Hi, I'm Tala, and I'm a roleplayer. I've been a roleplayer, in various forms, for more than half my life (about 25 years or so now, I think). So yes, I'm old, and perhaps have a little bit of an old fogy's perspective.
Part of the "stigma" I think does come from those who only want to "roleplay" solely in order to exchange illicit messages with another human being for the purposes of sexual stimulation and gratification. I think the label "cybering" does fit better for this kind of thing, rather than ERP.
There's also a bit of defensiveness for some RPers, who have had to explain to the average gamer what exactly roleplaying means in an MMORPG, and why anyone would bother doing that in a game anyway, aren't there chat rooms for that kind of thing?
*sighs at remembered frustration*
Anyway...
For me personally, I don't ERP, because I prefer not to. Not in my comfort zone. But I also have no problem with those who do ERP in game. I don't judge -- to each their own. And as a writer, I understand that grown-up characters will have grown-up relationships, and there will be grown-up activities that they may engage in. And so long as there are consenting grown-ups on both sides of the screen engaging in these private exchanges, I have no problem with it.
I do, however, have a problem with people purposely engaging in sexual "acts" in public, be it with in-game emotes, text emotes, or /say. There are minors playing the game, and they don't need to be exposed to that. Heck, *I* don't need to see it, either.
PG-13 in public, please. You wanna go NC-17, please take it to a private venue. Much thanks.
(Occasional mistells, however -- those are just entertaining.
P)
Part of the "stigma" I think does come from those who only want to "roleplay" solely in order to exchange illicit messages with another human being for the purposes of sexual stimulation and gratification. I think the label "cybering" does fit better for this kind of thing, rather than ERP.
There's also a bit of defensiveness for some RPers, who have had to explain to the average gamer what exactly roleplaying means in an MMORPG, and why anyone would bother doing that in a game anyway, aren't there chat rooms for that kind of thing?
*sighs at remembered frustration*
Anyway...
For me personally, I don't ERP, because I prefer not to. Not in my comfort zone. But I also have no problem with those who do ERP in game. I don't judge -- to each their own. And as a writer, I understand that grown-up characters will have grown-up relationships, and there will be grown-up activities that they may engage in. And so long as there are consenting grown-ups on both sides of the screen engaging in these private exchanges, I have no problem with it.
I do, however, have a problem with people purposely engaging in sexual "acts" in public, be it with in-game emotes, text emotes, or /say. There are minors playing the game, and they don't need to be exposed to that. Heck, *I* don't need to see it, either.
PG-13 in public, please. You wanna go NC-17, please take it to a private venue. Much thanks.
(Occasional mistells, however -- those are just entertaining.
P)
