FYI @ the Tumblr RP Community
I was an avid roleplayer for three/four years. Roleplaying was the reason I started writing. It was the reason I went to school for writing. It had become a fun way to get out characters that I had created and fallen in love with.
I have cut it from my life over the last year savagely. And for very important reasons, but most of all, for my own well-being.
ROLEPLAYING IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. Or at least, the roleplaying I had been apart of (AKA the Tumblr roleplaying community) was. It was where groups of fandoms could come together to create versions of characters they loved, where they could write and create characters that were dynamic and beautiful. Where people wrote together, created bonds.
It no longer becomes fun when people stop caring.
Roleplaying is no longer fun when writing is hardly a side-note. Instead, interactions are text posts that are inconsequential, just a way to get people to talk to them. When there are no gifs, when suddenly people donât care what their blogs look like because what they care about is getting their character a relationship in the first day theyâve been there.
Itâs no longer fun when suddenly the realistic world is dropped and suddenly characters are getting things that only the luckiest people get. Youâve never been on stage? But suddenly your character got a leading role on Broadway? Characters who become severely out of character like the player forgot what they had applied with and instead need a way to make their character important again.
Itâs no longer fun when people feel the need to make a character feel important.
Roleplaying isnât fun when one person has four characters. It isnât fun when your character creates a connection with this personâs fourth character that they hardly ever get on and then eventually drop. It isnât fun when people have more than one character that they canât develop because there isnât a way for them to realistically develop multiple characters when they canât give the time to both.
A character can hardly develop if you donât interact, write, well-written, well-thought out things instead of some text post talking about them spending the night drinking wine alone in their room.
Itâs no longer fun when characters get together and then get married two days later.
Itâs no longer fun when characters never talk, donât get along, but for some reason theyâre really in love and everyone watching can point out how toxic the relationship is. Toxic relationships are not fun. Especially on a platform people use to feel good.
Surprise pregnancies arenât fun. Completely unneeded pregnancies arenât fun.
ROLEPLAYING ISNâT FUN IF YOU CANâT TREAT EACH OTHER WITH RESPECT.
Admins who play favoritism over people and characters.
Admins who say theyâre your friend, but then beg you to stay because their character âneedsâ yours when they hardly ever interactâwhile youâre telling them that youâre highly uncomfortable.
It isnât fun when characters, but you know itâs actually the player itself, attack characters viciously. When words said to your characters become so harsh, and dangerous, that you feel personally attacked and wish you could block them without getting in trouble. Instead, people will complain about them, and then the admins will do nothing, and youâll be left feeling like youâre stupid, that youâre just overreacting. Then theyâll still be there, months after you left.
Characters who group together to hate on one characterâand then get angry when you point out their shit.
Characters who group together in general, to create a cliques in a place that shouldnât have clicks. When two characters only ever interact together, ignoring everyone else. But then act like theyâre being attacked when someone points it out.
Roleplaying is no longer fun when people tell you how much they love you, how much they adore your character, but only ever want a friendship with him. When they never interact with you, but swear that your character and their character are best friends. When youâre completely ignored though you are the only one who tries to reply to everyone, to be nice to everyone, who opens you heart to people who could give two shits about you.
Roleplaying is no longer fun when people make you feel like youâre doing something wrong.
When you have partners who leave you. When you have multiple partners who drop their characters altogether. When people make you feel inadequate. When they make you question your writing because no one wants to write with you, because no one wants to interact with your character.
Roleplaying is no longer fun when it becomes toxic to you, and your character. When youâre getting upset because youâre not able to write because you think people hate you. When you check the dash over and over in hopes someone will want to talk to you, but no one does, and instead you lurk because why make another opener when you know youâll get at the most two notes?
When youâre uncomfortable with situations happening and you go to an admin and they do nothing. Where they shrug their shoulders and act like itâs okay that one of their players are feeling uncomfortable with a situation because itâs only one personâthough that person has been there for months.
When you tell admins you want to leave but they beg you to stay even though youâre telling them that you donât want to, that you donât feel good, that the roleplay is no longer fun, that youâre feeling attacked and uncomfortable, and they donât care.
When admins act like they care, but the moment you leave, they gladly open your characters spotâwhile saving spots of characters that were important to them. Where they put faceclaims out of service because those faceclaims were an old boyfriend, an old fling, anyone important to them that wasnât you even though you thought you were important enough. Your character who was developed, made multiple friends, had an entire life created that was beautiful and that you were proud of--but only you, you guess.
Roleplaying is no longer fun when your group has literally ruined you for any other group roleplay. Where you get anxiety over roleplaying because the last roleplay ruined your confidence, left you feeling like no one actually liked you, that your writing was awful, that your character, though one of the only realistic characters, was horrible.
Roleplaying is no longer fun when it has been almost a year and you still lurk on the role-play. Watch people take your characterâs face claim, re-create your character again because they were there when you were, they saw how much people liked your character even though they were ignored, and wanted to have what you had. When youâre getting upset because you feel like you werenât important at all if an admin who calls themself your friend yet lets someone blatantly steal your character when they know how important he is to you.
When no matter how hard you try, this role-play still roots itself in you because it has ruined you. Has actually affected a way that you interact with others online, affected the way you write. The way you look at your writing and your characters. When you want to apply because you miss it in some wickedly, ugly way, but at the same time know youâd just put yourself back into the same toxic environment that you found yourself in. Where people would act like they are excited for a day. Then drop you like an old piece of popcorn found beneath a couch.
Itâs a shame when role-play can make you feel like complete shit when you had given them your all, for months, even years.
Roleplaying is no longer fun when you donât feel good doing it anymore. I want people to know that. I want people to know that they donât have to go through pain just to role-play. Believe me, if you drop a toxic role-play, youâll feel so much better, youâll feel so alive. You no longer will feel the need to make yourself feel important to these people who donât care about you.
Please keep that in mind. Save yourself because no one should feel as shitty as I do over a group of people playing characters on the internet.
And yes, this is an entire call out post at @willcoxrpg
Multiple people have left this role-play with more problems than they arrived with and no one needs that. Me included. I hope youâre proud. God, I hope youâre so proud of yourselves.