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Telling Non-RPers About Your Hobby


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The majority of people I tell about RPing never get it. They always think something sexual or just a bunch of weirdos sitting in the dark in their mom's basement. 🙄

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Whenever I mention this hobby to folks outside of this sort of circle, I'll usually call it "collaborative writing" for the sake of ease. I think with the rise of popularity in D&D and other tabletop games, there are a lot more people who understand that calling something a 'roleplay' isn't necessarily sexual... but I still try to avoid it so I don't have to awkwardly explain that I'm not sharing my kinks with someone haha

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Ex Vino Veritas

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  • 2 months later...

The only time I've ever had to explain roleplaying was this one time I had to tell my parents about D&D... I had to explain that I'd be busy that day, so naturally they wanted to know what I'd be doing. Basically, I just said that it's a game, and it's pretty much like acting on a play.

 

My dad has been to a ren faire when he visited Europe once, so it was easier to explain it to him pff. I just said "yeah, it's like that but without dressing up!"

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have tried in the past to explain to people, but now days I don't even mention it as my hobby unless the person gives any indication that they might actually be doing it as well. Often when you mention the word "roleplay", people tend to just jump to the assumption that it is some mature bedroom stuff and even if you try to explain it like "It is like writing a story, but together with several people and you only write your character's part" or something like that they still seem a bit clueless about it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I honestly don't really bring it up, but when I do, I basically just explain it as 'writing character stories online with other people'. Which yeah, the long and short of it I guess that is what we're doing. There ofc is more to it than just that, but that description usually covers it well enough for people to understand. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

It got easier since FRP became more and more popular tbh. If they know what tabletop roleplaying is, I tell them we do it on a website lol

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  • 3 months later...

I love this thread, as telling people about my super-fun-hobby hasn't always been easy. Collaborative writing is such a good term, so I'll be using that in the future. My partner said something to my boss once about my 'game', and now I'm pretty sure my boss thinks I write some kind of D&D smut xD

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I've had those conversations come up both in casual conversations and others like job interviews when im asked what I do in my spare time, to which I tell them I roleplay online. I've had some interesting looks, and even a coworker ask if he could join my site that I'm putting together. I'm definitely not afraid to admit you this hobby as I'm quite proud of some of my sites I've led and the numerous friends I've made over the years.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I tell people it's collaborative writing or collaborative storytelling. If they know what D&D is, then I'll draw a comparison to that except say that it's on a forum/through writing instead of a tabletop, and that's usually good enough

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Traverse

an 18+ original sci-fi/fantasy rp

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've always found this conversation awkward, not becuase I'm ashamed, but because people have such a skewed/warped idea of what "online roleplaying" means. Because the group I play with is so active OOC as much as they are IC, I tend to call it my online writing group. That together we create pieces of writing from the perspective of multiple characters set in a specific world. For those familiar with D&D/tabletop gaming, I tend to equate it to something along the lines of that but not necessarily as structured.

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Like most of everyone here, I generally call it 'collaborative writing' too. However when my now hubby and I were just a year or two into our relationship, he mentioned something about dabbling in forum writing 'with friends' and I was shocked. Fast forward a bit and we roleplay together on the same board all the time. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Definitely in the "collaborative writing" and "collaborative storytelling" camp, haha. It's a very friendly way of putting it. People read stories, and so describing it as "stories but you develop it gradually back and forth" is easy to parse.

 

The bigger problem I have is people associating "roleplay" automatically with "ERP" lol.

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  • 1 month later...

I do not tell people that I roleplay online. It's always so hard to explain lol. The only person IRL that I've told about it is my fiance, and even then I kind of had to explain exactly what it is - I knew he wouldn't judge me for it so I felt safe enough to tell him, lol. But yeah, I think the explanation is the toughest part of it and a lot of people in my life can be very critical so it's something I've just never disclosed. 

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Generally, I don't say much to people. A few closest know what I do and that I run some sites alongside my Husband and those who do know are cool about it. But yeah, I'd always been worried people might find it weird or not understand since a larger part of my circle growing up/even now isn't all that into nerdy/escapism stuff. 

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