I've been thinking again. (Yes I know, not a good sign) So the following is about RP and some other things... and in my usual fashion, I'm not going to use LJ-cut. It's just text, so if you're not interested, just exercise your finger and scroll. ^^
Firstly, about roleplaying.
This is how *I* feel about things, and don't represent the purpose of any RP I mention, the views/thoughts of any RPers who participate.
There seems to be a sense of... distaste for VLP because it's invite only. For me (and I stress that), I like RPs like that. I'm not sure why some feel that it's elitist, because all you need to do to get in is to have some friends there, give them a shout and make them give the comm a shout to see if everybody's okay with a new addition.
For me, despite whatever you may think, RP is a scary thing. I've been in 5 RPs, now it's down to 3, and there are people who are in nearly every single one of the ones I'm in... Belle and Rae, for example. But I still hardly know them, even though I *mod* TF. VLP for me is a group of people I know slightly better (still not very true, but better than in a game where I know nobody), people who I'm more comfortable with. I said to Ebbii last night that it's like sitting down for dinner with a group of friends. I wouldn't mind eating with friends' friends, as long as they seem nice. I get scared if I eat with strangers.
Despite whatever anyone may think about me, I find RP and poking people scary as well. VLP makes roleplaying less scary for me. It's just a group of friends starting a game. It just happens that this type of game is usually open for people to join, whereas the one we've started isn't. I'm applying for another PoT RP right now, and the whole thing is just frightening, boardering intimidating, even though I know that the people are nice. VLP cuts out all that scariness for me, that's all.
How other players view it, I have no idea. But that's how the game is for me.
The second thing is about... the people we call BNFs - Big Name Fans, another topic brought up last night.
Whatever you may have read in fandom_wank, forget it. Fandom_wank is for entertainment, for mockery, for people to bash at each other, whatever you call it. If you take what people say there to be gospel... I'll be honest with you: get out of my friends list.
BNFs are just as the name suggests: their name is well known. That can be because of many reasons - they run a big website; post one hell of a lot in communities and MLs; write really good fics... or it can be that they are annoying, they bombard people with bad fanfics and fanart, they make a fool of themselves...
BNFs may be, but aren't necessarily good or bad. I've been called one because I'm prolific - I posted a lot and a lot of PoT fics at one point, and ran a rather large WK website. That does not mean I'm good at anything (or, fingers-crossed, bad at anything).
BNF or not, I've been playing with the same group of people for the past half year. Whilst I love my friends, I'm always looking for new ones too. Right, I don't automatically add people who have added me to their flist, but I go =D! when somebody pokes me saying hey I've read your stuff, you seem interesting let's chat a bit. I don't know, some people find me intimidating even though I have never even spoken to them - why? Seeing my name a lot doesn't mean anything, does it? During chat over the weekend, people who have never met introduced themselves to each other, giving name and LJ name. The moment I gave my LJ name, somebody (can't remember who, too many people talking) went caps lock in surprise. And I immediately went "shit, my name must be stinking".
Yup.
Guess what I'm trying to say is, if you like me, give me a poke. I'm not intimidating at all. My contact details are on my LJ userinfo page. Unless I'm in a crack chat, I warm up very slowly to people, but I do like getting pokage. BNFs are only how you define them - I consider Ebbii's name very big, even though she is friends-only and doesn't post to comms. Some other people may not agree with me. But usually, whatever they are, unless you know of them because their name stinks, those people you've heard of by name and find intimidating are NOT intimidating and wish you wouldn't think so and wish you'd poke them and tell them their stuff is good/needs improvement, etc. If they don't want to be contacted, you'll be able to tell from their LJ I'm sure.
Kiri: Don't hestitate, poke a BNF today!
...yes, like that. I think I'm going to check out the LJs of some people whose works I like, and give them a poke today.
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