I think we've actually chatted about ERP before on these forums (and it was a super nice, interesting chat too!)
I think most people have already nailed down on a lot of the most important things about ERP or any sensual/romantic RP, but I'll just reiterate the ones I feel are most important.
1) Make sure all parties involved are both comfortable and consenting. (I'm personally in the 'only with someone I know and trust' boat when it comes to my own personal comfort.)
2) Keep it PRIVATE, because if it's public you most likely haven't gotten consent from your audience who didn't ask to see your hanky panky times.
3) Don't do the fake-naughty with real life minors. (It's... kinda sad "do not do the fake diddle with kids." has to be said.)
and one of the biggest things for me is:
4) DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES use the ERP or even just RP in general to fulfill a need you are missing in real life - whether that is sex, romance, or anything else. And DO NOT RP with someone who is clearly using you to fulfill their need. This path only leads to horror, ruin, IC/OOC blending, and some pretty extreme discomfort on the part of the person who didn't really ask to be someone else's tool for living out fantasies.
It honestly doesn't bother me if people are going to ERP to get their rocks off or ERP to develop characters or ERP to build a narrative. As long as folks are safe, consenting, happy, and aren't exposing me to any surprise unwanted public dong -- it's doesn't really affect me what folks do on the side.
However, if you're craving real life romance - go out and get real life, healthy romance. Don't try to use RP romance to fulfill that need. It inevitably places the other person in a really shitty situation and leads to the really awful scenarios that I think Hammersmith is hitting upon.
I think most people have already nailed down on a lot of the most important things about ERP or any sensual/romantic RP, but I'll just reiterate the ones I feel are most important.
1) Make sure all parties involved are both comfortable and consenting. (I'm personally in the 'only with someone I know and trust' boat when it comes to my own personal comfort.)
2) Keep it PRIVATE, because if it's public you most likely haven't gotten consent from your audience who didn't ask to see your hanky panky times.
3) Don't do the fake-naughty with real life minors. (It's... kinda sad "do not do the fake diddle with kids." has to be said.)
and one of the biggest things for me is:
4) DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES use the ERP or even just RP in general to fulfill a need you are missing in real life - whether that is sex, romance, or anything else. And DO NOT RP with someone who is clearly using you to fulfill their need. This path only leads to horror, ruin, IC/OOC blending, and some pretty extreme discomfort on the part of the person who didn't really ask to be someone else's tool for living out fantasies.
It honestly doesn't bother me if people are going to ERP to get their rocks off or ERP to develop characters or ERP to build a narrative. As long as folks are safe, consenting, happy, and aren't exposing me to any surprise unwanted public dong -- it's doesn't really affect me what folks do on the side.
However, if you're craving real life romance - go out and get real life, healthy romance. Don't try to use RP romance to fulfill that need. It inevitably places the other person in a really shitty situation and leads to the really awful scenarios that I think Hammersmith is hitting upon.
