Forums » Smalltalk » Trying to Understand.

First and foremost, allow me to state this not a shot at anyone or any group of people. I have simply the desire to ask some questions. I do want people to answer honestly as there is nothing wrong with such, and that I do understand that we all have our own preferences.

That said, here are my questions!

Why do those of you that feel that limiting the races you Interact with for Rp is best do so?

Why do people automatically judge all players by the actions of others, when you have never taken the time to Rp/talk with the player of a non human race that you have never met before?

Now if this topic is to much to be allowed, then please by all means remove it. I just wished to hear what some of my fellow RpR goers had to say about this subject.

Races or species?
I'm open to all sort of real human races, but I don't roleplay with aliens or anything like that because I enjoy realistic roleplay.

Both. I understand that people like different things, but It is highly unfair to judge someone's character they took time and effort in creating because you are hung up on the race of another character.

If you like realism, thats awesome for you, but You can still have some degree of realism with out being strict on races.

Also people, do not answer this topic to just try and troll me or someone else. (not accusing anyone, just nipping it in the bud now)

I haven't limited any races/species that I've come to interact with yet, but, there will come a day when I will say, "Eh, that's not for me." I find myself to be fairly open when roleplaying with different races/species. That being said, who or what I roleplay with depends entirely on the setting of a roleplay. So, if a roleplay is centered around a realistic fiction, modern day, human world, then I'm not going to want to roleplay with an alien, anthro, orc, and any other race that isn't human. If we're talking fantasy or sci-fi genres, then all is fair, you can make any race work in those setting.

To emphasize a bit on judging the way other people roleplay based on what types of characters they have, well, it's frustrating. I find that a lot of stereotyping goes on with races/species because of how a majority of players use them. Everyone has their own preferences, characters included. It's not fair to a roleplayer to assume that their character will play a certain way because of experiences you've had with other roleplayers. For example, assuming that someone is into, and will play, a certain romance type, (MxF, MxM, or FxF), because of their race/species. Like, humans can only be heterosexual, and anthros can only be homosexual. Or, (to shy away from gender/sexual preference) that elves can't be clumsy, or orcs can't be graceful. Stereotyping can mean creative death to some roleplayers. I find it especially unfair/rude to someone who has taken the time to create a character a specific way, and then ask them to change their character to fit your preferences.

All in all, you need to talk to a roleplayer first. Communicate. "What things do you like to roleplay?" "What are you in the mood for right now?" "Would this be something that you're interested in." If someone suggests something that you're not interested in, or it makes you uncomfortable, then don't roleplay with them. Or vice versa, if someone doesn't match your preferences when it comes to writing, call it quits before it even begins. Everyone needs to up upfront and straightforward with each other.

I'm not judging someone's character by not wanting to roleplay with them, it doesn't make me not like the character themselves, it's just that they don't fit in the things I like.
And it couldn't be realistic with anthros and aliens mixed in, really. Because those don't exist in real life.

You made that perfectly clear already Kitten. I just gave my own opinion on it.

Why do those of you that feel that limiting the races you Interact with for Rp is best do so?

There are several reasons for a writer to be selective about what situations they place a character into, but most just boil do to personal preference and verisimilitude. When a writer designs a character, they typically do so with at least an idea of the sort of stories they'd like to explore with that character. So, if they write up a High School Junior who's dealing with Cyberbullying, that's the story they want to explore. That story can get overshadowed if they pair their student against Rygar Bloodstorm, the dark dwarven god of Bloody Conquest.

That doesn't mean Rygar's writer is wrong for wanting to write their character. It just means those writers want different things.

Why do people automatically judge all players by the actions of others, when you have never taken the time to Rp/talk with the player of a non human race that you have never met before?

Human nature. We're biologically programmed to find patterns even when none exist. We're also the sum of our experiences. So yeah, you're an individual, but you're judged by everyone we've ever met or written with. It's not fair, but it's the way the world is.

Look I never said anyone was wrong. I am just asking for peoples views. Please try not to twist anything said by anyone in this topic.

Edit: Also I know how people can be, but we can also unlearn to be like that. It is a lack of want to be more accepting that limited the human ability to look past the actions of a few. Thank you for commenting.

That's an interesting question. I think in most cases, people have ideas in their heads for where they want to take an RP, and that means there are some restrictions, including limited races/species that don't fit the goal in their mind.

Let's take a game like Skyrim for example. Lots of people RP in this setting. We have characters who are Dragonborn all over the place. Dragonborns are very powerful and often main characters, but also extremely rare. If someone wants to RP a more mundane setting or limit the amount of power a character has to maintain balance, they may wish to exclude Dragonborn characters from their search because such a character just wouldn't fit their plot.

It has nothing to do with whether the character is good enough or not, or someone not wanting to be inclusive. It's about what the player is seeking. If you order fries but you get rice instead, and the waiter keeps insisting that rice is just as good and to give it a chance, you probably wouldn't be happy about that either. You specifically ordered fries, why would someone make you feel bad for not choosing rice?


This is a tricky one to answer. It sucks being rejected because someone has an icky stereotype stuck in their head. It's nice having your feelings validated on this because you spend a lot of time and effort on creating a character you're proud of. Does this mean we get the right to automatically group all people who reject certain races with people who hold tight to stereotypes though? There are lots of valid reasons to not RP with a character because it has certain attributes, that doesn't mean the person rejecting the character is being judgmental or close minded.

I think if people believe certain stereotypes to be true, then they might have been exposed to too much of the stereotype when it comes to roleplaying. For example, I know I struggle to RP with Anime characters because every time I've tried, they all share traits that don't interest me anymore or actually bother me. For me to change my mind on RPing with Anime characters, I need someone to not just tell me they're different, but show me. Make the character stand out, don't rely on overused tropes that just make them blend in with the rest, have something unique that defies the stereotypes.

Another thing I highly recommend is to try and let go of the bad feelings and focus on the people who do like to play with you. You're always going to run into people who just don't mesh well with you. That's part of life. The only thing you control when it comes to other people is how you react and how you present yourself (and your character) - make it something positive!

It's important to remember that people are allowed to RP with whomever they want, and decide whom they don't want to RP with as well. Just like how you don't owe another person anything beyond basic human respect and freedom, they don't owe you anything either. I've found it easier to handle rejection when I started reminding myself of this.

I have to say this again. THIS IS STRICTLY TO GET PEOPLES OPINIONS not to try and call anyone out. I respect the choices of the people that do not rp with Anthro's or other inhuman races like elves or goblins, or something like that. I am not judging people, I am not having any issues with people rejecting me, I can handle being told no, but I thought I was allowed to be inquisitive of why people do such things. I just want to learn more about the community of the RpR, least those willing to answer my questions above.


PEOPLE PLEASE STOP TAKING THIS AS SOME KIND OF INSECURITY ON MY PART.

As did I. I was mostly replying to you saying "You can still have some degree of realism with out being strict on races."

You'll get /way/ better feedback if you could tone down the defensiveness. No one is attacking you. We're just giving the opinions you're asking for.

I'm not sure how else to give you an answer that fully encompasses my opinions than the way I did, sorry. I'm also getting mixed signals from your responses, as you previously debated another person on the fairness of excluding a race - it didn't feel like you were interested in their opinion as much as you were trying to convince them to change their mind, so I thought you'd decided to take the topic in a different direction.

I wish you good luck on getting the opinions you've been seeking.

I just gave my view on the topic of Realism. I do value what is said, but I do look at things in my own way, and a few things came off as indirect comments that seemed to point out some kind of insecurity. The point of this topic is simply to get some insight.

As such, I will not be making another comment as it seems I am not coming off in the way I intended. I will continue to read anything left, but please do not take my answers as anything else but my own personal Views.

I don't cater to people whose interests doesn't add up with mine. It's that easy. I often have ideas or concepts specific for my characters when I engage in roleplay, and sometimes other races doesn't fit into the setting, or otherwise somehow clash with my idea. It's not about rejecting certain races or characters- I'm just strict to make sure I roleplay my character the way it was meant to be roleplayed.

Sometimes I even do world-building, where aliens, orcs or elves, or maybe even humans don't exist, and I would be doing myself a huge disservice if I disregard my own world lore.

That given, I am more than willing to create new characters from scratch in order to engage in roleplay with another character, regardless of their race (of course, if it's an interesting character, and a genre and plot and idea that I know I'll enjoy. I don't dive head first into spontaneous roleplay with random people).


And I don't think everybody judge people based on their roleplay preferences, at least not here? I don't see where you got that from. As far as I'm aware, RPR is a friendly and supportive community where everybody can do their thing and not suffer for it. I'm sorry if your experience is different.

People are allowed to have preferences. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's something that has to be unlearned.

I'm not terribly fond of anthros but i have nothing against people who do like them.

I hate peanut butter, but it's perfectly fine if someone else likes it. I don't have to learn to like peanut butter; i just have to respect the fact that some people do like it, and not be judgmental about it. They have to respect the fact that I don't like it, and not try to force me to eat it. They can respectfully encourage me to try it, sure. We don't have to agree. We have to have tolerance.

I currently run a fandom group for The Elder Scrolls. The Elder Scrolls series doesn't have a lot of anthro species. The Khajiit and the Argonians are the only ones that exist in that world anymore, despite the Werewolves and Werebears. I don't want to breech lore in the group, and I've been called a "lore monger" for doing it. It's rude.

I have alien characters, human/animal hybrid characteres, and I've even written anthro characters of other kinds. I've got were-beasts of my own too. I see nothing wrong with anthro characters, but I refuse to break lore in specific settings.

I personally don't like anthro style characters, but that's because I have a preference for characters that I have my characters interacting with to not have snouts and paws. I'm personally uncomfortable with the full blown animal face, but I don't think there's anything wrong with anyone else liking them. It's nothing to be condemned for, stereotyped for, or anything of the sort, but I have a preference to not write with those styles of characters.

Illantis said it perfectly with the peanut butter analogy.

I keep the preference simply out of my distaste for the physical features of snouts and paws, nothing more and nothing less.