Demographics 10: Romance!

How often do you create Romancible characters?

  • All of my characters are made with romance paramount in my mind!

  • The potential is there for any of them, but I don't necessarily explore it with all of them.

  • The potential is there for some of them, but some characters make no sense to romance.

  • The potential is there for a few of them, but it's never central to any of my characters.

  • Bah, romance. None of my characters are romancible. Stop trying to romance them!


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Brovo

Ferret Dad
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Posting Speed
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  2. One post per week
  3. Slow As Molasses
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Afternoons and evenings, some weekends.
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
  4. Prestige
  5. Douche
  6. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Primarily Prefer Male
  4. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
Fantasy, Science Fiction, Post Apocalypse, Horror, Romance, Survival...
@Staff: Keep in mind that (with Diana's permission and Astaroth overlooking it) I'm posting threads in GC first, leaving them there for a week, and then moving them to RP Help & Discussion after! This way, my demographics threads can have the widest breadth of community input without asking for unfair administration favouratism. Thanks. :ferret:

Demographics threads are, essentially, an attempt to record the community's thoughts and feelings on RP-related subject matter via a series of votes. Iwaku's tastes, habits, et cetera. If you want further information on prior demographics threads, you can find the demographics hub thread here. (There are nine other Demographics Polls to check stats on & vote in so far!)

Demo threads are not an appropriate place for hardcore multipage debates. You can ask questions about each other's positions, but keep them professional in tone. Otherwise, the spirit of the demographics threads will be lost. They're meant to sample the community and put it into an easily digestible form of numbers that anybody can look at later when creating their own RP threads or when curious about Iwaku's general demographics. If you're really interested in discussing the subject matter, create your own discussion thread. I would be delighted if demographics threads started to spawn further topics of interest by the community itself.


  • A. Pace: 2
  • B. Romance: 3 (Winner--Coin flip!)
  • C. Politics: 1
  • D. Mechanics: 1
  • E. Story Themes: 3
  • F. Power Levels: 1
  • G. RP Completion: 0
  • H. Surprise me: 0


Question: How often do you create Romancible characters?
Clarity: "Roman-cible" as in turning "Romance" into a yes/no binary. In other words, how often do you create characters which can be romanced in some function or fashion?

Additional Questions
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?

Community Choice Poll: Vote for the topic of the next poll! (You can choose multiple options. To vote, simply post in this thread which option(s) you want.) (Yes, this poll will shrink in size at some point. Some topics dead end after a while. :ferret:)
  • A. Pace. (How fast RP's go/how fast you and the rest of the community post on average.) (Single-choice poll.)
  • B. Politics. (New topic expansion: Polling to see the community's general interest in how politics manifests in role playing.) (Single or Multiple choice poll.)
  • C. Mechanics. (New topic expansion: Polling to see the community's general interest in how artificial mechanics like dice rolls and stats influence role playing.) (Single or Multiple choice poll.)
  • D. Story Themes. (As a follow up to "Tone" and "Character Ownership." Has to deal with what themes people find most appealing in a story.) (Multiple choice poll.)
  • E. Power Levels. (As a follow up to "Genres" and "Character Archetypes." Has to do with the average level of power player characters possess.) (Single choice poll.)
  • F. RP Completion. (As a follow up to "Longevity." Has to do with how many have successfully completed role plays, and/or how many completed role plays they have.) (Single choice poll.)
  • G. Character Depth. (New topic expansion: Polling to see the community's general interest in how facets of character creation and development function.) (Single or Multiple choice poll.)
  • H. Romance: Pursuer vs Pursued. (Specific follow up to "Romance." Has to do with whether someone prefers to be pursued or do the pursuing in romantic arcs. Will be gender divided for further clarity and curiosity.) (Single choice poll.)
  • I. Surprise me. (None of the above.)
 
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I am a romance roleplayer! My primary objective is a romantic subplot. 8D It doesn't have to be the point or plot of the roleplay itself, (because then we'll run out of THINGS to do that are interesting) but I need my romantic subplot because it is delicious candy and my #1 interest.
 
I voted "All of my characters are created with romance paramount in my mind," but that's not completely accurate I don't think. I love a healthy dose of other things, and almost all of my romances are nontraditional, dark, and sometimes unrequited, but I love romance. I really do. Even if one of the poor characters ends up stabbed in the back.

Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
I would, I have, and I enjoy it. I love an element of unrequited love.

Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
Absolutely depends. In the traditional, sappy romance serial sense - no. If the scenario is one character falling in love with another character immediately without said character knowing or reciprocating the feelings, especially if it leads to a disturbing obsession - heck yeah. How broken is the character falling in love at first sight, exactly? Important questions!

Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
In unconventional ways, mostly. Sometimes I love a happy ending, but not usually. I won't lie, I enjoy erotic scenes, but usually only when they are relevant to the story. Some stories just have more sex than others. I dislike stories that involve children or have any kind of focus on family. I also love toying with obsession and (this makes me feel like a complete psycho to admit in the open like this lmao) abuse - but that I wouldn't exactly call romance. 8|

Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
Yeah. Nothing much else to add there. Sometimes the main focus of the plot is romance, sometimes (usually) it isn't, but I like there to be some kind of romance down the line. Sometimes I just want some sappy romance okay, I don't get much of that in real life. CUDDLE ME, DAMN IT
 
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Question: How often do you create Romancible characters?
The potential is there for any of them, but I don't necessarily explore it with all of them.



Additional Questions
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
    • I think I've voted on 7 of them! And I've replied to maybe 4 or 5, depending if I was busy or not at the time of voting, or if I had anything interesting to share. I think fancier/prettier formatting would attract more people to the polls though (at least to answer the additional questions) because people like pretty shiny things, and maybe result in a discussions.
  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
    • I would! It is all part of a character arc to fail at something, whether it be a mission or a romantic pursuit. It would not make sense and would not be very realistic if all romantic arcs were successful, in my opinion.
  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
    • Sorry, I think I threw up a little. No, I don't think "love at first sight" is a good storytelling device. You're just skipping a bunch of build-up and interactions. Love is something that grows, sometimes withers. It does not spontaneously happen or vanish.
  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
    • I honestly haven't roleplayed that far yet, in anything, but I would definitely love to see it grow deeper and more long-term.
  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
    • I don't have any 1x1 at the moment, but I would definitely think so! It helps to focus on single-character development, without having to think about 10 different other players. It always depends on the story and setting though.
  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
    • Not a GM, but I think it's important to include romancible NPCs.
  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
    • I don't really like it, no. I prefer to let things develop naturally with other characters, and discuss it with other players. BUT if it were requested I would not object to it!

Community Choice Poll
  • D. Story Themes.
  • G. Character Depth.
  • H. Romance: Pursuer vs Pursued.
 
Question: How often do you create Romancible characters?
Most, if not all, of my characters have the potential to be romanced or pursued. I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for romance as one of the draws or elements in a story or a roleplay. But to be honest, I prefer it if the players who want to romance my characters with theirs ask me if it's okay with me first. More often than not I already do have a romance partner nowadays because our characters are collaborated anyway.
  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
If you're talking onesided or unrequited feelings and putting it in an arc, then heck yeah, I can do that. It's fun to explore those what-if scenarios as well as the pursuing (and failing) character's feelings as their feelings aren't reciprocated.
  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
As a standalone, I think it's a weak storytelling device. But give me a catch, a twist that makes it interesting and can actually include to the conflict in a story? Like a character that falls in love at first sight begins to slowly die because that's part of their species/race's characteristics, or something like that. That would be fun. Or love at first sight that turns into a creepy obsession. The characters don't necessarily have to end up with each other, after all.
  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
All of those and more. I love thinking of cute headcanons or prompts for the romances I have written or roleplayed. Sex is fun because it can actually tell a lot of things about two characters, and idk it's just interesting and entertaining. Creation of a family, definitely yes. But I love most of all the pursuit it takes to get two characters together. The things they go through together or for each other before the big damn kiss, or confession.
  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
Yup. While I can and would write 1x1 without the romance, romance is one of my plot candies. 1x1 roleplays also involves more consistent planning and discussion with a partner, so I think romance is easier to develop in those rps.
  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
Nope. I prefer player to player interaction with their own characters, pursuing relationships (romantic or not) to them interacting with NPCs.
  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
I don't describe my charries' romantic inclinations and habits in their character sheets. I'd rather see those play out in the roleplay and the situations they would be put in, or discuss it with my rp partners for fun.

  • D. Story Themes. (As a follow up to "Tone" and "Character Ownership." Has to deal with what themes people find most appealing in a story.) (Multiple choice poll.)
  • G. Character Depth. (New topic expansion: Polling to see the community's general interest in how facets of character creation and development function.) (Single or Multiple choice poll.)
  • H. Romance: Pursuer vs Pursued. (Specific follow up to "Romance." Has to do with whether someone prefers to be pursued or do the pursuing in romantic arcs. Will be gender divided for further clarity and curiosity.) (Single choice poll.)

I'd like to see any of these three in the next poll.
 
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
Without checking, I'm actually not sure ^_^'. And now, with checking, I can say I've voted in all ten polls. I like polls and follow up questions ^_^.
  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
It would depend on what is meant by failure. If it's something like sacrifice for the greater good, where one character will have to live without their better half forever? Then... even though I'll cry buckets, yes, I would engage in such a role play. However, any other type of failure, probably not. I like good ol' sappy romance between two characters.
  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
I'm not really partial to it, personally. I know it's a thing, but it's not really there for me. Crush at first sight, sure. But love? Nah.
  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
I'm a sap. Fluff makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. So exploring romance in RPs is a very big plus point to me. I tend to time skip sex parts, but having babies, growing old together, it's fun. Seeing how your characters grow stronger together as they face life and its challenges.
  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
Actually, no. I'm usually looking at romance as something that comes like a side dish, fries to my burger as I mentioned to a friend. But I'm not averse to romance playing a big part to the main story if the characters click.
  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
Occasionally I do, but then they tend to become playable characters. As a rule of thumb, I try not to, however.
  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
Hmm, just like with sexuality, I'd rather not have romantic inclinations on a character sheet. Unless that basically means the same thing? Lol. I just feel romance and the like should grow naturally. My biggest pet peeve is making two characters specifically so that they'll fall in love in the RP. I like taking the organic route, having characters meet, get to know each other, become friends, and then maybe go further.

I feel like I digressed, so my apologies ^_^'

For the next poll, I'll pick Story Themes :D
 
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Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?

A. I want to say I have voted on all ten, I might have missed one or two though. No, I'm not going to bother checking. I've commented on three including this right now. I have no suggestions.

Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?

A. Sure, there's a certain fun in uncertainty, makes it all the more rewarding of you succeed if there was a chance to fail the whole time. As for guaranteed failure, well, that completely depends on how the story is going and the mentality of the characters at play. I won't ever go in to an RP with the idea of a guaranteed failed relationship (that's actually quite sad now that I think of it), but if I think a character I created would pursue another regardless of the outcome I'd go for it. Really, in the end, all I want from an RP is an interesting story, romance does not need to succeed to be interesting.

Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?

A. Meh? I have no particular feeling to the trope. It's a trope, depending on the writer it can be done well or poorly. I myself don't use it, but I won't judge someone who does.

Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)

A. In theory, I'd be willing to go all the way. Exploring an entire relationship over a lifetime. In practice, I'm lazy and such a story would be very long and I'd most likely get bored of it well before the conclusion. Realistically speaking then, I think I'd end at the creation of a family at most. Unless there is other plot candies along the way, the rest would just be sorta boring.

Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?

A. Kind of? One of the greatest advantages of a 1x1 is a better dynamic between the two main characters so romance can be explored better and in more detail (*wink*) without the nuisance of GM oversight or the potential of other players butting in and taking the spotlight. That being said, romance isn't my biggest draw to 1x1s. Control of the story is :P.

Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?

A. As a GM I don't limit romantic options to my NPCs. Sure, some wouldn't due to such things like marital status, age, the fact that they are a creature incapable of love... ect. The caveat is that I tend to be unkind to my NPCs. I don't practice the usual 'limits' I put on my PCs so many of the poor bastards end up broken, disfigured or otherwise in a state that renders them undesirable for romance. Of course, if this doesn't dissuade a player I'll be willing to play along just to see how it goes.

Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?

A. I dislike it. I think it can ruin the 'surprise' of romance and it effects how other players have their characters interact with the character. For example, if a player knew that my character was gay, but their character did not it might to lead to metagaming. Even if it's unconscious, a player might avoid having their character form a platonic relationship with mine in order to avoid my character building feelings for them. Alternatively, if their character is also gay they start flirting with mine even if they have no IC indication of my characters homosexuality.

Choices For Next Poll:

Politics
Mechanics
Power Levels
 
  1. The potential is there for some of them, but some characters make no sense to romance.



  2. The potential is there for a few of them, but it's never central to any of my characters.


Essentially I wish there was a way to combine these two answers. As a writer, I don't centralize my characters around romance, but I am not opposed to exploring it.
 
Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
N/A. It would be silly for me to offer suggestions to myself.
Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
Yep. A story without tension is a boring affair. Always gotta have a potential fail state, whether it's more or less likely than a success state depends on the nature of the story. If it's all predetermined, then I don't feel anything over it.
Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
At best? Trite. At worst? Obsessively creepy. It's fine for someone to be attracted or admire someone upon meeting them--like a person looking up to their hero, or a person finding someone else physically alluring--but the idea of love at first sight is childish. It's also often possessive. What if that person doesn't love you back? Are you going to spend your entire life obsessing over that one person, to the exclusion of all other persons, and to the exclusion of your own happiness? That just creates the stuff of villains to me. Villains, and protagonists who direly need to grow up.
Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
As far as it's interesting, with themes and narrative tension of some sort to explore. I'm a fan of passing the mantle--taking the narrative from the parents to their descendants when they come of age. It opens loads of potentially interesting and wonderful interactions, nostalgic moments, that couldn't otherwise be properly explored.
Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
In a 1x1? Yeah, generally, but I very rarely do 1x1's, so... Maybe I shouldn't be answering this question.
Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
Yep. I have a rule of thumb that NPC's which players take interest in get more attention and development than those players do not take interest in. If players show sufficient interest in an NPC that more complex relationships beyond "narrative tool" can form, then romance nearly always becomes an option. Albeit, they still need to "play the romance game" as it were.
Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
Dislike it. That's just one of those things you should pocket away as a future development of the character. I'm a firm believer that most role plays on Iwaku reveal the wrong kinds of information in their character sheets, and often reveal far too much of the intimate, critical details of characters.
 
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  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
All but the last one; that was just because I forgot to fill it in. Whoops.

Honestly, for what this is, I can't really suggest anything to improve. It's serviceable.
  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
Ohhh yeah. One of my favorite romances ended up super anti-climatic and it made one of my players in that game (not the player involved in the romance) message me after saying it made her cry. Victory condition right there.
  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
I rather have things develop organically over time so it means something; I guess it can work with certain characters (like, their personality is one that gets attached super quickly, but balance it out by giving them some flaws to show it's not ideal, for instance), but overall, if it's right off the bat, it's meaningless.
  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
So far, I haven't gotten a game going long enough romance wise to get past the equivilant of early dating. It's been pretty great stuff so far.
  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
Yes and no. Usually with 1x1s, I do them because I want to step away from group dynamics and have a more relaxed time. That said, I think 1x1 is a bit better for something like romance because it's not derailing a group plot and gives it a chance to be a main focus.
  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
Haven't yet. Not against the idea, but I haven't expressly created characters for the purpose of other player characters romancing them.
  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
Dislike it, generally. I think if you put too much emphasis on romance stuff on the character sheet, it makes it look more like a personal ad rather than focusing on the character as a whole.

  • D. Story Themes. (As a follow up to "Tone" and "Character Ownership." Has to deal with what themes people find most appealing in a story.) (Multiple choice poll.)
  • E. Power Levels. (As a follow up to "Genres" and "Character Archetypes." Has to do with the average level of power player characters possess.) (Single choice poll.)
  • F. RP Completion. (As a follow up to "Longevity." Has to do with how many have successfully completed role plays, and/or how many completed role plays they have.) (Single choice poll.)
  • G. Character Depth. (New topic expansion: Polling to see the community's general interest in how facets of character creation and development function.) (Single or Multiple choice poll.)
 
I went with the middle ground option: the potential is there for some, but some don't make any sense for romance. I sometimes play monstrous characters, and romance just isn't a thing for them. Like I've played an ogre before, and the closest he could possibly get to romance is "don't bash them over the head to knock them unconscious before sex" because he was a simpleminded brute that was barely capable of thought. My ratio of romancible to non-romancible characters is probably something on the order of 9:1 or even higher though, for what it's worth.

Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
I think this is the third I've participated in? Maybe the fourth? Everything seems fine to me, can't think of anything that needs adding.
Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
Absolutely. A lot of the fun of a romantic arc comes from the whole "will they or won't they?" aspect, so the possibility of failure is fine by me. Guaranteed failure isn't something I've ever had an opportunity to play out, but I would do that as well since it could make for cool character development.
Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame. Instant initial attraction is called lust, and love at first sight is just a goofy romantic idea plastered over lust to make it sound less skeevy. "OMG I saw her and I instantly fell in love!!!" No, you saw that she was hot and your natural drive to reproduce picked her out as a good choice for mating, not that she was a great personality match or whatever. Notice how you never see "love at first sight" nonsense for unattractive people unless it's being played specifically for comedy. The reason for that is because love at first sight is a lie that people tell themselves to maintain some kind of innocence or prudishness when they see someone they want to fuck.
Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
It's all on the table. I've never actually gotten far enough in a roleplay romance to do the family creation or growing old or so on level of things, but I'm doing one now that's going that way and I'm cool with it.
Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
I suppose so. My history with 1x1 roleplaying is mostly chat based, and most of them were either romances or things where we were throwing characters at each other to see if romance was viable. If I'm looking for other things then it almost always makes sense to go for a group roleplay instead. It's less that I'm drawn to 1x1 for romance than an interest in roleplaying romance that draws me to 1x1.
Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
In my few forays into GMing, yep, NPCs can almost always be romanced. I want NPCs to be as close to realistic people as possible, and having some arbitrary limit of "no you can never get this person to be romantically interested in another person" is entirely unnatural. Some NPC traits or background info might have the effect of making them averse to romance, but I wouldn't use them with the intent to make a non-romancible NPC.
Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
I'm on the fence, but for the sake of actually answering I guess I'll say dislike because I usually don't do this. This is mainly because for most characters I don't decide on their sexuality and whatnot until a while after the character is completed, sometimes not until a long way into the roleplay itself after I've played them and gotten a good feel for them. It's not a major component of most of my characters because their identities don't revolve around romance. Also, having other characters make romantic overtures to mine despite my character not being interested in them for whatever reason is fun and can make for character development moments, and most people seem to metagame the hell out of romance and won't make their characters go after anyone that they don't know are hypothetically open to such advances.


For the next poll, what the hell, might as well go with the romance followup.
 
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I felt like contributing my answers to this. I may contribute further answers to more polls in the future.

I voted that any of my characters have the potential, but I don't necessarily explore it. Romance isn't my primary objective in RPs, but I'm a total sucker for it, and tend to (privately) ship characters together, anyway. Except for specific circumstances, I (tend to) avoid roleplays that lack possibilities for romantic in-character relations, partially because the roleplay is often not my type of roleplay in other aspects as well as romance, and partially because "love" is my favorite way to show "weakness" in a character (also, I like shipping).

Additional Questions
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
0/0, not counting this one, and no.

  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
To keep it simple, yes. The latter naturally depends on the characters in question, as I wouldn't go throwing all my characters to struggle at some futile things.

  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
It depends on what you mean by "love". Typical way of full-blown romantic love, I find it annoying. A one-sided sort of "crush" can be nice, especially if unrequited. If it was romantic love, but involved something such as a curse to fall in love with someone, I'm neutral (it depends on execution, too; if it's an actual impediment for the character/s and/or the romance, I like it more than if it were just a ploy to get the characters together). Physical attraction, I'm neutral, though it technically isn't "love".

  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
None of my characters have ever been romanced. Ever. OOC shipping has happened, though.

I've yet to explore any character's sex life, particularly when they have a romantic partner, as Liberteen RPs (1x1 or group) tend to have an inverse amount of Plot vs Smut as to whatever I'm looking for at the time, and most other roleplayers are 18 or older. I have lightly discussed simple things, such as which character would be more dominant in a pairing, with other roleplayers OOC, though the discussion was pure speculation of a "crack ship".

Families are not my thing, personally, though I would be more neutral than anything.

Having a pairing grow old together would be nice, but I have a special place in my heart for characters dying together or in their lover's arms (does not have to literally be in their lover's arms).

  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
I don't exactly understand what you mean by "romantic inclinations", as there are a few possibilities, but assuming you mean what way(s) they swing, then I like it, or at least don't mind. If people are willing to have their character(s) paired off, it's much easier to be able to see whether or not they'd be a viable ship than having to ask whether the character's romanceable and which way they swing.

For other interpretations of "romantic inclinations", if I have to be more specific, such as types of people the character likes or dislikes, then I'd dislike it, though I've never seen this before. This is for the obvious reasons of a possible sudden influx of characters fitting the liked description of a certain character, people intentionally locking characters out of being romanceable by certain characters, people avoiding having their characters trying to romance certain characters for no in-character reason, and other complications that might lead to.


Community Choice Poll:

a. Pace
d. Story Themes
e. Power Levels
g. Character Depth.

Another romance poll would be better spaced out, even by just one or two polls.
 
Additional Questions
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
    • I've vote on maybe 4 or 5 of them, this is the second I've commented on. I can't think of anything that needs to be added or changed.
  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
    • Absolutely. That might even be fun.
  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
    • I don't like it. If romance happens it should happen naturally during the course of the story. Love at first sight doesn't fit that idea.
  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
    • I've never RP'd to the point of marriage, or children or beyond. At a certain point things become to Slice-of-Life for me to find any enjoyment in it.
  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
    • I do primarily play 1x1s, but romance is not a big draw for me. I like working closely with one other person to craft a story together.
  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
    • I don't GM
  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
    • Depends on the character and roleplay.
 
Was the ability to change your vote disabled on purpose @Brovo? :O Just wondering because after thinking I feel the second option fits better than the first for me, but if we can't change, that's cool too!
 
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Was the ability to change your vote disabled on purpose @Brovo? :O Just wondering because after thinking I feel the second option fits better than the first for me, but if we can't change, that's cool too!
Yep. One of the tools I use to combat potential group think/duckling syndrome in statistics is to occasionally make polls without the option for vote changing. It depends on the subject matter. Romance is one of those subjects I feel people may vote change not to suit how they feel, but to fall in with the crowd. Which invariably skewers statistical accuracy.

EDIT

It's the same reason why on most polls which have five options--with the middle option being the most moderate, and the outer options being the most extreme, the majority of the time, people vote either for the moderate option, or slightly above/below it. People don't like standing too far out, especially on sensitive issue topics. Ergo, duckling syndrome. It's part of human thought patterns, it's why we form societies. Conformism is a thing. :ferret:
 
Yep. One of the tools I use to combat potential group think/duckling syndrome in statistics is to occasionally make polls without the option for vote changing. It depends on the subject matter. Romance is one of those subjects I feel people may vote change not to suit how they feel, but to fall in with the crowd. Which invariably skewers statistical accuracy.

EDIT

It's the same reason why on most polls which have five options--with the middle option being the most moderate, and the outer options being the most extreme, the majority of the time, people vote either for the moderate option, or slightly above/below it. People don't like standing too far out, especially on sensitive issue topics. Ergo, duckling syndrome. It's part of human thought patterns, it's why we form societies. Conformism is a thing. :ferret:
Gotcha. Very interesting! It's just the word 'paramount' in the first option that makes me go 'ehh, not quite' but I knew that when voting for it anyway.
 
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Question: How often do you create Romancible characters?
90% of the time. The other 10% are NPC's I play that help the plot. All of my plots have romance in them because without it I get bored. When I rp, it's literally me writing a romance novel cheesy or not with someone else. I love writing, and love reading, but I no longer have time to read for fun unless I give up writing. Therefore I do them both by co-writing my own romancey book/novel/rps!

Additional Questions
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
    I've voted in all of them, but only commented in a few.
  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
    My whole stories are about romance or leading up to romance. A failure in romance would be with a lesser character, so to a degree yes?
  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
    There are only VERY rare cases where I will let this happen. But usually they are generally insane and want to kill people who touch the thing they love. Otherwise, fuck no. Get the fuck back, let it happen. I understand a high a couple could have, but that is not love. Nope, nope, nope. Let them actually get to know each other and find out what love really is. Along with a lot of other shit you'll have to deal with in a romance rp in order to keep the story going. Otherwise it dies so fast. You have to be willing to throw a TON of issues at the two in order to keep the story going.
  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
    All of it actually. A few times I've moved on from playing the original pair to playing their child and moving the story along that way.
  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
    I only do onexone's so I'mma say yes.
  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
    I have! In a plot that I'm more heavily controlling in a onexone I will bring in characters that will get in the way try and romance, or even pair off with other NPC's or lesser characters in order to make a plot more interesting.
  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
    I had very detailed character sheets, because I'd rather have my co-writer learn as their character learns. That way they don't just assume things because it was in a sheet. It also leaves me the chance to get to learn about my character more, I may think they'll be this way, but as I play them it may shift to something that just feels more natural. But I understand why in Group rps having a detailed sheet is very important for other players and GM's.
 
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame. Instant initial attraction is called lust, and love at first sight is just a goofy romantic idea plastered over lust to make it sound less skeevy. "OMG I saw her and I instantly fell in love!!!" No, you saw that she was hot and your natural drive to reproduce picked her out as a good choice for mating, not that she was a great personality match or whatever. Notice how you never see "love at first sight" nonsense for unattractive people unless it's being played specifically for comedy. The reason for that is because love at first sight is a lie that people tell themselves to maintain some kind of innocence or prudishness when they see someone they want to fuck.
Love this. Thank you. ^_^
 
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?

About five? I lost count. :x They're pretty fun when I'm in the mood for them.

  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?

Yes, absolutely! In fact, very recently, one of my ships sank. It was gloriously tragic because one of the characters crumbled to dust in the arms of the other.

  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?

No. Just no. Well, infatuation sure. Lust, sure. Not actual love, though.

  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)

I like exploring attraction, bonding, sex, babies, loss, and even marriage, I suppose. Marriage to a lesser degree because most of my characters aren't the marrying type, but they'll settle down with someone.

  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?

Nope. I like drama more than romance, but romance is an enjoyable extra.

  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?

I do, technically. However, I rarely consider anyone I introduce as an NPC, because that implies they have a set script from which they won't deviate.

  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?

I sometimes describe, sometimes don't. Usually my characters are straight or favor the opposite gender and sex, but quite a few are gay, and quite a few are bi, and I even have an ace or two.
 
  • Q. It's been ten polls now. How many have you voted on/commented in, and do you have any suggestions about further features or improvements you'd like to see?
I don't know. Probably all of them. Polls are inherently flawed and you know this.

  • Q. Would you ever engage in a romantic arc which could result in failure, or which is guaranteed to result in failure?
Yes.

  • Q. How do you feel about love at first sight as a storytelling device?
It happens to some people. A dynamic between two partners who don't know each other very well can be interesting, either forcing them to learn and adapt or see above. I'm just going to assume all the replies I haven't read are going to bitch about something that is a player issue rather than a problem with the device and I have typed this out because I feel like being a major douche today.

  • Q. How far do you enjoy exploring romance? (Ex: Sex, creation of a family, growing old together, et cetera.)
Roleplaying sex is weird. Creating a family or growing old I've never had the chance to explore.

  • Q. If you do 1x1 role plays, would you say that romance is one of your primary draws to them?
I rarely 1x1 and nope.

  • Q. (GM's): Do you include romancible NPC's? Why or why not?
Hardly. Because either I don't put enough effort into NPCs or they're generally bad people.

  • Q. (Players): Do you like or dislike describing your character's romantic inclinations on a character sheet? Why?
This is no fun. I mean, if I go write out "Jim has a crush on Jane." before the roleplay even starts, it stagnates almost any direction this could go in. I mean what's the first thing you do when someone writes this about your character? You check out their CS and you are probably going to do your first impressions routine right there and then so you already have your 'how much of a chance' rating ready before any interaction takes place. Also the impact of your character discovering it for their selves is way greater.
 
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