What is your view on RP or ERP and why is it so taboo within the community?

[Praesul]

Literally who cares

[KaimaSansun]

The way i see it, to each their own thing , if someone wants to role play, let them. It's not hurting no one, but just don't expect others to join in or push them into role playing with you because, that's when i notice people usually getting angry at each other about it but if you give people a chance to role play sometimes its funny or actually pretty fun to see.

[Vexander]

If RP'ers have a poor reputation on FFXIV I would have to say it is due to the stigma associated with Balmung, which has been the Unofficial RP Server since before Balmung existed (the original was Besaid, which merged with another server to make Balmung). Balmung players tend to get a bit of flak in the community due to the extreme housing crisis and people's interest in glamour. So, when Fanfests and Q&A's come up, a lot of questions based around these aspects of the game are repeatedly asked, and players with other interests get very distraught that their own questions and interests are seemingly ignored due to the mass amount of Balmung Players/RP'ers asking the same old questions time and time again.

As for ERP, as long as its kept private, no one cares, but no one tolerates sexual predators either. The issue is that Balmung's Quicksands became the FFXIV equivalent of World of Warcraft's Moon Guard Goldshire. They even both have innuendo nicknames. Pornshire and the Quickiesands. I would say that, like Goldshire, you're not looking at actual RP'ers so much as trolls and people looking to Cyber. Few people bother to make the distinction between ERP and Cybering these days, but the distinction still exists. RP'ers engaging in ERP are letting a series of events, romantic or not, unfold to their natural conclusion per their character's reactions and personalities. Those who engage in Cybering are literally just looking for sexual gratification over the internet using their Avatar (player character) as a stand in for themselves, and others. That's not to say there aren't RP'ers who don't seek/obtain sexual gratification through ERP, but in general, you can separate the two (ERP and Cybering) in a fairly simple way.

ERP - Imagine any Game of Thrones sex scene. Its there to develop the plot or a character.
Cybering - Amounts to, "I tuch ur penzor."

[Yeol]

We used to RP ever since we were young. Playing with dolls, toys and giving them personalities.

Some people carry that with them, but now you have your in-game character to play with instead. I don't think badly of it at all.

FFXIV is rated T for Teen. There are some underaged players. ERP should not be done in public.