Advice/Help Ways to get interest?

[Literary Revenant]

Hello everyone. Recently I tried to form a 2nd reboot of my old story Ris'Saliance Aior which in the past showed decent success in gaining the interest of players.

This time around, third time was not the charm even as I revised my story, added fresh content, coded the content (Simply but efficiently), and even voiced the interest check as an extra effort to show my dedication to the story. Sadly I had zero interest which hit me hard as I put in several scattered hours and work lunches into writing lore and little tidbits. I know that doesnt guarentee interest, so I wanted to ask for advice from some pros if that's an accurate word.

After a recent entrance rejection into another roleplay I am really starting to question my ability to write. If it's my current writing style that is now turning people away, or just people tired of seeing ideas like mine.

 

[Idea]

I can't give you a review yet since I am currently in my morning classes, but I would recommend for starters providing a link. This way people can look at your interest check and see what might have gone wrong, as not everyone knows a simple way to find your thread without such a link.

 

[Idea]

Wait it looks like you erased it all...

 

[Literary Revenant]

Wait it looks like you erased it all...

Yeah, I was simply trying to delete myself but it wouldn't let me.

Canceled

Theres the link to the thingie thing.

My apologies, it really embarrasses me that I would ever need to ask something like this of you guys. Perhaps I simply got overconfident that I could attract players.

 

[Bacon is fluffy]

Interest checks are tricky. You win some, and more often than not, you'll lose some. There's about 30-40 other pitches on a single page and it's up to you to present your idea better than anyone else. You're being judged on the content of your pitch, the way you pitched it(did you give too much or too little info), and the attitude and gm style you bring to the table. Content of the pitch is important, because you're showing what twist you'll be presenting to everyone.

The way you pitch it has to grab them and make them want to keep reading. Are you riding on the coattails of a popular ip? Or did you make something good on your own? Did you drown me with a mountain of details and names that mean nothing to me? Did you give me 1 line and expect me to fill in the blanks? These things are important becuase you have to forge a picture without drowning us in the process.

Lastly the attitude your bring is important. I've seen gm's who rule with an iron fist for some reason, when in fact, a gm without players is just a lonely idea man. So be sure to show who you are in the pitch. How you'll handle conflicting schedules, regulating powers, and providing the framework for the rp. All these things combined, form an interest check. It's hard...I've failed more than half of my pitches. The ones that suceeded, I just kept bumping for 3-4 weeks. lol

 

[Idea]

Yeah, I was simply trying to delete myself but it wouldn't let me.

Canceled

Theres the link to the thingie thing.

My apologies, it really embarrasses me that I would ever need to ask something like this of you guys. Perhaps I simply got overconfident that I could attract players.

Nope. You CAN attract players. Though it is a bit hard to help you without being able to actually see the thing. Most we can give are general tips.

Edit: It IS noteworthy though, that the timing between these was entirely different. It's the only specific things i can check right now but it's juicy. Your first interest check was made in the middle of summer break- when pretty much everyone has free time, and those that don't is because they are on vacation or on some summer job- your second was posted right before exam season for most people, not to mention very close to Christmas, a much more brief vacation which makes you less available because you are expected to spend it with your friends and family. This alone doesn't explain a complete lack of interest, but it certainly is a factor.

 

[Literary Revenant]

That makes complete sense how certain factors go against me as regards to timing myself when the RP interest gets released. Even as to how I pitch ideas and what is in the pitch. My voiced interest check was 16 minutes long, people could read the writing exponentially faster. I also threw in unimportant personal information because I was trying to break the 4th wall. I guess it makes me a try hard with all the work I put in and how I expected much greater success.

I am also not used to my ideas failing, atleast 3 times my ideas succeeded and none of em failed to get attention after day 3. I was also denied entry into a roleplay because my writing was not "prose" enough, that guy was crazy strict. I am facing failure in moments where I havent failed before and its hurting my confidence. Youd think that I would be happier now than before since I dont have to code everything on a small cheap tablet, but still I yearned for more and perhaps shot too high.

 

[Idea]

Well, I know I'm going to sound horrible when I say this, but ideas fail. A LOT. You should expect and be prepared for failure. If you want to properly move up, you need to embrace that you will fail at times and look at it as an opportunity to improve and not as a reason to give up. To what end of the spectrum you fall is up to you of course.

That said, I wouldn't necessarily consider what happened with the entrance to the RP to be a failure. RPN hosts many kinds of roleplayers. Some want entire novels writen for them, others are more up to casual roleplay. Some are obsessed with planning and passionate about worldbuilding and need detail to no end like myself, others are the complete opposite. And that's ok. Nomatter what your preferences are, I can guarantee you there's people out there for you. I welcome some 20 peole to the site every day, on a slow day. That means in two weeks approximately 300 people at least cycled through the site. 300 more chances of someone matching what you want and need

Now, I would give you some general tips, but honestly a lot of what I have to say you can look up in other threads of this nature posted in the discussion forum: The way that an interest check is written for other people not for you, and that it is your product pitch in the marketplace of people's time and dedication. I would go into more detail, but I am working on a tutorial precisely about this matter which I hope to put up this week, so when I do have it, I'll link it in a post here.

 

[Idea]

As promised, here is that link: Tutorial - Principles of A Good Interest Check

 

[Sara Sidereal]

If you want replies, make it an anime high school magical girl roleplay with vampires and demons, it's the only way

 

[Birdsie]

Try clickbait.

 

[Sara Sidereal]

Try clickbait.

This MAGE'S ACADEMY is under attack by A BEHOLDER GOD but they're FIGHTING BACK with THIS ONE WEIRD CHOSEN ONE and YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
[click here to read full article]
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[Sara Sidereal]

so you guys wanna start a game together?

 

[AndPeggy]

I'm sorry that your idea didn't garner any interest and I wish I could read what you wrote before it was deleted.

I think the best interest checks are simple, concise, easy to read, and sound fun to play, with a friendly-sounding GM. That is just my opinion, though.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

After spending a lot of time RPing on this site and others, I think it's safe to conclude that whether an RP takes off or not is a dice roll. There's always someone around willing to roleplay an idea, but not everyone is perpetually searching for new games at any given time. In fact, I'd say simpler and less detailed RPs are more likely to garner attention than carefully constructed ones simply because they appeal to a wider demographic of writing abilities. Here's a few tips to follow in the future:
• Never invest too much time into RP premises before players have replied with their interest. You can plan the details afterward.
• Aim to post threads relative to morning or evening EST time, since that's when site activity usually peaks.
• Tag followers or past RP friends to ask if they'd be interested.
• RPs can gain traction long after they're first written. All it takes is someone to stumble across it and the thread activity will do the rest.

If all else fails:

If you want replies, make it an anime high school magical girl roleplay with vampires and demons, it's the only way

You'll have to rely on the site's dominant weeb audience in order to survive.

 

[Relayer]

Another thing to keep in mind is that a portion of the viewing public won't know what your game is about, and will just bleep on by the listing. I'm an oddball in most RP forums: I don't care for D&D, I'm not into anime, I don't like high school/academy games (what am I even doing here? )... Again, I'm an oddball, but I don't think it's about fancy formatting or cool images. As has been mentioned, it can be a crap shoot. People may not just not be interested in your particular game at this particular moment. For my obscure game ideas, I know I'll have to post and post again until I can gather a few players together. Have patience.