Experiences have you ever rejected an application & why?

[mizton]

besides trolls, i'm curious if there's ever been a seemingly well-written character that you had to reject? what about the character wasn't appropriate for the rp/etc?

alternatively...

• has your application ever been rejected?
• have you ever been in a group with a character that should've been rejected? what was that like?

preferably stories that happened on other websites or a long-long time ago, if possible; i don't want to host any arguments or anything. but i am nosy thanks in advance!

 

[Insanitation]

Yea, I rejected a lot of them. Usually people wanting romance centered ones and their character wouldn't have chemistry with mine. I tend to overthink my characters and it makes them only useful in specific genres. They often already have a type and I'm not usually willing to change them. I'd rather make a whole new character.

I reject partners using real people as face claims, it's not like casting a role. These people didn't sign up for it and I know I'd sure be weirded out if I saw my ugly mug as someone's "OC." I've also been rejected for using anime and manga style.

I've rejected, and been rejected for power level discrepancies. Example, it's not usually fun to play a rookie Pokémon trainer against a former elite four champion character. There are exceptions, but often people don't like to have their once-in-a-generation prodigy character to ever look bad. This makes it hard for the other playing the lucky idiot noob to ever be useful.

I've rejected potentially great partners because of them wanting a much mellower setting when I wanted edgy and vice versa.

 

[Jannah]

I typically don't GM, but I have a list of criteria that would lead me to reject applications:
-The character concept just overall not fitting into the vision for the universe/plot
-The character being too overpowered (although before outright rejection I would ask the writer to tweak)
-Using Anime faces (typically don't mesh with my more realistic RP settings but again I would ask the writer to find another face before outright rejecting)
-The writer's style not fitting with the criteria I have established (for example, one-liners and simple paragraphs when I asked for literate)

To some this may seem a bit strict, but eh. My RP's, my rules.

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

I've accepted characters when I should have rejected them. The character with homicidal voices submitted to a slice of life boarding school is probably chief among them. I asked them to change their character after they had posted a couple of times when it would have been better to be upfront about it. I was maybe 18 or around there.

I've been working on my assertiveness over the past couple of years, but I can't recall a time in recent years when I declined a character. Most of the games I've run have been sandboxes without a player cap. It's a little easier to be less concerned about character quality if they're not taking a spot from someone else, lol.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Oh yeah I think the funniest one was when someone tried to join a Bat family roleplay as the Riddler. Like the literal title was “Bat family” and all the open slots where various robins, batgirls, etc.

I mean I guess technically the character could have fit and I might have even said yes it’s been years. But I remember cuz it kinda made me laugh.

I had gone out of my way to emphasis this was about a particular family and they were like “but what about this villain though.”

 

[Edric Blight]

In my short time being a GM, have I ever rejected an application? No actually. And I’ll tell you why, yes even when a character is submitted that doesn’t hit all the requirements and you can tell the player didn’t read the rules.

Everyone knows that gut feeling right? My main reason for never rejecting even when I should is because I just know that deep down in my gut, this said player is gonna drop out.

So far I’ve been right. Not really a good basis to go on but sometimes I get like this feeling this player isn’t gonna stick with the RP when they notice the level of writing in it so they either dip announced or scared and unannounced.

So yea, that’s why I’ve never personally had to reject anyone. They eventually saw themselves out in the end.

 

[Idea]

besides trolls, i'm curious if there's ever been a seemingly well-written character that you had to reject? what about the character wasn't appropriate for the rp/etc?

I don’t recall any case of that, though it’s possible that way back when I rejected some character some rule a player missed and they never bothered correcting it. However, most of the time if I reject a character it has to do with something that I consider part of the writing or were otherwise correlated with what I would consider more poorly written characters. Things like a minimally narratively functional personality (so neither flawless nor full of contradictions and non-commitments) and backstory, or alternatively relatively balanced and clear powers (which aren’t themselves linked to character quality but it’s surprisingly common from what I’ve seen that a poorly designed or blatantly easy to exploit power to be associated with an otherwise lower quality of character design). Now granted, I AM far more lenient with these things today than I used to be in the past - I’d go down to asking you how fast you can make things down to talking about differences in minutes, for instance. Furthermore most of my roleplays nowadays barely get enough members or if they do come more than expected it’s one or two extras. Rule of first come first served has worked out decently for me so far.

has your application ever been rejected?

That depends. I haven’t been rejected in a way that would be kick me out of a roleplay in of itself. I generally avoid any RPs that have a system of “everyone makes their characters then we choose which to pick for the roleplay” because I don’t like to take my chances with it, as it would be wasted effort and I put too much of it in my characters to waste it like that. As such, if my application is rejected this means “you can’t play this character but you can fix your CS still to try to be accepted”.

Now that being said, if my character’s core concept is rejected, or if I feel I am being rejected for entirely arbitrary reasons, then odds are that will instantly kill my motivation to join the roleplay. I am fine with tweaking character details and working with GMs to be sure it all fits, but not only is my motivation to join a roleplay often the fact that I came up with that character concept, but 90% of the time the rejection of the character concept isn’t the actual result of a problem with the concept, but rather the GM rejecting some side tangent and refusing to try to work on something that would meet both people’s needs. Whether it’s something like this or merely for arbitrary reasons, it’s a big hit in my ability to trust a GM. After all, who knows what else might be suddenly denied to me by hidden rules without even the minimal effort to find a compromise?

have you ever been in a group with a character that should've been rejected? what was that like?

Too many to count to be honest. Results varied. The vast majority of these just consisted of the typical types of bad design, and the results of said bad design were pretty much what you’d expected- contradictory / vague characters acting more like sock puppets whose entire mode of being adapted to whatever was more convenient from a meta gaming perspective, poorly designed powers had limitations when there was nothing at stake but otherwise seemed to do even more than description suggested, or in worse cases they were power that just seemed to spring a new “application” that solved whatever issue was at hand, etc… backstories were of the few things I don’t recall seeing a specific problem manifesting from, but that is likely linked to a lack of duration of said roleplays.

Even within these standards though, player attitudes and the reasons why they made the bad designs influenced a lot of things. There were players that surpassed my initial expectations regarding this, writing far better and being far more engaging than I would have given them credit for in a vacuum. On the other hand there were plenty who - through inexperience or because they were trying to exploit things to begin with - would either double down or turn 180 degrees out of the blue.

There was one example that was very memorable to me though which also falls outside this mold. It was a D&D type RP in an original setting. After I took a look at the worldbuilding I noticed there was a significant emphasis on the political systems and organization in it. I don't remember exactly how the conversation flowed, but I recall mentioning that I wouldn't be comfortable with tying this in with real world political discussion / movements, which I was assured wouldn't happen. Low and behold though when another player shows up that not only seeks to deeply tie his character to a real world political movement, but who took a homebrew class entirely based on said movement, and tied just about everything about the character to it, and this was the tip of the problems. They were accepted though and to avoid antagonizing the player or GM I decided to give it a shot anyway, but things remained very awkward. Even while roleplaying there was this constant framing from this player into the politics, though the character was so saturated with them to begin with that it was hard to tell where it was character perspective and where it was just the way the player wrote things.

The roleplay ended up stalling and dying on its own, but what would have happened if the roleplay kept going is a question God only knows the answer to.




Aaanyways, I guess that turned into a half-rant. Still, I hope the answer was at least an enjoyable read.

 

[Steve Jobs]

Until recently, I primarily did app based roleplays and all the ones I GMed in the past required some form of submission (whether a full on application or a simple form). Of those, two were co-GMed and thus, we all were responsible for judging.

Since most of these RPs had multiple people competing for the same role we had to look, not for reasons why we should reject them but instead, why they should be accepted over the other choices. Who would best mesh with the world? Which RPer understood what we were looking for in a particular role? We also looked at writing quality, whether a character felt unbalanced, and their potential to further the plot. On the off chance we couldn't find anyone we were more than happy to give critiques on existing apps to make them more in line with the world/plot.

There have only been two occasions where I regret accepting a character: the first was because they ended up blowing up at the GM for putting the RP on hiatus and the second because they ghosted after I gave them a second chance.

I can't say much about participating in RPs (I didn't GM) where another character should have been rejected b/c I don't claim to know what the GM was looking for, but I can say that there were certainly some annoying characters that I did my best to avoid when plotting (unless it would truly make sense with my character). I've found that it's rarely about the character (that can always be fixed) but about the player.

I've had two instances where a character I submitted was rejected in favor of another. Both were deserved (particularly the second one since it was very cliche) so I don't look back at them with any regret.

 

[Lorsh]

yes i reject applications when they suck and are bad (or i have too many)

 

[GojiBean]

These are the most common reasons I've rejected character sheet submissions in my time as a role-player and GM:

* The character sheet violates the rules/guidelines of the RP
* The character sheet does not conform to the Character Sheet requirements I placed upon all submissions
* The character sheet is obviously not designed for my RP, and are just a lazy copy-paste move from previous RP's the user was in (as well as there being minimal to no effort in adjusting the character for this RP)
* If the user is known to be a deliberate ghoster amongst the community, and who always disappears after making fewer than three posts, hard pass
* If I have bad history with a user and they made no attempt at making amends to the broken relationship before just throwing a character at my RP (or worse, and yes this has happened, they say "I still don't like you but I like the RP idea, so here I am.")
* The RP is dead but someone comes in way late to throw a character sheet anyway without checking if it's still alive

Those are the most common reasons I've rejected character submissions in my RP's before.

Usually I give everyone the benefit of the doubt and exercise a lot of patience with giving them time to make sure the submissions are just right. And so long as I see an obvious effort and can feel good will coming from them, I'll usually always accept submissions.

Cheers!

 

[Kaiju Cat]

Well not really I was just asked to add more pivotal details to my character sheet and was good to go. I had to reject someone’s character because there were too many similarities to the canon character from the show their oc is based on and had learned his unique ability when he’s not dead yet in the story.

Oh boy. I talked about this oc a lot. This character should’ve been rejected for many reasons because the writer would beat us in the head how bad ass her oc is. Problem? It’s a zombie apocalypse setting I swear she put her character in dangerous situations that would get her oc bitten or killed. The fan favorite would always be forced to save her oc. It felt got to point the role play felt like it was becoming about the fan favorite and her oc. It’s no secret that rp died.

I don’t want to sound like an ass I don’t think stupidity should be rewarded or get a pass just because some one is friends with a mod. And yeah she was friends with the admin.

 

[Yunalescaa]

I was rejected from a roleplay because the character I made wasn't to their liking. The GMs pretty much wrote out exactly how they wanted each character to be and I worked within those constraints. Apparently doing exactly that was bad.

 

[mizton]

these stories have been so interesting to read! thank you so much to everyone who replied. i started this thread primarily to learn what i'd need to look out for in character applications, if i ever decided to give GMing a chance, but this has been really informative in general, so thank you again!

 

[Pretty Little Creature]

not often but i have when the character does not fit the roleplay in general. i have learned to be more specific in characters i ask for to avoid the problem. i will reject a application if your under age as well. thats about it. or well if someone totally disregards the app process its a teeny weeny red flag but fixable

i dont generally reject characters if things can be negotiated but thats a key word
meeting middle ground

 

[Kekse]

If someone messages me with terrible grammar, spelling, and punctuation, I don't tend to want to roleplay with them. I understand the initial message being less formal than the actual roleplay, but if you can't be bothered to write coherently when introducing yourself, I don't have faith in the quality of your roleplaying. That is the main reason I've rejected people. The second thing that makes me back out right away is someone being underage. It's just too risky for all parties involved.

 

[BackSet]

I Don't know if this is 1x1 specific but as a group GM, I usually reject poor grammar and spelling first and foremost.

For most other things such as overpoweredness I give players an opportunity to fix whatever the problem is before rejecting them. Often we work through the problem together and come to a solution that benefits everyone.

There are certain character archetypes I just outright reject. If the roleplay already has one or two "edgy" or "anti-social" characters any further attempts will be rejected. I've found that such characters in large groups are not fun to roleplay with (for that reason I usually make an anti-social character cause in the only person I trust to write them in a way that is entertaining and not obnoxious/an excuse to not interact with the group. Yes, I realize that sounds egotistical). Also sociopaths no matter what. I don't run the kind of rp where such a character could ever make sense or be appropriate.

Finally, if we've hit the max character limit (when I have one) or the RP is already started, I usually reject any further applications.

 

[Jet]

I typically GM and no, I don't think I've ever rejected someone. I've GMed at least 20 RPs, had hundreds of different members and never needed to.

I always leave creative wiggle room so my members can make what they want. My regions don't have iron clad, fully fleshed lore and tons of existing cities. I always leave them partially blank to let people make lore that matches their character. I'm also fine with long, sometimes arduous debates. I've had many debates about ill-fitting characters, some taking hours to complete, but eventually we compromised.

I always try to explain why things need to be changed. Why someone can't have X or Y, and referencing past decisions is a good one. (I told Joe he couldn't have a cat person, so neither can you. I can't unfairly apply rules.) I also try to be firm, but fair about powers. There will always be some power gaming here or there, but with the right tone, you can compromise with almost anyone here.

Because I always give explanations, and let people make custom lore, it's been easy to get things changed when I ask. I think members know I'm not trying to creatively stifle them, so they try to meet me in the middle.

On the other hand, I have been rejected before, only once.

I think it was for an "OP character," but the way it went was ridiculous. They kept asking for minor changes and drawbacks to my powers. I agreed and did what they asked. Then they asked for more changes and drawbacks, and I agreed again. Hell, I made a dice system where a bad roll made the powers fail & recoil, damaging the character. Nobody else had anything that restrictive.

Yet that wasn't enough. After making like, 5 or 6 changes to the character, and taking all their advice, they told me something like, "Sorry your character just doesn't fit with the verse. You can re-submit using another OC."

Total bullshit haha. It was a mod on this website from a long time ago, not naming names. They're not active here anymore though.

Suffice to say we argued and I left. Why string me along and have me make edits, when you either?

1. Were never going to accept the character
2. Were never going to accept me

 

[Natasha4E]

I only do 1X1.

I don't remember ever having been rejected but it probably happened... Probably the other person just stopped responding to me, which is why I forgot about the whole thing.

I have rejected people who did not meet the requirements I had put in my add. I have ignored my own wishes for a partner a few times, but I have to say it never worked out. My boundaries are there for a reason.
Also, I remember having rejected some overpowered characters and some overly dramatic characters. I am not a hater of dramatic characters (quite the opposite) but they have to be able to share the attention. Also, some people just pile up an ridiculous amount of tragedy on their character, instead of just taking one or two drama's, and doing their best to make that work.
Also, I reject characters if I don't get proper information about them before starting out. I don't need a character sheet, if my partner doesn't want to fill out one. Just a quick list of personality traits or a short background story will do. But I do want more than a description of what they look like. I want to know who my characters will be up against.

 

[Murdergurl]

Yes. Lots of times. Whenever I have GM'd groups, I have to reject a lot of applications for a variety of reasons.

First and foremost, I tend to ask for some kind of writing sample or otherwise need to see some kind of examples of what the potential participant's writing style is like. If what I find in their history and/or submitted sample is not up to par on what I'm looking for, I politely decline them.

Secondly, is if their character is not in theme, or is overpowered, or is not detailed enough in their submission. Usually, it's the latter of these that is often the issue. And I don't outright reject them for this. I ask that they elaborate and will give suggestions and examples. But if I don't see them applying any real effort in their character submissions, then I will eventually have to reject them.

Thirdly (and this one doesn't really happen often, but it HAS happened on other sites) is if I've already had run-ins with the site member and know that they are either problematic and/or not really up to the style I am looking for in the RP.