What would you need, to feel like you had a role in SL?

I now get what you are saying here. Let me respond to it with a question:

Do the experiences of those who you are asking count as nothing then?

I was thinking the same thing. In wanting our role playing to be accepted and encouraged, we have to be just as accomodating to accept others in theirs. Even if it means temporarily subjugating our role.

No, but I am cautious about them. Almost since I started people I have talked to have spoken about getting offers of involvement from others, feedback or help with builds or other items, responses to their actions and so on that I never have. The only conclusion I could draw is that a lot of SL doesn't like me. So I value hearing people's experiences but they are more likely to just reprove that point than to encourage anything.

Can you think of any reason you might be having a different experience than other people?

LOL

I take it from Love's comment that this is a sarcastic comment about my arguing. The only problem is, when I first started I didn't do it, and still missed out on those things.. The arguing developed because it seemed to be the only talk people wanted to have with me.

Actually, it's a leading question (see) to suggest that you may be inadvertently expressing yourself in a way that doesn't invite cooperation. I don't think the arguing is the cause, so much as, perhaps, a reaction to the result.

I don't think Yumi is looking for RP in SL at all, if she was, she would have told us already. She's more likely looking for usenet-style endless arguments, to pass the time, because here people continue to reply to her.. unlike in SL, I assume, from what she told us..

I still have a few suggestions, Yumi. For freeform roleplay, you could try CARP. Yes, it's BDSM themed, but otherwise, you can pick any role, and at least some people there are likely to pick it up and play along with you. If you feel restricted by having certain builds around you, etc., then I suggest trying a form of freeform known as jeepform. I don't know if anyone is doing it in SL (why don't you find out!) or IRL around where you live, but it might be the type of RP that, finally, might satisfy you. If it is RP that you are looking for, that is.

Bagushii, this thread wasn't supposed to be purely about RP, though. That's why I used the words, "Have a role" in the title of the thread. Those people who answered that their role was being a content creator, that was a perfectly valid answer. The big problem I had when writing the poll was that I wasn't happy with the words ".. play along with.." because that didn't really convey what I wanted to get across, but I couldn't think of another way of doing it that wouldn't have been more confusing. What I wanted to say was "to act in a way that supports the idea that you really are in the role you want to be in", but _not_ with the rule that this has to be done artificially. So that, say, not just someone who treats you like a vampire because you want to be a vampire; but also somebody who buys from you, thereby treating you like the content creator you want to be, even though doing you a favour that way isn't their motivation for doing so. I was going to say "supports a role" but that sounds too much like "praises" or "provides content for" or even "does not technically disallow". Maybe "endorse"?

The reason why I didn't mention role-play specifically is that the lines are kinda blurry in many cases, and part of the reason for the question was to ask about them. For example, there are "ballet studios" in SL which do nothing but practice because in a performance the audience would not be reciprocated. Yet there was also an "SL ballet" performance a while back which was advertised and attended even though it didn't do anything remarkably different from what those groups do. So were the audience reciprocated somehow? Maybe it was just because they'd get to network with IBM and MDC people? Or how about the Odd Ball? If you ask Tuna what his role is, he'll say he's a magician, but no-one would call what he does in SL "magic" normally, they'd call it "VJing" or "son et lumiere". So is he a magician in SL, or is he role-playing a magician while actually being a VJ, or what is it?

I hope this also makes it clear why I didn't "post what role-play I was trying to do" because I didn't want to restrict things to role-play or to only things I colud consider doing.