Forums » RP Discussion » Giving chances to bad RPs

How many chances do you usually give to a bad RP?

To further explain, me and this person arranged a romantic RP, the person themself is great, they are not the problem.

The problem is their character, we started playing and I already simply hate her. She has a difficult personality to work with and I am honestly not enjoying it and I don't think my character will ever get to love her if she continues being the way she is. I don't think it's the players fault, maybe it was me who misinterpreted the character profile.

I am super tempted to drop this RP but on the other hand we barely started, not even 10 posts in. Do you guys usually give chances to bad RPs ( feel free to add your tale of bad rps gone right) or you drop it as soon as you feel the dread kick in?

And if I am to drop it (considering I will let them know and not ghost) do I simply tell I wish to stop or do I tell it's because their character makes me want to roll my eyes to the inside of my skull?

If the problem is it's just generic bad (bad character personality, bad storytelling, typically just bad) without any other deeper faults (bad people, characters who are just ablest caricatures, lgbtphobias) than I typically just drop it.
This one I had gave me some pale red flags about some seriously screwy stuff but bc i live to make myself uncomfortable I guess, I decided to see if it would go where I thought it did. It got really close but there was no concrete evidence that what i thought was going on was bc the writer got zucc'd (facebook) before anything happened.

I think that in your case, I'd probably contact the player and try to talk it out. You probably shouldn't say that you hate the character, but tell the person that you're having a hard time with their character, and that she doesn't fit your character as much as you initially thought she would. Your RP partner might be interested in adjusting the character to create a better match, so maybe you can plan your way out of it, so that the RP is enjoyable for the both of you. There could also be a reason why the character is awful at this point, and that she might change later on in the RP as a kind of character growth.
Regardless, you should definitely let your partner know that it's currently not working for you. Just remember to be nice about it! (:

^^^^^^^
Yeah!

I second Penholder's suggestion of talking to the other person. They might not know or understand that their character is coming off a difficult to write with. If you bail without talking to them, it wouldn't give them a chance to try to fix the situation or perhaps make some edits or changes that would make the story better for the both of you. Be polite, be courteous, be honest.

Good luck!

I third Penholder on this, it's always best to talk it out and while it's important to be nice it's also just as important to be open. I have had many RPs where I just couldn't get into the RP because of the characters. They weren't bad, (poorly made OR poorly written) they just didn't mesh with my character in a way that made for a good story. It was always too forced or lopsided or the characters were at odds in ways that couldn't really be overcome for what we were aiming towards. When that became an issue I will generally bring it up because I like my RP partners and want to respect their creations while doing the same for my own. Sometimes things just don't work out and that's okay, but you owe it to yourself to have that OOC conversation so things can either change, or go differently with that player in future RPs.

I think if you allow it and put your feelings aside, it'll build and build on the foundation, escalating to a point you may further hurt your friend's feelings by letting it build so much. Perhaps say you aren't feeling the chemistry between them and suggest an alternative route for them to take.

I agree with Fiebs here. If the only problem with the rp is that both of your characters don’t match well together romantically, there are always other routes to take with the roleplay, if you still want to try to rp with that character specifically. That, or try to stick it out for a while longer to see if it there is really no hope at all for that pair or nah.

But honestly, Penholder’s suggestion is really the best one here, to talk OOC and discuss the issue to work it out; whether by changing the character, changing the plot and etc, since as you said, the problem lies only in IC interactions. ^^

i think you should let your partner know that you don’t feel like your two characters are really able to click. communication plays a big part in roleplaying, so ask them what they also think and if they agree with you. maybe you both think you then you should the roleplay (or try with another character of theirs!) or maybe it’s possible for them to change a few things about their character in your specific roleplay. i don’t see any harm in asking, as long as you’re honest with how you’re feeling

I think that this constitutes giving the RP a chance! You've sent posts back and forth with them and if you're already not having fun, there's nothing that indicates the continuation will be better for you.

If it's not working out, you can either talk about it as has been suggested a bunch of times, but it's equally as valid to step away without a discussion too. Saying there is an incompatibility that you discovered after the RP started is honest and polite, and making the choice to end the RP there is not impolite - as long as you're being kind with your message, there's no reason someone should get upset about this.

I personally base my decision on how well we get along and how much I like other aspects of the RP. For example, if it's just a personality trait in a character but I adore every other aspect of the game we're having, I will probably invest energy into communicating that I'm not having the best time with this character, but I'll let them know I adore their writing and want to play with a different character or ask if they're willing to consider adjustments.

On the other hand, if it's because I'm not into their writing style, or their ideas of what makes for realistic character actions doesn't mesh with mine, I'm more inclined to let them know I'm no longer having fun and need to stop the RP (because RP is supposed to be fun for both sides after all).