(06-24-2015, 05:08 AM)AquiziTC Wrote:

(06-24-2015, 03:40 AM)Natalie Mcbeef Wrote: It's very straightforward with Male/Male relationships, both sides know what they want and just say it.

I've always found this interesting on a personal level, noticing how this works since I was a wee queer lad just learning of the world of gay clubs and the like. I know of many relationships that turned out to be stable, wonderful, long-lasting, and committed that started out as "oh we met at a club/bar/party" which is shorthand for "we were drunk, thought each other hot, slept together, and found out we liked each other."

I mean of COURSE this happens with straight men and women, too. It's just slightly funny to me how often it seemed to happen when I was younger. I'm a bit too old to care about the scene these days to keep tabs on it.

On a more serious note, like... it's -slightly- offensive to read some of the stuff. "The only reason this gets brought up is to bang" (paraphrasing). Yes and no? I mean for some people sure, and some others no. For me it's a little deeper than that? I mean, look if I wanted to RP for sex I know of places I can go do that, easily. But my MMO characters have ALWAYS been different than that. They've always started as just "I like the look of this person and this class," and then they have grown from there into REAL characters with motivations and a life, mind, and muse of their own. I immerse myself in them and enjoy playing the game through their eyes and mind.

So I've RP'd a lot of stuff with Tenrilaux, and it didn't even have to all be with other players. It's just him living in Eorzea as an adventurer and some people call him a hero yeah sure whatever but still. Romance RP to me, is an extension of that life. I've done it all ways: explicit, fade to black, heterosexual life-partners (thanks, tvtropes!), forever alone/bachelor, etc. It is probably one of the most interesting ways to get a DIFFERENT kind of character growth, if it's done correctly.

I will never knock anyone's flavor of RP, it's generally not how I work, but like.. being out there as an LGBT player and character is for things beyond just "let's get my junk wet." Granted yes the bearing in THIS world setting is purely for a relationship bent, but that is simply because Eorzea is so open regarding sexuality. Haven't seen much regarding gender fluidity, but that may change over time.

(06-24-2015, 05:16 AM)Yours Truly Wrote: "What kind of issues could an LGBT person face in an online game?"

This is a weird example, but... well, WoW's Moon Guard is kind of a weird place.

Show Content

StoryI'm a bi lady, and one of my characters was a gay night elf. I'd never done an in-game relationship with him - it wasn't really my thing, not to mention that finding another person roleplaying a gay man without being weird and fetishistic about it was like finding a diamond in the rough. Anyway, I'd finally found a promising guild with him and I couldn't be happier.

After a few weeks with these people, RPing, attending events, chatting, and generally being happy at finding a group of night elf players not insane, one of them starts joking around with me about how her character has a crush on mine. We laugh a bit but she makes it increasingly clear it wasn't just a joke, so I add something like, "Poor <charname>'s barking up the wrong tree, with <my dude> being gay and all. This can't end well for them."

Dead silence, and then an explosion. Gay? He doesn't even act gay! Here, let me write you a dissertation on why it's lorebreaking for a nelf to be gay.  Aren't you bi? Why don't you like me? Our characters belong together, and here's why!

I was a little startled but most of these people seemed cool, so I excused myself and logged before I could argue. I did what I could to dodge the moon-eyed shipper, playing alts when she was on or keeping the subject on other things. The atmosphere was a bit frosty - I wouldn't get invited to events that I had before, or I'd get ignored in chat, stuff like that - but I soldiered on and assumed it would get better with time.

About a week later, when I thought the matter had faded away, she pipes up with this in guild chat(paraphrased): "I've been talking with the rest of the officers, and we don't think the gay stuff is appropriate." Basically, I got an ultimatum: change my character so I could pair off with her, or get kicked. I chose option C: calling them gross and leaving the guild myself. You can't fire me, I quit!

So... yeah, it happens, sometimes. I understand why someone would seek out a LGBT-themed community-within-a-community. It's not about isolationism, or being a special snowflake. It's about finding a community of peers who understand you, and won't ever, ever judge you on the basis of your orientation - a safe space. Bigotry and homophobia are still very common, frequently surfacing in both subtle and overt ways. Calling it a "non-issue" is very narrow-minded and naive at best, and outright harmful and dismissive at worst. Your experiences are not someone else's experiences.

(06-24-2015, 05:16 AM)Yours Truly Wrote: Calling it a "non-issue" is very narrow-minded and naive at best, and outright harmful and dismissive at worst. Your experiences are not someone else's experiences.

(06-24-2015, 03:04 AM)Natalie Mcbeef Wrote: So I have a question, if you are LGBT (which I am, I might add), what does that have to do with RP?

Gay RPers? Do you only RP gay characters? I can see an LS for maybe figuring out how to RP an LGBT character for people who OOCly aren't, but I'm not sure how sexuality would change your RP. I RP characters of lots of different situations, some of which I am not personally.

(06-24-2015, 02:48 AM)Alaz Wrote: Not 'everyone' is legitimately nice. I'm really and genuinely glad to hear that your experiences have been positive, but not everyone has had the same.
I've been nearly outted by people I trusted (who were not LGBTQA) on purpose and to blackmail me. It took me threatening legal action for it to stop.
I've had a RP partner stop talking to me entirely when they found out.
I've had another RP partner make snide comments about friends of mine (who are out) TOWARDS me that were very offensive, not knowing that I also was in that same predicament, but closeted. 
I've seen people call my closest friends anything from 'it' to 'he-she' to any other number of very transphobic things, and they'd absolutely refuse to call him by his preferred gender pronouns. 

All of these things happened on this very server, from people who are or have been on this server. No, not everyone is legitimately nice and some of us now have severe trust issues alongside it. Not everyone is the same, and not everyone will respond to hurtful things the same way. For one person, what they view as water off a duck's back may be a straw that broke the camel's back to another. You may be able to brush it off, but it may send another person into a spiraling depression.

(06-24-2015, 02:00 PM)Graeham Wrote: Would Eorzea even have 'gay bars' though? I could understand a brothel catering to gay men but 'gay bar' feels like a term that's a bit too...modern. As for the drama, I've sort of trained myself to be wary of the LGBT community due to all the drama that seems ready to burst from beneath the surface at the slightest misunderstanding or perceived 'easy target'.

I've been harassed for playing and preferring men who look and act like men instead of conforming to the stereotypical portrayal of gay men. I've been harassed for being bisexual with people claiming that I want to sleep with everyone I meet or that it's 'just a phase'. This has happened far more often at the hands of the LGBT community itself than at the hands of anybody outside of it. I suppose in some ways the LGBT movement is its own worst enemy at times.

(06-24-2015, 02:00 PM)Graeham Wrote: Would Eorzea even have 'gay bars' though? I could understand a brothel catering to gay men but 'gay bar' feels like a term that's a bit too...modern. As for the drama, I've sort of trained myself to be wary of the LGBT community due to all the drama that seems ready to burst from beneath the surface at the slightest misunderstanding or perceived 'easy target'.

I've been harassed for playing and preferring men who look and act like men instead of conforming to the stereotypical portrayal of gay men. I've been harassed for being bisexual with people claiming that I want to sleep with everyone I meet or that it's 'just a phase'. This has happened far more often at the hands of the LGBT community itself than at the hands of anybody outside of it. I suppose in some ways the LGBT movement is its own worst enemy at times.

(06-24-2015, 02:00 PM)Graeham Wrote: Would Eorzea even have 'gay bars' though? I could understand a brothel catering to gay men but 'gay bar' feels like a term that's a bit too...modern. As for the drama, I've sort of trained myself to be wary of the LGBT community due to all the drama that seems ready to burst from beneath the surface at the slightest misunderstanding or perceived 'easy target'.

I've been harassed for playing and preferring men who look and act like men instead of conforming to the stereotypical portrayal of gay men. I've been harassed for being bisexual with people claiming that I want to sleep with everyone I meet or that it's 'just a phase'. This has happened far more often at the hands of the LGBT community itself than at the hands of anybody outside of it. I suppose in some ways the LGBT movement is its own worst enemy at times.