RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

Caspar · **07-10-2016, 10:37 PM**

(07-10-2016, 08:07 PM)Yandros Wrote:
(07-10-2016, 07:33 PM)ExAtomos Wrote: Arg... that really sucks.

While I certainly understand the reaction, I do wish that lalas wouldn't be painted with the same broad brush. I mean, what can I do to change attitudes? :/ I RP Ralin with the same thoughtfulness I do all of my characters, but to not be given a chance? ._.

(On my old server, I changed my gameplay main from midlander to lala for about half a year. Had someone, a friend at that, spam the disgust emote at me whenever he saw me from then on. I've had folks on Balmung talk about hurting or killing my lala alt and joke about how I can't possibly hurt them back. It's funny the first time, but gets old fast. I've definitely been on the receiving end of some lala hate. lol.)

Unfortunately I know the hate. Â I used to play both blood elves and pandaren in WoW, and both were on the receiving side of a fair amount of player bias.

The best thing that I can suggest doing? Â Is honestly just start slowly. Â Make friends with people OOC, and reassure them that your lala is not the same as others. Â Then, roleplay with them in public. Â People will see that, and honestly? Â It will stick in their brain. Â They may not put you on their friend's list or anything, but chances are they will at least think twice the next time they run into you. Â Which is at least a start.

But in the end, and here is where the jaded cynical side of me speaks. Â You just cannot change public opinion easily. Â Or even effectively. Â There are too many lala out there who are perfectly content to play the creeper. Â And there are too many out there to play the troll. Â Until the ratio changes, to where the majority are not creepy little trolls? Â Then yeah, the hate will not change. Â And right now? Â Lalas are creepy little trolls, by a wide wide WIDE margin.

I'd be able to examine whether your assertion at the end there was fact if I met a sufficient number of actual Lalafell RPers rather than whatever it is people find in the QS. Whether it's justified or not, I don't really have a statistically significant basis to know or judge. Which is fine, since it's immaterial to me calling that assertion irrational and impossible to prove.Â

Most of the time, when I read another Lalafell's search info, it is exclusively an ERPer, a PVE character, or an alt. There are trolls and creepers in every race, but because there are so few actual Lalafell RPers, they make a convenient target for assertions like "you're all creepy little trolls" because there are insufficient numbers to go beyond selection bias; you only ever meet a few in your time playing the game, and so results can differ wildly. Since we're so uncommon, I'd be interested in figuring out how you came to the conclusion that the majority are trolls and creeps. I've not been counting other Lalafell players, myself, since it's kinda pointless, and the acquaintances I know who regularly play I can count with one hand.

It's one of the consequences of going against the grain, and I've accepted that I'm not going to get as much RP as other players do by being pretty or badass-looking. That being said, what you're doing is punching down on a smaller group that can't defend itself from accusation, for things that are common to basically every category of player, every race.Â

I don't like the whole "guilty until proven innocent approach." In the first place, talking about an entire race and the players who prefer it gives the false impression that there's some sort of monolithic Lalafell club that is constantly looking up skirts. There is no Lalafell community, just like there's no secret Dragon or Cat club, just loose bonds of connections of convenience and friendship. Players of similar style and sense might stick together, but there's really only sheer numbers vs numbers of individuals, and there are less Lalafell individuals to choose from. Since there's so few Lalafell, if you meet one jerk, you're unlikely to meet another who is a serious enough RPer to even the score. Who will even challenge your assumptions?

I understand that you've had a bad experience or two, and I'm sorry for that. I've met creepy players and trolls, and in both cases they were whatever race the player felt like using. Usually they weren't RPers at all. Even so, I wish I could better understand the feelings behind the general atmosphere of apprehension common to RPC players. I've only experienced one big drama bomb, so I have a lot of trouble relating to the feeling that "all players of a certain type are this way," or "I can't RP in public because I'm scared of this thing happening." To me it is terribly sad. But far worse is the fact that I can't say anything to reassure or improve people's moods for lack of my own context.

To be frank, though, while I have my stereotypes, and I've certainly been mistreated by other RPers, I've never held strangers responsible for their actions, and I refuse to do so. If they don't want to play with me because of my race, that's fine. Any number of selfish reasons, like not feeling they fit into personal headcanon or obsession with realism, I'll gladly accept. But I'd like for them to not blame me for the actions of others. Neither do I want to be lumped in with others who share my own displeasure at your statement either. I dislike it for my own reasons, because I think it's irrational, divisive and damaging to other players. I would say the same thing even if it wasn't my race.

If the impression you get of another category of player is negative, and you say things like your last line as if it is a statement of fact, please reconsider your opinion. Consider how many RPers you've met who fit that description outside of the race, and how few Lalafell you've actually encountered. Look inward first, then outward. Consider whether your judgment has any basis or if it's just the aftershocks of a few bad evenings.Â

If you know the hate, you must know how it feels. Why would you go about worsening that kind of behavior when you yourself understand what it means to make an unpopular choice of character or race? I hate the Pandaren, for instance, but were I playing that game, I would never begrudge someone their choice of it. (Unless I felt they were doing a one-panda Chinese minstrel show, but that's another debate entirely.) Think about what you're saying. You're demanding that all players who prefer a certain kind of aesthetic prove they're not predators or bullies. Does that seem reasonable to you in any other context? Would you have felt it was fair that everyone assumed you were culturally insensitive for picking Pandaren? What is inherently harmful about our choice of race?

[Discussion] Going Lalafell, distinct decline in RP?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes