(11-15-2013, 01:40 AM)Flickering Ember Wrote: Moral of the story, I guess: You can't always be sure if RPers will respond positively to your RP, but you also can't be sure that you won't be missing out on meeting your next RP partner(s) either.
This!
As the first responder said, emotes are a good way to let the other RPers know you're interested in joining and gauge their reaction. But keep in mind this isn't foolproof; if you just emote looking at my character while she's engaged in conversation, the most she'll probably do is look back, but that doesn't mean you aren't welcome to join in on the role-play.
I like to keep OOC and IC very separate (so I've gotten used to "shifting gears," myself), and I try to do the same for other people. That being said, I try to keep my first impression of them IC separate from my first impression of them OOC. Receiving a tell from someone asking if they can join may spoil a bit of the spontaneity, but it's an acceptable loss--a certain degree of OOC communication is necessary. The personality difference between someone OOC and IC probably won't be too jarring to anyone, and if it is, that's on them, not you. They should realize that you are not your character.
As for who to send tells to, you can send a tell to one person, both, or neither! It doesn't really matter. If one person agrees and the other says no, I would just leave. There's no reason to role-play with someone rude and/or uninterested and be where you aren't wanted. You could always role-play with the person who agreed at some later time when the person who objected isn't present.
If you see people role-playing and it's a conversation your character would logically join in on, feel free to jump right in. I usually just join in IC without sending a tell first. Admittedly, there are people who will get annoyed OOC if you join their role-play, but they're silly for having a "private" role-play in public and they're probably no one you'd want to RP with anyway, so that's no loss.Â
Personally, I enjoy when other people join in on my RP's. I like meeting new people, and it makes the world feel real, populated, and alive. If my character is discussing something more private/personal, she may not be grateful for an interruption, but OOC I am grateful for and unoffended by the interaction. So that being said, anytime I'm role-playing in a public channel, it's not a "private" role-play. Feel free to join in if you see me! I can't speak for my other role-play partners, but I won't mind and neither will Val! Someone mentioned being apprehensive about joining in FC role-plays. If you see people on Balmung with the <<HoD>> tag, you can always join in on our RP. We won't mind at all!
Going back to the quote at the beginning, just give it a try. Worst case scenario, you're excluded from the role-play and you move on to better prospects. Best case scenario, you've met new role-players and joined their role-play. It's that old cliche of, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take," or whatever.
![[Image: NCtCate.png]](http://i.imgur.com/NCtCate.png)
