Advice/Help The Struggle of Finding RP Partners

weewoo

"Little wanderer, hie thee home!"
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I don’t know why it’s so hard to find roleplay partners when there are tons of them in this website. I can’t seem to find anyone that is interested in plots or fandoms that I like. It’s frustrating because I would love to build a plot and create an amazing story, but no one seems interested. I see so many posts with so many replies with fandoms I love and no one responds to mine. What should I do? Any advice would be great.
 

What should I do?

There isn't anything you can do per say. But I can suggest a handful of things:

1. Identify the common trend of your fandom. RP communities go through trends and if you mirror those trends you may have an easier time attracting a partner. Sometimes you want to RP something that isn't desirable, has fallen out of fashion, and it is a reality of RPing. You either wait it out and hope you land that rare gem of a partner or adjust to the trends.

2. If you are someone who posts threads but doesn't actively go asking others for RP. I suggest asking those people who are more or less close to what you want to do if they'd like to RP (even if they don't say this fandom with this trend, if they say they enjoy a trope or theme you can ask if they enjoy it along side whichever fandom). Be proactive do the leg work and do it while also understanding that you will have to bend on some of your ideas. You can't be so rigid that you won't compromise or hold back on a element you enjoy until later in the RP. Just because your partner doesn't want to do it RIGHT NOW doesn't mean it can't fit in later. Everything is negotiation, unless they state otherwise (respect peoples hard NOs).

3. If the fandom won't do it, try shifting your idea to a original character RP / non-fandom. A lot of non-fandom RPers will be intro trends and tropes that your fandom may not be into, so you may have an easier time finding someone willing to at least RP the trend/trope you're into, but you'll have to sacrifice the fandom element.

4. Try RPing a trope/trend you aren't 100% into, maybe you're only 70% into it and then suggestion other things to add to your partner. Again like #2 everything is negotiable give and take.

5. Try finding a partner on a different site. RPN is great and all but it has it's limits. Different communities often have different users into different stuff and you may find that what you're into is more popular on a different site. RPN's community has very clear preferences and even I know that a good chunk of what I enjoy is not enjoyed by people on RPN; but I can get SLEWS of the shit I love from other communities.
 
I had a look at your threads just now and they don't seem to have much of an issue with them. I think you might be being a bit too impatient here though- you posted a thread yesterday and another one less than an hour ago. There are people busy with tests or occupied with any of the million things going on right now. I really recommend just giving it a bit of time for now.
 
Like Idea said there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with your threads themselves. You just need a bit of patience that all.

I have been searching for roleplay partner for months. I will get one or two people replying to my interest check but they inevitably get busy with school, work, or other IRL stuff.

With COVID on the rise, people loosing or looking for jobs, and school starting up soon I would just give it a bit of time before you panic.
 
If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by. As well as rp partners.
Sometimes finding a rp partner takes months even if your threads are perfect.

But I agree that being proactive helps too. If you check someone's thread and like something there, send them a PM. in worst case you'll get no reply or a no. In best case you'll get a good rp partner that wants to rp the same things just didn't notice your search thread.
 
If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by. As well as rp partners.

I totally read that as 'dead bodies of your enemies and RP partners' hahaha

In terms of advice, nothing much to add to what's been said: wait for people to bite while also actively looking for potential partners by reading their RPs and recruit threads.

It might be worth trying to join something which is outside your primary zone of interest because it could end up being really interesting, especially if there are good writers involved. It also helps you develop a circle of writers who know you and are used to writing with you.

When it's really dead, I sometimes just write loads of prompts or character ideas to keep my mind and figurative pen rolling, but that might not be for everyone haha!

Good luck buddy~
 

Sometimes finding a rp partner takes months even if your threads are perfect.

Question . . . is this common on RPN? Like does it take months to get a partner on this site normally? I just thought my shit was a bit to much of "not RPNs thing" because I can get a partner in a day or two on other sites.
 

Question . . . is this common on RPN? Like does it take months to get a partner on this site normally? I just thought my shit was a bit to much of "not RPNs thing" because I can get a partner in a day or two on other sites.
It really depends. I found my first partner within like a day or two after registering on RPN. The rest were spread out and there were indeed a few months between them. Then again, I wasn't actively looking and it all happened naturally. And on some other site it's been... I think three or so months since I joined until I actually got a rp. Half a year on another one.
So it's a huge matter of luck and I can't say RPN is worse than others.
 
I don’t know why it’s so hard to find roleplay partners when there are tons of them in this website. I can’t seem to find anyone that is interested in plots or fandoms that I like. It’s frustrating because I would love to build a plot and create an amazing story, but no one seems interested. I see so many posts with so many replies with fandoms I love and no one responds to mine. What should I do? Any advice would be great.

Sometimes it takes a bit of time to find partners. Speaking as somebody who has some pretty niche RP interests it can sometimes take months. The key is to be patient. With how large this site is something always pops up eventually. It took me a long time to get there, but now I have four active RP's because things that interest me all happened to pop up around the same time.
 
I don’t know why it’s so hard to find roleplay partners when there are tons of them in this website. I can’t seem to find anyone that is interested in plots or fandoms that I like. It’s frustrating because I would love to build a plot and create an amazing story, but no one seems interested. I see so many posts with so many replies with fandoms I love and no one responds to mine. What should I do? Any advice would be great.
I can't offer advice, but I can say I am willing to be a potential rp partner at best! I don't really have any friends willing to rp much anymore, and also can't really find anyone into the things I'm also into.. so I have gotten sad and desperate enough to go around the internet and ask.
 
Unfortunately, online roleplaying isn't as popular as it used to be.

To the best of my own memory, 2009-2015/16 is when it really was at its peak in terms of popularity. The first site I joined had an active user base which peaked at 13,500 active users (no guests on that site, only user accounts) online at any given time. That sort of active online presence tremendously improves your odds of finding RP partners. And I would routinely only have to wait for an hour or so, sometimes mere minutes, before an Interest Check became active with people interested in RP'ing with me.

Today, RpNation averages around 300-500 active members (this does not account for the number of "guests" who visit the site) at any given time of day. That's a decently healthy and respectable number. But with only a few hundred people online globally who want to RP on this site, the chances that any of them will match your RP preferences are drastically lower than they would be if the numbers were higher.

And, sadly, this is the state of online roleplaying almost no matter where you look. You're playing the odds either way, and hoping to be online at the right time to post an Interest Check with a few of the couple hundred people online will actually be interested in and try to join.

One of the other reasons it can be so hard to find someone is because of how many Interest Checks are posted every day. Each one that goes up after yours moves your Interest Check down the list, lowering its visibility. And many folks won't scroll beyond the first page to try and find something. So, if your Interest Check is on page 2 or beyond, it could take a long time for anyone to notice that it's there. (Note: If you want to "Bump" your thread to prolong its visibility and improve your chances of people seeing and responding to it, you may do so once every 24 hours. If you go beyond this you will violate our Bump Spam rule, so please be sure to observe the full 24 hour wait period before bumping it again.)

All that said, I would also advise that you take into consideration what you really want out of the roleplay experience. Are you actually trying to focus on interacting with other people for collaborative storytelling? Or, are you more interested in getting an RP going for the purpose of focusing on your own character and observing their growth and development over time? If it's the latter, maybe try our Writing section out and write a story for them yourself while you wait for the Interest Check to get some attention. We encourage people to share their creativity outside the roleplay space, such their art, music, poetry, etc. So if you want to focus on writing/storytelling rather than worry about waiting for RP partners to explore a particular character or world you've come up with, I'd recommend giving it a shot.

Cheers!
 
Unfortunately, online roleplaying isn't as popular as it used to be.

To the best of my own memory, 2009-2015/16 is when it really was at its peak in terms of popularity. The first site I joined had an active user base which peaked at 13,500 active users (no guests on that site, only user accounts) online at any given time. That sort of active online presence tremendously improves your odds of finding RP partners. And I would routinely only have to wait for an hour or so, sometimes mere minutes, before an Interest Check became active with people interested in RP'ing with me.

Today, RpNation averages around 300-500 active members (this does not account for the number of "guests" who visit the site) at any given time of day. That's a decently healthy and respectable number. But with only a few hundred people online globally who want to RP on this site, the chances that any of them will match your RP preferences are drastically lower than they would be if the numbers were higher.

And, sadly, this is the state of online roleplaying almost no matter where you look. You're playing the odds either way, and hoping to be online at the right time to post an Interest Check with a few of the couple hundred people online will actually be interested in and try to join.

One of the other reasons it can be so hard to find someone is because of how many Interest Checks are posted every day. Each one that goes up after yours moves your Interest Check down the list, lowering its visibility. And many folks won't scroll beyond the first page to try and find something. So, if your Interest Check is on page 2 or beyond, it could take a long time for anyone to notice that it's there. (Note: If you want to "Bump" your thread to prolong its visibility and improve your chances of people seeing and responding to it, you may do so once every 24 hours. If you go beyond this you will violate our Bump Spam rule, so please be sure to observe the full 24 hour wait period before bumping it again.)

All that said, I would also advise that you take into consideration what you really want out of the roleplay experience. Are you actually trying to focus on interacting with other people for collaborative storytelling? Or, are you more interested in getting an RP going for the purpose of focusing on your own character and observing their growth and development over time? If it's the latter, maybe try our Writing section out and write a story for them yourself while you wait for the Interest Check to get some attention. We encourage people to share their creativity outside the roleplay space, such their art, music, poetry, etc. So if you want to focus on writing/storytelling rather than worry about waiting for RP partners to explore a particular character or world you've come up with, I'd recommend giving it a shot.

Cheers!
I honestly think this is a generational thing. Online RPing became popular when the internet was still a fairly new and only recently widespread thing. Of course most of the people who popularized it then as children and teenagers are now adults with jobs and many other responsibilities outside of internet activities. A lot of adults just don't have the time to commit to this hobby anymore. I'm one of those adults who was able to participate in the hobby in the early 2000's during its peak and I have been fortunate to be able to continue into adulthood, but slowly I'm dropping off too now. I just don't have as much time to commit now as I did just mere months ago. The only people I'm really able to RP with now are those who don't mind that I can only post like once a week or less.
 
The feeling of posting something you think is excellent and then getting few or no bites can be very demoralizing, I empathize. Roleplay is the longest of long games, though. Given enough time and exposure you're sure to rub up against people you'll have a fun connection with. I have friends I still occasionally do 1-on-1s with whom I met through roleplaying well over a DECADE ago. Quality, not quantity.

I do wish we could make forum roleplay popular again, though. I think the vast majority of late teens/young adult folks now have never even been on a forum, now that everything is Discord and apps (which are fine, just different and not conducive to RP).
 
The feeling of posting something you think is excellent and then getting few or no bites can be very demoralizing, I empathize. Roleplay is the longest of long games, though. Given enough time and exposure you're sure to rub up against people you'll have a fun connection with. I have friends I still occasionally do 1-on-1s with whom I met through roleplaying well over a DECADE ago. Quality, not quantity.

I do wish we could make forum roleplay popular again, though. I think the vast majority of late teens/young adult folks now have never even been on a forum, now that everything is Discord and apps (which are fine, just different and not conducive to RP).
It's sad since forums are just so much better for so many things. Not just RP.
 
It's sad since forums are just so much better for so many things. Not just RP.
Very true. I like Discord as a way of keeping up with friends, podcasts, communities, but having to sign up to another Discord server just to ask one question about a video game installer or something is very annoying.
 
Very true. I like Discord as a way of keeping up with friends, podcasts, communities, but having to sign up to another Discord server just to ask one question about a video game installer or something is very annoying.
Discord is fine for more general stuff, but for in-depth conversations forums are infinitely better.
 
Discord is fine for more general stuff, but for in-depth conversations forums are infinitely better.
Agreed. I echo many on here. Real-time normal chat that updates in the background, Discord is my go-to. Interacting with others in a forum, lost art. This site is so clean from a UI/UX perspective, I'm sad for not finding it sooner.
 

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