My personal opinion is that I don't walk into a game wanting my character to get into a romance so FOR ME I prefer the happy accidents.
However, I think there's valid reasons for pre-planned:
~ Most pre-planned RP I've seen are couples IRL. Romance RP can be... drama pretty easily, and some couples actually like, you know, acting like a couple in RP too. So you kinda avoid people trying to go after your SO's character while being happy RPing together. This usually works pretty well, honestly.
~ Only romance RPing with trusted friends. I have some friends who preplan RP together as they are long time RP Partners and trust each other not to cause drama. I totally get this, because even though I like "Happy Accidents" I still have a very strict set of guidelines OOCly before I'll get into a romance with someone. Some people just don't wanna deal with that at all.
~ You don't have a lot of time. Building a relationship, or even finding a character who your character connects with, takes time. A lot of time. And if you're looking for a partner for your character, it was be frustrating if you don't exactly have all the time in the world. We all go into RP for different reasons and some people believe that their character and/or stories don't have as much depth without some kind of second half involved.
It's not always love driven, desperate young people who want to blend OOC and IC to pretend they have an SO in the real world. That is definitely a thing, but there are people who do it just because they wanna cut out the middle man and believe romance is an important aspect of a character.
However, I think there's valid reasons for pre-planned:
~ Most pre-planned RP I've seen are couples IRL. Romance RP can be... drama pretty easily, and some couples actually like, you know, acting like a couple in RP too. So you kinda avoid people trying to go after your SO's character while being happy RPing together. This usually works pretty well, honestly.
~ Only romance RPing with trusted friends. I have some friends who preplan RP together as they are long time RP Partners and trust each other not to cause drama. I totally get this, because even though I like "Happy Accidents" I still have a very strict set of guidelines OOCly before I'll get into a romance with someone. Some people just don't wanna deal with that at all.
~ You don't have a lot of time. Building a relationship, or even finding a character who your character connects with, takes time. A lot of time. And if you're looking for a partner for your character, it was be frustrating if you don't exactly have all the time in the world. We all go into RP for different reasons and some people believe that their character and/or stories don't have as much depth without some kind of second half involved.
It's not always love driven, desperate young people who want to blend OOC and IC to pretend they have an SO in the real world. That is definitely a thing, but there are people who do it just because they wanna cut out the middle man and believe romance is an important aspect of a character.
![[Image: tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/449e130ac31106ec8aeda3d0f121d76b/tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif)
