[MegaBlues]

really, no matter how uncomfortable it is, take the initiative

no matter how bad you perceive someone to be at rp, go give them a chance

not taking the first step and then crying that no one will rp with you is hypocritical (even though literally -everyone- has done it at some point or another)

of course there will be the people who will make you mash the 'abort' button, and some that just don't want anything to do with you, but the grand majority of people will be glad that there's a new face and a (hopefully) refreshing new personality for rp

go go go go go

[Clockworkers Doll]

In my experience, if you RP with anyone who looks new, you can possibly find an absolute gem of an RPer. I think one thing is that sometimes, new players can get unlucky and encounter the people in their cliques and almost nobody else, and it can make them turn away from the game while they assume the entire rest of the game is like that too. Generally what I tend to do is...
Find your first friend. This might be a bit of a difficult task, but you'll be able to find one if you're welcoming. RPing with newbies AS a newbie is probably one of the easier ways to do this, as well, and leaves them with a good impression too. Then try and reach out to that person's friend as well, or repeat step one if your first didn't have any. Start up your own little group that is -welcoming- to new people. Not one that looks like if I go up to them I'll just get ignored. Then, you have a set if a few/a lot of people who you can for sure RP with, but then you can also continue to reach out to people. It's the best way to get into the game, but it takes a bit more effort than sitting around and (seemingly) shitposting every once in awhile. The only use of that might just be so people know you're not AFKing. (which people do for what feels like hours sometimes...) I will agree that SL2 can seem kinda unwelcoming, but you really have to get out there and do things to be able to join in on the fun. If I didn't reach out to someone back in August, I wouldn't have the friends I do now.

I will agree that PvP has turned to being a major plot point of every 'major' character being like a god in PvP, but the simple thing is to... Well, not PvP. Find a good reason why NOT to be fighting like that. The simple 'I don't like sparing' or 'I don't want to be feeding people's egos' works fine. You can RP your way to 60 if you put a lot of time (and effort?) into SL2, as well.

I know I have problems with the anxiety that nobody gives a rat's ass about my character, but the only way to get rid of that is to properly reach out and actively start RPs. I'm hella social awkward, but I can usually RP pretty well if someone comes up to me with it. I think I agree with Egil, and Catabur + MegaBlues probably said this better than me, but I've worked on getting where I'm at in SL2 for at least a year. SL2 isn't really a place that goes out of their way to roleplay with newbies, but if you can show you're really trying to make friends and not constantly shitpost, I'm sure the community would start opening up.

[Ranylyn]

I wouldn't say you ruined your first impression, and if you stick around, I can basically promise things'll improve.

The issue is that, in real life, do you just approach random people for conversation? Probably not. People form their own little cliques of friends and acquaintances. But many people will also still join in if they hear a tpic they can relate to, you know? You just need to find that point to jump in. My first character spent a good solid week as more of a loner, until they ended up bonding with someone over violence of all issues - because both had similar experiences in that field. This isn't the only way to go about it, of course, but it's just an example.

I've been around for almost 2 years now, and I understand what you're trying to get at, but it's not exacty a "please RP with me" kind of community purely since we often try go go for more plausible interactions (even if we, as a community, have some very dumb habits, like loitering against the arena wall while arrows are raining down all around, but now's not the time to dissect all the silly little nuances.) So if you end up reading my post, I'd like to encourage you to try just one more time.