To share a similar experience I had in another MMO long ago, I once had a character fall into a relationship ICly, and when things got bad IC, the player would try to guilt trip me into keeping the characters together or having the two spend more time together with a statement to the effect of, "If our characters break up, I'm going to kill mine off and quit the game." So, uh, yeah. I sympathize. 
Personally, I think one of the major things that drives the emphasis on "hookup" RP is a lack of things to discuss outside of that. Everyone knows sexytime is fun, and everyone knows it exists in the setting, so it's an easy topic of conversation. It's harder to talk about current world events because they change between patches; a person in one part of the MSQ has a rather different perspective on the Garleans than someone who's up to date with it. Even regular events, such as Primal summonings, get tricky because some people RP knowing nothing about such things, and some people OOCly feel that RPing someone who does know about such things (or who's involved in them) is playing an overpowered character. Naturally, to avoid conflict, such topics are rarely raised in public RP hot spots. Then there's the issue of missing lore; while we know Eorzea has music and dance, we don't know much about either of those things. We know it has magic, but the metaphysics are extremely vague. We know a bit about miqo'te culture, but very little about elezen culture. All of these grey areas are also avoided in public RP much of the time because you never know when a discussion of "Huh, we seem to have different experiences!" will get clobbered by someone who says, "Yeah, well, what I say is right, and you're all nuts/lore breakers/disrupting my head-canon!" Player-run plots are another area often avoided, as "plot leakage" can cause OOC scope problems that get ugly quickly.
Outside of all of these issues that tend to fence off particular topics from public RP areas, I think you see more sex-oriented RP in tavern RP generally, in much the same way that people in bars in real life are flirting and trying to pick people up. You're likely going to find less "hookup" RP inside FCs and LSes, I'd argue -- which is not to say it doesn't show up elsewhere, just that those groups have more in common among their characters and are more likely to have other things to talk about.
In terms of specific characters, while L'yhta's in a kinda-sorta relationship with someone right now that evolved over the course of several months, it was never my intention for her get romantically involved (I joke that "L'yhta's single, for reasons that become immediately apparent the second she opens her mouth"). It just evolved ICly, and it doesn't dominate RP. She and her companion are almost always talking about something other than how much they like to kissy-face, and certainly they never discuss that in public.
I don't have an interest in playing a character whose life is entirely dominated by their romantic escapades. I'd much rather play a strong hero or heroine who may or may not have a romance that certainly isn't key to their existence and concept.
Personally, I think one of the major things that drives the emphasis on "hookup" RP is a lack of things to discuss outside of that. Everyone knows sexytime is fun, and everyone knows it exists in the setting, so it's an easy topic of conversation. It's harder to talk about current world events because they change between patches; a person in one part of the MSQ has a rather different perspective on the Garleans than someone who's up to date with it. Even regular events, such as Primal summonings, get tricky because some people RP knowing nothing about such things, and some people OOCly feel that RPing someone who does know about such things (or who's involved in them) is playing an overpowered character. Naturally, to avoid conflict, such topics are rarely raised in public RP hot spots. Then there's the issue of missing lore; while we know Eorzea has music and dance, we don't know much about either of those things. We know it has magic, but the metaphysics are extremely vague. We know a bit about miqo'te culture, but very little about elezen culture. All of these grey areas are also avoided in public RP much of the time because you never know when a discussion of "Huh, we seem to have different experiences!" will get clobbered by someone who says, "Yeah, well, what I say is right, and you're all nuts/lore breakers/disrupting my head-canon!" Player-run plots are another area often avoided, as "plot leakage" can cause OOC scope problems that get ugly quickly.
Outside of all of these issues that tend to fence off particular topics from public RP areas, I think you see more sex-oriented RP in tavern RP generally, in much the same way that people in bars in real life are flirting and trying to pick people up. You're likely going to find less "hookup" RP inside FCs and LSes, I'd argue -- which is not to say it doesn't show up elsewhere, just that those groups have more in common among their characters and are more likely to have other things to talk about.
In terms of specific characters, while L'yhta's in a kinda-sorta relationship with someone right now that evolved over the course of several months, it was never my intention for her get romantically involved (I joke that "L'yhta's single, for reasons that become immediately apparent the second she opens her mouth"). It just evolved ICly, and it doesn't dominate RP. She and her companion are almost always talking about something other than how much they like to kissy-face, and certainly they never discuss that in public.
I don't have an interest in playing a character whose life is entirely dominated by their romantic escapades. I'd much rather play a strong hero or heroine who may or may not have a romance that certainly isn't key to their existence and concept.
The Freelance Wizard
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
