cleverest-admin replied to your post: it’s time to talk about communication in the RPC....
I agree w fracturedhues there, and also have sone point of my own:
1) There’s a prevalent defensiveness of MANY folks in the rpc that’s actively encouraged, which makes it difficult TO bring up issues in the first place
2) Somewhat in line with 1, people talk all the time about “not policing my content” and “moderating your own experiences” and label folks who are “too sensitive” in trying to discuss issues as “antis”, shutting down concerns before they ever get the chance to arise.
3) IN LINE WITH 1+2, and what fracturedhues said, you cannot create an environment where open, honest communication is discouraged and seen as stirring the pot, and then get surprised when people would rather spare themselves the frustration and anguish altogether.
4) You touched upon this slightly, and Im going to go deeper in it in a way that might seem kind of harsh, but i dont mean in an ugly way: RPs are not a substiture for interpersonal relationships.
That is to say: its easy to say, about an RP partner that, "well we have good chemistry writing together, we have similar opinions on this media and they're fun to talk to" and assume that must mean you are friends but overwhelmingly that just isnt the case nor is it realistic to assume such. This is all to say: people seriously put far more stock in what RP connectivity and mutual follows than what such ACTUALLY means and take breaking off either way too harshly where neither necessarily actually MEANT any deeper relationship, and thats okay! (And, inversely, the fact that people automatically take such to heart AS indicators for a lack of goodwill/friendship should itself speak to the nature of their relationship anyway.) Basically: people REALLY dont owe you, an effective stranger their time, energy, or explainations for unfollowing and as long as they arent being a dick (and no, unfollowing is not an inherently mean/rude thing to do), then you shouldnt feel attacked for such.
aight this is long so i’m gonna try to make it simple and quick. i would also like to point out that my post was referred to cases where you did roleplay a whole bunch with the person, hell, communicated with them even ooc. but let’s get to it.
i think your first point is 100% right. bringing stuff up is hard because people tend to be defensive, so, because of that, communication is ... scarce, and even discouraged, i feel. but doing that, along with your second point, makes it so issues are NEVER brought up and people would rather talk smack on someone’s back, which is fucking stupid at the same time.
as for the rest ... well, i don’t know about you, but i’m not just here to write, i want to make friends too. and i’ve met an incredible bunch of people through roleplay, even met them IRL, hang out with them and shit. some i’ve known for years. i’m spending so much time on here, why would i not want to connect with the people who write with me, to who i give parts of my character to and they do it back. this isn’t a business, and that is another problem of the community -- roleplay seems more and more like a business. roleplay is having fun with other people. in any game, there are rules and communication between the players.
i’m not just a character, i’m a person too. and the whole process of non-communication makes it seem like people are ... disposable of. like, hey, you’re past a screen, so i won’t give you the time of the day nor any sort of respect, because, what can you do about it anyway.
once again, it’s by being good to each other and by saying shit out loud that things change in the rpc, like anywhere else.
