Reasons Why No One Likes Roleplaying With You

[Alex the Angel]

So, yeah. I'm not the greatest teacher in the world, but there are some things that just can't be held in for long. Things like this have been covered a thousand times, but it seems like there's always someone out there who just can't get it through their thick skulls. I would like to warn you before you read on: I don't believe in sugar-coating anything, so I'm going to be very blunt and straight-forward (don't be surprised if you see a bit of sarcasm and/or satire). Please don't take anything I say personally, for this is not meant for anyone in particular. However, if you have anything you would like to add, please feel free to do so.


1. Nazi Bait!
Yes, we're starting off with the most obvious, most well-known reason of all. The dreaded grammar mistakes... Far too many times I have seen people randomly jump in roleplays, and let a cat walk across their keyboard or trust their speech-defied younger brother/sister get a hold of their computer. Even though the writing expectations are set to "INTERMEDIATE" and it states in the rules plain as day: "PLEASE USE PROPER GRAMMAR, SPELLING, PUNCUATION, CAPITALIZATION" and so on and so forth...
I'm not saying your writing has to be perfect. A few errors here and there are a common mistake that can be fixed and ignored. Also, if you have troubles with spelling and/or using words correctly, don't be afraid to flip through a thesaurus or use Google to search the definition (I just had to use Google to make sure I spelled "thesaurus" correctly. Like I said, no one's perfect).
2. F*ck off, Mary Sue!

Again, another well known trait for terrible writing/roleplaying. I've seen arguments like this a billion times, but let's face it: There's no stopping Mary Sue... the bitch is immortal. The only thing I as an experienced rolplayer and writer can do is warn all the novices, before this freak of nature is set loose once again.
When a lot of people here "Mary Sue", they immediately think "Over-powered badass that just won't die". I assure you, this is not always the case. When someone out of nowhere posts multiple paragraphs, going on about all these things they did. Such as randomly healing a dying charachter's injuries, decapitating all fifty of the evil stone giants, running off only to return twenty in-game minutes later with the magic weapon/armor/item everyone that should have taken a three-month long quest to get to (Seriously, what the hell did you do? Take an elevator? How the hell did you get past the zombies and booby traps?). Do the world a favor, and avoid posts like this at all costs. They are unattractive, rude, confusing to other players, and just downright annoying as fuck.
3. Lonely Creepers and Random Pop-ups

Yes, there will always be that one guy or girl who just so happens to bump into you during an rp. This is completely overused and very unrealistic. The reason I say this is: You were in an ancient temple, where no one has set foot in over thirty thousand years. Where in God's name did this guy/girl just pop out from? Was she trapped? Was she treasure hunting? Why in the hell is she so insistant on assisting you? If you ask me, unless I'm in a town or village (or any place such a meeting would happen), I'd be pretty damn skeptical if this had been a real-life situation.
Likewise, there will always be some guy/girl that jumps in, yet shows absolutely no interest in interacting with other characters. Don't get me wrong, there are some that have a good idea of what's going on and how they plan on introducing themselves, but other times are not as great. Seriously, if you want to join in the RP, figure out a way to meet and interact with the other PCs. Otherwise, you might as well not even be there, because all you're doing is wasting your time and ours by posting meaningless paragraphs on how much of a creeper you are by observing us... *shiver*
4. Know-it-alls

You're stranded on a desolate island in the middle of the Pacific. Your clothes are torn and close to falling off your body. You have a three-to-five-inch cut across your chest that's bleeding badly, draining you of your strength to even stand up. All of a sudden, a guy/girl who is with you pulls out a first-aid kit, gathers a few plants and herbs, patches you up, crushes up a few said herbs and makes a painkiller, and now you finally have the strength to journey to the village that he/she said just so happens to be hidden in the jungle, right?
Yeah, I'm sorry, but unless your assistant has either A: Been on that island before, B: Is a one of the inhabitants of that village, or C: He/She knows something you don't know... and you might just have to kill and/or escape her in order to ensure your own survival.


All in all, that's not even close to everything that I had originally planned to write down, but I have run out of time. Please feel free to post whatever feedback you have. Good day!

 

[HollowEastWord]

Dear @Alex B.
I am very thankful that you wrote this instead of me, because if I did I would get in trouble with the Administrators.
Your view on the things that people do is exactly the same as mine and the way you put it all out there is awesome...if there is more you want to write feel free to tell me I might be able to help.

 

[Alex the Angel]

Dear @Alex B.
I am very thankful that you wrote this instead of me, because if I did I would get in trouble with the Administrators.
Your view on the things that people do is exactly the same as mine and the way you put it all out there is awesome...if there is more you want to write feel free to tell me I might be able to help.

No problem! Thanks a lot for that. I'll try to keep it updated as much as I can. :)

 

[Ray]

I have to agree with all except for the first one. The posting expectation and writing level of intermediate states that players are expected to be familiar with common grammar and punctuation, but it's only a guide, not something meant to be followed strictly. If a person wishes for a little more than your "common grammar and punctuation" I think they should be allowed to state exactly what they expect of their partners. There are many different interpretations of each writing level and if someone wants to be strict about grammar rules and such, let them do so. I mean, if they make mistakes and typos here and there, that's one thing, but if they start blathering on about how grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors oughtn't be present, that's something that will make me, personally, not want to roleplay with them because their expectations are that high despite being of an intermediate level. However, as I've stated before, I believe it's perfectly fine to be a little more strict on expectations, as long as it doesn't sway completely off course from the posting expectations and writing level guide. There are different interpretations of each posting expectation and writing level guide, therefore, being a little more strict than what the guide states is fine by me.

 

[Alex the Angel]

I have to agree with all except for the first one. The posting expectation and writing level of intermediate states that players are expected to be familiar with common grammar and punctuation, but it's only a guide, not something meant to be followed strictly. If a person wishes for a little more than your "common grammar and punctuation" I think they should be allowed to state exactly what they expect of their partners. There are many different interpretations of each writing level and if someone wants to be strict about grammar rules and such, let them do so. I mean, if they make mistakes and typos here and there, that's one thing, but if they start blathering on about how grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors oughtn't be present, that's something that will make me, personally, not want to roleplay with them because their expectations are that high despite being of an intermediate level. However, as I've stated before, I believe it's perfectly fine to be a little more strict on expectations, as long as it doesn't sway completely off course from the posting expectations and writing level guide. There are different interpretations of each posting expectation and writing level guide, therefore, being a little more strict than what the guide states is fine by me.

You do make a very valid point. I didn't exactly know the full purpose of the "Intermediate" to "Beginner" settings, and that really helped a lot. And yes, it does make sense to write out the grammar/spelling/punctuation expectations in the first post. Thank you for pointing this out.

 

[Ray]

You're welcome! Just sharing my intellect~ (:

 

[Salsacookies]

Question. Where does the evil race of fiery tree people fueled by rage and led by an angry prince whose zen father was assassinated by angelic assassins, and is now bent on world domination and genocidal revenge, AND whose people are actually changed by the current leader fall into?

 

[Brovo]

Time to play Devil's Advocate.

#1: If you cannot spell properly, how can I assume that you will read properly? Same complication as in any language: If you cannot speak clear French, you cannot understand clear French, which makes communication difficult. In literature, words are the only way I can convey information to you. If you cannot use them, you cannot understand them. Ergo, Grammar Nazis do serve a constructive purpose: To help you improve your ability to read and write. Now as with anything, it can be taken too far. As such one should usually leave it to the GM to set the standard. If you cannot meet the GM's standards, that doesn't make them a Grammar Nazi: That just means you don't have the reading/writing comprehension they're looking for. It's not an insult to you as a person to state that your skill level is, in fact, not over nine thousand, and does not qualify you for the Super Saiyan Championship Hell's Rainbow RP.

#2: It's hard to precisely define what a Mary Sue is, because it varies from one writing community to another. If anything, TVTropes makes the most admirable attempt of it, and they still have to list it into several subcategories. Regardless, the character of a Mary Sue can actually be a powerful and moving character if played well, such as a character who feels perfect in every way, looks pretty, et cetera... Then makes a mistake, and has to live with that mistake, eating away at them.

I'd argue that it's less Mary Sues that are the issue, and more flat-line one note characters that have utterly no development potential.

#3: Sometimes it just saves time from having an obligatory "everyone meets in the local tavern" scene to just mandrop the cast into the same ancient temple. It can actually be played for laughs if the characters are genre savvy, resulting in everyone having fun with it and skipping a boring unskippable introductions cutscene. Neat!

#4: Medical aid is a common one but I'd give it more to education in general in RP's where it doesn't belong, such as medieval RPs: Where the fuck did your peasant learn to read, and why hasn't he been put to death as a witch?

Wait, right, devil's advocate.

Ahem.

Refer to #2 for #4, as know-it-alls are often "Mary Sues", specifically Mary Tzu.

I gave it my best shot captain.

 

[Asena]

Know It Alls!

Can we talk about the people who will read your character sheet, pick out your characters' secrets, and then ~*~mysteriously~*~ know them in the game? That irks the crap out of me. If you wanna have some ~*~mysterious~*~ tie to my character, PM me and plot with me! Don't just insert yourself into my character's history like that. >_< Maybe I had some sort of secret plot in mind that you just unknowingly tried to ruin! I honestly LIKE it when people wanna secretly plot about secret connections our characters may have in their past, but ask first, please?

 

[Brovo]

But Asena, I AM your father's uncle's sister's brother's cousin's daughter's father's roommate's janitor's friend!

 

[Asena]

Long lost Uncle Brovo! \o/

 

[Chip The 3rd]

Oh, Mary Sues! I once ran a horror RP with a girl who decided that, instead of horror, it was to be non stop porn. Every horrible event her character witnessed was quickly brushed aside with no reaction, in favour of kinky sex with her shoehorn boyfriend! That is NOT how a human reacts to witnessing a decapitation!

 

[Alex the Angel]

Oh, Mary Sues! I once ran a horror RP with a girl who decided that, instead of horror, it was to be non stop porn. Every horrible event her character witnessed was quickly brushed aside with no reaction, in favour of kinky sex with her shoehorn boyfriend! That is NOT how a human reacts to witnessing a decapitation!

She may have very dark secrets... it's very hard to tell with most of them...

 

[Brovo]

She may have very dark secrets... it's very hard to tell with most of them...

Or they just have no idea how to write the human condition, probably from a lack of life experience. You can only write what you know, after all.

 

[Alex the Angel]

Question. Where does the evil race of fiery tree people fueled by rage and led by an angry prince whose zen father was assassinated by angelic assassins, and is now bent on world domination and genocidal revenge, AND whose people are actually changed by the current leader fall into?

Prrrreeeeeeeeetty sure that falls into a "Random Category" section... one that I have yet to add...

 

[Alex the Angel]

Or they just have no idea how to write the human condition, probably from a lack of life experience. You can only write what you know, after all.

Eh, that too. They've never witnessed a decapitation, so it's only natural that their characters don't have the natural reaction to one.

 

[Brovo]

Eh, that too. They've never witnessed a decapitation, so it's only natural that their characters don't have the natural reaction to one.

Mmhmm. More that they can't get into their own character's mindset and write from the outside in, rather than the inside out.

 

[Azathoth]

I haven't even finished reading this yet, but This is the first thing that came to mind upon finishing the introduction.

 

[Alex the Angel]

I haven't even finished reading this yet, but This is the first thing that came to mind upon finishing the introduction.

I tried clicking the link, but the facility I'm at has the website blocked.

 

[Brovo]

I tried clicking the link, but the facility I'm at has the website blocked.

Here, I attached the image from imgur to this post.