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

[Rymm]

I'm not on one of the big servers known for it, but I do RP in my corner of FF14 with a small circle of friends. I've also RP'ed in other MMOs in the past. I've never really caught a lot of flack for it because I don't run around In-Character most of the time. For most of the week I go about my business, running dungeons, crafting, questing, like any other player. I only do things IC for the couple of hours a week that my RP group does events or holds meetings. We did have an event last night that took place way out in the boonies away from any quest hubs at very off-peak hours and still had a couple of passersby stop and stare. No one heckled us though; they left us alone and we left them alone.

In my experience, it's important to separate yourself from your RP character. The people who are IC 100% of the time and, in doing so, make themselves at best a nuisance and at worst a burden to the non-RPers around them, they are the ones that stir up a lot of the bad feelings from the rest of the community. And the RPers who get overly attached to their characters to unhealthy levels where they can't stand their characters not being seen as completely perfect in every way and worshiped by everyone they meet, are the kind of RPers who are pretty universally disliked by both the RP and non-RP community. In those cases, it's not really the fact that they are RPing that is the problem, it's the fact that they are letting their RP negatively impact the experience of the other players around them.

As for ERPing, I've never participated as I personally find it distasteful. I'm also married IRL and even 'pretending' to be intimate with another person crosses all kinds of boundaries. If someone wants to do it, that is their prerogative, but it should most certainly be kept out of public places (including chat channels,) just like IRL.