As others have mentioned, it's better to let your immersion be shattered than be forced into a situation that you regret and brings you down. OOC communication is a good fall back however, I really do think you can have your cake and eat it too--that is find a way to bail without breaking character.
I think it is good to consider that our characters don't exist on a single strand for a timeline. There isn't only one way your character can possibly react to a situation. Life is filled with many possibilities and our characters can be complex individuals-people.
"My character wouldn't do that" becomes a dangerous phrase if it restricts your OOC interests in how you want to pursue your character.
Sometimes our characters get involved in things they normally wouldn't do and that's okay. People aren't going to act in a 100% predictable manner all the time. Our state of minds can justify acting differently in a variety of situations while still remaining true to ourselves.
Tiergan's linkshell idea is fantastic. Even in every day RP I see a lot of people use "I have business attend to" as a common way to eject themselves from the RP. It can be used for a variety of things. Maybe you want to go do a dungeon or maybe you're not feeling well OOC. In that particular example you posted, the RPer was giving hints as to his intention--ERP. You can also do this same by emphasizing her naivete in emotes or by having her invite friends along during "magical romance ERP time."
"Oooooh! We get to ride on a chocobo! I want to see if my friends want to come along too!"
You could also let the RP advance forward a little bit in that case. Perhaps she becomes more interested in the chocobo than continuing a conversation. Or perhaps she turns the conversation all about his chocobo. (People do this irl all the time with their adorable babies and adorable pets) Perhaps your character is tired and she just needs to leave.
What I am ultimately getting at is you can bail without breaking character. There are so many reasons why you could leave or just turn the RP into something else entirely. You could even do this in tandem with OOC saying "I'm not interested in ERP" or "I don't want to go in this direction with the RP."
General advice though: Random RP tells are usually a sign that the other RPer wants to initiate ERP. Right off the bat find out their intentions or insist on using /say.
I think it is good to consider that our characters don't exist on a single strand for a timeline. There isn't only one way your character can possibly react to a situation. Life is filled with many possibilities and our characters can be complex individuals-people.
"My character wouldn't do that" becomes a dangerous phrase if it restricts your OOC interests in how you want to pursue your character.
Sometimes our characters get involved in things they normally wouldn't do and that's okay. People aren't going to act in a 100% predictable manner all the time. Our state of minds can justify acting differently in a variety of situations while still remaining true to ourselves.
Tiergan's linkshell idea is fantastic. Even in every day RP I see a lot of people use "I have business attend to" as a common way to eject themselves from the RP. It can be used for a variety of things. Maybe you want to go do a dungeon or maybe you're not feeling well OOC. In that particular example you posted, the RPer was giving hints as to his intention--ERP. You can also do this same by emphasizing her naivete in emotes or by having her invite friends along during "magical romance ERP time."
"Oooooh! We get to ride on a chocobo! I want to see if my friends want to come along too!"
You could also let the RP advance forward a little bit in that case. Perhaps she becomes more interested in the chocobo than continuing a conversation. Or perhaps she turns the conversation all about his chocobo. (People do this irl all the time with their adorable babies and adorable pets) Perhaps your character is tired and she just needs to leave.
What I am ultimately getting at is you can bail without breaking character. There are so many reasons why you could leave or just turn the RP into something else entirely. You could even do this in tandem with OOC saying "I'm not interested in ERP" or "I don't want to go in this direction with the RP."
General advice though: Random RP tells are usually a sign that the other RPer wants to initiate ERP. Right off the bat find out their intentions or insist on using /say.
