PSA: Safe Roleplaying

[Gildarts]

I was at dinner with a friend recently when she told me she has a Roleplay partner on Devianart. Later she told me she planned on someday going to live with her in Japan. Her friend also wants to come visit her here too. They Roleplay a little every night, but my friend doesn't know what she looks like, and they don't seem super interested in swapping pics.

Now this is all well and fine, I don't need to know what you look like to write with you, but I just wanted to voice that if you plan or talk about meeting someone, even if you think you have a good idea of who that person is, it is always good to remain cautious and always meet in a public place. I would hate to see anything happen to anyone because of your favorite hobby.

This message is for girls AND boys, who can handle themselves as adults, but should remember that there are dangerous people out there if you aren't careful.

Happy Roleplaying!

[Amaterasu]

We shall be careful, Gildarts-senpai :froggonk:

In all seriousness though, that's one of the reasons why I draw such a big line between my "online self" and my "real self". Many people don't even know what country I live in, let alone my city, name or anything because I'm so paranoid about it. That's me of course, but to those who want to make friends in the real world, not just through two screens, do be careful out there

[Gamzee Makara]

When I go off into the night and do my revelry and whatnot, I have a homie that I throw the address to and my general location what Im doing who im with etc etc. I just tell them that if i dont text them by a certain time I'm locked up in some girl's basement or lying dead in a ditch next to my wrecked car. and that they should call me/ my parents. :'DDDDD

Not exactly the same thing, but if it helps you sleep at night, you could have a trusted friend keep tabs on you throughout the meet up or whatevs.

[Strazio Rockwell]

I've met a few of my online friends in real life. I drove for several hours to meet a guy I had never met in person before. He lived in Detroit and I met him at his house and planned to stay the weekend to hang out. I knew the guy for several years before I ever met him so I wasn't going into it completely blind. It was potentially sketchy, but having played games with him for years I figured it was pretty safe.

I also spent a week up in Canada to spend time with some more internet buddies. Similar scenario as the Detroit one, except I stayed at like four different houses while I was there. All-in-all it was one of the best weeks of my life. I wouldn't have gone had I not been talking and playing video games with these guys for several years prior to meeting them.

Hell I've even gone for drinks with Protoman while I was in Chicago, despite having only been a part of the site for a few months at the time.

Personally I think the internet isn't as dangerous as some people make it out to be. yes there are incidents where things go sideways, but on the whole internet people are just normal people not out to murder or anything. Despite all of my prior experience with this stuff I do recommend meeting people in public places, unless you've known them for several years.

[Gildarts]

I've met a few of my online friends in real life. I drove for several hours to meet a guy I had never met in person before. He lived in Detroit and I met him at his house and planned to stay the weekend to hang out. I knew the guy for several years before I ever met him so I wasn't going into it completely blind. It was potentially sketchy, but having played games with him for years I figured it was pretty safe.

I also spent a week up in Canada to spend time with some more internet buddies. Similar scenario as the Detroit one, except I stayed at like four different houses while I was there. All-in-all it was one of the best weeks of my life. I wouldn't have gone had I not been talking and playing video games with these guys for several years prior to meeting them.

Hell I've even gone for drinks with Protoman while I was in Chicago, despite having only been a part of the site for a few months at the time.

Personally I think the internet isn't as dangerous as some people make it out to be. yes there are incidents where things go sideways, but on the whole internet people are just normal people not out to murder or anything. Despite all of my prior experience with this stuff I do recommend meeting people in public places, unless you've known them for several years.

I may not agree with every part of this but thanks for your input man.

On the other hand I think it would be fun to meet some of you guys and hang out. Then I would take a selfie and post it right under your Chicago adventure, Straz.

[Gamzee Makara]

I'd like to throw in I've met some internet homebrews in real life as well. That being said, I have mixed feelings about the whole dangers thing. When I first got into homestuck, I was in a really dumb chatroom rp and I met some of my friends from it at a con in Dallas. We'd known each other for a whole year if not more, so it was super chill. Then, I've also met some some gaming buddies from psn. All we did was meet up at an old school arcade and goof off. It was plenty of fun. You just have to be soup soup careful about what you're doing, and never go somewhere without telling other folks. Thats my belief at least.

[Trixie]

Met the misses on World of Warcraft. She thought I was a girl.

[Harlan Higgs]

If anyone is in the New York City area and feels like they need a tour guide, I'm always down to make new friends .

[Jak Mar]

If you guys are around FL, let me know. We can meet someday.

[Gildarts]

Remember to meet in a public place guys.

[Smith]

I hung out with Mickey at one of his performances once. That was neat.

[Proto Man]

Trixie, Thaal, and I had Taco Bell once somewhere in Ohio.

[Ruby Rose]

Anyone wanna come meet up with an Aussie? Or a few, swing past Mina (if he's okay) as well? XD That's beside the point; I mean, I'm only young, but I'm not fully trusting of everyone I meet. However, I do take much of what people say at face value, at least until I can prove something about them wrong.

Not to mention it's mostly fellow writers I talk to; people think we can be scary, because we know how to write as someone that isn't us. The truth is, because we're always being someone else, many of us want to be known behind the characters. Of course, there are a few bad apples, but I think us writers are some of the most honest social media users you could find.

[Trixie]

Trixie, Thaal, and I had Taco Bell once somewhere in Ohio.

While skirting a terrible Thunderstorm. I remember this.

[Omni]

I met Ben (The Stacker) once, but I've known him for 12 years.

It's weird because some people draw a very hard line between their online and offline 'selves'. For folks like Alex, Joe or Jeff, I'm sure it'd probably be like continuing a skype conversation just like when I and Ben met up, because we've known each other for so long and we pretty much all know what we look/sound like. However, it's hard to say you 'know' someone from their personality on a message board. People can be very different in real life. Some people come to these kinds of sites to roleplay a character both IC and OOC. That's fine, but be aware of that and if someone is evasive when you ask questions pertaining to their real life, know that it's probably best to stay online friends and not push it any further than that.

I think you need to be especially wary having long distance relationships with people you've met online. People have a tendency to put across their "best self" and it's easy to be over-optimistic and project only good qualities into the blanks. After all, you don't see people picking their nose and wiping it on their shirt when you're chatting with them through text This is not a warning I'm expectant of anyone to heed - humans will be humans, especially in regards to following our hearts and libidos. But when you get your heart broken, don't say I didn't warn you~

[Eleanor Lamb]

I will continue having my harem of Omniverse lovers despite your warning, Greg!

But on a serious note, listen to Sam you guys. It's a dangerous world out there. I trust Ganon completely but I'm glad we met so publicly that first time and I'm sure he feels the same way. It's just safer in general, no matter how cool they are.

Jeff has also heard me sing <3

[Trixie]

I met Ben (The Stacker) once, but I've known him for 12 years.

It's weird because some people draw a very hard line between their online and offline 'selves'. For folks like Alex, Joe or Jeff, I'm sure it'd probably be like continuing a skype conversation just like when I and Ben met up, because we've known each other for so long and we pretty much all know what we look/sound like. However, it's hard to say you 'know' someone from their personality on a message board. People can be very different in real life. Some people come to these kinds of sites to roleplay a character both IC and OOC. That's fine, but be aware of that and if someone is evasive when you ask questions pertaining to their real life, know that it's probably best to stay online friends and not push it any further than that.

I think you need to be especially wary having long distance relationships with people you've met online. People have a tendency to put across their "best self" and it's easy to be over-optimistic and project only good qualities into the blanks. After all, you don't see people picking their nose and wiping it on their shirt when you're chatting with them through text This is not a warning I'm expectant of anyone to heed - humans will be humans, especially in regards to following our hearts and libidos. But when you get your heart broken, don't say I didn't warn you~

All I have to say is Milk Bubble and Karen on Chubbs. Alex and Greg would know what I mean. >.< Don't let anybody pull your heart strings over the internet just because you're nice to them. To be a 19 year old idiot again haha