Common Courtesy

Why is it that so many people do not answer PM's when they invite people to PM them? OK so they may not be interested in the person sending the PM or their interests but surely it is common courtesy to say, at the very least, thank you but no thank you?

I would venture to suggest, and I have getting on for 10 years of experienc RPing, that more people leave RP sites for this reason than any other. If you invite a post, PLEASE have the decency to respond to it!

This is my favorite discussion topic about this very thing: Why RP partners are so UNRELIABLE

Haven't seen Temp in a while but I think she outlines basically all of the legitimate reasons for not responding 100% of the time pretty well. They've been my reasons on occasion. This isn't a problem unique to you, I want you to know that right off the bat; you're not alone. That being said, if you've been rping that long, then you know this isn't new. Some sites I've been on have been more polite than others but this still comes up from time to time.

I've personally had issues trying to be "polite." Someone sent me a message and for some reason I think we won't be compatible. For a whole year, while looking for rps, I decided to give responses when before I'd simply walk away without a word. I tried just a simple "This won't work out, sorry." and got back desperate, clingy begging as the person promises to change everything about themselves just to keep me as a partner, when we hadn't even started anything yet. It was "rude" that I didn't give them a chance to waste my time. I tried explaining a little bit why I wasn't interested, "I'm not fond of the way you write your characters. We just don't fit. Good luck finding better partners!" and gotten back "You don't have to be rude; I'd prefer you hadn't said anything at all." Seriously. At that point, you really start to analyze who's courtesy you're doing it for. It's not an excuse but if I'm going to get bitten either way, I'd rather just not deal with it and move on. It is easier to keep ignoring someone, even when they send prompting messages and accuse you of being rude, than putting yourself out there and having to either peel them off with a stick or get spit in the face for the effort to be "kind."

Those have been my experiences with it. It's not fun to be abandoned but the more seriously you take this hobby, something creative that not everybody can just vomit up like nbd, the more likely you're encouraging this culture of "I'd rather not deal with this bullshit."

Common courtesy, like good manners, is now dead in the water. Sad, but definitely true.

This needs to be moved to journals. It is a rant and not a discussion. Quin made a relatively recent post about the same subject, close to the top of the GD page.

AmandaG said:

Why is it that so many people do not answer PM's when they invite people to PM them? OK so they may not be interested in the person sending the PM or their interests but surely it is common courtesy to say, at the very least, thank you but no thank you?

I would venture to suggest, and I have getting on for 10 years of experienc RPing, that more people leave RP sites for this reason than any other. If you invite a post, PLEASE have the decency to respond to it!

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I know what you mean I do my best to remember whenever possible