds) has completely destroyed any desire I've had to role play on Gaia. Gaia's Barton Town RP, for the most parts have become elitist hellholes to their own detriment. Thread OPs seem to want to outdo each other on the strictness and "literacy" (re: wordiness) of their RP threads as to make it a chore rather than something done for fun.

Posts must have a word count minimum. They must be X size font. They must have a flob of your character. You must use X format. It's become such an incredible chore to RP that it just isn't fun anymore. It seems like very many RPs nowadays have specific slots to fill, and you must play your role precisely to the OP's exact specifications or leave the RP. It's like they want to write a novel, but have you write it out for them: there is little to no leeway for creative interpretation or an original thought. If that's the case, why even bother inviting people to the RP?

I used to love the "jump in and start" style of RPs we had long ago. I could very casually start off and get to RP, maybe even make a new friend along the way. Nowadays, though, it's too tightly controlled to even be enjoyable.

[Gothic_Redemption]

Slick Southpaw

Gothic_Redemption

Anyway, I grew very frustrated with that, and it turns out Twitter suits my roleplay needs more.

I had no idea that Twitter could fulfill that in RPing :O

Very interesting

There's a large roleplaying community on Twitter! However, it comes with the issue that you rarely get any interaction unless you're a character from an established series.

[A Random Act of Terror]

Slick Southpaw

I definitely got lucky with my roleplaying experience, I managed to do it with friends and avoided the garish posting with asininely small print that seems to be the rage these days.

It's a shame it's downgraded to this level. My problem is that while I have the desire to roleplay, I don't have the time to do it anymore and it's so damn frustrating.

Pft, don't hate on size 9 font talk2hand (Although, the people who use the default size 7 should be hanged, drawn and quartered scream )

@thread:

I was never much for RPing (although it sounds interesting, I'm not creative enough to have that interaction with another human), but I have gone into the RP forums from time to time, and I share your sentiment. It's rather depressing the kind of rules they force on people.

[Thilath]

Even back when I first joined this site I never really got into the big public RPs, It was always so much waiting for people to post in relation to you, or being ignored if their friends were already in the game with them.
Eh, I've always stuck to v. small private groups or 1-on-1 games.

tbh my biggest beef with the RP threads on this site is...like...
why's everyone gotta have giant graphics of their character on every post they make lmao.
It's been like that for as long as I can remember and I still don't understand it.
Ol' Granny Thil being confused by the Trends of the Youth™ I guess.

[Xavior Hellzwing]

IternalSoul

True, Gaias demographic has shifted. But would think members getiing older would mean members becoming more mature; it seems I thought wrong.

This lack of welcoming by the community is part of the reason gaia is on the decline. A shame; the roleplay community once once more receptive. and members generally were wamer.

When interacting with any group we're all going to come away with different experiences for different reasons. There's going to be exceptions to a trend, and a few bad seeds can undo hundreds of small kindnesses.

I enjoy Gaia's roleplaying community, warts and all.

[radish]

it is really something to see how barton town has changed... it used to be so lax, but now everything has to be prettified, novel-length bullshit because of the ~:*aesthetic*:~ and "literacy."

i don't know, maybe i am simply bitter due to the clutter, but when RPs started to take a dive, i stuck the breedable/changeable pets subforum and never went back, haha. i am content with the small RP communities i am part of. they have some of the nicest people i've ever met on gaia.

[IternalSoul]

Gothic_Redemption

I gave up on Gaia roleplaying a while ago. There seemed to be two camps: Each post must have an elabourate format and have 5000 words in the tiniest font imaginable, or you post a sentence or two, nothing more.

I fall somewhere in the middle, I average about 250-300 words or so in a post, I have no skill in making fancy post layouts, and I try to make sure that while my posts are not particularly wordy, that they have substance.

I've lucked out, before, in finding a roleplay that they didn't mind my brevity, but everyone else, in their longs posts, either would write 5000 words in which nothing at all happened, or they did fifteen things in their post with no room for me to respond in between, just leaving me to fill in the spots in between their actions with things that don't change what they posted.

Anyway, I grew very frustrated with that, and it turns out Twitter suits my roleplay needs more.

You have said my exact thoughts. It's either purpule prose or one at all. Pardon me, if i am going to write 5000 words, if I am going to work on a personal writing project, like my short story or novel not a goddamn roleplay post. There does seem to much point to roleplaying if there is minimal interaction between characters. Posts that are long for the sake of being long, without at all moving the characters or plot forward, make for a stagnant, dull roleplay.

I write between 500 and 1000 words, though really, it varies with the circumstances of the roleplay. Enough to give meat to the response, without being superflous.

[IternalSoul]

Bleeding Apocalypse

Oh, absolutely.

The RP community as a whole (outside of guilds) has completely destroyed any desire I've had to role play on Gaia. Gaia's Barton Town RP, for the most parts have become elitist hellholes to their own detriment. Thread OPs seem to want to outdo each other on the strictness and "literacy" (re: wordiness) of their RP threads as to make it a chore rather than something done for fun.

Posts must have a word count minimum. They must be X size font. They must have a flob of your character. You must use X format. It's become such an incredible chore to RP that it just isn't fun anymore. It seems like very many RPs nowadays have specific slots to fill, and you must play your role precisely to the OP's exact specifications or leave the RP. It's like they want to write a novel, but have you write it out for them: there is little to no leeway for creative interpretation or an original thought. If that's the case, why even bother inviting people to the RP?

I used to love the "jump in and start" style of RPs we had long ago. I could very casually start off and get to RP, maybe even make a new friend along the way. Nowadays, though, it's too tightly controlled to even be enjoyable.

Precisely! Roleplaying, for me, is all about the exchange of ideas and interaction of the characters. It meant to be creative, spontaneous, and fun. All that is sucked away when one treats it, as you said, like novel writing.

There is no creativity in that!

If you want every character to do exactly as you imagine and the plot to follow an exact order...then please, write a novel. Don't lord over people in a roleplay.

[Pale Priestess]

The RP community all across Gaia has become rather toxic in general. I used to partake in Guild and Forum roleplays, however I found that for all the effort and passion I had for something, it always ended up wasted in the end because I was the only one feeling it. People nowadays put a lot of effort into the vanity and aesthetic of their roleplays and nothing into the overall substance of it.

This is as true in the Barton Town forums as it is in Towns where there is still a small community of roleplayers. There are definitely cliques of people, however they can be divided into two major groups: the elitist community who claims they have the right to police RPing in towns if it isn't per their standards, and also reserve the right to kill your character(s) because they deem it their right without any say so from the mun/roleplayer. And then everyone else who just wants to be there to enjoy themselves. It causes a lot of strife for those who want to RP in a place like towns for something really casual or simple because you constantly have to be on your toes that a stranger coming to interact with you or your friend group is someone who is trying to gather information on your character to report back to someone else, or someone among the "community" who is coming at you to kill your character for no reason. There are also those who view combat as the only way to develop a character and believe that plus a brooding past make for good characters. It gets really generic really fast, and it doesn't allow for any spice because the moment you introduce actual conflict to a situation, a lot of people get upset and take OOC offense to it.

Adding on to that thought, conflict can be a great thing in RP. It's what helps your character grow and it also challenges you as the writer/roleplayer to think critically to overcome the obstacle in the best manner for your character(s). I really enjoy conflict, but so many people are so easily upset over things that happen IC that it's like always walking on eggshells.

Anyway, I've moved most of my roleplaying to google docs since I have a small core group of people I write with. I really like it because it's convenient. I can do my replies anywhere without having to log into a website that doesn't work very well on mobile, I can watch my partners reply as they type, and it's a nice way to keep track and organize everything as well. In the last year, I've probably written over a thousand pages with my partners. It's really fun. Between docs for serious/more in depths roleplays, and then towns for banter or figuring out a new character's personality, it's been really great because it challenges you to adapt. You can have a plan set out for a situation all you like, however writing with another person is what keeps it dynamic and engaging. You never know what's going to happen, and even if you talk out an idea with your partner(s), it'll always end up changing because you can't predict what each other will write.

[Sakyr]

It's like 7 or 8 years ago when I rp'd here in threads with friends I stumbled across
But ever since these friends kind of quitted or became very inactive, I stopped rping here as well
Now I rp at tumblr but frankly, the people and experiences you describe here... you encounter them there too.
Some groups/fandom seem more extreme than others.

I think elitis writers and arrogant shits can be found everywhere.
It's the same with cosplaying, really.
Some have sklls and think these skills make them a bazillion times better than others.

It's a huge problem that has its roots in our current society.
Common sense, respect and manners towards each other has been thrown out the window these days

[GentlemonMatt]

tldr; only dealt with a somewhat controlling RPer, found out my roleplay talents were better for D&D.