Several people have already said most of these things, but...Â
I would say there's no reason in particular that has happened in this game to make people look down upon role-players, just the usual reasons aaaand.... drumroll, please!
The Usual Reasons:
1) A lot of these people are just trolls who make fun of everyone and everything. Since we are, of course, RPers, we just generally notice when they are making fun of us more so than when they are making fun of anyone else.
2) Most of these people can't/don't understand RP. Be it because they've never given it a fair chance, or they are closed minded, or that they've never really had the chance to learn what it is or had anyone to accurately explain to them what RP is, or whatever. We need to remember that Balmung and Gilgamesh aren't official RP severs, and therefore there are a lot of people on these servers who not only don't RP, but may also dislike it. I suppose we're all geeks for playing an MMO, but to others, RPers are the geeks of geeks. A lot of people have a misconception that RP is not us writing stories, but us actually believing we're all cat people and lalafell and whatnot, or there's another misconception that all RP is ERP and a means to live out some sort of sexual fantasies because we're too nerdy to be getting any action IRL.
3) A lot of non-RPers believe RPers don't take the game seriously--that we're just here to RP and not to play the game, that we're too preoccupied with RP to get decent gear or learn the game mechanics, that we spend more time RPing than bettering our gaming skills, etc. And while there are people who heavily focus on RP more than PvE/PvP, I would say the majority of us take PvE/PvP as seriously as anyone else. Not many of us are willing to pay $15 a month just to RP in an MMO when we could do it for free in chats and forums. However, when something goes wrong in a party or raid, the RPers are an easy scapegoat to place the blame upon.
4) A few of these people may have had negative experiences with RPers. People ERPing in public, those few rare people who RP so much that they really don't know how to play, etc. And it would be a lie to say that a lot of RPers aren't a bit snobby and elitist, or that I've never met one who looks down upon people who don't RP. People are quick to judge an entire group based on a single person's actions.
With all that being said... how to rectify the situation?
Well, there's no single, simple cure for things like prejudice and closed-mindedness. Just represent our community well. Don't feed the trolls. Don't do obnoxious things like ERP in public or RP in parties where there is anyone who doesn't RP and hasn't agreed to do an RP dungeon run. When people don't like/understand RP, explain it to them clearly and patiently rather than flying off the handle and yelling at them. Basically... be nice, be smart, know how to play the game if you choose to run content, and don't be a weirdo.
I would say there's no reason in particular that has happened in this game to make people look down upon role-players, just the usual reasons aaaand.... drumroll, please!
The Usual Reasons:
1) A lot of these people are just trolls who make fun of everyone and everything. Since we are, of course, RPers, we just generally notice when they are making fun of us more so than when they are making fun of anyone else.
2) Most of these people can't/don't understand RP. Be it because they've never given it a fair chance, or they are closed minded, or that they've never really had the chance to learn what it is or had anyone to accurately explain to them what RP is, or whatever. We need to remember that Balmung and Gilgamesh aren't official RP severs, and therefore there are a lot of people on these servers who not only don't RP, but may also dislike it. I suppose we're all geeks for playing an MMO, but to others, RPers are the geeks of geeks. A lot of people have a misconception that RP is not us writing stories, but us actually believing we're all cat people and lalafell and whatnot, or there's another misconception that all RP is ERP and a means to live out some sort of sexual fantasies because we're too nerdy to be getting any action IRL.
3) A lot of non-RPers believe RPers don't take the game seriously--that we're just here to RP and not to play the game, that we're too preoccupied with RP to get decent gear or learn the game mechanics, that we spend more time RPing than bettering our gaming skills, etc. And while there are people who heavily focus on RP more than PvE/PvP, I would say the majority of us take PvE/PvP as seriously as anyone else. Not many of us are willing to pay $15 a month just to RP in an MMO when we could do it for free in chats and forums. However, when something goes wrong in a party or raid, the RPers are an easy scapegoat to place the blame upon.
4) A few of these people may have had negative experiences with RPers. People ERPing in public, those few rare people who RP so much that they really don't know how to play, etc. And it would be a lie to say that a lot of RPers aren't a bit snobby and elitist, or that I've never met one who looks down upon people who don't RP. People are quick to judge an entire group based on a single person's actions.
With all that being said... how to rectify the situation?
Well, there's no single, simple cure for things like prejudice and closed-mindedness. Just represent our community well. Don't feed the trolls. Don't do obnoxious things like ERP in public or RP in parties where there is anyone who doesn't RP and hasn't agreed to do an RP dungeon run. When people don't like/understand RP, explain it to them clearly and patiently rather than flying off the handle and yelling at them. Basically... be nice, be smart, know how to play the game if you choose to run content, and don't be a weirdo.
![[Image: NCtCate.png]](http://i.imgur.com/NCtCate.png)
