[@Oliver]

This is an unfortunate problem for all role players at a lot of levels. My perspective has always been what you would call looking at the bigger picture instead of the smaller ones. An this particular problem has existed a very long time probably since I came on the Role play scene some fourteen or so odd years ago on the roleplay forums on the runescape site. One of the biggest symptoms of this issue is due to people who feel they are for lack of better terminology better then others when it comes to role playing. Like anything in this world, basketball, football, gaming, cooking, there are always people who are thriving to be better then everyone else, and most times this is regardless of whom they hurt or don't hurt in the process. There is nothing wrong with a competitive atmosphere, in fact I am very competitive in a lot of things I love, but where the difference begins is where people feel because they are particularly good at something it gives them the right to feel that they can dictate someone elses worth compared to their own. Meaning in more laymen terms that if you can not amount to what they consider adequate in comparison to their abilities you therefore do not deserve to be within their presence.

A lot of people on roleplay sights measure you at their level, the same level in which for example someone like me might consider low in my own opinion. Its sort of an endless chain of people taking their own abilities and using it as a measuring tool to judge other people and thats really the main problem. Now don't get me wrong this is the main problem but it is merely one of them in a long list, this isn't the reason for everyone's motivation, nor should it be. In some cases when we make roleplays its sort of our baby, its our love child and like any child we want the best for it and to some people that means being very selective about who we allow to join it, and thats our right to do so. We own it, created it, we have a right to run it how we see fit, and in some cases that can lead to people not wanting someone newer in a roleplay. The problem though begins when people feel the need to not only deny someone a place in their roleplay but also feel they have the right to judge their ability and then tell them they don't deserve to be here or be there and should go to a more free formed part of the site.

For example I find it hard to roleplay in advanced not because I am unable to produce a story, or write, or add onto the roleplay but because Advanced has high standards and one of those standards is grammar and unfortunately grammar was never and will never be my strong suit. I have been denied on solely nothing more then the fact that I don't always place certain grammar elements in all the right places and I am told to go back to casual where I belong. Not to take away from the way newer people in role playing are treated but this happens on all levels and it can be quite mean at times depending on the person who feels the need to insult your ability.

[quote]So what I'm basically trying to ask is, should I dumb myself down for the sake of not annoying the older and more socially advanced members of RPG, or is there a way for me to RP with older people without getting on their nerves?[/quote]

No don't dumb yourself down because some person feels you are annoying or not capable of doing something. The truth is there is always going to be someone out there who tries to make you feel insignificant, and the reasons without going into one of the longest physiologists lessons ever written can be very numerous ranging from people who are mean for the sake of being mean all the way to people with superiority complexes and everything in between. There is always going to be critics, but there is also always going to be people who recognize your talents for what they are and can respect them and have no problem what so ever in role playing with you, I would even go further to say that these particular people can even help you expand even further in your craft with positive attitudes and ultimately help you along the way. You have just merely run across some of the more picky role players, and they don't come in short supply im sorry to say, but don't listen to them, listen to yourself and believe in the ability you know you have and find the people who will support you and not downplay you based off of bias view.

With that small question answered it dawns on me having read much of the conversation taken place before my post that another discussion started relating to mentality, real life problems, being problematic and OOC fights and so on. While I took advanced Psychology on a college level I am no ones mom or dad or Psychologist so I won't go into this too deeply because having found Psychology and the human condition of high interest I might not stop until i use all 150000 characters in this post. But I will say this seeming it has become a solid point of discussion, I am an asshole by many definitions of the term, I am sarcastic, insulting, I even have had people point out that sometimes I have an air of superiority about me because I am quite intelligent in more how do you say.. complicated subjects relating to fields people find hard to understand. My list of shortcomings is long and my mental stability although leveled to a certain degree is far, far, far from being perfect. Blame my life, blame the bullies, the shyness I once suffered, blame whatever you like but it lead to who I am, who I became and who I will be.

But I took my shortcomings and turned them into strengths instead of weakness, I am an asshole but I am an asshole with a heart. I can be critical but also understanding, I can have major problems with people but I can resolve them without hurt feelings, I am sarcastic but I do it in such a way that people find it funny not insulting. When life gives you lemons turn it into lemonade and drink that shit. That has become one my favorite quotes over the years. Okay your socially awkward, you have your own way of thinking, you get into squabbles with other people, I have yet to meet a younger person who did not fall short of attitude or problems at some level or another, being young once myself I fell short way more then most, my anger, my resentment towards the world was a weakness that had no end. But the more you learn, the more you grow the more you start to see things in a different perspective. Learn from mistakes and take that and better yourself, you will find a lot of people care deeply for others even if they don't know them, a lot of us tend to look at our roleplay partners like family or friends instead of the things in which they write.

I am one of those people, I look at the person behind the writing instead of just the writing, I have always felt a relationship with whom your roleplay with can be important even if others don't. This is not to say I am unable to roleplay without knowing someone but a lot of us are social beings, we all are at one point or another if not more and one cant be faulted for looking at the person who is writing instead of what they are writing. In the end to put my ramblings to rest, everyone different, we all see things in a way no one else can fully understand, we have our quirks, our shortcomings, our strength, our weaknesses, this is the human condition. We just have to be able to look beyond that.