Post Count Prejudice (-_-;)

[Retro Nova]

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I'm realizing after being on the site for quite sometime now that I have MAJOR post count prejudice. If someone approaches me or replies to one of my roleplays and has LESS than 100 posts, I get real skittish around them and skeptical of their role playing abilities and their knowledge of the site and it's mechanic. I think this stems from past experiences with newbies where they constantly needed help or made mistakes and I just didn't have the patience to babysit them for the entire roleplay. Don't get my wrong I love helping out newbies and helping them get around, but if you have less than 100 post, steer clear of me because I don't want to risk it. On the opposite side of the spectrum I get really intimidated by threads I want to join create by people with a couple thousand (More than 3,000) posts. I just assume that these people are pros and if I so much as slip up or misspell a word or two, they'll boot me and I'll get my feeling hurt. This also goes for admin and moderator roleplays, if not more so. I know I must sound crazy, but I do prefer my fellow role players to be in the same range post wise as me. I just feel most comfortable with those people.


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[JayTee]

LOOK UPON MY POST COUNT AND DESPAIR, PUNY MORTALS!


Naw but for real, while I can kiiiiinda see where you're coming from, I don't put much stock in post counts. What matters more is if you consider them reliable or not, which can really only happen if you game with them.


I've gamed with people who's post count is WAY higher than mine, as well as MUCH lower. A lot of them were solid players and I'd game with them again given the opportunity.

 

[Retro Nova]

Just because someone has done something for a long time doesn't mean that they're automatically good at it. You should be a lot more worried about new accounts that are bb-code masters and know everything about the forum already. These are smurf accounts of someone who has already been here and either got (a) banned or (b) ditched too many partners to deal with the guilt and apologies.

I've never run into anyone like that, and If I did I think I just shrugged it off like "Huh. They must have read through the bbcode guide.". Plus I've been on other sites which allowed for bbcode and I was actually pretty decent at it when I first started. But I can totally see what you mean.

 

[Retro Nova]

LOOK UPON MY POST COUNT AND DESPAIR, PUNY MORTALS!
Naw but for real, while I can kiiiiinda see where you're coming from, I don't put much stock in post counts. What matters more is if you consider them reliable or not, which can really only happen if you game with them.


I've gamed with people who's post count is WAY higher than mine, as well as MUCH lower. A lot of them were solid players and I'd game with them again given the opportunity.

I'm not saying I don't roleplay with high count people, I do. I just get nervous. But with low counts, I've just had too many stressful experiences with them and I don't even wanna risk it anymore.

 

[ApfelSeine]

That's interesting, I didn't even realize that people looked at stats. I suppose that's because I've never bothered thinking about them myself. I can understand the motivation though. If you have found an indication that works for you, there's no real reason not to reference it. I don't think that it would work for me though, so I don't plan to start checking post count.


The main reason I wouldn't use it is that it's more of an indication how long a person has been on this site, rather than an indication of how long they've been roleplaying in general. (Also as stated before, rping for longer doesn't always mean that they're the most skilled.) Additionally, those who rp simpler styles (such as one liners) have a slight advantage, and seeing as how short and fast paced rps don't interest me as much, the method won't prove very useful to me.


But that's all mainly because of my personal preferences. If anyone else finds it an effective shortcut, by all means, use it. Personally, I'd advocate for closer scrutiny before rejecting someone as a potential partner, but that's my preference.

 

[King Ad Rock]

Post count doesn't matter at all in my opinion. For all you know they could be very experienced writers and RPers coming from different but very similiar forum sites. I came from a place called RPGChat and it worked pretty much exactly like this website, except this place definitely has a bit more to it.

 

[Retro Nova]

That's interesting, I didn't even realize that people looked at stats. I suppose that's because I've never bothered thinking about them myself. I can understand the motivation though. If you have found an indication that works for you, there's no real reason not to reference it. I don't think that it would work for me though, so I don't plan to start checking post count.
The main reason I wouldn't use it is that it's more of an indication how long a person has been on this site, rather than an indication of how long they've been roleplaying in general. (Also as stated before, rping for longer doesn't always mean that they're the most skilled.) Additionally, those who rp simpler styles (such as one liners) have a slight advantage, and seeing as how short and fast paced rps don't interest me as much, the method won't prove very useful to me.


But that's all mainly because of my personal preferences. If anyone else finds it an effective shortcut, by all means, use it. Personally, I'd advocate for closer scrutiny before rejecting someone as a potential partner, but that's my preference.

I never said I reject them completely, I'm just weary.

 

[Retro Nova]

I can tell just by how they communicate with me or in their request of their well written or a good RPer or not, of course. But the low count in mind past experiences is associated with people who don't really know what's going on or who's RP skills are still in the developmental stages.

 

[King Ad Rock]

[QUOTE="Wild Imagination]I can tell just by how they communicate with me or in their request of their well written or a good RPer or not, of course. But the low count in mind past experiences is associated with people who don't really know what's going on or who's RP skills are still in the developmental stages.

[/QUOTE]
I guess I've just had the complete opposite experience.

 

[Retro Nova]

That's interesting, I didn't even realize that people looked at stats. I suppose that's because I've never bothered thinking about them myself. I can understand the motivation though. If you have found an indication that works for you, there's no real reason not to reference it. I don't think that it would work for me though, so I don't plan to start checking post count.
The main reason I wouldn't use it is that it's more of an indication how long a person has been on this site, rather than an indication of how long they've been roleplaying in general. (Also as stated before, rping for longer doesn't always mean that they're the most skilled.) Additionally, those who rp simpler styles (such as one liners) have a slight advantage, and seeing as how short and fast paced rps don't interest me as much, the method won't prove very useful to me.


But that's all mainly because of my personal preferences. If anyone else finds it an effective shortcut, by all means, use it. Personally, I'd advocate for closer scrutiny before rejecting someone as a potential partner, but that's my preference.

I don't fret too much really over the high count posters, It's like when your at school and you get partnered up with the "smart kid" with the highest grade for an assignment and you become nervous because it appears that they already know what they're doing, and you trying to help would just get in the way. ((Bad analogy I know))

 

[ApfelSeine]

[QUOTE="Wild Imagination]I never said I reject them completely, I'm just weary.

[/QUOTE]
Ah, well then even better 100 isn't a very difficult number to rake up, and it can indicate dedication. I don't think it's unreasonable. Though I do think that it's more of an indication of how new they are then how skilled they are. That, of course, come with it's own problems.


Skill is difficult to judge until you start rping, as even new members may have previous experience on other forums. One thing that is suggested by post count is dedication. But post count alone is less of an indication of that if you don't pair it against how long they've been on the site. Combined they can give you a general idea of how dedicated they are. It's not fool proof, but it suggests that your method isn't without substance. There is something to be gained out of paying attention to the numbers, though it's naturally not a guarantee.

 

[Retro Nova]

[QUOTE="King Ad Rock]I guess I've just had the complete opposite experience.

[/QUOTE]
It seems you have. Why didn't I meet you before now. -sigh-

 

[ApfelSeine]

[QUOTE="Wild Imagination]I don't fret too much really over the high count posters, It's like when your at school and you get partnered up with the "smart kid" with the highest grade for an assignment and you become nervous because it appears that they already know what they're doing, and you trying to help would just get in the way. ((Bad analogy I know))

[/QUOTE]
There are a multitude of reasons that one can feel intimidated of another player. They've been around longer, they're older, they're more experienced, they've got a better grasp of writing, they can format posts really well, etc. All of them silly, but entirely reasonable. No one wants to feel like they're dragging another player down. Having been in both positions however, anyone who would care about you having less experience would not be a good match anyways. There's merit in taking a deep breath and just reaching out to them. They're often the people you'll learn the most from.

 

[Mishka]

Hm.. I dunno how I feel about this. Honestly I don't think that how many posts a person has should matter, because half of them could be in these discussion type forums rather than even in a roleplay setting. But perhaps I'm bias because I'm new here and have only a handful of posts.


It seems to me that you're judging what kind of writer a person is based on how many posts they have, when really what you should do is look through their profile at the things they've posted to see if they're a fit partner for you. This thread kind of makes me feel that some people don't really want any new people on site. Or if you do want them on site, you don't want to RP with them until they've become an "established member". It's a bit unfair.

 

[Grey]

If I pay attention at all, I tend to be more positively disposed towards low postcounts combined with coherent posts. Perhaps unfairly I attribute that to a discerning nature and expect the user to be worth engaging.

 

[MrSquid123]

Just saying I have 747 posts and I am anything but experienced, most people on here have experience from other sites and honestly it's really not hard for someone like me to rack up a high post count. Not having 100 posts does not mean you're inexperienced it just means you've only recently joined this site and have only been getting involved with a limited number of things. Post count means nothing when it comes to experience with roleplay. Someone with lots of experience with roleplay could have only 30 posts and someone with very little could have a post count reaching 700. Just look at me.

 

[Inner Power]

[QUOTE="King Ad Rock]Post count doesn't matter at all in my opinion. For all you know they could be very experienced writers and RPers coming from different but very similiar forum sites. I came from a place called RPGChat and it worked pretty much exactly like this website, except this place definitely has a bit more to it.

[/QUOTE]
100 percent agree.

 

[Retro Nova]

Just saying I have 747 posts and I am anything but experienced, most people on here have experience from other sites and honestly it's really not hard for someone like me to rack up a high post count. Not having 100 posts does not mean you're inexperienced it just means you've only recently joined this site and have only been getting involved with a limited number of things. Post count means nothing when it comes to experience with roleplay. Someone with lots of experience with roleplay could have only 30 posts and someone with very little could have a post count reaching 700. Just look at me.

The systems not fool proof, but it hasn't let me down yet.

 

[Retro Nova]

Hm.. I dunno how I feel about this. Honestly I don't think that how many posts a person has should matter, because half of them could be in these discussion type forums rather than even in a roleplay setting. But perhaps I'm bias because I'm new here and have only a handful of posts.
It seems to me that you're judging what kind of writer a person is based on how many posts they have, when really what you should do is look through their profile at the things they've posted to see if they're a fit partner for you. This thread kind of makes me feel that some people don't really want any new people on site. Or if you do want them on site, you don't want to RP with them until they've become an "established member". It's a bit unfair.

I can see why as a new member you would see it as unfair, but too be fair, if you have more that 100 posts that means that you are for the most part dedicated to the site and wouldn't potential just leave without a trace. It just shows dedication in my eyes or as you said that you're an "Established Member" and I can count on you to stick around and do your best.

 

[call me rae]

I suppose that's one way to check activity if nothing else. But then I regularly go back through and delete old threads to clean up space and so my post count actually fluctuates a lot.


For me the only reason I'd stalk someones posts is to see what their actual writing style is like. I'll look for a roleplay they've posted in and see what they post ( or even sometimes how often ).


Which while more time consuming I would think would be a slightly better way to get at whether or not someone would fit.


As I've come across people that way that either post waaaay too often for me to keep up with or whose posts don't exactly mesh well with my style.


Not that I ever tell them that I usually just say I'm busy or that I don't think we'll fit and leave it at that.

 

[Retro Nova]

I suppose that's one way to check activity if nothing else. But then I regularly go back through and delete old threads to clean up space and so my post count actually fluctuates a lot.
For me the only reason I'd stalk someones posts is to see what their actual writing style is like. I'll look for a roleplay they've posted in and see what they post ( or even sometimes how often ).


Which while more time consuming I would think would be a slightly better way to get at whether or not someone would fit.


As I've come across people that way that either post waaaay too often for me to keep up with or whose posts don't exactly mesh well with my style.


Not that I ever tell them that I usually just say I'm busy or that I don't think we'll fit and leave it at that.

Haha. I actually do that too. I'll go back to some of my dead or unwanted roleplays and delete them. But it's like spring cleaning for me and I only do it like once a month.

 

[Mordecai]

Just because someone has done something for a long time doesn't mean that they're automatically good at it. You should be a lot more worried about new accounts that are bb-code masters and know everything about the forum already. These are smurf accounts of someone who has already been here and either got (a) banned or (b) ditched too many partners to deal with the guilt and apologies.

This is definitely not (necessarily) true. BBCode is NOT only used on RpNation and is thus universal. People come to RpNation with BBCode experience from other forums. Off the top of my head, I could list a five roleplay sites that use the same or very similar BBCode that RpNation uses. Thus, they could be coming to RpNation with previous experience. >__>

 

[Demonhunter]

eh if somone i don't know joins a rp I am running, I didn't ever think to look at their post count. I more cyber stalk them and look at other rps their in to assess what I can expect from them.

 

[Drosera]

And there are people who just... don't post. Don't like to flood, and favor PM over threads. Indistinctly counting RP forums and lifestyles forums, my most active accounts never really went beyond 300~ posts. I just don't post. So I would never assume that low post count = inexperienced.

 

[Elle Joyner]

Honestly, strange as it sounds, I'm rather the opposite. I tend to get a little more iffy about folks when their post count is epic... My hesitation being, the more posts I see, the more I'm inclined to believe this person is a junk-poster (someone who posts as quickly as possible, without considering quality). But as seems to be the case in any instance of prejudice, most of the time, it's simply just a member that's been around a long while, or someone extremely active in other parts of the site. My assumption would then be that people with only a few posts is just new to the site... but not necessarily to RPing.


Because of this, I tend to review people's actual content, before I worry so much about their post count. If their post quality is weak, or they have a tendency to abandon RPers, I'm less inclined to RP with them, but it's always on a person-by-person basis