Why do the majority of new role players seem to be nutjobs?

stockphoto credit: wookiestock

I’m pretty sure some of you will point out to me immediately that, “duh, Mel, they’re role players. Role playing is creepy. That’s when fat people dress up as elves and dry hump each other while hitting one another over the head with pool noodles, right?”

No.

At…least…Not normally.

Most people who role play and role play on line do it for the love of either writing (and as I am not talented in that, my reasons are the latter) or an imagination that cannot be contained by the mundane. It’s a fall back to that time when most of us were children and we dreamed of dragons or fairies, vampires and were wolves or even Gothic steam punk Victorian awesomeness. Role players are generally also driven by the need to to create and be part of the story, especially those that use chat rooms, MMORPG’s or other text-based programs to “pretend” with.

Some of you are probably asking or maybe even thinking right about now, well why not just write a book then?

Because its not the same as writing a story side by side with another person. It’s co authoring imagination with another human being that can’t really be compared with anything else.

And usually it is entirely harmless fun. A role player turns on her computer, logs into wherever she plays after work has an hour or two writing herself as princess Sparklypants and then goes to bed to get up to work the next morning as well as return to her usual routine. I say, usually it is harmless fun but there are its blips and moments that make me do that dog-has-just-heard-something-strange head tip at my monitor.

The days of the semi-normal mundane (come on now, we all have our own quirks) people behind the scrolling text across our screens seems to be dying out. There used to be very clear lines between players and what was real, what was fantasy.  Real life appeared to take presidence over fantasy la-la land way back in the stone age when I text based role played.  People played frequently but always had other stuff to do–you know, go outside, work, clean, cook, spend time with some one they love.

The longer I role play lately however, the more I have noticed that insanity apparently is The New Black for trends this year in the RP circuts and boy have I thankfully missed out.

I have heard horror tales of people leaving husbands, wives and children for the people who role play characters with their characters, on line affairs, tales of players going out of their way to slander others, stalking, harassment, hacking of accounts, back stabbing, childishness, copying and pasting of private or leaking of private information such as address’ or phone numbers, out right financial leeches and hair-raising tales of people randomly showing up on other role players door steps. I have heard of children left unattended for hours, personal hygiene abandoned, relationships ruined…The list grows all too horrifying to rumors of even abuse, addict like behavior and complete change of person.

I cannot say that this reminds me at all of what online role play was like ten years ago.  Ten years ago it seemed like we, as role players had far stronger community as well as radars for common sense and those who had it as well as distinguishing those who did not.

Perhaps this is because years ago the internet itself was a different place? Where 4 chan was just a sparkle in goatse’s eye and the community just seemed far more tight knit and prone to treat one another better, despite the anonymity of the internet?

Or maybe, it is precisely because of that anonymity offered by the internet everything, including role playing has slid into a mud-flinging match only 12 year olds should be proud of.

Whatever it is, lately it just seems like the vast majority of people I meet through role playing either end up being nuttier than peanut factory or I have to wade through seven crazies just to find one sane person online. It’s  making me find any excuse not to do that which I used to enjoy thoroughly before in my spare time.  Maybe it’s just me? Maybe I am getting to be a very old geek and I’m the only one feeling this way?

To me, there’s a huge difference between the hang-out-the-window-make-tie-fighter-noises-at-passing-cars kinda nuts, and the kinda nuts listed above that can’t tell the difference between being a fourty something mom and a 400 year old elf babe. If you can’t tell which one is real or which one is fake, could ya’ll please get the hell out of my pool?

You may also like:

• Top Ten ways to make sure no one ever role plays with you again.
• Getting Reacquainted
• I Want to Be the Hero Again
• Without a community, a game is nothing.
• And in the Dorkness, bind them.