Since I don't think you're trolling, I'll bite on this one.
Yeah, I'll agree most LA players are really hardcore about shipping, but a lot of LA players also want to move the plot forward. The problem? Most of them are just poorly suited for dealing with elements in a game setting, because the anime and video game characters have probably existed in a world similar to the game atmosphere. Dean Winchester just cannot handle the same sort of problems that Isaac Clarke can handle and vice versa. They'll both make do in their situations and adapt, but since a lot of LA players haaate thinking outside the box (I've noticed this trait is really common in LA players and I AM ONE), they aren't going to play it like that.
So you're left with a Dean Winchester mun who wants to antagonize the werewolves and vampires in the game (which is IC), but doesn't do much with the plot, because instead of adapting, they're trying to do whatever they feel is the most IC that won't cause any sort of growth.
tl;dr: I feel like most non-LA characters are less obsessed with being IC and are willing to bend to have their characters grow, while LA players either want ships or never want their character to grow and change.
YMMV. I've been blessed to play with people who don't think like that, but I've also cringed at being in games with Buffys who want to focus on boning every dude instead of rallying people together as well as Buffys who want to impact the game, but end up alienating themselves by not adapting and just storming in and bossing everyone around.
I wasn't trolling, so thanks for the honest input! I definitely agree there are exceptions, and I don't want to insult LA players out there (I've played from every conceivable medium at one point, so I'd really just be insulting myself too) by saying they're omg ship crazy - but I do think that... just because there's a real person's face attached to the icon, even if the show setting is supernatural, or fantasy-based, or something completely out there, the player feels more compelled to make their character act like an average person.
Sometimes this is cool, because I personally do enjoy these 'subtle' scenes, where you're playing day-to-day interaction that somehow impacts or says a lot about your character, or triggers some fundamental development; but when you're playing - let's keep to him - Dean Winchester, and all he does every day is largely browse the internet network and grab a beer, it can get amazingly redundant very fast.
And I completely agree about how LA players tend to play it safer than anime players, who have a tendency to go to an extreme that can steer into OOCdom - this has been my experience with it all too.
I've played both LA and other mediums and I've seen this attitude with both, although it seems more prevalent with LA players for some reason. There are some players who just want to rehash canon forever without any attempt to have their character grow and adapt outside of pairing them up with whoever the player ships them with. The not thinking outside the box thing seems to be part of where medium snobbery really comes from too.
I honestly think this is because some RPers are just not creative writers even if they're competent at mimicking the character's voice and the technical quality of their writing might be excellent. They just don't think in terms of narrative and character depth, motivation, and growth because they're not writers at heart. This seems to line up with whether they think RP is a writing hobby or not; the ones who do tend to be more willing to go off the canon rails and have characters adapt and grow, the ones who think it's more like theater care more about getting the voice right and playing as close to canon as possible even if that means the character remains static otherwise.
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(Anonymous) 2013-04-12 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)Yeah, I'll agree most LA players are really hardcore about shipping, but a lot of LA players also want to move the plot forward. The problem? Most of them are just poorly suited for dealing with elements in a game setting, because the anime and video game characters have probably existed in a world similar to the game atmosphere. Dean Winchester just cannot handle the same sort of problems that Isaac Clarke can handle and vice versa. They'll both make do in their situations and adapt, but since a lot of LA players haaate thinking outside the box (I've noticed this trait is really common in LA players and I AM ONE), they aren't going to play it like that.
So you're left with a Dean Winchester mun who wants to antagonize the werewolves and vampires in the game (which is IC), but doesn't do much with the plot, because instead of adapting, they're trying to do whatever they feel is the most IC that won't cause any sort of growth.
tl;dr: I feel like most non-LA characters are less obsessed with being IC and are willing to bend to have their characters grow, while LA players either want ships or never want their character to grow and change.
YMMV. I've been blessed to play with people who don't think like that, but I've also cringed at being in games with Buffys who want to focus on boning every dude instead of rallying people together as well as Buffys who want to impact the game, but end up alienating themselves by not adapting and just storming in and bossing everyone around.
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(Anonymous) 2013-04-12 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)Sometimes this is cool, because I personally do enjoy these 'subtle' scenes, where you're playing day-to-day interaction that somehow impacts or says a lot about your character, or triggers some fundamental development; but when you're playing - let's keep to him - Dean Winchester, and all he does every day is largely browse the
internetnetwork and grab a beer, it can get amazingly redundant very fast.And I completely agree about how LA players tend to play it safer than anime players, who have a tendency to go to an extreme that can steer into OOCdom - this has been my experience with it all too.
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(Anonymous) 2013-04-12 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)I honestly think this is because some RPers are just not creative writers even if they're competent at mimicking the character's voice and the technical quality of their writing might be excellent. They just don't think in terms of narrative and character depth, motivation, and growth because they're not writers at heart. This seems to line up with whether they think RP is a writing hobby or not; the ones who do tend to be more willing to go off the canon rails and have characters adapt and grow, the ones who think it's more like theater care more about getting the voice right and playing as close to canon as possible even if that means the character remains static otherwise.