[Ranylyn]

Trex basically touched on things I've been saying for YEARS, but was met with criticisms such as "baw you just hate memes you damn killjoy" or "SL2 isn't Roleplay mandatory, you tard," and "Stop being contrarian and going counter-everything" and other such things. Not going to say "I told you so," but it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who's basically still around at all due to emotional attachment to when the RP was better.


Before I get into the meat of my trademark "walls of text," though, I'd like to give a full background for where I'm coming from with all this, though. I feel that it's best if I explain my biases and get them in the open. So in this spoiler tag, I'll include details about my background that are related to roleplay, what I expect from settings I choose to roleplay in, what I expect from other players, and so on. Some of you already know all this, so feel free to skip it. But for those who don't - or just forget - feel free to take a look at just where I'm coming from.

I'm 27 - will turn 28 this summer - and have been RPing since I was 13. (And that's assuming you don't count playground games and kids pretending to be heroes and villains.) I've never been a particularly happy person (I was diagnosed with severe depression at age 23, and learning what I've learned about my condition, it explains literally everything about my life going back to age SIX, so yeah) and to me, Roleplay is my escapism. I get to step out of my own misery into another person's much more exciting existance. It makes my situation far more bearable.

Now. With what looks like 14 years of RP experience behind me, you might assume I'm some kind of roleplay elitist snob or something, who'll never be satisfied with anything but the caviar of roleplay. And this isn't true. Not only have I taken several hiatuses of years at a time in the past (SL2 was in fact my return to roleplay after about 6 years) but all I ask is for people to be in-character and consistent. No 4th wall breaks, etc. I also keep my own messages short (I do not do the big walls) to give the characters ample chances to chime in or otherwise interact. It's the difference between your friend ranting about something and you being able to chime in, "I know, right!?" versus being locked in place until they're done. This allows roleplayers of all skill levels to get their chance to interact with my characters.

Example of what I mean:
Ranylyn's Character: Ugh, that guy really gets my blood boiling!
Other Player: Really? He doesn't seem so bad to me.
Ranylyn's Character: That's just the problem! He acts like a nice person, but those judging eyes! That condescending grin! He's a jerk wearing the skin of a saint!
Other Player: I didn't get that vibe at all. Are you sure you're not overreacting?
Ranylyn's Character: Ugh, nevermind. The more I argue, the more upset I'll get.

(Compared to: A wall of text about how much that person pissed them off, that offers no chance for other characters to have any input.)

Now, because RP is my escapism, it's important to note how I see the game mechanics themselves. I see the mechanics as a vessel through which to play out the roleplay that you can't do without bias - such as combat. There are also those - the "way too literal" crowd - who see the roleplay as a vessel through which to spout the game mechanics. I do not like or get along with these people. I do not begrudge them for trying to obey the rules of the game, but things like moving in an L shape to unlock black knight are NOT In-Universe actions required to learn an advanced set of skills, and I do wish that they could understand that. However, I see no point in arguing with them since neither side will concede, so meh, I just avoid them when I can.

What I can't just avoid, however, is the blatant wall-breaking I see sometimes. Because that catches on like a plague and runs rampant until the GMs stamp it out for a week or two. For example, when Fire Emblem Fates was new, I saw a lot of "Nohrian Scum" icly. YES, IN-CHARACTER! In SL2's setting, what even is "Nohr?" Answer: Nothing. I could understand if maybe someone had created a guild called Nohr and everyone hated them for IC actions or something, but no, it was nothing more than "durr this is popular ima shitpost to be part of the fad." While I agree that there's a time and a place to be serious and roleplay doesn't need to be especially serious, there's NO time for this, not in roleplay. Don't bullshit me. Just stop.

That said... Soapy really hit the nail on the head. Completely. Everything Trex touched on (Number 2 most of all) has just been so commonplace for so long that there's not much we CAN do about it... unless we make the GMs put in some serious overtime to stomp things out and start handing out more frequent temp bans to repeat offenders. No one (except me, I guess?) would be happy with that, especially not the GMs, who do have lives and obligations outside the game, and can't just focus on it.

"But Ran, if you have such a problem with it, why didn't you speak up sooner? SL2 has some good people, maybe if people knew it was bugging people...." Don't give me that. I did. You know I did. I have a bad reputation BECAUSE I did. It's the internet; if you ask someone to stop, they do it a thousandfold just to spite you. Even if it's done in jest with no malice behind it.

It's not even like the community is big enough to split into multiple servers, either, so we can't just take lessons from... say... World of Warcraft with it's PVE/PVP/RP/RPPVP servers.

Still... something's gotta give. The game is either RP or it's not - and despite Dev's statement that "Yes, it is," there's still people who insist that it's not. Either it gets enforced, or the RP goes. I don't see a middle ground.