Deal Breakers. What makes you "walk" away?

[Lord Aphrodite]

When someone fails to follow clearly defined instructions, despite those instructions leaving no room for misinterpretation. I find if you can't follow a basic instruction then what confidence should I have that you'll follow a more complex instruction. I choose at that point not to waste my time because getting frustrated isn't what I am here to do.

I have a clause in most of my search threads that basically says “message me, because it’s gonna happen either way” you won’t believe how many people still reply to the thread.

 

[Jannah]

I have a clause in most of my search threads that basically says “message me, because it’s gonna happen either way” you won’t believe how many people still reply to the thread.

I admit to being guilty of that, but for me it's mostly a way to be able to find the page again if I need to go back to it.

 

[Tove]

I have a clause in most of my search threads that basically says “message me, because it’s gonna happen either way” you won’t believe how many people still reply to the thread.

Once, not here, I had just put up my request thread where I outlined wanting to be contacted via PM. It was a pretty long request thread but not even two minutes later some dude commented on the request thread. I guess he finally got around to actually reading some of it so he sends a pm saying and I quote "Hey, I read your request thread." and that was it. Decline.

 

[Skunk Lemon]

Once, not here, I had just put up my request thread where I outlined wanting to be contacted via PM. It was a pretty long request thread but not even two minutes later some dude commented on the request thread. I guess he finally got around to actually reading some of it so he sends a pm saying and I quote "Hey, I read your request thread." and that was it. Decline.

Yup. I just ignore clear lacks of effort. I lack the patience to attempt to suss out what you want. Don't make me ask you what you want to RP when you are contacting me. Please save EVERYONE the damn effort and just say everything you need to say in the first message.

And true to form even saying "when you PM me include what genre, themes, pairing, plot you'd like to do. . ." people still PM with "Hi I saw your thread" . . . nuke goes off in my brain at that point and I just turn off the internet and drink an entire pot of tea.

 

[Skunk Lemon]

I have a clause in most of my search threads that basically says “message me, because it’s gonna happen either way” you won’t believe how many people still reply to the thread.

Oh no. No no no. I believe you. If you ask people to make an effort you are 210% guaranteed to have someone A) post to your thread and B) PM with "hi i wanna rp with you"!

 

[Onmyoji]

PM with "hi i wanna rp with you"!

or most likely just "Hi"...

 

[Skunk Lemon]

or most likely just "Hi"...

OOF! Yeah oh man. Double nuclear breakdown in my head! >D

 

[jojoson]

no matter how creative the person is or how well they write, if they have a seeming lack of enthusiasm ooc it turns me off real quick bc it makes me feel like i'm doing something wrong, or like they're somehow being forced into rping with me. i like to scream and keymash ooc and i'm not even asking for that same level of enthusiasm, but showing me that you're actually at least somewhat interested in plotting and roleplaying with me goes a long way :'^(

 

[The Mad Queen]

Don't know how that relates to forcing every villain in the same team regardless of said villains' world views.

He was trying to force the demons and Ultron to be on the same team despite it not making any sense.

 

[Phantom Thief of Hearts]

He was trying to force the demons and Ultron to be on the same team despite it not making any sense.

different issue honestly. My issue was something the RP mods insisted on.

 

[melz]

-requiring forms for every rp (mainly for fandom 1x1 rps - forms for group or oc dont bother me at all), it seems kind of asinine if you both know the characters? if its for writing examples just ask for something, i'm not really good at bbcode and i don't like to mess with it because it's annoying
-people who prioritize following a strict plotline instead of letting the rp grow on its own. its good to have goals and ideas for how its going to go but you cant just force it to go that way if its not going to work out. that's something that you should do for your own writing if anything because it can come off as discordant or shoddy writing/transitioning if one rp partner is going one way while youre going the other.
-not trying. dont give me "he laughed" if i wrote a lot, please - thats nothing to work with.
-lastly if youre just a jerk ooc. its really draining to constantly try to rp and be comfortable enough to write around someone whos treating you like youre dirt on their shoe. ive had that happen and i ended up fretting over if my writing was good enough because they would always pick it apart.

 

[CactusWren]

Once, not here, I had just put up my request thread where I outlined wanting to be contacted via PM. It was a pretty long request thread but not even two minutes later some dude commented on the request thread. I guess he finally got around to actually reading some of it so he sends a pm saying and I quote "Hey, I read your request thread." and that was it. Decline.

Omg, thank god I’m not the only one who does this.

I’ve been doing this recently too, because I don’t want to bother putting too much effort into a roleplay that someone will put none into. I also noticed that 90% of the people who are like “pm me for plot” in the thread are the ones who put like no effort in the replies... or didn’t bother seeing whether we’re compatible by reading the “about me” section... or will not participate in the planning process at all...

I get it, roleplaying is supposed to be fun, but no partner is “one size fits all”, and I’m just trying to find a partner that fits mine...

That’s not to say that I’m super strict; I’ve actually just had someone who genuinely read everything and honestly either forgot/skipped it in their excitement, and then PMed me, apologized, proceeded to point out how we might be compatible and tell me what they liked about the plot. Heck yeah, I’d love to roleplay with you! The ones who are like “lol yeah I just didn’t bother reading everything”... no thank you...

 

[exy]

People who don't bother with grammar. I'm alright with text talk out of roleplay, but during roleplay is a big no.

 

[rae2nerdy]

When people use different tenses than the rest of the group. Like Persons A, C, and D are all using past tense but Person B uses present tense.

It’s annoying because it throws off the flow of the scene.

 

[spookie]

non-mobile friendly bbcodes.

you could be the best writer in the entire world with the best plot in the entire world, but none of that is gonna matter if my screen is full of warped borders and images overlapping any text.

i know not everyone uses mobile, but i do, and i'm not gonna bother quoting your post and picking the words out of the coding just to see if i might be interested.

 

[Tove]

People dropping the pre-existing relationship thing in the roleplay without even talking to me about it first. Oh, their character knows mine suddenly from some irrelevant encounter a long time ago. Their character has somehow met every single character I introduce to the roleplay. Yeah, no.

 

[Bun]

OOC is a huge thing for me, I love making friends with my partners, so at the end of the day it really depends on how they speak to me if I’ll keep going. Plotting with someone who doesn’t seem to want to throw any ideas out is another big no. Also those who only play one gender and refuse to double... yeah... no. I don’t normally judge people for their grammar skills cuz I am no genius, but if you’re already making spelling mistakes in our OOC, chances are I’ll drop it like a sack of flour. I get not typing with capitals and whatnot OOC but spelling is always gonna be important! I also would prefer my partners to be over 18 but sometimes I can’t truly tell. ‍♀ The biggest no: rushing me to reply. BIG. No. I’m not a picky person, really, I’d just like to be treated with mutual respect!

 

[Nue]

If I get a sense that people aren't really good at separating their character from themselves. I get that it's basically impossible to create anything without imprinting a little bit of yourself on it, even by accident, but I feel like I've ran into a lot of roleplayers who get mad OOC when one character argues with theirs, or doesn't like their character, or doesn't want to be romantically involved with that character.. Like it's a personal attack on them. And it sucks, because I think people are afraid to have drama between their characters out of a fear that people will react like that.

Also, this should hopefully be a given, but if it seems like the person OOC is a jerk or has some uhh, unconventional (bigoted) world views, I don't really want to continue. We don't have to be best friends or agree on everything, but I don't like to spend time with/humor bigots, no matter how good they might be at roleplaying.

 

[rae2nerdy]

If I get a sense that people aren't really good at separating their character from themselves. I get that it's basically impossible to create anything without imprinting a little bit of yourself on it, even by accident, but I feel like I've ran into a lot of roleplayers who get mad OOC when one character argues with theirs, or doesn't like their character, or doesn't want to be romantically involved with that character.. Like it's a personal attack on them. And it sucks, because I think people are afraid to have drama between their characters out of a fear that people will react like that.

Also, this should hopefully be a given, but if it seems like the person OOC is a jerk or has some uhh, unconventional (bigoted) world views, I don't really want to continue. We don't have to be best friends or agree on everything, but I don't like to spend time with/humor bigots, no matter how good they might be at roleplaying.

Yeah I agree. I had one girl get all preachy about my character being non-heterosexual (and it was in the early stages where I had just asked hey would you be okay if my character is X).

And got an immediate diatribe about how homosexuality (my character wasn’t gay) is a sin and blah blah blah.

So I was like, um I think we aren’t a good match but good luck.

 

[Nue]

Yeah I agree. I had one girl get all preach about my character being non-heterosexual (and it was in the early stages where I had just asked hey would you be okay if my character is X).

And got an immediate diatribe about how homosexuality (my character wasn’t gay) is a sin and blah blah blah.

So I was like, um I think we aren’t a good match but good luck.

People like that are usually always two seconds away from going into bigoted rants so that's a pretty good call, lol. It's also one of those things where their beliefs are probably going to bleed into their actual roleplays so it's just safe to give those people a wide berth in general, lol

 

[FoolsErin]

My deal-breakers are things like if it's a group RP but it's set up so that one or two characters are the focal point the entire RP seems to revolve around and everyone else is treated as "supporting cast" because it never ends well, people always end up left out and feeling unimportant and also like... if someone and their bff want to be the main characters of a thread, do a 1x1. Another deal-breaker people shipping things like incest or minors with adults. It makes me uncomfortable.

Forced ships, constant purple prose to meet post length quotas, extremely anal rules but also a complete lack of rules are also things I bounce away from.

Glory, I probably sound like a real curmudgeon...

PREACH IT. I WAS IN A ROLEPLAY ONCE WHERE THAT WAS A HUGE PROBLEM.

 

[Tove]

If I don't have a response to a roleplay an hour after the starter is posted, never going to happen, it is assumed I've dropped the roleplay. I take my time with my responses because they tend to be long, I don't like rushing nor will I ever rush.

If I express interest in a plot on someone's request thread, I provide ideas, but the person does not appear interested to help plot with their own idea.

This has probably be mentioned before by me and others, one thing that gets me is if I am interested in someone's plot we throw around a few ideas after which I'm asked/expected to do the starter especially the person's plot involves a world they've made up already. I'm not a mind-reader. If a person is trying to show the scene they set up it would make more sense for them to do the starter.
A couple of times when I did do the openers with hardly any information the other person got mad because I didn't include stuff they wanted. Well, should have done the opener. This annoys me. I won't necessarily walk away unless I'm expected to make the opener.

 

[Alphaone]

Certainly when there is way too much organisation or planning, leaving very little or no room for improvising, then the element of surprise is not going to be available. Another big "no", for me at least, is when you feel from the onset that there is no flow at all, there is no connection, kind of like a real relationship.

 

[Tove]

When people take all of the fun out of writing together. They're so serious that their RT feels more like some exam to graduate school and if you get one thing wrong you can't write them. While I do like a certain level of seriousness, you both are committed to coming up with a plot you enjoy and contribute ideas to, I think it's ridiculous to treat the roleplay as if it will be a novel about to be published and added to the New York Times Best sellers.

 

[Becker]

When people take all of the fun out of writing together. They're so serious that their RT feels more like some exam to graduate school and if you get one thing wrong you can't write them. While I do like a certain level of seriousness, you both are committed to coming up with a plot you enjoy and contribute ideas to, I think it's ridiculous to treat the roleplay as if it will be a novel about to be published and added to the New York Times Best sellers.

*Raises hand of guilt*

Whilst I wouldn't say i'm a complete hard-ass but I do sometimes go out of my way to ensure my writings are accurate in terms of lore and what not. You've already seen my rantings about accuracy in threads. "No, a AK-74 has a under-side paddle for the magazine release and not a filthy, Western button on the side. What do you think this is? La-la-land?" Whilst I do understand that not everyone enjoys firearm mechanics like I do, i've repeatedly asked for people to do some research into the equipment they give their character and it's not just firearms, it could be anything. Medieval stuff: That helmets your knight is wearing is a sallet, why not look around for a bevor to further increase their face protection? Your 'Rogue' is using a bow against a heavily armoured knight, time to break out the Bodkins and pray for a lucky hit. I would never ask someone to attend a history class just to take part in a medieval RP that i'm running but at the very least I do expect some homework to be done on items that they have in their character's possession. Furthermore, I feel it really adds to the immersion of the world. Seeing someone write how their Gambeson dampened a heavy blow from an opponent's axe or how their service pistol had a stove-pipe malfunction and so he had to retreat behind his police cruiser, get access to the shotgun in the boot and lay down some suppressing fire on the bank-robbers.

It's the little details that make my heart flutter with joy.