First things first, I think I know the basics of it, the same reason for fanfiction, characters from games and movies and shows are smexy, I wanna see them doing smexy things. But I don't understand why it's so common to see someone wanting to bang Insert Female Character Here and expects the person they're chatting up to be able to play the character well and to know who they are in the first place. It has so much that could go wrong for an RP that a fanfic or drawing avoid by the nature of being made by a person who cared about the character. And you can usually find high quality work on commonly requested characters way easier than you could a good RP partner.

So I just wanna know what the appeal is for RPing with/as a cannon character. I don't get it and am genuinely curious as to why it's so common to see.

Laziness of not wanting to gave to write the stuff about the character you'd be playing opposite lmao

Also easier to get sexual gratification from someone elses writing/work than just my own

Seggs. That's really the only reason that I see it (I'm guilty of it. I tend to avoid their cannon stuff though.)

They get to ride on ships and shoot things.

that's quite the simplistic view you've generalized over there Prodigy. Personally I like RPing with canon characters for the reasons OP mentioned, but I don't get the same satisfaction out of writing that an RP partner brings. I KNOW what I'm going to do next if I write erotica, I don't know what my partner will.

Beat me to it.

Serious answer: I don't quite understand. The way the OP is worded seems to imply that somebody playing a canon character is assured, or even required, to play them poorly. Did it not occur to you that some people are genuine fans of a character and know them inside and out? I personally only play a canon character that I am confident I understand thoroughly, so that my posts sound like they make sense according to that character.

I mean they asked a question and I gave an answer from my perspective and experience lmao

If you don't know Shiver's entire lore and backstory than we ain't fuckin'

It depends on the character. For me the character is just fun to play or they tailor to my kinks. I also love the dynamics of some characters. Like a character that is a busty shortstack to begin with adds something to play with. But I like original stuff just as much.

If I had to guess, they're attracted to the character and want to see them in sexual situations that aren't covered in the porn that they already get. It can work assuming the player has a solid grasp on the canon character they're playing, but when it's obviously just an OC wearing a canon character's skin, it can feel pretty hollow.

I may have been too negative in my post, though I do think that the vast majority of people who want to RP with/as those characters like and care about them, that was never in question. But I honestly can't remember an instance where I've seen someone play a cannon character well, and when I've with plots other people have given me, I tell them I don't know the character well then get brushed off.

I'm sure you do well portraying characters, but I haven't seen a good example in my time RPing. Haven't had a huge amount for my experience.

I don’t have to be myself

Oh this also

You are right. People never play them accurately. But that's what I like to do. I actually roleplay for real outside of just ERP and have so for years. They just don't know how to so they can't.

That's a damn shame. Like I mentioned, I ONLY play a canon character if I feel I have a good grasp on how they're written or portrayed in their media. This limits my repertoire considerably, but it's fine. I'm not in RP to quickly cash in on popularity for an easy fuck. I mean this with all due respect (because I know it sounds kinda snarky written out), but it sounds like you just need to be a lot more selective about who you agree to RP with.