RPG annoyances/pet peeves

[kv0921]

If you dont mind me putting my two cents In I have a pet peeves about Rping and stuff

I hate it when someone controls a charector, I mean you are this charector for a reason and it isnt to share seniority or the puppet strings with someone else. That and Picture Stealing

I rp on myspace and it constantly happens and It makes me want to pull out a hammer lol

[jayphailey]

If you dont mind me putting my two cents In I have a pet peeves about Rping and stuff

I hate it when someone controls a charector, I mean you are this charector for a reason and it isnt to share seniority or the puppet strings with someone else. That and Picture Stealing

I rp on myspace and it constantly happens and It makes me want to pull out a hammer lol

I am sorry. I am an old table top gamer. So, how do you mean Controls a character? Do you mean like when someone else moves your character around?

And what does "Picture Stealing" Mean?

Jay ~Meow!~

[domo_arigato]

*brushes dust off topic*

My biggest one is grammar and spelling. Is it so hard to take your post, copy and paste it into Word and run a quick check to make sure it follows the very basics of English grammar rules? Exemption provided to those who learn English as a second or third language and those who may have a learning disorder or mental disability.

Second, those who play canon alien species but do not research anything about the culture, naming conventions, or history. Andorians have four sexes and their last names have a prefix depending on their sex attached to it. Betazoids have black/dark brown eyes, not blue, green, etc. El-Aurians are far and few between (it is highly improbable that there are as many el-aurians as there are characters across the entire ST:RPG spectrum. Choose another species for Pete's sake). Vulcans do not usually cross breed with other species unless the situation precludes and forces it to happen (stuck away from their bondmate in the midst of pon farr, raped, single due to some event or another, etc.).

Subpoint, hybrid species. I wish people would quit crossing species that do not need to be crossed! Vulcan-human, human-betazoid, klingon-human, bajoran-cardassian, human-romulan, romulan-vulcan (e.g. Soleta) - the ones we've seen in canon are fine with me, but combining some species with others...Really now? And playing with the most minor of their powers (e.g. Deltan's apparent ability to heal with touch or apparent El-Aurian telepathy) to create a character with those abilities (just imagine a deltan, el-aurian, betazoid, orion, full telepath...it has been done, I've seen it)? *coughgodmodcough* I'll shut up now before i start naming names or combinations (other than the one i mentioned) I've seen which are rather specific, though...

Walls of text. We've all seen them, those people that post nothing but an extremely long sentence that is a huge run-on with no pauses in it that causes your eyes to gloss over as you try to read it and understand it with their life story embedded into it and you're stuck sitting their thinking "WTF?" as you try to read it but realize the poster just said a bunch of nothing and led you on a loop like I just illustrated. But seriously, this ties in with my first peeve. Run-on sentences need to be separated. your character cannot also be expected to have said such a huge sentence without pausing at least once to breathe unless they're like...Superman or Aqualung or something. And the fact I learned nothing about your character (feelings, gestures, facial expressions, etc.) when I only see, "Ensign (name) then said, " *wall of text* " "

Then the usual godmodders, super beings, rambo's and/or gun-toting, "blow them up ask questions later" type.

/*end rant*

Five years of online gaming has led to some interesting experiences....let's just put it that way.

[jayphailey]

Some of us game at tables, real time. Hard to spell cheque your mouth. Painful, too.

[JM1776]

Exemption provided to those who ... have a ... mental disability.

When one factors in the demographics here, such essentially defeats the purpose of your rant.

Second, those who play canon alien species but do not research anything about the culture, naming conventions, or history. Andorians have four sexes and their last names have a prefix depending on their sex attached to it.

Sorry, but ... no.

Canonically speaking, there's not a shred of evidence to support either idea. As a matter of fact, we have data from Star Trek: Enterprise and The Original Series to the effect that Andorian names are rather simple (Shran, Thelev) and the race has but two sexes. Cherished fanon and the DS9 Relaunch are of equal canonicity—that is to say, not at all.

[jayphailey]

In the Episode ""Data's Day" Data mentions that Andorians Weddings require 4 participants.

However he doesn't specify the roles of all four participants.

For instance American pattern Marriages feature five participants - Bride, Groom, Marrier (Justice of the Peace or appropriate religious official), Maid of Honor and Best Man.

Not all five go on the honeymoon.

Cannon, Fannon and such likes are a large burden to bear for Trek RPGs. I have had people tell me that they didn't want to play a Trek RPG with me because they feared my excessive knowledge of Star Trek.

I would have no fun at all Having to hit Memory Alpha every 30 minutes or so to support or refute some arcane point of reference.

Jay ~Meow!~

[JM1776]

I think it's relatively easy to avoid such problems, simply by stating before character creation begins what sources will be considered canonical for that particular game.

[j_kendall]

To preface, I should note that I have not played a table-top game for nearly seven years. I have been RPing for the last ten years through a series of systems, including bulletin-boards, e-mail groups and several CMS systems (such as SMS and NOVA).

Sadly enough, I have at times been the instigator of many such frustrations. Most recently I have been forced by circumstances in real life to begin the transition to a new GM on the game I was running. I have had one god-modded character, which was rejected by the GM (After which I learned my lesson). I have also had a Romulan/Human hybrid character, though I continue to believe that there could not have been any other combination for that poor kid.

My personal list of pet peeved is actually covered pretty thoroughly in the previous replies. I hate one-dimensional characters. I don't like misspelling or run-on sentences. One of my biggest pet peeves of all time occurs when the CO of a game has a two paragraph biography that tells you nothing about who is in command of the ship or what qualifies that character to be in command. Poorly written characters annoy me in general. Most of all, however, I do not like it when players believe that the game is more important or equally important to real life. RPing is fun, it is a game. Real life actually matters and always comes first.

My reaction to several of the earlier posts was actually surprising to me. Most especially the discussion of mis-representing a species and crossbreeding as well as the "playing yourself" phenomenon.

As regards playing an alien species according by the guidelines of that species' culture and beliefs, I am in complete agreement, although I am not sure how you know that Andorians have four genders and so on. My contact with Star Trek species has left me with a very open ended feeling about many of them. I guess what I would like to point out is that although you may be completely correct about those things being canon aspects of (place species here) physiology, history, government and culture, how can you be certain that others would have access to the same information?

I often play Bolian characters. As such, i have researched using the Star Trek Encyclopedia, Memory-Alpha, and dozens of web searches. I have found several canon references and seven or eight other exhaustive descriptions regarding the Bolian species. The problem is, only one or two of the accounts will agree with each other regarding vital aspects of Bolian physiology, culture, etc. I don't know whether the cartilaginous ridge that divides a Bolian's face is just on the head, whether it begins at the tail-bone and ends at the navel, whether it continues all the way around the center of the being, and more.

So after all that, I would simply recommend helping other players find the resources you are using to formulate the distinguishing aspects of any given species before you become frustrated. I would have had no idea that canon Trek dictated four genders in Andorians nor would I have known to name my character accordingly. Actually, I would really appreciate a link/reference/or something so that I can be as well informed as you are on this topic. Feel free to PM me with this information, or i guess you could just post it in a reply.

Okay, now that I'm done with that ridiculously long exposition on my stance on the portrayal of alien species, I will address "playing yourself". I agree that one-dimensional characters are lame. I agree that playing the same character, albeit with a different name is lame. I do hold, however, that any meaningful character is a reflection in one way or another of the player. Solid, deep, and meaningful characters are characters that are written from e players' experience. Although it is obvious that no player will be placed in a situation where they have to repair a warp core before it explodes and kills everyone, the character will react, at least in part, like the player reacts to stressful situations. Even characters that exemplify a set of values and natural instincts different from the player's will reflect the player. A character that has no hold in the reality of a player's experience is going to be flat and lifeless. My best characters, and those characters I have enjoyed interacting with most, reflected the feelings, beliefs and values of the person playing them, regardless of that character's similarity or difference from the player in real life.

Okay, anyway. I will be done with that rant. I hope I have not offended anyone. If i have, I apologize sincerely and ask that you understand that these are simply my opinions born out of my experience.

[collierctr]

Ever wonder how many RPGers in the world have a cat or dog (or hamster or mouse or fish) named Peeves...?

I know a guy had a dog named 'stains'... (old joke, sorry)

[RIP]

Simply enough put I hate
- powergamers who just won't ever let their characters not be perfect at everything
- egoists who always need to be in the center of the action in character and out of character
- drooling players who want nothing but cybersex - to their liking of course
- trolls who write little more than two misspelled sentences
- empty-shell players whose characters have the depth of a mud puddle in the middle of summer
- wise asses who will throw cannon at you as often as possible just to show off how much smarter they are without realizing they're complete tools
- people who refuse to face facts and let their characters die when the time is right

I don't mind when someone doesn't play perfectly up to cannon if their character is interestingly written. I couldn't care less about cannon when, a long time ago, a Klingon chancellor whose name I shall not disclose has had sex with a fantasy warrior character I had cooked up. We both knew it was a completely absurd storyline when a mysterious and undiscribed rift in time and space (bwahahaha) had brought these two together because both of us had fun playing the game and stuck to our respective characters. Also, the fantasy warrior got into real trouble when his wife found out... That story line never got finished unfortunately but I always liked to think my warrior died a hero's death in a duel with said wife as her weaponry was no match for a bathleth. *sigh* I could never refuse a good character death scene.

That said, and taking more serious stories into account, I've had the great chance to play with some very gifted players and never bothered with cannon much. This does not only go for Trek gaming but fantasy, X-Men or other contemporary gaming. Though that one time I met someone who was playing Batman who had just been juiced up with Superman blood and now had a good deal of that man's powers I have to admit that was a bit too far from cannon...

Oh yes, some of you brought up grammar and spelling. I believe it is true that these should be considered. But what always troubled me more was the writing with astericks. Like:

*Sasha took the pad* Yes, the plan should work.

Opposed to:

Sasha took the pad. "Yes, the plan should work."

[CamSPD]

I've never played a table-top RPG, but I've played in chat, email and bulletin board sims. My dislikes are the same as some of the others listed here, such as I don't like when someone else writes for my character without my premission (god-moding). I don't like people who create characters that are the best at everything they do, are always saving the day, and are never wrong---real people have flaws, so should fictional characters, because nobody is perfect. I don't like it when others write an action against your character (such as a fight scene) where their character gets the upper hand without giving you a chance to reply to it.

I know some people here are against having characters in RPGs or fanfic that are mixed-race beyond two, but I think they're okay as long as they are written well. And again, there should be some kind of flaw to the character, like it was purportedly difficult for Amanda to carry Spock to term without help. I have one fanfic character who has four bloodlines, but there are medical issues asscociated with the complexity of her physical make-up, such as she can only receive blood from herself or a blood-related member of her family.

I have to admit that I'm a fan of correct grammar and spelling, and even if you aren't that great at it, it is always appreciated if you make some effort to make sure your posts are not chock full of errors and run-on sentences. It makes the post difficult to read, and quite frankly, borning. No one's going to enjoy a post that is full of mistakes. A handful is tolerable, but not when its every other word. Spoken words should be surrounded by quotation marks and thoughts should be in italics.

I'm also a huge fan of adhering to canon, but only so far. Like, unless your RPG takes place in an alternate universe, you can't write that Picard died when he got stabbed in the heart by that Nausicaan and was never captain of the Enterprise. But if you can't find a difinitive source of information on a species, or all the sources you have checked have conflicting information, its okay to make an educated guess---as long as you have made an effort to gather as much information on the species as possible. One of my biggest things in relation to canon is the timeline. If you're basing your game in the "prime" Trek universe, then you have to follow the established timeline. I think it's hard to create a character or play in a game where there is no established timeline or setting (such as post-Dominion War).

I think that's all I have to say so far. Unless I think of something else. I do hope my statements arent offensive to anyone, but this is how I feel.

[JM1776]

If a GM isn't sufficiently assertive and authoritative, often the inmates run the asylum, and such often gives rise to the kinds of complaints mentioned above. Frankly, the best game masters have a liberal dose of despot—benevolent despot, to be sure, but despot nevertheless.

CamSPD mentioned that she's OK with well-played hybrids, even those with more than two distinct racial ancestries; I think such is a good example of an axiom in roleplaying: Good characterization overwrites (no pun intended) a myriad of ills.

I find GM's pets annoying—whether they're his own beloved creation (one he or she can't imagine being defeated or even bested in any way), or that of his best friend/spouse/current lust object.

[jayphailey]

My pet peeve is simply how much gosh darned WORK a prose based RPG-thingy can be.

My creative juices run hot and cold and there are times I look at something like Quantum Lounge or my Western Game (Triumph of Hope) And I find myself slumping to my desk in despair.

This is a personal Issue. I think health issues plague me and rob me of energy, the willingness to engage, and the optimism to just write some stuff and see how it goes.

There are times when crafting a coherent reply is sisiphyian. Holding back the tide with a broom seems less daunting and futile.

BTW - the title of the Western Game, which lent itself to the notional town the game is set in, Hope, KS. Is a reference to a cynical old line. One I miss-remembered at the time.

The actual line is "Love is the triumph of optimism over experience."

[Transom]

I have a few as well.

1. It's "canon," not "cannon." A cannon is a weapon. Canon is a reference to a body of work.

2. People who play non-Human characters as if they were Human characters. "Well, T'Dah is a Vulcan, but he embraces his emotions." So what's the point, besides the ones on his ears? Vulcans are Vulcans. Let them be Vulcans. If you want to play someone who embraces their emotions, play a Human, or some other emotional sort.

3. Cross-breeding for the sake of cross-breeding. No, your Klingon-Betazoid-Orion doesn't make any sense to me. It looks like you wanted to have a super-strong, violent mind reader who looks like a weakened Hulk. Oh, also, has the emotions of a Human. Is there a point to this?

In fairness, I have, in fact, played a Vulcan-Orion. She was the daughter of a pirate. Her mother was a concubine, captured during a raid. Her background is a part of her character, and has made for some interesting opportunities. I chose to do this not for the "because I can" factor, but for the "I have an idea. What makes sense to me to help flesh this out?" factor.

4. People who join games and immediately write their characters getting into bar brawls, followed by having sex with a female. I say with a female, because this problem seems to be exclusively male in nature, and none of them are gay, at least in the game. Many times the bar fight is started after the girl has met and become sexually attracted to said character, no matter how big a douchebag the fellow might be. Also, the fight is never the character's fault, he just happens to be really good at hitting people. Also too, sexy women apparently love a guy who gets drunk and fights, especially if he isn't looking for a relationship.

5. Characters who join games and immediately write themselves into an NPC relationship.

6. Characters who join games and immediately start PMing characters of the opposite sex to have relationships with.

7. As above, people who can't bother to check their spelling or grammar. It's one thing to misspell a word or two, it's another to have no interest in using punctuation, proper nouns, or the correct number of letters in some sort of order.

There's probably more, but I need to reply to a private message in a game from a new player who can't spell and who is asking me a question whose answer lies in the most recent mission post. I wish I were kidding.

[Transom]

Oh yeah! And then there was the character who was depressed because she was always being picked on in Starfleet Academy because of her species. She was 1/4 Vulcan. 1/4. That means one of her grandparents was a Vulcan. And the game took place after the Dominion War. You know, when the Federation was still so racist against Vulcans, the bastards.