tbh i get this and i will note: the RP doesn't require anything except just an example of how you intend to play the canon character. If it required a powers and personality section on top of that, I don't think I'd be there lol. Turns out I actually do like writing 400 words of a canon character responding to some random prompt, though, it's actually a really easy app system when we should all know the basic canon details. It's a glimpse at your personal take on the canon rather than a list of things we Already Know.

It also doesn't have a set word count. It's REALLY lenient, I find.

but like idk, writing posts is easy and apps is annoying? It's fucking annoying to write a backstory/personality/powers section for a character when you can wiki that stuff. As a result, the RP doesn't require writing samples for OCs but does require a backstory/personality section for them b/c you can't just wiki that.

you can argue ANY app is exclusionary. have to write a history before you're accepted? Get rejected because the history doesn't fit the lore? Isn't that the same exact concept? Isn't that treating the space like a hobby and not a job? What about when you have to describe every single nuance of your characters' powers, even when it's easily found on google? because someone can't just google "what does the force in star wars do" and you're pended three different times to explain it better?

i vastly prefer being told "hey just write a simple post about how you plan to play the character" or "write a plotter for your character" to being told "so we need every single minutae." Canons are easier to write than OCs in this setting because it's really easy to capture a canon's voice in a single post compared to writing a personality/history section for a character I've never written.

i'll concur with kuroya here. if the rp sample is the basis in which you (general) gauge someone's personality, motives, and behaviour - and actually given my initial assumption was not "source media canon" but "claimed position" this applies outside of panfandoms, which already must have more complicated apps by necessity (you can forgo complexity but it makes it a fucking pain to plot lmao) - an rp sample is basically acting as a personality freeform @ that point. bonus points if you ask to make the sample within the context of the site. that's a way of introducing/familiarising/testing characterisation waters/whatever else too for the player's benefit. i wouldn't particularly care for it on sites that already have a shit ton of other fields (again, general here) but that's about it.

i think the most egregious aspect of rp samples is how unnecessary it often is (b/c other fields can already cover what it provides) and worse, often exists exclusively to judge people's writing ability LOL. (once again, i speak generally and not on anyone's specific case b/c i don't know how you have run your site apps; but from what i've seen on rp per thread type forum set ups where applications are like that -) if its only purpose is to judge someone's writing ability i do not care for it one bit. like kuroya said, someone's shit writing / characterisation is unlikely to be obvious or solely obvious based on a single (1) writing snippet and will be more likely evident throughout the general application (is that not one of the reasons we have apps, after all?) - if you (general) need a field to point to as an excuse for "this is our designated nana you can't join because we hate your writing" shrug cool i'm not joining lol

however, i respect a dual purpose rp sample. if it's playing the purpose of personality / you use it to encourage players to dev within the rp site setting before/during the apping process itself / or whatever else, it may not be my thing personally, but i do like the concept as a whole in terms of economic and efficient app set up in a way that isn't just "list off your character's extremely contradicting personality traits in a way that has little to no meaning to the reader and is just one of the obligatory check marks that all apps go the way of eventually"

(Mizo we all have pent up anger about apps and admin/sites a la surely the experience of bashing one's skull into the computer because some site's apping style did not Work With Us is not a particularly exclusive one. and of course the admin/site wank is as eternal as they get in this hobby.)

i think it's worth asking whether certain parts of the app are necessary; what functionalities they specifically serve and is their current implementations the most efficient at communicating to the reader? backstory / personality / power fields etc for panfandoms are often needed because "i cannot be consulting a wiki and have to figure out how this wiki is laid out and god forbid if its one of those medias without any wiki why would you do this to me" but besides panfandoms, i think it can be very individual community-level and person to person what kind of apping style works. if illidan has deigned such earthly applications untow- (i'm kidding. i'm sorry.) ahem.

some people do have entirely different philosophy towards apping. apping is quite different component than rp post-wise, in large part because of that. yknow. collaborative story element we here like to yap on about at rp hq. i don't blame anyone if they look @ apps and think, tiredly, fuck that shit. b/c it's not people are generally here for, and that levels of "here for" can fluctuate. also october (wow i'm really chatting people's ears off, sorry) i'd argue that applications feel entirely like a job formality for some people because the excitement of the hobby comes from being able to actually rp with others, and just because you can put up with it, doesn't mean you are obligated to enjoy it, and one's investment in a site is not withstanding of any of this. perhaps i've uh missed the point uh... but idk! sometimes you do things that you find a chore because of the pay off, and not to say that thinking an app is a chore can't lead to "well fuck this site i'm over it" line of thought, but i wouldn't say it always necessitates.