1: Honestly, the only thing that tends to get under my skin is people giving themselves a backstory that basically says "I'm better than you." People who claim to be nobles, the one true warrior of light, the aforementioned half dragon/half vampire halfbreed nonsense, male seekers of the sun who use the surname Nuhn...

2: Most of my RP experience is seeing people in taverns, but I notice a lot of folks sharing what they've been up to since they last met over a flagon of ale. I also occasionally see people stopping to rest at camps in the middle of their adventure. It definitely seems to me that, at least the stuff in /say, mainly involves adventurers doing stuff in their downtime.