Having read through the thread so far to make sure no one has said this yet, I wanted to get this idea out there.
While I don't think popularity and cliques are a bad thing - people have a group of friends they socialize with, who knew!? - they DO have an effect, for sure. Though, truthfully, cliques only get bad when they start policing those around them, but that was said already.
My point, though, stems more from the perceived popularity thing. While I don't hate on those who are seen as popular here since I do respect them for the effort they put in, there is a stigma there that has me shy away from RPing with them. And it's really quite a simple, and in my mind, accurate thing:Â
"Oh, I bet they don't have time for me."
Let's all be honest. It's been said in a number of these threads that people that are involved in RP don't have the time of day to spend RPing with everyone who wants to RP with them. THAT is, in fact, part of the stigma that the "popular" group carries - and anyone who RPs regularly, whether popular or not, and has a group of friends they regularly go to for RP - will tell you that they don't always have time for more people.
I'm not popular on here. Never have been, because I lurk too much, and occasionally enjoy reading the lore threads. That said, I already basically have access to as much RP as I could handle without really making many connections here. Now, this is obviously not about people finding RP, but rather, what popularity brings.
I don't think people who are popular should be on the receiving end of hate from people who can't find RP. But making the the (illogical) jump from "Oh, they probably don't have the time for me" to "They're excluding me!" is probably something that happens more than it ought to.
Quick tl;dr
Thanks guys ^_^
Just food for thought.
While I don't think popularity and cliques are a bad thing - people have a group of friends they socialize with, who knew!? - they DO have an effect, for sure. Though, truthfully, cliques only get bad when they start policing those around them, but that was said already.
My point, though, stems more from the perceived popularity thing. While I don't hate on those who are seen as popular here since I do respect them for the effort they put in, there is a stigma there that has me shy away from RPing with them. And it's really quite a simple, and in my mind, accurate thing:Â
"Oh, I bet they don't have time for me."
Let's all be honest. It's been said in a number of these threads that people that are involved in RP don't have the time of day to spend RPing with everyone who wants to RP with them. THAT is, in fact, part of the stigma that the "popular" group carries - and anyone who RPs regularly, whether popular or not, and has a group of friends they regularly go to for RP - will tell you that they don't always have time for more people.
I'm not popular on here. Never have been, because I lurk too much, and occasionally enjoy reading the lore threads. That said, I already basically have access to as much RP as I could handle without really making many connections here. Now, this is obviously not about people finding RP, but rather, what popularity brings.
I don't think people who are popular should be on the receiving end of hate from people who can't find RP. But making the the (illogical) jump from "Oh, they probably don't have the time for me" to "They're excluding me!" is probably something that happens more than it ought to.
Quick tl;dr
- "Popular" people really don't deserve the hate they receive
- "Popularity" lends to a "You probably don't have time for little ol' me" types of mentality
- Time available really is a legitimate constraint that people should be conscious of.
Thanks guys ^_^
Just food for thought.
(Forever a work in progress)
