I'd like to share a little bit of how I view roleplay:
Roleplay has been a massive positive experience on not just my mental health, but also my life. My very first RP site I was on was a Warriors site that had its own host (I don't remember if it was actually self-host or it did use one, but it wasn't on PB, Jcink, etc). I LOVED the series and I've always wanted to sort of create my own "story" off of it, so the idea of creating my own character, being able to write with other people's characters, and managing to have SOME form of impact on the plot was straight up dope as a tiny wittle baby. I'm a very imaginative person, so having a space (a la preferred rp genre) where I can actually make stories and memorable plots with other people who have the same sentiment was very mind blowing.
I've never really used roleplay as a form of escapism or view it as such whenever life is being a little shite head, only because I do think my mood can heavily impact how I write and how I interact with other fellow writers, so I just take a step back, breathe in, breathe out, and come back whenever I'm more levelheaded. Other hobbies like video games are how I cope whenever something terrible happens because I'm all on my own, I have no one to snap at by accident, etc (singleplayer games are a blessing fr). I know how I act whenever my mental health goes to shite and me being able to recognize that roleplay isn't the best outlet to escape from reality in my case prevented SO much conflicted that would've ignited on my end if were to do so otherwise.
I think the ONLY time where roleplay has had an actual negative effect on my mental health are negative people within the community I'm in, mainly the ones that just needlessly start drama on an issue that could either be dealt with privately or something that can be handled swiftly by all parties involved. Writing itself with other people has never been an issue, but rather who's in the space and their overall demeanor. Here's a little snippet:
So this was way back when I was still a freshman in high school, so like 14-15. I was on a Naruto site and I noticed that the position, Hokage, was available as said on the village's roster. I want you to keep in mind, they had a "first come, first serve" type of system, if you will. Whoever finishes their app first for a position gets it, provided there are little to no errors for fixing.
I thought, "oh cool, I can just transfer one of my kage's here!" because I was way too lazy to whip up a fresh new one. I asked staff if I could do it, and they said sure. So boom, I was Hokage.
Now, this guy, I'll name him Doe, was not pleased. Doe already had a WIP up for Hokage, but it was never mentioned in the title that he was applying for Hokage nor was there any sort of reservation made (even though it's first come, first serve), NOR DID STAFF EVEN TELL ME THAT SOMEONE WAS WORKING ON A HOKAGE.
Doe was OUTRAGED. He complained that he's been working and has been chanting "DEATH TO (my Hokage's name)" and "DEATH TO KONOHA." He's been making op jutsu and shit to try and wreck the village and the staff were just egging it on along with the majority of the members that were present. Only like one staff member and two regular members were like "ayo chill it ain't that deep."
I had no choice but to revoke (idk if that's the right word) my position as Hokage because it was all overwhelming. That little bit- I mean Doe was very smug about it as he became Hokage, acting as if I was still going to serve under him. It wasn't until one out of the two regular members gave up one of the kage positions they were working for on their apps for me, which was extremely nice of them.
Alas, I was a very petty bitch at the time who wasn't in the right headspace at the time. How petty, you may ask? To sum it all up, I cussed up a storm, I said stuff that should NEVER be said, and it went to a point where I convinced my friends to start trolling and spreading rumors about the site that ultimately led to its closing just months later.
Am I proud of what I did? At the time, 14-15 year old me would say absolutely; they deserved it. 90% of them were assholes that deserved to be treated like dirt. I D G A F.
Am I proud of it now? Looking back at it, the most I could've done is just simply walk away instead of going the extra mile of ruining a site that people who were actually considerate and generous on. Or, realistically speaking for 14-15 year old me, call them bitches and dip LMAO.
So, echoing the sentiment that others have said, roleplay isn't this or that, but it's really on how it's used and why it's being used that way. BUT, in my opinion, I don't think it's the
best hobby for I guess you can say coping or a form of escapism. Being able to use roleplay as a way to relieve stress and distract yourself is 100% valid, but it's a problem when you become
too reliant on it as such.
