Viewpoint Thought about interest checks

[SP3CT3R]

So this just hit me a couple of minutes ago, but I noticed that most of the posts in Interest Checks are for roleplays that have already been developed and fleshed out and just need people to sign up, while the half-baked concepts and pitches people come up with tend to wind up here in Roleplay Discussion. It makes more sense to me to post an interest check for an out-there idea or unpopular fandom so that you can gauge whether putting something together is worth it than for a roleplay that you've already planned out.

And I don't want to turn this into a "this thing about RPNation is wrong" thread, but I can't help but wonder what would change if people posted their more work-in-progress ideas in the Interest Checks subforum instead, where they'd be more visible. (Obviously there's no rule against doing that, but it feels taboo and that's basically the same thing.) Any thoughts?

 

[Chordling]

but I can't help but wonder what things would be like if people posting their more work-in-progress ideas in that subforum, where they'd be more visible, was the norm.

Could you perhaps clarify the question you are trying to ask? I'm not sure it's phrased in the best way for other people to understand what it means.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Could you perhaps clarify the question you are trying to ask? I'm not sure it's phrased in the best way for other people to understand what it means.

I rearranged the post to try and clear things up, but not sure if it helped.

 

[Chordling]

It does make more sense, and I think we first need to remember that there's a difference between feedback and interest. The ideas post in the RPD&A forum seek for thoughtful feedback. There's not always the promise that the idea will flourish into a roleplay. Threads in the interest check forum may have RP ideas that are still half formed, but the GM might not always ask feedback from the players while they continue to develop their ideas. (We can keep in mind that there are exceptions to this, of course.) So, some of this boils down to personal preference, because the prefixes do serve different functions.

 

[Onmyoji]

When people post their concepts in Rp Discussion, they usually ask for feedback or help. Not all concepts would end up as a roleplay, sometimes it's just brainstorming.

When people post Interest Checks, they're ready to roleplay things they posted about. In many cases they're still open for input from their rp partners.

There is a thin line there, you're right. But I think the main difference is whether people are already prepared to roleplay even if the idea is unfinished (hence Interest Checks) or just assessing the concept and asking for feedback without necessarily intending to rp it right away (Discussion).

 

[Owlbear]

The issue with posting an interest check for just the basic idea is that the response you get won't garentuee anything.

I mean, just because you get a bunch of people interested in the basic idea of the rp doesn't mean that all those people will be interested in or capable of joining the rp in, say, a week or so later when you've actually finished it.

 

[Malphaestus]

The interest check is for checking for interest for an idea or roleplay, whether that roleplay or idea is developed and ready to be immediately implemented into a roleplay is of no consequence (as I see it). The difference is, functionally, semantic; only notable thing which differentiate them is time needed to get off the ground.