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RPing Pet Peeves

Monster Guy

Fairy type Trainer
Since some people mentioned things they didn't like in the "RP features you enjoy most" thread, I figure this could be it's own thread,

Basically, list things you see in RP's that annoy you. Please don't name names, or insult others. This isn't that kind of thread...

One thing that annoys me is when Sign Ups have a separate "sexuality/gender preference" section. If it's important for all the players to know that my character is Gay/Straight/Bi/Whatever, I'll mention it in their personality or their history. It does not need to be it's own section... If my character finds yours attractive, I'll deal with it then. Not to mention the fact that not many people play Gay characters. So when there are two of them, everyone assumes that the two Gay people will be an item. Gay people have types and preferences too ya know! They're not attracted to someone just because they're Gay! Having this as a separate section makes me feel like romance is going to be forced on me. which brings me to my other Pet Peeve...

Forced Romantic Relationships: I like Love and stuff as much as the next guy, and I'm fine with having preexisting platonic relationships... What I don't like is "Hey, let's have our characters be a couple by the end of this RP" to the exclusion of anyone else. Romance in RPs should be developed naturally as part of the characters interactions with each other. Not planned before the characters have actually met each other in the Roleplay. When it is planned like that, it just comes off as cheesy, forced, and not good to read. Not to mention you basically ignore the other characters that you may find you click with better along the way...
 
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Schade

Metallic Wonder
What really annoy me, and totally break the deal whenever I concider join an RP, is the inventory.. An inventory I need to keep track of? That is too difficult to me, at least just too lazy for that kind of stuff. My characters just tend t have maical pockets that spew out whatever nifty gadget the RP requires them to have.

I also kinda agree with you, mon. though it is nice to have it specified, I realy just like to let sexuality play itself out, for the most part
 
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InnerFlame

Fire and Ice Combo
I completely agree, Monmon, when people want to plan relationship between characters I just give them, we will see what happen talk. If my character fall in love with someone I want it to depends on interaction in the RPG and how their actions affect my character. I don't like mentioning my character sexuality, as you said there normally no point for it. Most time I see them I put them as undecided or unknown XD Though I do tend to have one for them in mind when I make a character. I think it's part of them fun to figure out deeper side of other characters.

My biggest pet peeve with RPG is probably when people post incomplete sign-ups. I just don't like seeing incomplete character designs, and those people tend not to finish them. I feel like you should finish your work before handing in to be judge. It probably nothing wrong with it, but I just dislike it... I hate seeing it, post a full sign-up! You don't hand in a half finish job application and expect to get hire...

...Currently that is the only thing I seem to remember really getting on my nerves. If I remember anything else I post it.
 

RaZoR LeAf

Night Terror
Where do I begin...
  • RPGers that encounter your character within the first few posts because your the GM
  • RPGers that encounter your character within the first few posts because your a mod
  • RPGers that insist on flocking to a person who is clearly rocking out on their own and doing their own thing.
  • When someone posts one line and expects a conversation to be held over multiple posts.
  • Sign Ups that have separate fields for things like Height, weight, clothing, etc. I don't think knowing the weight of my character is necessary, if I say s/he's muscular or fat.
  • Sign Ups that have loads of reserves but no actual forms. I've read an RPG, though "oh that looks cool" only to find it's full up with reserves but nothing posted.
  • Character reserves that last forever "I'm working on it honest."
  • A sign up that's been started and then "I'll finish this later". No, you'll finish it now or you wont get in.

That's all I can think of right now.
 

Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
Yeah, as a GM, people who submit reserves and then never post anything is quite a pain. But then again, I suppose restaurants get that kind of thing all the time.

I also don't like people who sign up and their opening post is bugging other characters with "okay, so what do we do?" It's bad if it's in a discussion thread, but it's even worse when it's in the RP itself. When you sign up for an RP, you really should have some basic framework for what you intend to do for your character just by reading the background storyline.

What really annoy me, and totally break the deal whenever I concider join an RP, is the inventory.. An inventory I need to keep track of? That is too difficult to me, at least just too lazy for that kind of stuff. My characters just tend t have maical pockets that spew out whatever nifty gadget the RP requires them to have.

...which is terrible for a survival-style RP. An inventory can be a pretty good tool to encourage people to manage resources, employ a little decisive strategy, and encourage wit and creativity without "having magical pockets" that essentially god-mod items in for ultra-convenience. I mean heck, it works for Dungeons & Dragons. Imagine what that would be like if people just had whatever item or weapon they wanted.

I think even most RPs could benefit from characters being as realistic in the RP context as much as possible. If you didn't mention it in your sign up, the character really shouldn't have it. Therefore, your "magical pockets" approach is probably a habit that would best be undone as soon as possible.

Just remember, a survival horror style RP shouldn't be like Scribblenauts.
 

Corrosion

Hello Kitty =/= Cat
I personally don't like inventories because I can't think of all that my character should/would have in one go. My take on that is that even if it's a survival horror RP, you shouldn't have to be micro-managing your inventories; if you might realistically find something (a large stick, say), then it should be accepted. It does become a problem, though, if the characters are pulling crowbars out of hammerspace. I once had a character haul three bags of dried mushrooms around.

My largest pet-peeve, though, is when people must make their character the most special character in the RP. You know, the one who delivers the final blow to the big monster and gets all huffy if they don't get to? (I should know, I was this person a couple of years ago). The character will be the one that causes the most problems by stretching the rules of the RP (and it won't even be finding loopholes, it will be outright breaking of the rules).

People who say one thing and expect someone to have paragraphs of response. An extension would be people who expect a short three paragraph post to stand for a long, long time.

Another thing, a very large pet peeve actually, is when people say that their characters are "mad" without explaining either what they have or making them human besides the "madness". This is mostly in original fic and fanfiction, but it's very annoying. Disabilities do not consume your humanity.

I basically assume that everyone is bi, so that never comes into consideration for me. Speaking of orientations, it irritates me that people assume that asexuality can result only from trauma or immaturity. I'm not saying that it can't, but saying that it does is trite and cliche. Also making the only ace characters robots or other non-humans. Think of what you're implying for heavens' sake.
 

Griff4815

No. 1 Grovyle Fan
My biggest pet peeve, hands down, is power playing and godmodding. Specifically power playing because godmodding is almost universally against the rules, but power playing - godmodding's younger brother - still often finds its way into posts/RPs. It's basically godmodding but trying to be subtle about it. This is basically tied into one big pet peeve of me hating when rpers create 'power fantasy' characters. It's a bit of a stretch to call these characters Mary Sues because they can be perfectly legitimate characters, and plots don't necessarily revolve around them, but they're rigged by their creators so that they never lose a battle, never lose a challenge, are never fooled, always have an answer to everything, are always portrayed as being morally right (even when that's not necessarily the case), and pretty much always get their (or, rather, the RPer's) way. They might have some toke flaws, but the flaws are never actually portrayed like flaws. Like, somebody who's supposed to be bitter and anti social having loads of friends, for example. So, yeah. I have strong feelings about that, and nothing turns me off a story more than that. I know people will always write wish fullfilment characters and there will always be an audience for wish fulfillment characters, but it's just not fun when you have to RP with one (which I have done, not necessarily on here).

Apart from that, people not posting, I guess. Unless it's for understandable reasons.
 

Pyroli

Banned
My largest pet-peeve, though, is when people must make their character the most special character in the RP. You know, the one who delivers the final blow to the big monster and gets all huffy if they don't get to? (I should know, I was this person a couple of years ago). The character will be the one that causes the most problems by stretching the rules of the RP (and it won't even be finding loopholes, it will be outright breaking of the rules).

I basically assume that everyone is bi, so that never comes into consideration for me. Speaking of orientations, it irritates me that people assume that asexuality can result only from trauma or immaturity. I'm not saying that it can't, but saying that it does is trite and cliche. Also making the only ace characters robots or other non-humans. Think of what you're implying for heavens' sake.

I agree with your first point entirely, especially in most of the RPG's I've GMed. As most people tend to take the "oh yeah you have a few powers, but don't overpower them." and completely ignore it and more or less destroy every ground rule I've created. It's also difficult to make a good supernatural-esque RPG, as most people take god-modding and powerplaying to a whole new level with the angel's, demons, and shapeshifters.

Also the ace comment is an extreme bother to me too. Especially when people use it to describe a husk of a character. probably really bugs me because I'm ace but w/e
 

Psychic

Really and truly
My largest pet-peeve, though, is when people must make their character the most special character in the RP. You know, the one who delivers the final blow to the big monster and gets all huffy if they don't get to? (I should know, I was this person a couple of years ago). The character will be the one that causes the most problems by stretching the rules of the RP (and it won't even be finding loopholes, it will be outright breaking of the rules).
This. Making a character special and unique just for the sake of it doesn't make for a balanced, realistic character. One RP experience I'll never forget with was an RPer whose character who was a Gallade prince, who managed to pass as a human, had a giant pair of angel wings, incredible psychic powers, and of course, mad guitar skillz. I don't know why he got accepted, but he was absolutely insufferable. It's one thing for your character to have one of those traits, but all of them? It was just no fun playing alongside this dude.


My biggest pet peeve, hands down, is power playing and godmodding. Specifically power playing because godmodding is almost universally against the rules, but power playing - godmodding's younger brother - still often finds its way into posts/RPs. It's basically godmodding but trying to be subtle about it. This is basically tied into one big pet peeve of me hating when rpers create 'power fantasy' characters. It's a bit of a stretch to call these characters Mary Sues because they can be perfectly legitimate characters, and plots don't necessarily revolve around them, but they're rigged by their creators so that they never lose a battle, never lose a challenge, are never fooled, always have an answer to everything, are always portrayed as being morally right (even when that's not necessarily the case), and pretty much always get their (or, rather, the RPer's) way. They might have some toke flaws, but the flaws are never actually portrayed like flaws. Like, somebody who's supposed to be bitter and anti social having loads of friends, for example. So, yeah. I have strong feelings about that, and nothing turns me off a story more than that. I know people will always write wish fullfilment characters and there will always be an audience for wish fulfillment characters, but it's just not fun when you have to RP with one (which I have done, not necessarily on here).

Apart from that, people not posting, I guess. Unless it's for understandable reasons.
Honestly, what you described pretty much sounds like a Mary-Sue to me. Like Self-Inserts, Mary-Sues definitely have a hearty dose of wish fulfillment. They're rigged to literally bend and break the rules of a universe - that's pretty much the textbook definition of a Sue. I would say it's worse to have them in RPGs than in fiction, too - in RPs, they affect other players, and can take away a lot of enjoyment from those whose characters do play by the rules of the universe.


Otherwise, I agree with a lot of the points others have been brought up. The sexual orientation being a required section in particular seems weird - in what context is it absolutely necessary for the GM and every other player to know a character's sexuality? If an RPer feels that it's relevant, they will mention in their sign-up. :/

Also gotta love people who give their character a mental illness and do zero research on the topic. Sometimes, like with making characters asexual, RPers use it as shorthand to show how their character is ~deeply troubled~ without really detailing how and why. Often, it's just lazy, and insulting to people who actually have a mental illness, are asexual, etc.

The incomplete sign-ups have also been driving me crazy as of late. I'm pretty sure this trend only started gaining steam fairly recently - maybe the past year or so. It looks incredibly unprofessional, and it's just pointless. Nobody wants to see a half-baked sign-up. I actually keep meaning to add this to the RPG Rules, so I will probably start looking into doing so.

~Psychic

Edit: Oh, I forgot! The Gallade was also all-white "BUT NOT ALBINO" and also all women are attracted to him. Also he saved an Eevee from a trainer and his Charizard. I have no words.
 
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Billy Mays

Ace Advertiser
There's not too much to say other than I agree with what people have been saying really. The sexual orientation thing, if I may say, seems like something worth mentioning in personality most likely if romance is a common theme of the RP, but it certainly doesn't need it's own dedicated part of the sign up. Also, mental illnesses not played seriously always really bother me. It's something I've seen plenty of times before where a character - usually a bad guy - is "crazy" for the sake of using their insanity as an excuse. Basically, they're evil because they're crazy. Why are they crazy? Generally, there's not a good explanation for it; they just are. It annoys me to no end when a character is insane for convenience's sake because the writer is too lazy to think of a reasonable excuse as to why their character is a villain. That's not to say I dislike insane characters; in fact, they can be very interesting. I just hate it when crazy is used as an excuse rather than being a fleshed out part of a character.
 
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