(04-22-2015, 07:42 PM)Black Hat Wrote: I will no longer be participating in this discussion. Not because I am ignoring the issue, but because I am disappointed with the bend it has now taken.
I am ashamed of some of the people who have posted in these last few pages. Honestly ashamed, as an RPer, as a member of this community, and as a human being. You've taken it too far.
There is a line between radicalism and pushing your viewpoint on other people. This thread, in my opinion, has escalated so quickly to that level with posts that repeat the exact same mantra, over and over again ad nauseum and it has begun to feel less like constructive criticism and a call to action but more like picketing until we get what we want.
Earlier today, I put a thread in "Making Connections" with a silly name that had nothing to do with the topic INTENTIONALLY to see what would happen and if anyone was actually looking. I promised that anyone who posted there would be responded to within 24 hours and RP would happen. The individuals who have been lobbying for "newbie interaction" made no attempt to post in it nor (I would guess) did they look. I received nearly 10 responses from other members of the community though and we've made plans to get together to RP.
My Rep is currently 25ish, not very high. My post count is also not very high. My RP attempt in Town Hall was largely observed but ignored.Â
I FEEL that certain individuals in this thread should be ashamed of themselves.
That is all.
First, I'm not trying to bait you back in -- but I do feel it is important to address your concerns, because they are concerning to me.
But, sometimes I get frustrated because I don't understand. I try to, I do.
Where I come from, when you post a thread without first contacting other people, you get ignored. Not intentionally -- it's just that people are off doing xyz, and unless they have rped with you, or have talked to you to some extent, they're not going to be comfortable jumping into a thread with you. So, to me, it is an inherent risk of posting an open thread without first contacting someone: people won't bite.
I am sorry for repeating myself, because I tend to say this fairly regularly in these types of topics, but
I have almost never been approached for rp for my character outside of people who I approached first, in almost every single rp community I have ever been in.
At the time I had like four to seven threads in the IC forum at once? Those were all people I contacted, who I'd never spoken to before, essentially begging them to rp with me. They were all also (for the most part) people who rarely if ever posted on the forums.
Now, I understand that not everyone wants to be aggressive as I am, or maybe even finds it offputting, but please hear me out from my perspective:
- Every time I am rejected I feel a little hurt. That is my personality. I am sensitive. However, I also understand that it is actively hurtful to my chances to allow that hurt to hold me back, and so I lick my wounds privately and keep going on.
- Going on is freaking hard for me. I tend to blame myself when rp stutters, or someone stops posting mid thread, or continually has an excuse not to rp with me. But I have to firmly remind myself, each time: the chances of it being personal are next to nothing, and even if the person doesn't like me, oh well, there are other people out there.
- I tend to be my own worst critic. 99.99999% of rpers I know are this way. Not getting positive feedback does not necessarily mean you're bad and no one likes your writing or wants to rp with you, but it can feel that way.
- Not everyone is into your style of rp. Zhavi is a niche character, and the rp I wanted to do on her is niche rp. Not everyone wants to do that kind of rp. There are sometimes specific rps people want to do, or specific things they want to write, or LIKE I AM RIGHT NOW, are limiting how much rp they are doing because too much becomes stressful and not fun. It has no bearing on how they feel about my rp, and assuming things about what people do or do not think will not change anything and may negatively impact my perception of future rp.
- The more niche you are, the harder time it is to find rp. It got to a point on Zhavi where I had bitten off more than I could chew. I was digging through 10-20 character wikis a day at one point, searching for someone who I thought might be willing to rp with me. If I had not done that, chances are I would have gotten zero rp.
I don't understand. I want to help. Whenever I have seen someone asking why no one wants to rp with them, why they've had trouble, etc etc etc, I try to post something to help. Yet, it's like whenever I post these posts, the people who need it or who are having problems completely ignore it or poof. I don't know what happens to them. I hope they got something out of their comments. I hope they find rp. But I do not know, as an individual, or as a part of the greater community what else I am supposed to do.
So when I see posts like this, I am disappointed, too, because it appears to me as a major disconnect. I am reaching out, and I feel like the people who are asking for a hand are sort of slapping my hand away.
I want to see suggestions. I want to see people actively stating "here is a problem, here are my thoughts, and here are some things I think might work -- what do you think?"
When I see posts done with finality, with a sort of throwing hands up in the air mentality -- I don't understand.
Please help me understand.
