Telling Non-RPers About Your Hobby

[TheFay 10]

If I were to say 'roleplaying', most of the people I know would think D&D and not forum-based rp. So I just say I work on 'writing projects' with friends. Nobody really asks much further. 

[caporushes 8]

I definitely also lean into the "collaborative writing" aspect of it, or people DO tend to think TTRPGs. It's an interestingly difficult concept to explain sometimes, even though to me it's fairly straightforward. Sometimes I call it a writing game, but really I think I tend to avoid using "game" much at all? Like, it isn't NOT a game, but there aren't really winners and losers or anything necessarily... So even "writing game" can be a bit confusing. 

[Audrina 1]

Collaborative story writing is definitely how I frame it too! I'm usually too embarrassed to go into it in any more depth 😅

[Lani394 4]

Haha yep, I'm the same. I definitely go with 'collaborative writing'.

[Clio 6]

I definitely use the term "collaborative writing", but lately I've noticed that I talk about it with my coworkers as it's a "writing community" instead. I'm not sure why I'm specifically making that subtle switch, but tbh I like describing as a community better as it makes it clear that this is something fun for me. 

Though can I just say that I'm wayyy too excited for the day I'll actually run into someone who mentions collaborative writing? xD

[Cosmos 3]

I'm with lots of people above in calling it "collaborative writing," but more often than that, I specifically refer to it as online campfire storytelling, myself, because strangely enough I've run into more people who know about campfire storytelling than I have people who understand the combination of ideas that are collaborative writing and rpgs. XD

 

For anyone not familiar with campfire storytelling: it's a story told 'around a campfire,' where the first person adds anywhere between one word to one paragraph of a brand new story, and then passes the story to the person next to them, who then continues the story from wherever the first person left off by adding the same-ish amount of content the first person added, before passing it on to the next person beside them. This continues in a clockwise/counterclockwise fashion until the story comes to a stopping point, or the group gets bored with it. ^^

[Herald of Andraste 5]

 I'm with most of you all. I just say collaborative writing / story telling. There are a lot of friends who might not do like. Forum rp. But do say, DND - so they get that description rather easily.

[Bom Bom 0]

I'm with you all. I usually explain it as collaborative storytelling. People often don't know what role playing means and assume its something different, so when I explain its basically collaborative storytelling it helps them understand better.

 

People usually think its pretty neat. However, admittedly, I don't talk about rp with non-rp friends often as it doesn't typically concern them, or they flat out just don't care much for the subject, so I usually only bring it up when I'm asked about it, or asked about my hobbies.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Bom Bom

[RedSky 3]

"Collaborative story writing" is my go-to. It's easier to explain and less loaded than the word "roleplay." 

[Erin_ 1]

My friend groups are mainly comprised of the nerdy types, most of which who write fanfiction themselves. I explained rpgs to them as "collaborative fanfictions". I don't usually bring it up with acquaintances or coworkers, just close friends.

[RazzleDazzle 4]

I always refer to it as collaborative writing where everyone writes their own character if it comes up. If I'm telling a story about one of my RP friends I usually just refer to them as my penpals if someone asks how I know them. People start giving you weird looks otherwise lol, but my friends from my boards have been some of my best friends throughout the years.

[Blooming of the Blooms 19]

I'm not embarrassed or shy to tell people about my RPing at all. I usually do say roleplaying and am like "no, not that way" because I'm here for that - collaborative story writing is a very good term though. 🙂 The right kind of friends are curious about it. Some really enjoy hearing about both IC and OOC dynamics and funny things that happen.

[Mr Oblivious 5]

This is a very simple question to answer actually. I just don't. The very few people I ever tried explaining it to were not that receptive, if at all. Only person in my life who actually knows I do it these days is my mother. And that was only because for a time I started working on a novel and ended up telling her what I did as a hobby. Guess what? She wasn't impressed. Hahah

[Image 2]

Okay I have a nice story that I would like to share. Back when I was in high school; I had a teacher who had saw me roleplaying, on a site on Acornrack during lunch. Keep in mind that this teacher was a English teacher and also an assistant teacher for kids with learning disabilities ( Such as reading and writing comprehension skills.) She had seen me on this site, came up behind me and suddenly started reading over my shoulder. I felt immediately embarrassed, however, that English teacher said the most encouraging words that probably inspired me to continue roleplaying even to this day. She read over my shoulder and began correcting my spelling and grammar. xD Didn't help with the embarrassment, but she asked what I was doing and listened. I explained - In the best way that I could as a shy, socially awkward, and not used to talking about my hobby teenager. This woman fell in love with the idea of text-based roleplaying that she basically begged the principle to make it something for teachers like her to use in her classes. In fact, I think the following year before I graduated, she started teaching her students in her class about text-based roleplaying. lol  

 

So in a way, I openly talk about roleplaying if someone asks what I'm doing. You never know. To that teacher, it taught children who had no interest in books or writing; To read others stories and create worlds.  

Edited July 6, 2022 by Image

[JulieWilhelmine 6]

It took me a loooong time to tell anyone about it and I would lie if I said I don't feel a bit embarassed when I do. I think the main thing for me is just that it seems so niche and anything that involves imagination often give people a lot of weird associations. Depends on the person, of course, but there aren't really a lot of "nerds" or creative people in my "circle".

 

The only ones around me IRL who know that this is something I do are my son's dad, my boyfriend, my son and one of my friends. After 10+ years 😅