(12-04-2014, 03:09 PM)Verad Wrote: At what point does one feel like they are "in" rather than "outside" when it comes to RP? What's the criteria for being "in"? And does anyone ever specifically define themselves as being part of a clique, or is that something that other people do for them?
Personally, it's nowhere near the forefront of my mind whether I'm "in" or "out" or if I'm part of a "clique" until I see/overhear discussions such as these. Then I start examining where I'm at in terms of contacts, potential sources of RP, etc., and how often I'm in touch or out of touch with strangers, and it's only then that I go "oh, I'm probably in a clique... well shit, now I feel bad" despite there being no rational reason for getting down on myself.
Until someone cries "clique!", the only distinction in the forefront of my mind is, "how much roleplaying have I been doing lately?" To be brutally honest, yes, cliques and cliquish behavior can be a problem, but the whole concept of "cliques" can also be an awful excuse for one's own inability to break out of their comfort zone and into a larger community.
Case in point, I'm not as comfortable hanging around the Quicksand as I once was, mainly because I don't recognize most of the people I see in there these days. That's an example of my personal "comfort zone" keeping me from interacting with folks I don't know. I'm not going to blame that on the "clique" I'm in, or the "cliques" of the folks that hang in the Quicksand. I'm going to blame that on myself and my refusal to actually go chat with other folks.
![[Image: 1qVSsTp.png]](http://i.imgur.com/1qVSsTp.png)
