I'm probably going to get a lot of criticism for this post, but I feel it needs to be said as it's pretty important:
Drama is very common within role-playing communities. I've yet to play an MMO that didn't have ridiculous amounts of it lurking beneath the surface ready to strike unsuspecting - and even seasoned - role-players the moment something goes awry, though in many cases the chaos can manifest with very little in the way of valid reasoning.
Now for the controversial part! Simply put, more people need to realise that a lot of role-players are way too invested in role-play and are effectively using it as a form of escapism. This isn't always a bad thing, but I've seen individuals get up in arms at the smallest perceived slight and view it as the most horrendous personal attack they've ever encountered in their lives. Others seek to manipulate those around them to get something that they want, usually playing the 'nice guy/nice girl' act or even flirting with another role-player. Then there's the horror stories...though I'm not going to go into too much detail regarding my own personal encounters with drama in other MMO's.
At the end of the day, though...drama is an inevitable part of role-playing communities. Even on this site I see individuals doing their best to coat their words in sugar and put across a positive image only to turn out to be incredibly nasty when encountered in the game itself to anyone who happens to disagree with something that they say or do. That's the sort of thing that made me very wary back in WoW, though I'm better prepared for it this time around.
Thankfully there's still plenty of shining gems that make it all worth it, though I tend to keep most role-players at a distance these days and focus on picking out a handful that prove to be reliable and capable of indulging in role-play without bringing unwanted drama and other nasty baggage to the table.
Drama is very common within role-playing communities. I've yet to play an MMO that didn't have ridiculous amounts of it lurking beneath the surface ready to strike unsuspecting - and even seasoned - role-players the moment something goes awry, though in many cases the chaos can manifest with very little in the way of valid reasoning.
Now for the controversial part! Simply put, more people need to realise that a lot of role-players are way too invested in role-play and are effectively using it as a form of escapism. This isn't always a bad thing, but I've seen individuals get up in arms at the smallest perceived slight and view it as the most horrendous personal attack they've ever encountered in their lives. Others seek to manipulate those around them to get something that they want, usually playing the 'nice guy/nice girl' act or even flirting with another role-player. Then there's the horror stories...though I'm not going to go into too much detail regarding my own personal encounters with drama in other MMO's.
At the end of the day, though...drama is an inevitable part of role-playing communities. Even on this site I see individuals doing their best to coat their words in sugar and put across a positive image only to turn out to be incredibly nasty when encountered in the game itself to anyone who happens to disagree with something that they say or do. That's the sort of thing that made me very wary back in WoW, though I'm better prepared for it this time around.
Thankfully there's still plenty of shining gems that make it all worth it, though I tend to keep most role-players at a distance these days and focus on picking out a handful that prove to be reliable and capable of indulging in role-play without bringing unwanted drama and other nasty baggage to the table.
