Forums » Help » Anonymous?

This may not be the place to ask this, but I’m new to this site and trying to figure out the advantage of playing a character anonymously. What is the benefit?

I have both public and anonymous characters here. For myself, it sometimes helps me to get into a character's headspace when they are anon., especially when I first create and RP them or they identify as a different gender than I do in RL.

I think anons can let people explore different character concepts without the stress or anxiety they might feel if people know who the user is behind them. They might also wish to explore characters or branch out to different types of RPs without worry of judgement.

If you are worried about possibly RPing with minors behind anons, there is an adult age verification some of us have on our profiles and it transfers to our anons and can be viewed if you click the info button at the very top of the character page after 'Connect' on the right. Understand that not all adults who RP have it and it is their right not to want to use it for private reasons.

The only downfall I have seen from using anons is that someone, even someone on your friend's list might block you out of the blue and you have no idea why. Blocking an anon will block all their characters, public or anon. Something I had not realized myself until recently.

Also if it helps, I have not been ghosted by people on anons more than I have by people who had their character being public. I don't think, at least in my experience, that people will tend to ghost you more if they use an anon. character.

Hello Stormiedayz! Welcome to RP Repository!
I don't think there is an advantage or disadvantage to an anonymous character. it's more a writer's personal preference. I know writers here who only use anons, and some who will not ever use anons. Most I think have both, like myself. If you're worried about the 17-/18+ adult barrier, it's best to make sure your account settings are set accordingly.

I think that's cool as a feature, for genre sorting as mentioned. i would definitely anon a joke character, antagonist character profile or even just a fanon character, but if the risk is getting blockt for the subterfuge then ehh, pass. maybe if an NPC could be shared? like a shareable character profile, anonned? is that possible?

I don't think anonymous characters are blocked disproportionately more than non-anon characters. If someone doesn't like the themes you're RPing or otherwise doesn't want to see your character they may block them whether or not they're tied to a user account. If you feel a friend has accidentally blocked you, depending on the circumstances, the mod team may be able to help you although we cannot force them to unblock you.

As for shared characters - I can't speak for Kim but this brings up all kinds of ownership issues. For example what if one user makes changes to the profile that another user disapproves of? What if one user who controls the character is banned? Do the other owners get to continue using the banned users creation? What if there's a fight between friends and both are claiming sole ownership of the character.

Many of my characters are anon, with only 7/28 being public. This has been a sort of habit for me since before I was a moderator. I choose this for many reasons, sometimes I make a character private for aesthetic reasons since many of my characters are connected or have unpolished profiles. I enjoy the privacy of having anonymous characters immensely, as it affords me the room to further immerse myself in the escapism when Mina is not a factor relevant to the act of collaborative storytelling. I have to be Mina every day, all the time. It's just nice to only be someone entirely fictional now and again. I dig being the "man behind the curtain" so to speak!

Then there is the association thing. In the past, I have experienced some unkind words elsewhere about my characters all being the same/similar, and so by removing my name from them I am allowing them to be viewed as independent characters versus "another mina character". Finally, I have used anon for peace of mind. Not everyone "meshes", and that's okay. Through the years I have had a few casual acquaintance partners who wanted to be connected in some way with ALL of my characters- before even knowing one very well. I don't like forced plots, and I really dislike being mean when someone is just trying to be friendly, so If it looks like I only have 7, I only have to say no 6 times.

Honestly, thank you so much for asking, because as a person who was a minor in the wild west of the internet.... I initially got the ICK super hard.


However, As an Adult now, I am better equipped to set my boundaries and I fully support and love all the profiles I have seen including additional safety measures and boundaries and advocating to just ask the anon user to confirm themselves before proceeding.

I Stan a healthy and safe exploration of Role Play!

O.M.G! You say it so well Mina! I am in agreement with all your points!

↑ I totally get this! ↑ Especially being one in a 'position of power' so to speak. I had some of my characters public, but some were loath to want to RP with the founder of the group. When they're anon that isn't an issue.

↑ Yes! ↑ Been my experience as well.


I understand this as well. But I'm a bit of a bitch and I decline character connections if there is no 'in-story' reason for them to be connected.

Yes! I've found RP Repository one of the safest places to roleplay. The account controls in place that keeps minors safe, as well as adults safe, are quite good here. And I remember the 'ICK' back when I was in school and started online roleplaying.

(just reading thru this whole thread)

So for the npc thing i only meant like, an established character profile that others can use for shallow NPC needs. i'm really proud of the npc game of my tabletop crew, and we swap and trade these background and side characters pretty easily, since their use in the storylines isn't essential or set in stone. best OCs came from falling in love with a goofy throw-away npc idea that another chum wanted to see explored but just didn't have the time to expand on. I also just get 'name invention' fatigue and often enough forget background chara details unless there is a character sheet or notes to consult.

I guess that's just the kind of ideaswapping that can happen in casual! I would totally put all of my characters up for adoption to whomever wants to share them open source style, lol, I love fanfic and AUs and swapping archetypes but I am also not doing any of this for profit or fame so the IP paranoia hits me less than it used to.

As for anonning, yeah ha, I am WAY more confrontation-friendly than my peer group. I will openly tell a pally to ease up, and proactively block anyone determined to misunderstand my goals or disrespect my tastes. We shouldn't have to be the ones to hide, and any friend who is a true friend will understand you maintaining your own boundaries, buuuut I also understand not even wanting to DEAL with the conflict (article: the likelihood of obsessive behaviors within fandoms; how to de-escalate obsession and maintain peer safety in LARP).

Yes, thank you! This is the good stuff.
I have two DMs who share several campaigns where we all participate very heavily in the discussion of the story, building on lore, art, new ideas, boundaries & comfort levels. For example: two characters from one game show up as NPCs played by someone else in another game, adding to the lore in a somewhat ooc pre-discussed way.

I just love having that comfort level in my relationships, which I consider Long term RP partners to be, in a way. It's often kind of fostering potentially therapeutic environments for us to exercise creativity and explore feelings.