Viewpoint What makes you nope out of a search thread?

[Joji]

- having oddly specific requirements for my characters. like, even their appearance. at this point it just feels less of an rp and more just you're kinda just fulfilling their own personal fantasy yknow
- requirements for activity. i dunno, it just turns me off when i see something like "i'd like a reply at least once a day", can't keep up with that all day every day.
- this is a little controversial but... real life face claims! at least when there's a huge emphasis on it. especially when the other person wants you to use certain face claims. again, this sorta relates back to the whole "fulfilling their personal fantasy" except now it's like 10x creepier.
- general formality/coldness. i understand some people are just here to rp, not make friends, but i feel if we're able to get along and joke around ooc it makes rping a much more enjoyable experience.

 

[Hige]

A few things.

Requirements for activity. I'm an adult with a job. I reply when I can.

TeacherxStudent threads.

Writing example. It just rubs me the wrong way.

For Character Sheets when they specify it has to be a photo, it can't be a drawing. I dont' know, just seems to be an uneccesary stiffle of creativity.

Specific sexuality. I'm open for any gender, any pairing, but I get a lot of inquiries from people who want specific pairings. I had someone contact me for a roleplay and we were going to double up. They wanted m/m for their end, which is fine for me. We agreed upon that and when it came to discussing my pairing, I suggested a female character to pair against a male. I had her CS all written out and what not, and the person replies with, 'Would it be so wrong to pair [male char] with a man?'

Just nope. Not only was that rude, but a real downer.

 

[rae2nerdy]

A few things.

Requirements for activity. I'm an adult with a job. I reply when I can.

TeacherxStudent threads.

Writing example. It just rubs me the wrong way.

For Character Sheets when they specify it has to be a photo, it can't be a drawing. I dont' know, just seems to be an uneccesary stiffle of creativity.

Specific sexuality. I'm open for any gender, any pairing, but I get a lot of inquiries from people who want specific pairings. I had someone contact me for a roleplay and we were going to double up. They wanted m/m for their end, which is fine for me. We agreed upon that and when it came to discussing my pairing, I suggested a female character to pair against a male. I had her CS all written out and what not, and the person replies with, 'Would it be so wrong to pair [male char] with a man?'

Just nope. Not only was that rude, but a real downer.

So specific visuals is usually about suspension of disbelief. It takes people out of the scene if each person uses a different style of visual.

Think of it like this. If you have one character who is dressed in period appropriate Victorian gown and another character dressed in high heels and a mini skirt than it’s going to be a very disjointed visual.

One of the characters does not belong.

It’s the same basic idea with assigning a specific visual style. It’s like saying - okay all the characters are going to be dressed in Victorian era garments OR they’re going to be dressed in club attire.

Now that said I usually just adjust to whatever my partners want because it’s not hugely important to me. But I absolutely require that whatever they choose be the visual style for the whole roleplay.

So for example if you pick anime images than every character is going to be depicted in that style.

 

[Nue]

Writing examples kinda annoy me too. I get why they're there and I think maybe it's just laziness on my part lol, but when they're like 'give me two paragraphs of writing in your CS' my brain just goes "like.. about anything? does it need to be related to this character? does it have to have a cohesive start finish and end in two paragraphs or can I just-"
..so basically it really is a pet peeve because of my tendency to overthink things, I guess-

 

[rae2nerdy]

Writing examples kinda annoy me too. I get why they're there and I think maybe it's just laziness on my part lol, but when they're like 'give me two paragraphs of writing in your CS' my brain just goes "like.. about anything? does it need to be related to this character? does it have to have a cohesive start finish and end in two paragraphs or can I just-"
..so basically it really is a pet peeve because of my tendency to overthink things, I guess-

What I do is keep a log of my PM roleplays (more in case I lose the pm and so I can reply easier).

Then I just link that. It’s already written up/copy pasted anyway

Plus it’s a lot more accurate view of my roleplay capacity than some random assortment of paragraphs.

As you see my average reply length next to what my partner gives me.

 

[peritwinkle]

A few things.

Requirements for activity. I'm an adult with a job. I reply when I can.

TeacherxStudent threads.

Writing example. It just rubs me the wrong way.

For Character Sheets when they specify it has to be a photo, it can't be a drawing. I dont' know, just seems to be an uneccesary stiffle of creativity.

Specific sexuality. I'm open for any gender, any pairing, but I get a lot of inquiries from people who want specific pairings. I had someone contact me for a roleplay and we were going to double up. They wanted m/m for their end, which is fine for me. We agreed upon that and when it came to discussing my pairing, I suggested a female character to pair against a male. I had her CS all written out and what not, and the person replies with, 'Would it be so wrong to pair [male char] with a man?'

Just nope. Not only was that rude, but a real downer.

Why would a writing example be a bad thing? Sometimes writing styles don’t merge and you can’t tell from just having similar interests.

 

[useless]

Bad grammar and minimal punctuation are the main things that drives me off, I think. If you won’t take the time to put some effort into your search, I get the vibe you will put even less effort into your responses. Also, being asked to post once a day is something I can’t stand, so that definitely scares me off immediately. I can’t stand clingy partners who need a response every time they see me online. >~>;

Edit: I also usually nope away when people demand a writing sample. My replies will always be different for different scanrios and different stories, and it’s not like I have all my samples neatly bundled in one place for sharing. When people ask for a sample, it begins to feel more like a job application and less of something that is meant to be fun. I don’t play that.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Why would a writing example be a bad thing? Sometimes writing styles don’t merge and you can’t tell from just having similar interests.

I think the problem is that the sample is just a bad way to determine writing compatibility. I've seen people submit lovely long and detailed replies but when they post in the roleplay everything is only a handful of sentences long. I've seen the reverse too where someone obviously struggled with a writing sample but when they're given something to respond to they improve drastically.

Which is why I think it's much better to either ask OR look for a link to a previous roleplay the person did. As that will give you an example of how they mirror their partner and what they can bring to an ongoing roleplay. Which is what writing samples are supposed to to determine anyway.

 

[Tove]

Demanding a writing sample is a turn off but I don't see anything wrong with asking politely for one, maybe that's just me. I am one of the ones that I'll ask if I want one if I and if someone wants one from me I would gladly give it. This is if there's not a way for me to check out previous posts or if I get a pm from some random person saying they want to roleplay with me.

To me it comes down to seeing if I'm going to be a partner someone wants to write with or if they are someone I want to write with. A request thread sometimes doesn't tell you how a person will be as a partner, hell even a writing sample may not but at least I can be somewhat sure that when someone says they do and enjoy posting multiple paragraphs, as indicated on their request thread, a sample will reflect that.

In all of my years of roleplay I've read countless request threads and endless people that some have said grammatical errors bother them so they're looking for prestigious writing from partners only for them to pass over a sample proving otherwise.
Everyone has their own ways of searching for partners and what not by whatever ways they see fit.

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

"Convince me."

I think this one was said before. But it drives me crazy.

"Here's a role play idea I have. Convince me to role play it with you."

 

[PhoenixMire]

"Convince me."

I think this one was said before. But it drives me crazy.

"Here's a role play idea I have. Convince me to role play it with you."

This one drives me nuts. I can kiiiinda understand it to a point, under certain circumstances... say, if I think I might like a post-apocalypse setting but I'm slightly unsure and I don't really have a plot for it, then I might say "I'm open to a post-apocalypse setting if we can come up with some good ideas".

But when someone flat-out gives you a plotline idea and then says "but you'll have to convince me to do it!" then it comes across as kind of condescending, and also like they're not interested in their own idea at all. Makes me not want to RP with them.

 

[Becker]

Since a few people have touched the subject of writing examples/samples.

So i've given the time to think about my character, write up a few paragraphs to give a general feel for this person and ensured that I lay out what-ever limitations I have for RPing (Usual stuff, how many times I am willing to post per week, average post-sizes and so on).

Nothing annoys me more than after doing all this effort, only to be turned away. But rather than this person writing a reply to say something along the lines of "I appreciate you taking the time to write up a sample, however I don't believe we would match. I do apologize for any inconvinces caused." Rather than a pleasant, simple message like that. I get nothing and i'm sat there waiting and waiting for a reply that never came.

I strongly believe that if you're going to ask for a writing sample, at the very least acknowledge those that have complied with the request and especially those that you do not wish to collaborate with. It's rather rude to leave people hanging.

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

This one drives me nuts. I can kiiiinda understand it to a point, under certain circumstances... say, if I think I might like a post-apocalypse setting but I'm slightly unsure and I don't really have a plot for it, then I might say "I'm open to a post-apocalypse setting if we can come up with some good ideas".

But when someone flat-out gives you a plotline idea and then says "but you'll have to convince me to do it!" then it comes across as kind of condescending, and also like they're not interested in their own idea at all. Makes me not want to RP with them.

I think it really is all about how you come across. Saying it like that sounds very condescending; like you said.

If people want a writing sample and that's what they mean by convince me, then I don't mind giving one out at all. I've asked for them before, too. But I'd rather be told something along the lines of, "I'd like to see a writing sample and don't mind sending one in return," rather than, "convince me to do this with you."

 

[Signal Fire]

It's not a complete deal breaker, but it turns me off a bit when threads have a secret password you need to include in your message or you'll get ignored. I understand people do this because some people might ask something that's already stated in the thread, but it's also important to keep in mind that these people would have been looking at multiple search threads at a time. They could have read everything in your thread, but simply mixed up the details of someone else's search thread with another. Also, is it really that much of a hassle to correct/answer them and move on? It just seems kind of petty, that's all...

 

[Tove]

It's not a complete deal breaker, but it turns me off a bit when threads have a secret password you need to include in your message or you'll get ignored. I understand people do this because some people might ask something that's already stated in the thread, but it's also important to keep in mind that these people would have been looking at multiple search threads at a time. They could have read everything in your thread, but simply mixed up the details of someone else's search thread with another. Also, is it really that much of a hassle to correct/answer them and move on? It just seems kind of petty, that's all...

On one hand I can understand that being off putting with if someone doesn't have the secret password they get ignored but on the other hand I would say some don't read request threads in their entirety which it does suck especially if you work hard on one. You want people to give you the same courtesy of reading your request thread as you would to them.

 

[Signal Fire]

On one hand I can understand that being off putting with if someone doesn't have the secret password they get ignored but on the other hand I would say some don't read request threads in their entirety which it does suck especially if you work hard on one. You want people to give you the same courtesy of reading your request thread as you would to them.

That's why it's not a complete dealbreaker. I can see where the other side is coming from, even if I personally don't agree with it.

Some threads have verbose sections about the user and/or their preferences. Most people look through multiple search threads at a time, so skimming those sections is just more efficient, especially since you don't know if you'll end up messaging this person anyway. While I don't agree with that either, secret passwords are making way too big a deal about it, and it's just off-putting.

Not gonna lie, though, I'll still bend the knee and go through the whole charade if the thread has a good enough prompt. XD

 

[PhoenixMire]

That's why it's not a complete dealbreaker. I can see where the other side is coming from, even if I personally don't agree with it.

Some threads have verbose sections about the user and/or their preferences. Most people look through multiple search threads at a time, so skimming those sections is just more efficient, especially since you don't know if you'll end up messaging this person anyway. While I don't agree with that either, secret passwords are making way too big a deal about it, and it's just off-putting.

Not gonna lie, though, I'll still bend the knee and go through the whole charade if the thread has a good enough prompt. XD

I don't do the whole password thing myself, but I totally understand the people who do it. The amount of times I've listed VERY OBVIOUS dislikes in my thread and then had people message me asking if I wanted to RP those things...
Well, it's irritating, to be honest.
I can see why you don't like the whole password thing. I don't care for it either and that's why I don't do it. But I'll admit I am tempted to every time I receive a PM that clearly shows the person barely read any of my search thread.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I think for passwords they're most useful when they contain an action rather than just a random bit of trivia. For instance I don't think asking someone what their favorite color is proves they've read your thread. They could have just skimmed it until they saw the words "favorite color" or "password" and answered that.

Instead I think having the password be an action they take is a lot more helpful. For instance "Please put the ideas you liked and your own requirements in your message." As this forces them to actually prove they've read the content of the thread by referencing parts of it. Rather than just giving you a random factoid that they pulled out their butt.

 

[Tove]

I have no problems with people preferring to be contacted by pm or starting a roleplay in a pm. The thing that will make me turn away from a search thread quickly is if after specifying when someone sends them a message they want to know ideas who that person is, establish a rapport, etc BUT state for potential partners not to take it personally if their pm is not read that if they're not interested they may forget to reply to the pm.

Okay so, you want to be contacted over a pm. Cool. You want to get to know the person contacting you, hear ideas, throw in plot twists, all of that-even better! However, if you're not interested you could forget to reply to the pm or not even read it all. Why even bother having a search thread in the first place? Better yet, what the heck are you even looking for?

 

[Becker]

I have no problems with people preferring to be contacted by pm or starting a roleplay in a pm. The thing that will make me turn away from a search thread quickly is if after specifying when someone sends them a message they want to know ideas who that person is, establish a rapport, etc BUT state for potential partners not to take it personally if their pm is not read that if they're not interested they may forget to reply to the pm.

Okay so, you want to be contacted over a pm. Cool. You want to get to know the person contacting you, hear ideas, throw in plot twists, all of that-even better! However, if you're not interested you could forget to reply to the pm or not even read it all. Why even bother having a search thread in the first place? Better yet, what the heck are you even looking for?

I can already feel my blood-pressure rising...

Firstly, I am completely in the same boat as you on this... 'issue'. Nothing winds me up more than taking the time to write up a few paragraphs, lay out my own personal likes + dislikes and ensuring the person of what times I am free to work on posts etc.. After doing all this and they don't get back to me within a reasonable amount of time, it's not a great feeling to be ignored completely. I honestly think (and this is my personal opinion so disagree if you wish but meh..) that some folk just don't have the backbone or responsibility to give others 'the bad news'. We see it all the time sadly, GMs that allow anything to fly because they don't want the hassle or potential drama from having to reign in a certain somebody. 1-2-1's that complain in threads like these that the other person in their 1-2-1 has completely taken over the story,lore etc.. but they themselves just haven't bothered to put their foot down and get their own point across (I like to call them 'nodding labradors' because all they do is agree with things, even if they don't actually like the ideas and they end up ghosting the PMs because they're unhappy but never express any problems because... I honestly don't know or understand the logic.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

Furthermore it really puts a negative stamp on this person for some, i've run RPs in the past where a certain somebody expresses interest in joining and i'm thinking "Ahah, so you don't have to acknowledge my interest in your threads but you want me to acknowledge yours? interesting... Tell me more on how you think you're the kind of person I want in my RPs?" All in all, people should reply to threads, even the ones they aren't perticularly interested in joining and perpare to take some big brave pills when it comes to turning away others. I don't know how many times other people (including myself) have said this:

It's better to speak up about issues, problems, whether or not you can stay in a RP, whether or not you dislike a certain part of the lore, other character's behaviour and personalities. Speak to people that you're turning away and try your best to make sure both parties understand and are able to walk away on good terms. Disappearing and refusing to answer PM's is just a dick move, but alas it'll continue to be a issue because folk just aren't bothered about annoying others (guilty as fuck about that myself..).

 

[Tove]

I can already feel my blood-pressure rising...

Firstly, I am completely in the same boat as you on this... 'issue'. Nothing winds me up more than taking the time to write up a few paragraphs, lay out my own personal likes + dislikes and ensuring the person of what times I am free to work on posts etc.. After doing all this and they don't get back to me within a reasonable amount of time, it's not a great feeling to be ignored completely. I honestly think (and this is my personal opinion so disagree if you wish but meh..) that some folk just don't have the backbone or responsibility to give others 'the bad news'. We see it all the time sadly, GMs that allow anything to fly because they don't want the hassle or potential drama from having to reign in a certain somebody. 1-2-1's that complain in threads like these that the other person in their 1-2-1 has completely taken over the story,lore etc.. but they themselves just haven't bothered to put their foot down and get their own point across (I like to call them 'nodding labradors' because all they do is agree with things, even if they don't actually like the ideas and they end up ghosting the PMs because they're unhappy but never express any problems because... I honestly don't know or understand the logic.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

Furthermore it really puts a negative stamp on this person for some, i've run RPs in the past where a certain somebody expresses interest in joining and i'm thinking "Ahah, so you don't have to acknowledge my interest in your threads but you want me to acknowledge yours? interesting... Tell me more on how you think you're the kind of person I want in my RPs?" All in all, people should reply to threads, even the ones they aren't perticularly interested in joining and perpare to take some big brave pills when it comes to turning away others. I don't know how many times other people (including myself) have said this:

It's better to speak up about issues, problems, whether or not you can stay in a RP, whether or not you dislike a certain part of the lore, other character's behaviour and personalities. Speak to people that you're turning away and try your best to make sure both parties understand and are able to walk away on good terms. Disappearing and refusing to answer PM's is just a dick move, but alas it'll continue to be a issue because folk just aren't bothered about annoying others (guilty as fuck about that myself..).

And this sums up perfectly how I feel. There's nothing I would change. I do feel a little less excited about group roleplays though.

 

[Becker]

And this sums up perfectly how I feel. There's nothing I would change. I do feel a little less excited about group roleplays though.

Glad to hear that my mad rantings aren't just my own! I'm curious to know what your thought are about group RPs? It's been rather hit and miss for me in regards to finding a great GM to keep the status quo

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

Me: *reads search thread and is able to handle every requirement listed. Sends PM explaining this and including ideas I'd like to do, who I can play, etc.*

Person: *never answers. Constantly bumps search thread*

Me:

 

[Becker]

Me: *reads search thread and is able to handle every requirement listed. Sends PM explaining this and including ideas I'd like to do, who I can play, etc.*

Person: *never answers. Constantly bumps search thread*

Me:

Don't be sad, here's a puppy!

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

Don't be sad, here's a puppy!
View attachment 591468

Haha, thank you!

And I think it's more frustration than anything else. Like, what are you looking for? I literally meet all of your requirements.