In my experience, as a role-player, a lot of role-players bring their poor reputation upon themselves. Only a small portion of role-players actually want to role-play in such a way as to actually portray an interesting character and make use of the game world. Many are simply desperately trying to focus on filling a void in their real lives and seeking romance and erotic stuff through their character in a way that is, quite honestly, unhealthy and sabotaging not only to themselves but all those around them. The shining gems that can be found within the muck make pursuing role-play as a hobby worthwhile but Balmung in particular is a very mixed bag. I've had an easier time finding quality, consistent role-play in other MMO's. FFXIV, for some reason, seems to have a particularly high number of role-players who care nothing for anything that isn't centered around romance or erotic stuff.