(10-10-2013, 03:50 PM)Lament Wrote: Elitism is telling other people how they should RP, in my book.
Wanting to be the best you can be, having your own standards and offering advice isn't elitist. Choosing not to RP with someone if there is incompatibility between playing styles isn't elitist. Expecting players in a group to adhere to the rules of the group isn't elitist. Being good at something isn't elitist.
Acting like your standards are somehow more important or more acceptable than others' is. Expecting or demanding that others follow your standards is. "Protips" which are less advice and more thinly veiled insults/accusations of doing it wrong are elitist. Sneering and mocking at other groups for being bad compared to yours is elitist. Mocking, insulting, despising, attacking (openly or passive-aggressively) other RP styles is elitist.
Just having standards is OK. Thinking less of others for not having them is where elitism starts, to me.
Of course, this is considering nobody's being (from an OOC standpoint) inappropriate, invasive, doing anything illegal, trying to disrupt anyone else's RP and so forth - that's on a whole other level, and RP is never a free pass to be an asshat. Drawing the line at someone making you uncomfortable or doing something illegal isn't elitism. Calling them out on it isn't elitism. If you're a shitty person you deserve being called out; whether or not you're RPing while at it is irrelevant.
I agree with Lament here. Let's look at the definition of elitism:
the advocacy or existence of an elite as a dominating element in a system or society.
Who exactly are they dominating? The new people? GG, bro.
Standards? Standards are good. Elitists? Elitists are bad. But that good and bad applies to your views on others and their views on you. When it all boils down to it, we all have to start somewhere. There are people who claim to have been roleplaying for twelve plus years that do things I sometimes find questionable. Do I call them on that? No. Do I sit there and try to point out how my approach is just better? No. Giving my position on things is done solely in an effort to show that there is more than one view about it. If you have been labeled as an elitist, you should probably be offended; not to say that it might not apply, as it might, but being dubbed one denotes that what you do is not conducive to community interaction or social interaction and those two things are kind of the basis for fleshy roleplay.
No matter how good you think you are or how much back up you think you have to testify your goodness there is really no way to -define- what makes you better. Grammar? Immersion? Creativity? Are you just -better- at thinking than other people or are you better at conveying those thoughts? Better is relative. I would rather sit there and RP with someone who has no idea where they're going but is trying their hardest to be the best they can than someone who has an amazing character story but the worst OOC personality. And really, that's what it comes down to. If you're intolerable to most as a person, it'll very likely carry into your roleplay and I'll end up with a bunch of tells correcting my typos. I don't typo all the time, I take five minutes to look up a word if I forgot how to spell it, and the majority of people are right in that boat with me.
I'm just not going to be on board with someone who holds a person's lack of lore knowledge or RP knowledge or the amount of time they can play or fashion sense or anything against them. I have standards but in terms of roleplay, I only offer advice and I do not feel the need to spit on someone or many someones for the sake of their differing opinion.
Many people I find that try to make 'elitism' palatable by changing -what it means- and presenting it in a light that makes them favorable usually bear all of those characteristics that tend to ostracize others. I personally refuse to accept those words as good because of the full breadth of their meaning. It doesn't mean you're just 'better' than everyone else. It means you -think- you're better, and as I said, better is relative.
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