To answer the thread title, I’ve been rather pleased with the amount of diversity I’ve seen in my own roleplays, and some of the ones I have joined. The trick is for the GM to create an environment that encourages diversity, but it also falls to the players to give their creations interesting quirks. It’s the smallest details that really make a character for me. Every medieval anime RP needs a dark swordsman with a big sword, but the difference between an interesting character and a boring one all depend on the finer details. A ruthless killer that loves animals, A nurse with a fiery temper, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make a compelling character.

Not all diversity is created equally. Racial diversity is fine in a slice of life RP that takes place in an American school, but if you’re joining an RP about vikings, your African American character is not going to be a welcome addition to that. Same with Ethnic diversity. It’s fine to want to be a “speshal snohflayke,” but you have to avoid taking a huge shit on everything the GM has set up. Just because it has never been seen before doesn’t mean it’s good. Just because it’s a tried and true stereotype doesn’t mean it’s not good. 

Running the risk of sounding somewhat egotistical, I once decided to join an RP that was all about killing macabre things in ye olde Europe. After looking at all the character sheets, I set out to make a character. She was an Irish baker who was part of the town militia, and did well enough to get one of her noble friends to make her some armor to wear on her outings. She doesn’t sound too remarkable, yet she was the only female player character in the RP, one of the only human player characters, the only one who’s main profession wasn’t related to killing things, the only character without any magical gear, the only character who wore armor, etc. I think you get the point. By being a relatively normal person, she stood out a lot more than the other characters.

On the topic of  “ugly character = better character” I gotta say EHHHHHHHHHHHHH but then again I also see where people are going with it. I was in an RP where someone actually mentioned several times about how remarkably attractive their character was, and she liked and wanted to hump everyone she came in contact with. Thing is, she was also sexually abused by her father. You’d think that would give her a twisted outlook on her beauty, where everyone who wanted to pursue her friendship was “like him” and just wanted to use her because she was pretty. I guess the dad thing was just to make her pitiable. Regardless, I’ve never experienced anything like an entire RP having two-dimensional characters because they were all pretty. I chalk that up to players who care more about wish fulfillment than telling a story. I think roleplayers have a tendency to gravitate towards certain roles that interest them. As they get better, they take one of two paths. Some try to acquire new experiences by signing up for roles they’ve never taken before. Others double down and refine what they want to play, sometimes because roleplaying is more about wish fulfillment to them. Unfortunate, but not every player is interested in making a unique character.