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what's on your mind: RP Edition

no angel in you
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Me. Most of the time. I only read the profiles if my character is supposed to know the other character or if I'm trying to see if I'm trying to see if the two fit together for a specific plot. If they're just meeting for the first time I prefer to go in as blind as my character is. It makes for more genuine reactions.
I'm pretty much the same. If there's something super important in the bio that I need to know about as a player, or if makes sense for my character(like my character running a background check on the other character with player permission) then I'll typically take a look. Otherwise I enjoy going in as blind as my character.


Genuine question: if you're treating a "get to know you thread" as equivalent to starting a conversation with a random stranger at a bus stop, how can you be sure that you'll enjoy writing the thread with the other character? (Or rper, for that matter, assuming they're not a preexisting rp friend?)

(of course, it's entirely possible that we lie at opposite ends of the "willing to talk to a random stranger" scale!)
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I also try not to read too much about a character before rping with them, but honestly my memory is so friggin bad that even if i do read it, i'm going to forget most of the time anyways. it's not personal. i forget my own character lore a lot too. plus having really bad dyslexia there's a chance i'm going to read it wrong lol. unfortunately i am staff and do sometimes have to read and accept apps.

I think i may adopt the content warning thing though, or at least discuss it with my staff team. it's a good idea, but may not be very practical for our community to have.

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I'm pretty much the same. If there's something super important in the bio that I need to know about as a player, or if makes sense for my character(like my character running a background check on the other character with player permission) then I'll typically take a look. Otherwise I enjoy going in as blind as my character.
Genuine question: if you're treating a "get to know you thread" as equivalent to starting a conversation with a random stranger at a bus stop, how can you be sure that you'll enjoy writing the thread with the other character? (Or rper, for that matter, assuming they're not a preexisting rp friend?)

(of course, it's entirely possible that we lie at opposite ends of the "willing to talk to a random stranger" scale!)
Can't. There are absolutely no guarantees in ANYTHING.
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I will read everyone's profile, everyone's posts in detail, etc. I know this seems to be a slowly fading view - but growing up in the warrior cat sphere and things like that were everyone was very close and in the same small area - everyone had a sense of interconnection. It was seen as highly rude to never go in and read anything. I still to this day, find it rude. I've noticed that it's very much a personal thing - and it might keep me from interacting rp wise (I don't feel like having a "close" IC friendship if you aren't going to read my character and we're going 'go with the flow' type of thing- though I will rp with you just as strangers, type of situation) but I don't like putting in a lot of effort if I'm not going to get anything back.

Again, personal preference I guess - but if I don't know if I'm going to get more than five posts in a thread out of your character with some basic questions in your DM's - well then that just means we're not compatible, and that's fine. I don't consider it plotting to know some basics about your character. I think it's fine 'pantsing' and 'going with the flow' but not when I have like 5 threads that are essentially, "hi how are you" "you may not know my name as I am the shadow of the moon" "okay, I'm going to go now" type of thread. I live in the south and there's an art to having a conversation I guess and I kinda try to follow that. We find something we like, talk for 4 hours and say nothing, then leave and forget each other's first names, lol.

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i find it hard to be the first person to initiate in a dm. once it’s started i’ll sometimes be okay — but I can never tell if people even want a dm because some people I know said it makes them anxious. and if i’m anxious from making the first move, and you’re anxious at an unexpected dm, then we’re both panicking for no reason and it isn’t a great time.
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Genuine question: if you're treating a "get to know you thread" as equivalent to starting a conversation with a random stranger at a bus stop, how can you be sure that you'll enjoy writing the thread with the other character? (Or rper, for that matter, assuming they're not a preexisting rp friend?)

(of course, it's entirely possible that we lie at opposite ends of the "willing to talk to a random stranger" scale!)
Can't. There are absolutely no guarantees in ANYTHING.



This, again lol. Also not every thread / interaction with other characters has to end up spanning into a full on plotting thing. It could easily be a one off thread where two characters interact once and then maybe never interact again or not interact until some other random point where they've probably forgotten about one another. Which to me the latter merits a chance for a reset between the characters because they might be at developmental points that they can mesh together better.

Also if I don't mesh with a roleplayer or their character after a thread then it's water off of my back because now I've invested zero time in learning about this other character. If me and the RP'er vibe and the characters have somewhere to go then 100% I'm investing time into reading the bio now.

Also also and this is just a me thing. But I don't enjoy random meet and greet threads in general(I still do them because I hate myself). I warn people all the time that if the thread doesn't go anywhere I will randomly throw ninjas/monsters/soldiers/muggers/something into the thread to spice it up. lol
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wdym we're 5 months in 2024
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[ I warn people all the time that if the thread doesn't go anywhere I will randomly throw ninjas/monsters/soldiers/muggers/something into the thread to spice it up. lol

we could be six posts in and i’ll throw a dimensional gateway cracking letting unloose beast themed aliens bc why aren’t we doing that more???? Why settle for infinite spawn bandits when we could have more!!
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[ I warn people all the time that if the thread doesn't go anywhere I will randomly throw ninjas/monsters/soldiers/muggers/something into the thread to spice it up. lol
we could be six posts in and i’ll throw a dimensional gateway cracking letting unloose beast themed aliens bc why aren’t we doing that more???? Why settle for infinite spawn bandits when we could have more!!

"You've grown soft, your dead friends can attest."
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at this, the world's end, do we cast off tomorrow~!
gotta be honest, i really wish we'd ctrl + z the new trend of just posting up super basic graphics for interest checks, if only because i want to know whether i need to be getting hyped for, idk, a basic slice of life modern fantasy or a huge plot-driven cyberpunk political fantasy and i can't always tell with these new buzz style ics-
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gotta be honest, i really wish we'd ctrl + z the new trend of just posting up super basic graphics for interest checks, if only because i want to know whether i need to be getting hyped for, idk, a basic slice of life modern fantasy or a huge plot-driven cyberpunk political fantasy and i can't always tell with these new buzz style ics-


this is one of the reasons why i've been so hesitant in trying to make an ic of my own. my graphic skills are so poor and i personally don't think words alone can garner enough interest hgfdsdfgffds btw this is not a jab on anyone this is just for me and me only
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this is one of the reasons why i've been so hesitant in trying to make an ic of my own. my graphic skills are so poor and i personally don't think words alone can garner enough interest hgfdsdfgffds btw this is not a jab on anyone this is just for me and me only


I think even if your graphic skills are not where you want them to be - you can still make an interesting concept. I think the main issue some people have is - the graphics don't tell much. If there's no plot, no site details, how do you know? I see a lot of well done concepts for buzzes and stuff in rl and here, I think as long as you state up front what the site is (slice of life, urban fantasy, etc) - people get an idea of what the site is. Because we're so blasted with ads every day (tv, radio, social media) - we're not always in the mood for something vague, and some people are! It's a very attract what you wish to rp with!

Same thing with your rules, etc. I think words can garner interest, it does for me- at least. Some people are very wary of images and a promise that's unknown. It causes anxiety and hesitance. With the words clearing it up - it can really help people. We're in this hobby to write after all! I wish you luck on making an IC and I'm sure it's going to be great. I'm a rando on the internet, but at least it's a perspective.
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this is one of the reasons why i've been so hesitant in trying to make an ic of my own. my graphic skills are so poor and i personally don't think words alone can garner enough interest hgfdsdfgffds btw this is not a jab on anyone this is just for me and me only




It's 100% okay if your graphic skills aren't the best! Just to piggyback a bit on what Neko said, you don't have to be super intricate in your IC; words have a bigger impact than you think. There's been IC where words alone have garnered a lot of interest because they give a better insight of what the site is, what it offers, etc, and you can make a better judgement on whether or not said site is interesting for you.

For me, I'd keep things short and sweet. Give a blurb of what your site is. Give people an idea of what to expect form your site/things you plan to create. What genre is it? Will there be quests? Canon positions? Difference races? Will it be 18+? Are there stats? Little things like this can really help people get a clearer idea of what you'll be making. A graphic added can definitely help, but writing is most important and aesthetics are secondary to a lot of people, like myself for example. That said, graphic only is just as valid!

I wish you the best of luck to not just the IC, but also the site creation and bringing it to life!
last edit on Apr 17, 2024 20:02:50 GMT by clock
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I maintain it's kinda wild how much importance people place on graphics for a word-based hobby.

For what it's worth, I kinda tune out if a site has too many bells and whistles layout/coding/graphics-wise, because it can be overwhelming. For Pixel Perfect, for example, I don't even pay attention to what's all in the profile or the sidebar, but I think it has a decent balance of fanciness for those who are into that, while maintaining enough of the "basic" forum concept to be accessible to those of us less inclined to busy interfaces.


Posting a graphic with links to your site stuff has been around for two decades, but I also wish advertisements would tell me a little more about the site. I'm more interested in the specifics of your site than art you took from someplace that has little to do with the actual site.
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