[quote=@ayzrules] I've been roleplaying on a different website for a while, and one thing that I've noticed there is that everyone seems to do these pre-made characters/roles for the RPs. Sometimes it'll just be a name or a title/archetype plus a few bulletpoints, but other times it gets as detailed as this (not my character description)- (from https://urstyle.com/styles/553167) The way it works on that site, most people either have a "reservation" system (first-come, first-serve) or you have to "audition" for a character, so you basically get a character based on how much GM likes your sheet (if there are multiple people "auditioning" for the same character). If you don't get the character you want, tough luck. They'll usually let you pick another character that hasn't been taken and run with it, but I find that most times I don't want to do that I just wanted some of y'alls thoughts on that+pre-made character archetypes in general? I will admit that I don't mind being assigned a name/FC that much, and I think the pre-mades are a good system to ensure sort of """diversity""" among the characters (so that way there aren't like 20000 edgy emos in on RP), but after several bad experiences with the audition system I am really adverse to that. I don't mind the system that we have on RPG either (where you just make up a character on your own). I know people here/on other forum RP sites who will do vague/loose archetypes, which I don't mind either. But I think it's really fucking stupid to put in tons of work/effort for a character that you might not get to play, and a first-come first-serve system isn't completely fair either. I've been trying to think of a happy medium (ie very vague archetypes/roles), but I'm not really sure if there is one. I still think just player-created OCs are the best way to go, but again sometimes the archetypes/roles/pre-mades can be useful. Thoughts???? [/quote] I actually see that you point out two seperate topics. The first one are "pre-made characters/archtypes/roles" and the other one is how GMs handle the application process. Personally I don't see any reason to participate in a roleplay where I have to play with a pre-made character (Name, background, personality, skills already determined). I like to bring my own creativity to the game and when everything is being made for me without my involvement the roleplay is simply not interesting for me. But that is just the case for totally pre-made characters. There can be a good reason to have some pre defined roles and guidelines for the characters to follow. Lets say you're hosting a military style roleplay about a special forces unit. Within that unit there are certain specializations such as a sniper, demolitions expert, medic, communications expert and maybe some more. Such specializations will form the backbone of the pre-made roles. You don't want to have your team made up of 20 snipers. The next part might involve some guidelines for the characters personality of the said roleplay. If the GM wants to have a certain degree of realism to his roleplay then the participants need to understand that their characters are highly trained professionals and not John Rambo or some other action hero. Nor can they start out as totally broken emo's with an extreme amount of psychological issues. Such people won't be on active duty. Such guidelines and specific roles can still be very appealing to me :) Now lets go to the next issue. The application process to roleplays. I think the primary reason why the fast majority of roleplays die within a few months is the total lack of any form of application process. GMs tend to focus entirely on their awesome story/plot ideas and world concepts but totally forget to think about what kind of players they want in their game. They almost always forget to ask themselfs that simple question and generally roll with whomever expresses their interests. The most likely outcome of the lack of application process is that a group of people with totally different expectations about the roleplay start a journey. In that journey many will find out that player A posts to frequently to keep up with, player B posts way too little and drags the roleplay, player C likes to write these 10 paragraph over 9000 words posts which player D responds to with a one-liner. Player E is totally into same-sex romance and he's constantly persueing player F's character much to his annoyance because he's totally not into that and just wants the plot to move forward. In the end for many players the roleplay does not live up to their expectations and they will lose interest and drop out. Eventually the roleplay dies and the GM will start a new one and will repeat the above process over and over again until he is lucky and by accident stumbles upon a group of players that are more or less on the same level. Or he will lose his confidence and just persue a carreer of writing mediocre fanfiction :) Personally I think it is vital for the success of a roleplay to get together a group of people with similair expectations about it. Not just only on post frequency and length but also on direction, roles, content and participation in the overall creative process. Communication with those who express interest in the RP is vital. Not just on how his character should be but also about what he expects from an RP, what his interests are. Does he like to have a touch of romance in between murdering goblin hordes? I think it is crucial for GMs to get to know the players. Know what aspects of roleplaying they enjoy, what levels of posting frequency they are comfortable with and in general what kind of roleplaying experience they are looking for. Then find those players who are most in line with your ideas as GM and with eachother. That way players are more likely to enjoy themselfs in the roleplay because it lives up to what they expected of it.