LastKurgan

I hate to sound like some kind of elitist snob, but this is the reason I play alone most of the time...

I love roleplaying. I think of it as writing a story with other people, and I'll continue to do it when possible in Paragon City, but I feel I need to say something in addition to the amazing post ChaosRed has given us.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?????

Why am I bombarded with private messages asking for ERP?
Some don't even take the time to have their character hit on your's. I mean, why bother right? Let's just skip to why they're there! When did it become acceptable to ask every player in the zone if they'll pretend to give you some? What disturbs me most is how often I'm playing an underage character when this happens. And by underage, I mean a young child, not an almost legal hottie. I suspect, or rather hope, that they never saw my character at all. That they simply saw a female name and threw out a hopeful pm... Part of me still tries to be optimistic about the human race.

Why are trolls getting away with their endless badgering by claiming they're in character?
Nevermind that they are mocking things they should not know in character (such as screen names, bios, and AT) along with their verbal assault on whatever conversation might be within earshot...
They are in character, and you can't report them, so nah na na na nah nah! Cause they're just pretending to be a complete and total *****. Now that my ignore list isn't going to be full of e-mail spammers (thank you i16!) I can just tune these guys out and peacefully go about my business.

Why do I get accused of being a cyber bimbo every time i step away from the crowd so i can read a friend's posts without everyone else's sending my chat window ahead of what I'm reading?
I work odd hours. I hate fishing through other people's posts trying to read the one's I'm paying attention to. So, it makes sense to step away from the crowd and find a quiet corner somewhere in the D (which, unfortunately, is the only place I can go if my hero wants to talk to my friend's villain). Every time I do this, some little know-it-all shows up to pass judgement. I'm discussing the details of breaking into a lab in the Rogue Isles, and they're going on about how wrong it is to do what we're doing and blah blah blah...

It's not that I'm concerned about my reputation. I have no reputation. No one knows who I am, or cares, outside of a very small group of people who took the time to notice the very quiet character in the corner that was just doing her job (a lot of my characters fit that description... hmm... that's weird. Never really noticed that before.).
I had a point in here somewhere. Oh yeah!

My point is, regardless of what I'm doing with that pastey fellow in the corner over there, when did it become anyone else's business? People who have appointed themselves the RP Police annoy the living hell out of me.

Bottom line is:
- No one should tell you how to play your character. But an untouchable, flawless, all-powerful, god machine is not a character... It's just stupid.
- You shouldn't tell anyone else how to play their character. Just point, laugh, and ignore with the idiot ones and keep looking for the good ones! They're out there!
- Don't be a jerk just for the sake of being a jerk.
- Pay attention! Get to know the person you're talking to before propositioning them! At least know what's on the other end of that pm! Read a bio once in awhile! Jeez!

In my twenty-two years of writing/gaming/roleplaying I have permanently killed exactly seven major characters. Each death had a purpose, and a massive ripple effect into the story they were involved in. Some began wars. Some ended them. All progressed the story into evolution. Change. Sometimes it takes a sense of loss to make that happen. Maybe it was to prove the power of the threat. Maybe it was to add the spice of vengeance into the mix.

But I've never once regretted it.

Those I've played with over the years still discuss the impact of losing the characters I've buried. The characters they play still feel the loss of those people in their lives. These are the things that make our characters more realistic and developed.

The death toll is about to go up.. and soon, so I've been thinking heavily on this subject as of late. It never occurred to me to delete the soon-to-be-deceased character. Is that strange? Letting a corpse linger on my account?