I think a lot of people value relationships in RP a lot, they also value high impact encounters and high value encounters. I can personally see the value of a romantic relationship and how it shapes a character and personalities. For many, a character is a blank slate, they've got a back story, they've got an upbringing, and more often than not they have a vaguely laid out history. Most of the time people may include some sort of turbulent romance amongst those details which often leads to some sort of quirk or personality trait that is somewhat of their current core.
For character development people take notice of the large things that occur, and honestly I think 80% of that requires another PC's involvement on a major level. Sure people can grow and change on their own because time doesn't stop, life doesn't stop, but for a character things can easily stagnate. From what I've gathered, it's really conflict and relationships that drive these things and the problem I think here, is that the most obvious relationship impact involves romance just because of it's very nature.
I can safely say that my personal love life has been hectic, full of stupidity, and has left me with severe trust issues like most jaded and broken individuals. Of all the things I've experienced in my life, my love life has been one of the most influential sources and driving factors to who I am today that I can think back on and I'm sure a lot of others can as well. That isn't to say that isn't the ONLY source or that it's going to be for others as well, but I certainly can see why it's such a pursuit. I mean, there's gotta be a reason why they feel the need to jam romance it into every aspect of entertainment media and that every brooding hero needs some sort of heartache; for most it probably looks something like: "Every great story has a love story piggy backing on to it in some form."
For me, I've had similar experiences with romance in RP and my solution has been the same as most here. Deal with it and worry about the IC later, its not something you can really fault anyone for and while not ideal it happens we just roll with the punches and move on. RP is my fun and relaxation time, if it's no fun for me and those around me, why bother? It's your game and your time, you need to do what's best for you and as long as you're not stepping on any avoidable toes, there's nothing wrong with that.
For character development people take notice of the large things that occur, and honestly I think 80% of that requires another PC's involvement on a major level. Sure people can grow and change on their own because time doesn't stop, life doesn't stop, but for a character things can easily stagnate. From what I've gathered, it's really conflict and relationships that drive these things and the problem I think here, is that the most obvious relationship impact involves romance just because of it's very nature.
I can safely say that my personal love life has been hectic, full of stupidity, and has left me with severe trust issues like most jaded and broken individuals. Of all the things I've experienced in my life, my love life has been one of the most influential sources and driving factors to who I am today that I can think back on and I'm sure a lot of others can as well. That isn't to say that isn't the ONLY source or that it's going to be for others as well, but I certainly can see why it's such a pursuit. I mean, there's gotta be a reason why they feel the need to jam romance it into every aspect of entertainment media and that every brooding hero needs some sort of heartache; for most it probably looks something like: "Every great story has a love story piggy backing on to it in some form."
For me, I've had similar experiences with romance in RP and my solution has been the same as most here. Deal with it and worry about the IC later, its not something you can really fault anyone for and while not ideal it happens we just roll with the punches and move on. RP is my fun and relaxation time, if it's no fun for me and those around me, why bother? It's your game and your time, you need to do what's best for you and as long as you're not stepping on any avoidable toes, there's nothing wrong with that.
