There are 2800 members on this site. For the purpose of this discussion, lets just say 2000 of them rolled on Balmung. In any realistic town of that size, you'll be acquaintances with about 50, be friends with about 20, and know of about 100-200 (studies show the average facebook friend count is 150. But do you actually know all 150 of those people?)
And that's if you are an outgoing personality. For a lot of characters, it makes sense to only have a handful of friends ICly. To stay within what feels comfortable. IC rudeness, if it fits the character, is a non-issue.
OOCly, its a different story. A majority of people have rather diverse, yet generally specific tastes on RP, on everything from romance to combat, to how dark or humorous they like to keep things. It should come as no surprise that when you find people who share your taste, you tend to RP with them a lot, and develop rather involved interpersonal storylines. Its that progression of character that keeps people coming back, and you don't always get thet from random meetups.
That said, I do feel people need to break out of their rp shells more often, try out new things, and be prepared to see their characters go in directions they hadn't anticipated. OOC rudeness is pointless and not necessary. A little OOC communication can go a long way to avoid any sort of misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
But in the end, there are only so many hours in the day. I work FT, and dwell in an FC of 170+. Trying to juggle RP time with them, on top of work and trying to level is daunting enough, let alone trying to find time to interact with the greater community. I love my FC. Its a comfortable home I know I'm going to enjoy my time with, and that guarantee cannot be made in the community as a whole. Time constraints, and my desire to enjoy and progress several of my characters storylines should not be seen as 'cold'.
I have no problems interacting with random add ons when I am rping. I have no problem rping with anyone at least once. I find both to be a lot of fun, and everyone should interact with their community at least once a week. But in RP, just as in RL, it is the time spent with 'friends' that is the most rewarding, and it is up to each user to decide how they, the player, and they, the character, wish to spend their time.
Tl;dr: OOCly people should be polite and considerate of their community, but ICly their character dictates who and when they interact with.
And that's if you are an outgoing personality. For a lot of characters, it makes sense to only have a handful of friends ICly. To stay within what feels comfortable. IC rudeness, if it fits the character, is a non-issue.
OOCly, its a different story. A majority of people have rather diverse, yet generally specific tastes on RP, on everything from romance to combat, to how dark or humorous they like to keep things. It should come as no surprise that when you find people who share your taste, you tend to RP with them a lot, and develop rather involved interpersonal storylines. Its that progression of character that keeps people coming back, and you don't always get thet from random meetups.
That said, I do feel people need to break out of their rp shells more often, try out new things, and be prepared to see their characters go in directions they hadn't anticipated. OOC rudeness is pointless and not necessary. A little OOC communication can go a long way to avoid any sort of misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
But in the end, there are only so many hours in the day. I work FT, and dwell in an FC of 170+. Trying to juggle RP time with them, on top of work and trying to level is daunting enough, let alone trying to find time to interact with the greater community. I love my FC. Its a comfortable home I know I'm going to enjoy my time with, and that guarantee cannot be made in the community as a whole. Time constraints, and my desire to enjoy and progress several of my characters storylines should not be seen as 'cold'.
I have no problems interacting with random add ons when I am rping. I have no problem rping with anyone at least once. I find both to be a lot of fun, and everyone should interact with their community at least once a week. But in RP, just as in RL, it is the time spent with 'friends' that is the most rewarding, and it is up to each user to decide how they, the player, and they, the character, wish to spend their time.
Tl;dr: OOCly people should be polite and considerate of their community, but ICly their character dictates who and when they interact with.
