Viewpoint What makes you nope out of a search thread?

[ashwynne]

Anyone who insists on only lighthearted themes/no conflict/no controversy ever.

I like to use writing as an outlet to explore the intricacies and challenges of various traumatic things. Provided both parties treat it with respect, thoughtfulness, and proper research, I don't think any subjects should ever be off the table (unless they break RPN rules, obviously). Not to say I have a problem with people wanting certain topics avoided... but a search thread that wants ONLY fluff or ONLY pleasant storylines makes me click away instantly.

 

[just_patches]

ashwynne
Agreed
Personally I'm a fan of ups and downs
Moments of fluff between moments of drama and vice versa
Perhaps it also depends on the character

 

[Wert]

Premade characters, or specific personality roles, that writers are supposed pick up and work with without much wiggle room. If you like them, more power to you, but I can't stand them.
I lose interest the moment I see a role requires a specific type of personality or already has a premade characters people are supposed to use and can't be replaced.

 

[Crayons]

Premade characters, or specific personality roles, that writers are supposed pick up and work with without much wiggle room. If you like them, more power to you, but I can't stand them.
I lose interest the moment I see a role requires a specific type of personality or already has a premade characters people are supposed to use and can't be replaced.

Indeed. I don't mind if it's a very vague concept or archetype, but once they start describing exactly what they should be doing, how they relate to the other characters, the whole personality etc. then no. A lot of the time it seems to me like they want to write a novel rather than a roleplay and have it all planned out, which means you're going to be a pawn on the chess board, and I ain't nobody's pawn, honey. XD

 

[just_patches]

Yeah I've seen one or two threads that I found interesting and wanted to join only to learn that the characters were premade.
As Crayons said, I don't quite mind if it's a mere "adjective noun" thing since that can easily be worked with, I'm sure I have a character or can make a character to fit the bill. But if it's a complete backstory, personality, and appearance that I have to follow? No thank you.

 

[Coco Adel]

Double standards. I for one cannot stand people who demand a certain level of quality from me, but do not adhere to their own rules yet expect me to for some reason. I'm not going to write 12+ lines for you and feel lucky if I can get at least 5 out of you.

Or the classic "I reserve the right to leave the RP at any time" and then in same breath tell you "Don't just leave the RP" So I'm not allowed to just leave but you are? Not that I would just leave without a word but that is just messed up.

Then you have the people who demand perfect grammer but didn't have it themselves.

The people who want you to "Be active" and "post daily" then take over a month to reply which I don't personally mind how long you take cause life happens and all but then when they finally do reply if I don't reply back in the following 2 seconds they constantly bug me I mean you took over a month you can at least give him a few minutes to an hour before you bug me.

I knoe some of these go beyond the search thread but I feel they are related to my nope.

 

[Crazya]

I agree with so many of these.

I like partners who are flexable and not stuck on a character.

This is rare, but sometimes I see requests that are super long and I kinda get discourged and skip applying.

 

[butterfly aubade]

When they have an age requirement.
Like no offence, but I don't feel comfortable revealing a complete stranger my age. I get that some people may be going for more mature themes (or writing styles), but age isn't really the only defining factor to what makes one a good writer. I generally stick to a don't-ask-don't-tell policy because how the age of my roleplay partner is none of my concern.

Roleplaying canon characters.
I just can't -- I'm physically unable to be hyped up for a character I haven't created myself.

Roleplaying in first person.
Again, it just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe because roleplay is like writing an interactive-type story and 1st POV sort of...isolates your character? I don't know how to describe it. [Interestingly enough, I actually prefer 1st POV when it comes to actual story writing because it allows me to explore individual character emotion/personality. Whereas, character interaction makes or breaks a roleplay].

Valuing quantity over quality.
I like detailed responses and would rather have someone spend 1 week+ on a good response rather than 45 minutes giving me a reply with lukewarm character interaction at best. With that being said, I also despise word counts because it limits my creative freedom as a writer. Some replies aren't going to be 10+ paragraphs and that's okay. [Although, if a response is 10+ paragraphs, half of that better not be describing scenery].

When they're unwilling to compromise.
I think you should be very explicit with what you want in a roleplay partner (and definitely do not settle), but I like to modify or change certain plot points to optimize the overall plot arcs to suit my characters needs. They usually won't be anything major [since if I responded, it means I like the gist of what they've got], but some people can be infuriatingly stubborn. Oh well.

Angst overload.
Drama is good. Angst is good. Just don't make your character's backstory an entire goddamned sob story.

 

[rae2nerdy]

butterfly aubade so for the age thing it seems to be more of a moral issue rather than a maturity one. People don’t want to have angry parents coming after them for being an adult talking to a child over the internet. Now personally I wasn’t raised in a household that was that strict so it’s not a concern I personally understand. But I can see how people who favor darker themes (mental health, abuse, gore, etc.) might be leery of coming across as bad influences.

But yeah it’s not really a matter of people thinking young = immature. It’s more the idea of “I’m an adult and I should stick to hanging out with people my own age online.”

 

[Crayons]

Roleplaying in first person.
Again, it just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe because roleplay is like writing an interactive-type story and 1st POV sort of...isolates your character? I don't know how to describe it. [Interestingly enough, I actually prefer 1st POV when it comes to actual story writing because it allows me to explore individual character emotion/personality. Whereas, character interaction makes or breaks a roleplay].

THIS. I can't believe this site allows it tbh. It's impossible to view the other person's post in 1st person from your character's perspective, because it places you firmly in the shoes of the character who is "I". So it's a complete mindbender. Also it is really difficult to read. I have never known anyone to RP well and use first person. It's such a weird and selfish thing to do - because you're not thinking about your partner reading it, just about yourself writing it. Pretty much everywhere I've RPed online has not allowed 1st person RPing for a good reason.

 

[FoolsErin]

THIS. I can't believe this site allows it tbh. It's impossible to view the other person's post in 1st person from your character's perspective, because it places you firmly in the shoes of the character who is "I". So it's a complete mindbender. Also it is really difficult to read. I have never known anyone to RP well and use first person. It's such a weird and selfish thing to do - because you're not thinking about your partner reading it, just about yourself writing it. Pretty much everywhere I've RPed online has not allowed 1st person RPing for a good reason.

So in other words, we’re never going to roleplay together. Sure I do a variety and dip into third person more often than not, but I like having the room to break out the old “mys and Is”. No offense to you obviously, we all have our preferences, and I personally have never really had an issue reading roleplay posts in a non-third perspective.

Anyways, I’ll usually back right out of a search thread if it’s filled with sparkly sparkly code. No, not because it’s difficult to read or because I’m a big mobile user. No, I just find it really intimidating when the most complicated thing I’ve done on my own is a background, border, and tabs at the same time.

 

[BackSet]

I too dislike first person roleplays. I once saw a person who made a thread complaining about it solely to gain sympathy for their plight of nobody roleplaying the way they did. How horrible their plight was. I wanted to slap them for being a pretentious prick.

 

[rae2nerdy]

So in other words, we’re never going to roleplay together. Sure I do a variety and dip into third person more often than not, but I like having the room to break out the old “mys and Is”. No offense to you obviously, we all have our preferences, and I personally have never really had an issue reading roleplay posts in a non-third perspective.

Anyways, I’ll usually back right out of a search thread if it’s filled with sparkly sparkly code. No, not because it’s difficult to read or because I’m a big mobile user. No, I just find it really intimidating when the most complicated thing I’ve done on my own is a background, border, and tabs at the same time.

For me it's when everyone is in first person perspective that it gets confusing. Unless the two individuals are in entirely different setting than it just makes the overlap hard to read. Now that said if one person is using first person and everyone else is using third than it's fine. I used to find it a little jarring but then I read more books that use that writing style and it's a little easier to accept it now.

I personally hate it when you can clearly tell that the person cared more about showing off their coding than making their text readable. When they use like some really obvious photo background and then just plain black text on top of it. Like I don't think even you can read this so how the heck am I suppose to? Or when all the text is in hidden buttons and they don't indicate that that's a thing so it basically looks like a picture with nothing on it.
Or the tiny scroll boxes that are unreadable on mobile and are so tiny on desktop I would basically have to copy and paste anyway to read it.

 

[just_patches]

Roleplaying canon characters.
I just can't -- I'm physically unable to be hyped up for a character I haven't created myself.

Agreed. I like seeing what people have created.
It's really only noticeable in crossover RPs where it really ruins my immersion when an RP would feature Helga G Pataki in a love triangle with Majin Buu and the Chosen Undead
(this is of course a major exaggeration that hasn't actually happened but it gets the point across.)

I personally hate it when you can clearly tell that the person cared more about showing off their coding than making their text readable. When they use like some really obvious photo background and then just plain black text on top of it. Like I don't think even you can read this so how the heck am I suppose to? Or when all the text is in hidden buttons and they don't indicate that that's a thing so it basically looks like a picture with nothing on it.
Or the tiny scroll boxes that are unreadable on mobile and are so tiny on desktop I would basically have to copy and paste anyway to read it.

I really like the text boxes for character sheets but they're super distracting when in an RP. So agreed.

 

[Crayons]

So in other words, we’re never going to roleplay together. Sure I do a variety and dip into third person more often than not, but I like having the room to break out the old “mys and Is”. No offense to you obviously, we all have our preferences, and I personally have never really had an issue reading roleplay posts in a non-third perspective.

Yep, you're probably right. And that's ok. I'm not meaning to disparage how others want to play, but 1st person is the biggest nope for me of all. More even than one liners. XD

 

[BackSet]

Yep, you're probably right. And that's ok. I'm not meaning to disparage how others want to play, but 1st person is the biggest nope for me of all. More even than one liners. XD

Someday you'll meet someone who does both and you will die.

 

[FoolsErin]

It's really only noticeable in crossover RPs where it really ruins my immersion when an RP would feature Helga G Pataki in a love triangle with Majin Buu and the Chosen Undead

The saddest part about this statement is that it actually sounds like something that would happen in one of the crossover roleplays I’m currently in.

 

[BackSet]

It's really only noticeable in crossover RPs where it really ruins my immersion when an RP would feature Helga G Pataki in a love triangle with Majin Buu and the Chosen Undead

Not gonna lie that souns hilarious.

I don't even know what those things are.

 

[ashwynne]

I, too, cannot stand first person. It’s so very easy to dip into italics if you want to delve into the first person thoughts of your character, without needing to write the whole thing in a tense that’s incredibly difficult to engage with.

I like to think of it as a Venn diagram. 3rd person is the middle part that overlaps both character circles. It encompasses thoughts, the setting and actions within that setting from a distance that is shared equally between them. 1st person is the individual circles outside the shared area. It might be related through the concept, but it’s a completely separate engagement of the plot that’s incredibly difficult to write well with.

It works in books where the author is only focused on a single character and how THEY interact with the world, but when you have two characters it’s almost like running two parallel, but completely separate, stories at once. I’ve yet to see any roleplay work well in 1st person.

Theres also the fact that it feels excessively self-inserty which kind of freaks me out too lol. I concur that it’s something that’ll scare me out of a search thread.

Nothing against people who use it, I just don’t see any appeal in it and won’t roleplay in that tense.

 

[butterfly aubade]

I actually have no problem roleplaying in large cross-over group roleplays if I personally am playing an OC.
Not gonna lie, there was one roleplay [on another site] that caught my eye. It a cross-over roleplay centered around a house with changing rooms that pulled characters from different "dimensions" [characters from different fandoms + OCs] from their respective homes and into itself. The character then had to figure out how to get back home.
I think a lot of these "nopes" can be canceled out if a roleplay is crafted well enough. ​

 

[Crayons]

Someday you'll meet someone who does both and you will die.

Usually people who do first person are people who do one-liners. This is literally the only site I've been on where para posters admit to using 1st person on the regular.

 

[BackSet]

Usually people who do first person are people who do one-liners. This is literally the only site I've been on where para posters admit to using 1st person on the regular.

Whaaaaaaaat!

 

[just_patches]

This one sounds picky but sometimes I judge people by their avatars. Some that give me red flags are Yoshi avatars, Fluttershy (other MLP characters are fine though), and anthro horses.
Something about people with these avatars turn out to be creeps or assholes

 

[BackSet]

This one sounds picky but sometimes I judge people by their avatars. Some that give me red flags are Yoshi avatars, Fluttershy (other MLP characters are fine though), and anthro horses.
Something about people with these avatars turn out to be creeps or assholes

*changes avatar to Yoshi and/or Fluttershy*

I kid.

 

[Becker]

This one sounds picky but sometimes I judge people by their avatars. Some that give me red flags are Yoshi avatars, Fluttershy (other MLP characters are fine though), and anthro horses.
Something about people with these avatars turn out to be creeps or assholes

I wouldn't call it picky, it's one of the first things we see when we meet new people. We're allowed to make presumptions because it's what we do best Folk that use a certain game/series character as their avatar and are only interested in Fandoms related to that character are instant red-flags for me. xD I seem to only come across the cringy fanatics than enthusiastic fans!