You get that itch, you browse the forum, and then you find that roleplay you really want to enter—or you decide to make your own. At which point you have entered the all too familiar waiting game until the eventual IC. Have any of you noticed that it is often several days or even a week or so later until a roleplay truly starts?

So the thought crossed my mind, but do some people space out the process of starting a roleplay to a length that is too long? That decision to wait until a certain date/number of "interested" comments before migrating from Interest Check to eventual OOC. Could, or more should, a GM place a character sheet template in the Interest Check so people can start working on their characters sooner? And how much should a GM prepare their own works (OOC, Characters, and IC #1) before choosing to start their roleplay?

Understandably there is a point when you go too fast and it falls apart, but I wanna hear thoughts on what pace has worked for others, and whether there are choices you would whole heartily avoid because they burn too fast or too slow.

@NuttsnBolts I usually put the character sheet in the interest check but my interest checks generally last a day. Maybe 2. I usually have the OOC all ready before I even post the interest check, and that's because I know interest checks are fucking useless. I generally wait until I have the required amount of CS's but, given that I roleplay exclusively with my friends in group RP's nowadays, and everyone else is just 'extra' in that endeavor, that usually means I'll wait a day or three. I write the IC on the moment I open the IC.

Let's unpack this a little bit:

Have any of you noticed that it is often several days or even a week or so later until a roleplay truly starts?

There's no hard, fixed, rule about the thing. If I'm doing a RP in Casual that doesn't require a lot of "groundwork" it can go from Interest Check to OOC post to IC post in a relatively short amount of time. Say three days.

If I'm doing an Advanced game with complex histories involved in the Character Sheets, and Character Sheets themselves that involve multiple characters, than it could all take quite a bit longer to go from Interest Check to OOC post to IC post. Weeks aren't out of the question. During this time there's usually OOC chatter going on, either in the OOC thread, or in the game chat, so while there isn't an IC kickoff or lots of Character Sheets getting posted, there's still a fair amount going on.

So long as you don't lose your group of RPers, I think you're okay. Push too hard, or wait too long, and yeah--you run into issues as a GM.

So the thought crossed my mind, but do some people space out the process of starting a roleplay to a length that is too long?

Yes. It's probably not terribly difficult to find examples of this.

Could, or more should, a GM place a character sheet template in the Interest Check so people can start working on their characters sooner?

Could they? Sure. Sometimes they do, sometimes I have. Should they? If they'd like to, sure. If they don't want to, if they want people to wait until the OOC is up, that's fair enough. Really depends on how complicated a character sheet it's going to be and how long a wait until the OOC goes up.

And how much should a GM prepare their own works (OOC, Characters, and IC #1) before choosing to start their roleplay?

Depends on what you mean by "start their RP." If you mean, by the time you throw up an Interest Check, probably not. (Again it's up to everyone's own preferences.) What if you don't get enough interest? What if your OOC needs to change because of questions/issues brought about during the IntCheck phase? Ditto the first IC post: what if you need to know what characters you have so you can include them?

It's a good idea to have a solid foundation and good grasp on your game before throwing up an IntCheck, unless you're just usually good at winging it. Otherwise, you want to have some idea what you're doing I think. But do you need your OOC finished before your IntCheck? Probably not. Should you do an IC post before an OOC or IntCheck? You may not want to, for a few reasons.

But, afterall, GMing is a rather personal thing. Each person has their own methods, each person has their own preferences, and so long as they can make it work, that's all that really matters. If it's not working out for them, you'd hope they either reevaluate, or just stick to being a RPer and not a GM.

I don't take the process of starting an RP lightly. I was probably working on the OOC for my Danganronpa RP for a full month or two in advance before the RP itself went up. I experimented with formatting, jotted down notes about the story, and just made sure this was something I was going to be interested in. I also PMed people with Danganronpa characters for avatars to talk to them about Danganronpa itself. Danganronpa is a very divided fan base, and getting input on what the forum locals liked and didn't like about the franchise was important. Some of these people even chose to join the RP, and are still with me. While I normally wouldn't go get forum user feedback, I do think this has the added advantage of creating loyalty. The most important thing to a RP's success is loyalty, and this process is definetly something I'm going to do with future projects.

Until I arrived at this forum, I never used an interest check. But like Budda, I was pretty much done with it on the first day, and I had my OOC all ready to go before the interest check even went up. I didn't have much presence on the forum at the time, so I thought an interest check was a good idea. However, I did not post the character sheet in the interest check. I did not want to track character sheets between the interest check and the OOC. As a newer RPer with few connections, I think it helped generate interest.

It was about a week after opening up the main RP thread that the first IC went up. I don't think that's an unreasonable time to wait, but I wouldn't wait much longer than that. Mind you it took everyone 2-3 days to get their characters approved (I have a very convoluted character registration process for this on) But I think I did alright, because everyone stayed the first two weeks, and the second drop off happened about a month or two in. The real reason it took so long to write the IC was because the bad guy personally mocked every character in the story, so there were 17 "roasts" distributed among all the player characters. I think if your first post is amazing and gives people a lot to work with, they will forget the 4-5 day wait until it opens. What you don't want to do is refuse to open your RP because you don't have the perfect number of starting characters. The honeymoon glow of a new RP will start to fade, and people will leave. I mean, some people always leave. But if you start your RP before that happens, people will leave much slower.

Most successful RPs conclude after a year or two. Starting the RP a few days faster in the long run means very little. The important part is captivating everyone's interest and forming bonds that will last the life of the RP. The important part isn't how fast you start, but how eager your players are to start. If no one has faith in your project, a fast start won't save it.

We'd say it depends entirely upon the RP. Some RPs suffer if they go too slow in the intCk-->OoC-->IC, others suffer if its done too quickly. the more complex an RP, the longer it usually needs to take. Our own GMing project went through almost a year of planning between versions, but then we did go a bit further for the planning than most do. Some players can throw up an extensive sheet in a matter of days, others need a week or two for such.

We tend to hold to that more time is usually better than rushing. We're slow to approve sheets, but we want the sheets to be fully functional before we do, so that we do not have to deal with poorly made characters later on in the RP.

For me I have a rather set process. First comes the idea, which is researched to no end for 2-6 months lol. (Seriously, I have notebooks for each rp)

Then I create the Interest Check/OOC - they are one in the same for me. Everything gets posted at the onset in the Interest Check: rules, cs's, rs's, outline, etc. I even make sure to have at least my main characters CS fully completed before I post an Interest Check.

Once the Interest Check is posted, I let my core group of Rp Peeps know it is going and post the link in my signature, Profile Page, and in my Status Update. Then I wait. My interest checks are normally up for 3-7 days. If enough interest isn't posted by then, I move on an re-evaluate.

How many do I need to start an Rp, that depends. If it is from my core group I only need 2 to express interest. I know them, and I know between two of them and myself we can make it work and work well. With new comers, I estimate that only 1 in 4 new comers will actually fill out a CS and out of those 50% will drop before the first post. So I don't count on them as part of my numbers to start a new RP. If they work out, then wonderful! Fresh meat! If not, then I haven't placed the longevity of my RP on them.

Once the OOC goes up, it is usually 7 days before the IC goes up since I weave the PC's into the storyline. It takes me that amount of time to review the CS's and get their back stories worked in. Then the IC goes up. After that, it is 1 post per 7 days, Day 8 of no posting you are kicked.

7 Days works for me, others it might not. Granted my ways don't work for everyone but they work for me. I have a good track record of long term Rp's because of the way I do things and the Rpers that come to my RP's. (Currently have 3 Rp's that are over the 12 month running mark, 2 others that are closing in on a year and 1 that is approaching month 6. Most of them are second or third chapters in their RP, or an RP developed as a continuation of one that finished. All of them actually intertwine somewhere on what I refer to as the Lady A Universe, and two other GM's run Rp's on the forum that are on that same time line. I like to weave one hell of a web.)

But again, that is me and my ways don't work for most. They just happen to work for me.

You get that itch, you browse the forum, and then you find that roleplay you really want to enter—or you decide to make your own. At which point you have entered the all too familiar waiting game until the eventual IC. Have any of you noticed that it is often several days or even a week or so later until a roleplay truly starts?

So the thought crossed my mind, but do some people space out the process of starting a roleplay to a length that is too long? That decision to wait until a certain date/number of "interested" comments before migrating from Interest Check to eventual OOC. Could, or more should, a GM place a character sheet template in the Interest Check so people can start working on their characters sooner? And how much should a GM prepare their own works (OOC, Characters, and IC #1) before choosing to start their roleplay?

Understandably there is a point when you go too fast and it falls apart, but I wanna hear thoughts on what pace has worked for others, and whether there are choices you would whole heartily avoid because they burn too fast or too slow.

It's the forum itself, it is not a normal thing for RP's to take as long as I've waited for people to write characters, for the gm to even start the RP, and then for people to post or say that they drop before posting anything. I've also never had so many damn people feel the need to nitpick every single thing they could possibly do. It's like people are TRYING to waste as much time as possible before the damn RP starts. It makes it very tedious, and it kills my interest in doing them and almost makes me continue out of obligation that I don't want to be "the asshole that drops mid RP" but so many people's direction and ability to go with the flow. (or complete lack there of.) It has made me, completely alter my CS, completely rewrite sections of my story, made the goddamn stupidest rules to a RP I've ever seen. Some that actively slow the roleplay down.

But no, I usually don't put widespread interest in RP's that I won't even bother doing if it takes slightly longer than I expect. Or in less than a week say I can't do it because life or disappear without a trace. Or even worse START/CREATE the rp and waste everyone's time in the process and then quit the RP you created. (Seriously, If you "have real life stuff." Please, don't run a campaign! >.<)

If you're asking how much time should the GM go over his own interest check/OOC before he posts it and starts the roleplay...it should be long enough that he doesn't have to get asked simple questions that they should probably think they'll be asked if they leave the information out. Once the OOC is posted and interest has already been met. It shouldn't take long at all for the RP to start. If you didn't plan for "NPC" characters and what you wanted to do to start your own RP. You shouldn't of posted the interest check/OOC in the first place. At the rate some of them go, I'd almost suggest to pre-write some the first post of the RP. That way it's already done (or at least part of it.) and maybe gives people an idea of what you're looking for, especially if the premise is incredibly vague or complex.

The other forum I roleplayed in, free/starter rp's always were instant (post a character and join right in.) type and there is a surprising lack of those on the free section...which is meant to be fast paced and just for newer players or those who want quick role-plays to mess around in in between longer ones they're doing. And the others ones took maybe 2-5 days to start once everything had been accepted and dealt with. There was a lot more going with the flow. If you had proper spelling and stuff and didn't blatantly make a screwed up CS, you were almost always accepted without issue. Which I consider far more reasonable...but that place had a LOT of differences.

<Snipped quote by NuttsnBolts>

I've also never had so many damn people feel the need to nitpick every single thing they could possibly do. It's like people are TRYING to waste as much time as possible before the damn RP starts.

The Guild has an obsession with pedantic detail.

(Seriously, If you "have real life stuff." Please, don't run a campaign! >.<)

This.

I do not think it could be said any better or any more clearly.

If you haven't the time to dedicate to other players, other actual people who exist despite you being mostly incapable of seeing them, from all different corners of this world, do not participate or start a topic. None of us, and I believe I can say that with absolute certainty, enjoy throwing our creativity, time, effort or hopes in on a topic that will never get off the ground because the Game Master or a few players have "real life stuff" to worry about. Roleplaying is a hobby and of that I have make no mistakes, but unlike other hobbies which are content to remain idle where they lay, this is not one. There are other people actively trying to be invested or involved in a game.

There is a reason so many people become frustrated, burned out or simply put, disinterested and disillusioned with the entire genre of roleplaying and that is mostly because of other players. I know I have delved into this topic in light before, @Kratesis can confirm this and to an even further extent, but restarting over and over again is more damaging than just not beginning whatsoever. With the way the Guild functions however, there's no surety that any amount of preparation, forethought or effort is going to get you viable success; genre seems to do that more than anything here. If your idea is not marketable or at times even close to pandering, the odds are not favoring you.

A few general factors I notice for success are, as I mentioned, first the genre. If your roleplay is a loose high fantasy, fandom, school or anime based roleplay, your odds are significantly better in attracting attention. Second, it seems the general interest check needs to be loose enough that anyone reading it of that party feels they can grasp on to it - a given of course, but the more strict or specific, the less likely you are to see any votes here. Third, there needs to be visible communications and discussion on the interest check, with a rapid turnaround and minimal delay between that and the initial topic itself and then an initiating post. Fourth, players - for one reason or another - seem to need to be coaxed to do anything; it is almost as though they are all afraid of posting, which are born of some factors like we saw earlier in this topic about nitpicking.

Did my character say something? Yes, yes they did. They thought something too. Does that make it accurate or lacking in their perceptions twisting it? No. I knowingly wrote something like that because I can read back the previous information and give an in-character answer to it; how they feel on it. The opinions in the meta are meaningless.