Why does burnout lead to drama? Well let’s take a moment to break it down on what causes the burnout. Generally speaking burnout happens when; a) you’ve played too long or too often b) you’ve had a lot of really draining scenes c) you’re not getting along with your RP partners and/or d) you never stop talking about it. Okay let’s take point A. You’ve played too long or too often, this happens all the time. As a collective, RPers do not let stories sit and take a break, instead they keep them going until they burn out. Due to the fact that digital RP is constantly going, serious FOMO kicks in and really creates that drive to always be involved. You get a high from being a part of these things and seeing your creative work come to fruition. The unfortunate part of that is the fact that because you have that need and drive to stay up to date with the stories you never allow yourself to decompress properly. Your mind is always thinking about what can I do next or where can we take this story next? When I say break, I mean complete break: don’t go into streams, don’t interact with discord servers or websites. Actually let yourself take a proper break and decompress regularly. In not doing this you remove the ability to tell the difference between what’s real and what is pretend, which leads me to point B. 

When we do these big dramatic scenes, whether they be filled with comedy, drama, intrigue, fear, etc, it is draining on the psyche. I know this is said by many folks all the time, but our body does not know the difference between real and pretend. When we’re acting we still react and feel the emotion that we’re trying to portray. If we are sad, sometimes we’ll actually cry which is exhausting physically and mentally. When we continue to push those boundaries and keep doing draining scene after draining scene without a break we not only affect ourselves but those around us, which leads to point C: not getting along with our RP partners.

Oh my god. This is one of the worst and most toxic issues within digital RP. I don’t just mean romantic RP partners: I mean everyone we interact with. Roleplaying is a partnership. In GTA, especially, criminal vs. police is one of the most toxic relationships to exist. No one, I mean no one, accepts when they’re wrong. I so often saw people bitching and complaining (and I am just as guilty) over things that don’t matter. When we continue these toxic discussions that do nothing but circle and don’t try to create a solution, it benefits no one. We have to accept where we are wrong in these situations, and we have to stop assuming the worst about everyone. I did not like what I was becoming because I could see myself falling into this bad habit. I stepped away and started observing and noticed that the same people who kept complaining were the very people who never accepted their fault in any situation, therefore leading to their RP partners not trusting them nor wanting to interact with them. Accepting our own faults in situations will go far, not only in understanding each other in life, but also in pushing good RP. This leads me to my final point: we never stop talking about it. I mean never. Now that I have time because I’m not spending every extra moment in RP I’m able to sit in streams and chill and the thing is many of the people I enjoy stream both RP and other games. The issue is that people who are in the RP community come in and never stop talking about it. It’s talked about in streams, it’s talked about in discord, it’s talked about in DMs, etc. Even if you’re not physically playing the mind continues to think on it, which circles back to point A of never taking a break.

Combining all of these things it makes me dislike digital RP now. I have a genuine disgust for it because I did not like how I was becoming a toxic person, I don’t like that it consumed my world for a year, and I hate how I behaved around people when they didn’t do what I thought they should have. I became bitter due to many reasons including the fact that I put a lot of volunteer hours into the community I was in to receive no credit and very harsh criticism in return, and I let that affect me. I am not a person who can do that. I want credit for my good deeds. I want to help, I want to grow and learn and support others. I was not doing any of this by the end of it. I gained some amazing stuff over a year of digital RP, including friendships and a new career field, so I don’t regret it. I do think that for me it was time to stop putting myself through that torture. 

I’m not saying I don’t support digital RP. What I’m saying is: check yourself. Make sure you’re not falling into the bad habits that I and many others fall into. Don’t let FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) keep you from taking proper time off from it, and stop making it all you do. Stop making it all about you. If you focus too much on “my story” and “my character” you’ll ignore and forget everyone else around you. This is an entitled mindset that easily infiltrates every RP space not just digital RP spaces. If you do nothing but think about RP you have an addiction. I’m not joking, the endorphins and adrenaline you get from RP is very addictive so be careful with it.

May is Mental health awareness month which is why I wanted to share my story. Your mental health matters if you or a loved one are struggling with mental health please don’t hesitate to reach out for help.

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988 or 741741 for US or UK and 686868 for Canada
YouthLine: Text teen2teen to 839863, or call 1-877-968-8491
Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: call or text 1-800-422-4453
National Domestic Violence Hotline: Text “START” to 88788 or call 1-800-799-7233
National Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-855-812-1001
RAINN: 1-800-656-4673
The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678
Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860
SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357