I remember first joining the RPC and coming into my first thread, where I was shown just how many things the reputation system negatively affects. For anyone still thinking the blame on the rep system is excessive, I dare you to listen to my story.
There I was, a young, innocent, and optimistic roleplayist. I saw the screenshots thread, and figured a good way to introduce myself to the community was by posting a screenshot of my character. So I did. Oh, how wrong and foolish I was.
Immediately, the negative and toxic posting began. "Get a load of this nerd! Not even ONE rep point!" I saw, my heart sinking and a mix of shock and shame overcoming me. The horrible posts continued "What the frack does this nerdball think he's doing? He's trying to follow my post with an unrelated one of his own, and he doesn't even have a TENTH of the rep I do!" was what I heard from thread to thread, on and on. I tried to boost my rep by making honestly kind and caring posts. "Your character looks great!" "You're a wonderful person!" I'd boast.
But my rep count stayed low. Those villains were MISUSING the rep system. While I was doing honest posting, those fiends were posting snarky and vile comments against good roleplayists, thus tricking people into liking their posts! I was shocked and horrified, but the words of the high-rep posters rang in my ears. "Your post didn't even have ONE reaction face or snappy comment in it! What the fuck are you even doing here?" And the inevitable FALSE-LIKING of their post that would come. The growing approval for these horrible toxic posts spiraled out of control. I can still hear a sound in my head every time I feel one of their posts upvoted by something falsely thinking that they said something worth liking. Ding. Ding. Ding. DINGDINGDING. Like an unholy steel triangle, I felt these dings piercing my very skin.
And now here I am. I quickly learned that, to survive in the harsh, dog-eat-fat cat world of the RPC, I had to get tough, and get mean. Most importantly, I had to get TOXIC. There's no going back for me. My soul is long gone, but maybe this new, fresh-faced roleplayer generation can be saved from the toxicity. Just maybe.
There I was, a young, innocent, and optimistic roleplayist. I saw the screenshots thread, and figured a good way to introduce myself to the community was by posting a screenshot of my character. So I did. Oh, how wrong and foolish I was.
Immediately, the negative and toxic posting began. "Get a load of this nerd! Not even ONE rep point!" I saw, my heart sinking and a mix of shock and shame overcoming me. The horrible posts continued "What the frack does this nerdball think he's doing? He's trying to follow my post with an unrelated one of his own, and he doesn't even have a TENTH of the rep I do!" was what I heard from thread to thread, on and on. I tried to boost my rep by making honestly kind and caring posts. "Your character looks great!" "You're a wonderful person!" I'd boast.
But my rep count stayed low. Those villains were MISUSING the rep system. While I was doing honest posting, those fiends were posting snarky and vile comments against good roleplayists, thus tricking people into liking their posts! I was shocked and horrified, but the words of the high-rep posters rang in my ears. "Your post didn't even have ONE reaction face or snappy comment in it! What the fuck are you even doing here?" And the inevitable FALSE-LIKING of their post that would come. The growing approval for these horrible toxic posts spiraled out of control. I can still hear a sound in my head every time I feel one of their posts upvoted by something falsely thinking that they said something worth liking. Ding. Ding. Ding. DINGDINGDING. Like an unholy steel triangle, I felt these dings piercing my very skin.
And now here I am. I quickly learned that, to survive in the harsh, dog-eat-fat cat world of the RPC, I had to get tough, and get mean. Most importantly, I had to get TOXIC. There's no going back for me. My soul is long gone, but maybe this new, fresh-faced roleplayer generation can be saved from the toxicity. Just maybe.
roleplay?
