How Socially Acceptable is Roleplaying Online?
By
Bindweed,
Posted on: 2008-11-11 07:26 in Roleplaying
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you wouldnt mention it to due to the stigma or lack of understanding attached to it.
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More like, after quite a few years doing it, I've got tired of explaining what 'roleplaying' is.
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whereas the reaction if Id suggested they roleplay would have been a lot more adverse.
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This suggests that you didn't try and don't actually know what the reaction would have been, you're just making the assumption that they wouldn't understand it, or would consider it 'odd.'
I spent a considerable portion of one family wedding discussing just this kind of thing, though I'll admit that my aunt and her sister are 'non-typical' people. The rest of the family 'get it' to some extent, becasue they've had to put up with me doing this stuff for over 30 years.
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I remember a conversation with a woman at a party a few months ago
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I find it interesting that you consider this the norm. Perhaps I just move in more accepting circles.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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This suggests that you didn't try and don't actually know what the reaction would have been, you're just making the assumption that they wouldn't understand it, or would consider it 'odd.'
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I remember a conversation with a woman at a party a few months ago
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I find it interesting that you consider this the norm. Perhaps I just move in more accepting circles.
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In my defense I'm a very open and honest guy, but having spent far too many decades of people looking at me (and the guys I roleplaying with) in a strange way and saying things like, "What do you mean you play D&D? You don't wear black t-shirts, have long hair and you're not a teenager." I do know how these people react. I'm not saying it's right, but that's the impression most middle aged, middle class people seem to have.
You take the other halves of those of us who roleplay:
Ruth: Why do you still play those childish games?
Louise: If I must I'll put up with you doing it.
Jo: Are you still pretending to cast spells. At your age.
Vicki: It doesn't matter if you miss it, it's not like it's important.
Charmaine: It's not a real hobby is it, it's kids game.
The guys I go to football with just laugh about it.
When it was brought up by the best man at a wedding of one of the group, all the couple of us who were there got all night was, "Are you one of his D&D friends?"
On the other hand the friends we all have who are into computers, comics and general fantasy stuff either used to roleplay so are accepting of it or at least know it's not all about dressing up and chasing each other around a table (and, yes, I've had people at work ask me if that's what we do).
Anyway, none of what people think has ever bothered any of us. We all have different groups of friends for different bits of our lives and like oil and water they don't always mix well, but I like the fact that some of us straddle the fences.
((Written on my phone, so excuse any spelling mistakes.))
Try explaining LARP to someone who hasn't got a clue what that means...oh boy do you get odd looks.
"So you dress up in a costume, use foam weapons and then spend a day hitting people with them while pretending to be a caveman down Chislehurst caves?"
and deathly silence follows...
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
blah double post
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
Cross Country Pantomime.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I dont think I would tell anyone about it, pretty much because I don't think anyone I know would really 'get it'. I could explain it as online acting but then it gets even more odd looks, solution say nothing :P
The end is just a new beginning, Goodbye all my coh friends and even the enemies, its been a blast I will miss you all. Thank you Paragon team, you gave me a home from home I will always appriciate it.
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Try explaining LARP to someone who hasn't got a clue what that means...oh boy do you get odd looks.
"So you dress up in a costume, use foam weapons and then spend a day hitting people with them while pretending to be a caveman down Chislehurst caves?"
and deathly silence follows...
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"So, do you know what re-enactment is? Yeah, well it's like that, but more fantasy and less chance of injury."
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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Try explaining LARP to someone who hasn't got a clue what that means...oh boy do you get odd looks.
"So you dress up in a costume, use foam weapons and then spend a day hitting people with them while pretending to be a caveman down Chislehurst caves?"
and deathly silence follows...
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"So, do you know what re-enactment is? Yeah, well it's like that, but more fantasy and less chance of injury."
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This all reminds me of Sharpe - where they populated the entire series with Napoleonic re-enactors (to create a piece of fantasy without any real chance of getting injured 
). I t wouldn't surprise me if some of those guys were mocked down the local pub one day, then afterwards, when people realized that those guys had been shooting a TV show with Sean Bean in the Crimea, it suddenly appeared pretty cool.
Context, is all...
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You take the other halves of those of us who roleplay:
Ruth: Why do you still play those childish games?
Louise: If I must I'll put up with you doing it.
Jo: Are you still pretending to cast spells. At your age.
Vicki: It doesn't matter if you miss it, it's not like it's important.
Charmaine: It's not a real hobby is it, it's kids game.
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I really don't want to get into marriage councilling, but I'll tell those other halves one thing: down those roads lies divorce. It isn't so much this one thing, it's the attitude. "What you do really isn't important." And from the gamer side, if they give it up, it's a festering soar that eventually will come back and bite their partner real hard. Been there, done that.
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The guys I go to football with just laugh about it.
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Well, to be fair, I have pretty much the same reaction to people who want to run around a field playing a dumbed-down version of a once-a-year village rivalry contest.
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When it was brought up by the best man at a wedding of one of the group, all the couple of us who were there got all night was, "Are you one of his D&D friends?"
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I'm starting to pity you. 
Went to a friend's wedding recently. Both of them LARP. We met them through LARP, discovered they lived close by. My other half helped with the wedding arrangements. LARP is pretty important to this couple, but by no means all their family are LARPers, nor do they 'get it.'
The wedding was held at a local castle. Everyone came in costume. Everyone. Most of the LARPers (by no means the majority) simply came in some variant of their LARP kit (I play a real clthes horse anyway, so it was cool). If the others couldn't afford to hire something (and they were given the addresses of hire shops in the invitations) then they cobbled something together out of what they could find.
The woman doing the ceremony said she had never seen any group so fully togged out in costume for a themed wedding. The photographer had an absolute field day.
Friends from LARP did the evening entertainment, as there are talented writers and artists on these boards, so there are talented singers and song writers in LARP circles.
Great fun was had by all.
If you're embarassed about the hobby you have, and expect people to think it's childish, then I guess you get the attitude you expect.
Or maybe I'm just lucky. I kind of doubt that though.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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Try explaining LARP to someone who hasn't got a clue what that means...oh boy do you get odd looks.
"So you dress up in a costume, use foam weapons and then spend a day hitting people with them while pretending to be a caveman down Chislehurst caves?"
and deathly silence follows...
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"So, do you know what re-enactment is? Yeah, well it's like that, but more fantasy and less chance of injury."
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This all reminds me of Sharpe - where they populated the entire series with Napoleonic re-enactors (to create a piece of fantasy without any real chance of getting injured ). I t wouldn't surprise me if some of those guys were mocked down the local pub one day, then afterwards, when people realized that those guys had been shooting a TV show with Sean Bean in the Crimea, it suddenly appeared pretty cool.
Context, is all...
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Helluva a lot of re-enactors used when they filmed LotR as well...
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
I've got over being ashamed at voicing how I feel a good while ago so usually i'll happily tell people about it, with what I hope are amusing stories to help take the edge off it.
It's easier if you just admit that, yes, it is silly but it's just good fun and not something super serious! I think most people find it weird because they expect we're taking it so seriously that we forget it's all just playing make believe and once you get them past that they usually don't seem to mind!
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I really don't want to get into marriage councilling, but I'll tell those other halves one thing: down those roads lies divorce. It isn't so much this one thing, it's the attitude. "What you do really isn't important." And from the gamer side, if they give it up, it's a festering soar that eventually will come back and bite their partner real hard. Been there, done that.
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Oh, dont worry its not like that. All the girls (and one guy) have their own hobbies they do, whether that be choir, armature dramatics or working out at the gym. Its just as important to all have our own stuff to do and none of the what you do is silly is meant in a bad way, just a teasing way.
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I'm starting to pity you.
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Oh, dont. I have had and still do have a fantastic life.
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If you're embarassed about the hobby you have, and expect people to think it's childish, then I guess you get the attitude you expect.
Or maybe I'm just lucky. I kind of doubt that though.
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Its just all about the people you hang around with. As you say you have a similar attitude to football as some people do to roleplaying. Nothing wrong with that at all, either way round, but if you like football you hang around with people who also like football, if you like roleplaying you hang around with people who like that. If you like both then, heck, have two groups of friends and if they are all good people at heart they will kind of like each other even if they still laugh about what the other ones do.
You are lucky in the fact that you have friends who share your interests. Not everyone gets the chance to have that.
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Helluva a lot of re-enactors used when they filmed LotR as well...
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Didn't Orlando Bloom say something about wanting to make a fourth film in the trilogy? 
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Helluva a lot of re-enactors used when they filmed LotR as well...
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Didn't Orlando Bloom say something about wanting to make a fourth film in the trilogy?
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He made 6. The other three have Pirates of the Caribbean in the title.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
And then, for PotC 4, someone clicked "Menu: Option: Graphics:" and set Bloom to zero
I feel groaning heavily is acceptable at this point.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Going back on topic to the original post, I know im a little slow in replying but ahh well...
I personally find the subject of RP as a hobby not something to feel "ashamed" or "embarrased" about, but then again most of my childhood was spent in drama schools/agencies etc so acting the fool to the public was second nature, then some friends introduced me to RP while i was at uni, surprisingly half of them were my rugby team mates (well 3 of them) one of them a lumbering 6 ft behemoth from the scrum who was surprisingly adept at playing a plethora of wacky characters.
Now this was at first a shock to me but goes to show that the social view of rp'ers are of a geeky group of trenchcoat wearing LARP addicts is way way off, I enjoy RP when I can, and my mates who dont have a laugh about it when we are out at the weekend...and considering half of them chat endlessly on the topics of big brother - xfactor gives me cause to deride them in turn
So no I dont have a problem with RP, and my life suffers not for the admittance of it 
On a side note though I must admit that RP in this game is difficult for me to get into, and I mean this in no derisory way to the community, but it seems very closed, and I mean that the RP community know each other inside out and it feels tough for me to get into it (nights at GG / PD etc...) I feel like I am just standing around listening in on convos that are between old old friends and i'd be rude to interrupt ...that is daft I know as in sessions with mates I have no problem with being the git who butts in peoples discussions/actions
Maybe its also to do with the fact that I blend my time in game between being a badge hooer, PVP speccing my scrapper, co running our SG and so when the time comes for me to relax at GG I feel as though I dont belong...so I end up standing around awaiting an opportunity to immerse into the discussions but when the conversations are very closed and on first name terms between friends I feel to be rude to cut in so I end up logging and going to the pub
I hope that no one has taken umbridge to those comments as I am an advocate of the CoX community as a whole I just wanted to add that as an extra to the original topic.
((god my missus is right, I dont half ramble ))
Art of War Co-Leader - Union *Global@Warscythe*
"The box said Windows Vista or better - so I installed Linux"
To be fair it's not hard to get on First name terms with anyone, you just ask. In fact the real trick is not getting on first name terms with people, Horizon's holding out for now!
I really do think you have to bug the ever living hell out of people to get into RP on CoH on some days (Or at least one longer than a few lines). Which is a shame, as I always feel a little bit guilty calling people up on it! Shy characters are best left for when people already know you as a player fairly well, as then you can bug them OOC to introduce themselves. At least I think that's how it goes.
When in doubt just stand in front of them all and say something, anything. It seems to work!
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Shy characters are best left for when people already know you as a player fairly well
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Depends. Shy characters can work if they are trying to get over their shyness. Annette started out like that. She would come to the statue after autographs, get one or two, and then dash off after a while. Eventually, she turned into the fun loving nutcase she is now.
Genuinely shy characters... what are they doing in a public gathering place like GG on their own anyway? Sometimes, people come up with character concepts and try to play them in settings which, frankly, aren't suitable.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
no those comments are fair, it can be quite difficult to work you way into the community because the community is incredibly small, there's at most twenty or thirty RPers on union so the community does become fairly close knit.
I started my RP villainside as my namesake thankfully I was taken in by one of the larger RPing VGs (European Villanous Immortality League) sadly things kind of fell apart and decided to find my RP heroside.
Thanks to my character having been an outgoing mad scientist with one community plot under his belt, not to mention the harrassing of various heroes (namely Britannic) I was already well known heroside which helped ease me in, though it did still take a good couple of weeks before I could truly feel at home on heroes.
This happens to us Vets with new characters, unless the character is already well known it can be tough to break in.
Not to mention the crowd can be a tad xenophobic, we've had more than our fair share of people that seemed like good RPers turn out to be incredibly annoying (name begins with a V and looks like a rabbit) and godmod which breeds xenophobia of new people just incase.
My namesake vary rarely (now that he's returned to his villainous ways) sees ingame RP and is more resigned to forum RP (he can't turn up at GG due to his arrest warrants and the Corporation wont take him because he's far to high profile now for their mercenary outfit).
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
I agree with the comments on certain characters persona's not befitting certain places such as GG, and therein lies my problem...aside from a few toons such as Rock or my gobby main - Stryke my other toon I spent time on a decent backstory is my all round PvP/badgehunter/TF runner/RP Warscythe but seeing as he is a Herald for the four biblical riders of the apocalypse who has grown a brain and now is following his own unknown agenda with the "alphas2 of paragon, it seems a little...off ..if he is socializing around GG with everyone or grabbing a drink in PD, (why cant i make toons that have less complicated and non orwellian-shakesperian dramatic themes 
) so I have made a rod for my own back it seems.
Anyway apologies for derailing this thread 
But ty for the comments
Art of War Co-Leader - Union *Global@Warscythe*
"The box said Windows Vista or better - so I installed Linux"
That's what I meant yes! The ones who simply don't talk to people and lurk in the sidelines.
I do try to go talk to them! But sometimes I'm being lazy and just sit about instead.
Argh! Topic shift! Back on track!
I think I'm lucky that my Uni has a role-playing society. It's not large, but it's members have been there since forever so there's a good solid core group and they're keen to get people involved. With only one wierdo (You know the type) we're a society that can at least function in the real world and have even been out drinking a few times.
Of course stopping people playing DnD every loving night instead is still a chore, but I'm working on that.
Oh it could be worse.
Imagine the manager of a bar, the owner of a bar, four of the staff (one of whom I was best man for at his wedding) and myself all into playing D&D. When it came to closing time of a sunday at 2am, by 3am the place was cleaned and we'd sit in a Night Club (not just a pub but a all out night club) after hours playing D&D by candlelight so we didn't cost the club anything on electricity.
One of us making snack runs for pringles, various soft drinks, haribo and Ginsters Pasties and playing till gone 9am.
Or a particularly marathon RP session (using our own homebrewed ruleset with incredibly simple rules) for roughly 15 hours solid.
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
I've done just as bad if not worse. We had a Classroom Deathmatch game that ran for 14 hours and ended in tragedy (Like all Classroom Deathmatch games) which the players still seem to remember fondly. The student nationals is always fun too even if our tiny team will never win anything .Though I did break the entire Serenity Universe in a 3 hour game and I didn't even know what it was all about at the time. The GM was both impressed and horrified I think
It's DnD I have a problem with! 3.5 just has too much stuff for me. I like a game that's at least streamlined, not filled with around 3 billion different multi classes and prestige classes and 'broken as [censored] but the GM won't realise until it's too late' classes.
There's other roleplay systems too! Better ones! At the very least leave some time slots free to run other games! *Rant* *Rave*
Weirdest place for a role-play session so far for me? On a bus going to France. And no one else on it knew it was going to happen.
Thanks to all for answering my curiosity.
It seems that MMOG roleplaying is much the same as PnP roleplaying. That is to say, if you have friends and family who understand, even a bit of it, youre happy to tell them, whereas non-geeky friends and business associates or clients you wouldnt mention it to due to the stigma or lack of understanding attached to it.
This thought kind of came about because, while at a wedding at the weekend, I found people very accepting of the fact that I was writing a superhero novel, whereas the reaction if Id suggested they roleplay would have been a lot more adverse.
I must say that online gaming now seems a lot more acceptable and that is really down to the consoles and WoW. I know that I can even bring up the subject with sixty years old directors and all I get is a nod in the same way I would if I mentioned snowboarding or off-roading. They just see it as something the young do.
As I mentioned, PnP roleplaying, however, would never go down well. I remember a conversation with a woman at a party a few months ago when one of my friends (who I do roleplay with) brought up the subject. What, you mean you just sit around a table with some paper and dice and pretend to be a wizard or something?