What is ERP?

[Shibi]

Like the stuff going on in Second Life?

That needs Ronso's, I think.

[MPK]

I'm really confused why you think I'm MPK (and I don't know who the other three are). It seems like there's a troll problem in these forums but I don't know why I'm caught in the crosshairs. If the forums are so filled up with trolling that any newcomer is instantly accused as a troll then I suppose that my friends were right when they said the official forums are a cesspool (however the vast majority of interactions I've had here were very courteous unlike my interactions with MPK and you).

Just ignore the guy. They're not used to having different opinions like on reddit so everyone they don't agree with are giant trolls. Unlike reddit, people who have different opinions on these forums can't get downvoted to oblivion and hidden. This place isn't mean to be an echo chamber.

[MilkieTea]

this is beginning to feel a bit... much.

[MsQi]

Baby don’t hurt me!

[lolicon09]

What is ERP?

A waste of play time (IMO)

[MilkieTea]

What is ERP?

A waste of play time (IMO)

says lolicon09

/s

[WoW]

I'm not inclined to believe you, given that others have warned me about potential trolling from you. :P

Believe him. That's what ERP is and will always mean for raiders. It's the casuals that are trying to steal our ERP and turn it into something abhorrent. You can look at my posts and notice that I never once used the word ERP in that disgusting way that some claim it to be. Not only are casuals trying to steal our ERP, but they also want to take away the content that allows us the best kind of ERP, ultimates. It is time for all hardcore raiders to stand together and save our ERP.

[Alestorm]

I'm pretty sure this is just yet ANOTHER Titanmen alt.

[Teppie]

I operate an ERP venue on FFXIV, we have in the past had dealings with GM’s and they clarified rules for our operation to which we absolutely adhere to. I won’t go into those details, but they are essentially the same rules of conduct any place that doesn’t want to get shut down has. Me and my crew have never had a single warning or suspension on any of our accounts, neither have our clients (For ERP at least) and we intend to keep it that way. We work within the parameters we’re allowed and are grateful to enjoy such an immerse world to build our characters and weave our stories in.

In your post you asked what ERP is and compared it to RP, which is fundamentally correct. In my explanation I’ll try to explain the point I’m trying to make without providing too much specific details because I quite like posting here once in a while and I absolutely don’t want to get banned for muddying up this forum with things not everyone wants to read.

I’d like to elaborate on that however. Hopefully break up some confusion that’s constantly in the minds of others. Someone who commented in this thread mentioned that it was simply ‘cybersex’ which I think is giving a very wrong impression about what ERP is supposed to be. Cybersex is two people who are engaging in intimate acts with each other, while using online avatars or ‘roleplay’ as a stand in for what these two parties would do to each other, in real life. It’s very self inserty, and meant as a very thin barrier between writer and character so much so that they are fundamentally identical. Very regularly in these situations it would involve a lot of first person. Instead of Character A does to Character B it’s “I do this to you.”

I’m not fond of cybersex. Not to antagonize those who engage in it, it’s just not my thing.

ERP on the other hand I would say is more like two (or more) authors co-writing an erotic narrative. Maybe they get personal satisfaction in real life, maybe they don’t (They probably do.) The core concept though is that the character doesn’t absolutely represent you. Like traditional RP you have a character, and sure maybe they’re a bit self inserty (I’d be lying if I said people didn’t just roll with a ‘version of themselves’) but it’s often encouraged and appreciated to have more details. Where your character is from, what do they do, their backstory, what their goals are, et cetera. People can have as many alts as they’d like to represent completely different characters. The point isn’t to ‘be’ the character, the point is to write that character.

As a writer it’s really a great deal for you. When you decide to write something you really have three paths you can take. A completely original work, fan-fiction, or RP. They vary on how much creativity you offer to the story and its setting. (This isn't an official thing people recognize, it's just how I personally categorize them mentally.)

If you’re writing an original story (maybe literotica, maybe just a regular fantasy) you have to create a ton of information. The world, the town, the characters that populate it. Systems on how it works. Maybe you’ll go with something generic like “Modern day world with (blank)” or “Just make generic Tolkein style fantasy” but you are fundamentally trying to make a believable world, situation or characters from the ground up. This is true in any original fiction.

With fan-fiction, all that has been done for you. You already have the characters, their personalities, how they’d think or act. You just offer a situation and apply your own style of writing then bam. Instant gratification! (I know it’s not THAT easy, but that’s the idea.)

With Role-Play or ERP in this case you have the world, you have tons of characters, all you have to do is introduce your character. Just the one. Within the pre-existing rules of the world around them. Enough ease that anyone can give it a shot but still a flair of your own creative spark.

That’s the magic of ERP to me as well as RP. I can just make a character, define a lot of their traits, personality and physique based on lore, then just get started. Often times inventing the character as I go.

To me that's what ERP is and how it differs from Cybersex. If I ever engage with another player that starts turning it to Cybersex I immediately turn off from them. I have no interest or time to engage in people that blend reality and fiction. Just because my character likes your character intimately does not mean I feel the same about me and you in reality. Some people blur those lines, and honestly that is really saddening when it happens because it gives an already ill-recieved hobby sketchy examples to showcase.

For what I do. I take clients or I practice with my courtesans (FC members.) We’ll have intersecting story arcs, character progression, and a lot of ERP in between.

Sometimes the ERP expands the greater plot, sometimes its for fun, sometimes it’s just plain hot. When we take clients that is often in some sort of a canon (After all that IS the established setting of our group) but sometimes things will absolutely require us to break character, so we have an infinite number of alternate timelines that we can pick and choose to discard and keep to maintain a consistent narrative that doesn’t end up like a TV show where everything results in a reset by the end of your thirty minutes.

I hope that answers your question, I apologize if I romantacize ERP too much. It’s a hobby of mine, and while I don’t focus exclusively on ERP it does take a big portion of my free time and through the butterfly effect has absolutely increased my skills as a writer in other things I work on. I’ve also made a ton of friends through it that have lasted well past the dreaded RP burnout point.

I’ll be happy to answer more questions, but as mentioned in the start I really can’t get too specific. These forums are very public facing after all. They're a bit of a different beast than two consenting adults in private, and I don’t want to earn a ban.

[WoW]

NO!