I’ve actually had some problems of my own when it comes to dealing with the judgmental side of things. That side of things is precisely why I completely rewrote Glioca to have two separate backstories: one for private play, and one for public play. The two eventually merged, and I’ve distanced myself a great deal from her ‘world-traveler’ in the sense of crossing dimensions, into a world-traveler in the literal sense that she’s traveled all over the world to and through the various continents.
The biggest problem I’ve noticed is that a number of people originally ‘wrote me off’ when I first created the character and started talking about her on the RPC. Fast forward almost six months later, and some of these same people still avoid me, despite the way I and my character have changed. I made one statement, once, and was written off, and told by others that they wouldn’t interact with my character. Some individuals still avoid my other characters, including those who are lore compliant.
I’d like to think I’m not a bad RPer, but when faced with clusters of people who don’t want to interact with me based on my character concept, it flies in the face of everything I’ve ever learned about RPers as an open-minded group of creative individuals who I can create collaborative works with. It’s also a considerable blow to one’s self-esteem.
How many RPers have others directly or indirectly insulted who have in turn withdrawn into a bubble and ended up inevitably abandoning their story, their character, or RP entirely as a hobby? As a community, we have an effect on others in our community. Words are a powerful tool, as we’re all aware.
And before anyone goes on about not being validated by someone else’s views and opinions on your writing, I urge you to think of how you yourself would feel if someone refused to write with you because they decided they didn’t like interacting with your specific type of character (mundane, slice of life, combat oriented, etc). I think most people would brush it off, but not everyone would.
From the perspective of an individual who has been shunned for a world-traveler concept, I can say that one of the worst feelings in the world is being told that your creative idea, thoughts and effort is ‘worth less’ than the creative ideas and thoughts of someone else.
Many people consider world traveling characters to be lazy, for example, but I feel like this isn’t the case. Those who opt to play these types of characters have to spend weeks, if not months very carefully weaving their story into the existing lore, combing it for loopholes and ways we might ‘go around’ but still ‘fit within’ the system.
People don’t want to play a ‘special snowflake’ or an ‘edgelord’. They want to play a concept that is outside of their normal bubble, one that they find interesting and engaging, and hope that others also find interesting and engaging. Maybe they want their character to be treated as crazy, maybe they want those skeptical reactions and those outlandish attitudes from others. By shunning them and refusing to interact with them, we’re isolating them, and telling them that they’re ‘wrong’, or somehow ‘worse’ than we are, for playing something different.
I can only sum this up in one sentence. That’s not okay. You can have standards, you can have views and opinions, but please try and remember that there’s another person on the other end of that character you’re bashing, one who is trying to be creative with you, not just around you.
The biggest problem I’ve noticed is that a number of people originally ‘wrote me off’ when I first created the character and started talking about her on the RPC. Fast forward almost six months later, and some of these same people still avoid me, despite the way I and my character have changed. I made one statement, once, and was written off, and told by others that they wouldn’t interact with my character. Some individuals still avoid my other characters, including those who are lore compliant.
I’d like to think I’m not a bad RPer, but when faced with clusters of people who don’t want to interact with me based on my character concept, it flies in the face of everything I’ve ever learned about RPers as an open-minded group of creative individuals who I can create collaborative works with. It’s also a considerable blow to one’s self-esteem.
How many RPers have others directly or indirectly insulted who have in turn withdrawn into a bubble and ended up inevitably abandoning their story, their character, or RP entirely as a hobby? As a community, we have an effect on others in our community. Words are a powerful tool, as we’re all aware.
And before anyone goes on about not being validated by someone else’s views and opinions on your writing, I urge you to think of how you yourself would feel if someone refused to write with you because they decided they didn’t like interacting with your specific type of character (mundane, slice of life, combat oriented, etc). I think most people would brush it off, but not everyone would.
From the perspective of an individual who has been shunned for a world-traveler concept, I can say that one of the worst feelings in the world is being told that your creative idea, thoughts and effort is ‘worth less’ than the creative ideas and thoughts of someone else.
Many people consider world traveling characters to be lazy, for example, but I feel like this isn’t the case. Those who opt to play these types of characters have to spend weeks, if not months very carefully weaving their story into the existing lore, combing it for loopholes and ways we might ‘go around’ but still ‘fit within’ the system.
People don’t want to play a ‘special snowflake’ or an ‘edgelord’. They want to play a concept that is outside of their normal bubble, one that they find interesting and engaging, and hope that others also find interesting and engaging. Maybe they want their character to be treated as crazy, maybe they want those skeptical reactions and those outlandish attitudes from others. By shunning them and refusing to interact with them, we’re isolating them, and telling them that they’re ‘wrong’, or somehow ‘worse’ than we are, for playing something different.
I can only sum this up in one sentence. That’s not okay. You can have standards, you can have views and opinions, but please try and remember that there’s another person on the other end of that character you’re bashing, one who is trying to be creative with you, not just around you.
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