It's no big surprise that the role-playing scene has shifted drastically in the last few years. People have more real life responsibilities, AI can make finding a face-claim difficult, etc.

The purpose of this thread is honestly just to gather feedback from the RPG community on what rules and guidelines people like to see when they consider joining a roleplay now.

For example - do we prefer posting deadlines? Do we still prefer real life faceclaims? How many characters do we enjoy handling per RP? What genres are more popular now? As GMs, how are we going about making sure writers stay interested and engaged without coming across as overbearing or annoying?

I just want to hear what makes you interested in a Roleplay (outside of engaging plots) and what makes you go "oh, nuh-uh"?

@Sugar and Spite any rp that insists on real-person faceclaims is a hard no for me. I don't mind others using real people, but it makes me twitchy.

@Sugar and Spite any rp that insists on real-person faceclaims is a hard no for me. I don't mind others using real people, but it makes me twitchy.

An interesting (at least imo) view point. I've noticed that real life FCs are more of an SoL thing, which is a big part of what I do and perhaps why I mentioned in in the first place.

That's beside the point though.

May I ask why this is something you don't prefer, for the sake of conversation?

@Sugar and Spite I just don't feel comfortable using a real person's face for one of my characters. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I like the art I have for them? Or maybe because I'm not particularly familiar with most actors. *shrug* All I know it is makes me twitchy, and I don't like doing it.

A few trains of thought running on this one. Not sure if this post will entirely express them sufficiently, but, for some bullet points.

• Posting deadlines help to keep a person [me] honest and sorted about my posting activity. Though, given the whole adulthood thing, flexibility is also appreciated, especially when work gets busy for me. Most GMs have been fair and lenient, and I've yet, over the past 3-5 years, been singularly bounced from an RP due to a delayed post. Most of the time, if I'm not locked in, I'm not alone in that regard as others have also hit snags.
  
  EDIT: An ancedote regarding deadlines. On one of my old haunts, there is a single RP running in the forum's RP section. It started in 2018. Despite the pacing and frequency of posts coming to a literal crawl (at times, months pass between posts), the players and the GM remain invested in it. No stressing about getting posts in by a certain date. There seems to be an unspoken approach of letting life dictate the pace of the RP, and I think there's a lesson worth learning there.
• I can go either way with Face Claims. Keeping in mind that they only amount to what my character looks like, and, do an extent, their style(s)/fashion sensibilities, makes it easier. Though I do feel that the necessity of identifying a face claim by name can be a bit of stumbling point. On a few occasions, the FC that I find is some rando I found on a Google search, but the FC... err... 'culture' tends to demand a name, which means having to think of specific celebrities or public figures, rather than being able to just go with the first person I find that looks the part. But it all depends a lot on what sort of genre I'm working in. Modern and/or SoL affairs are easier for Face Claims than, say, purely fantasy settings. Otherwise I kinda just try to read the room if it's not specified: if most/everyone is using RL faces, then I'll do the same.
• Lately, I've found that 3 characters is a good number for me, if I'm finding myself needing/wanting a good self-sufficient story arc; optimally, running a main character with two slightly-less-main characters. Having those relationship dynamics completely under my control alleviates the need to rely on others being on board with my development goals. Which I reckong should help in terms of developing relations with other peoples' characters without the need for them to completely come to me on things.
• Superhero RPs seem to be springing up a bit lately. And I'm very much into riding that wave. But otherwise, personally, I wouldn't say no to Urban Fantasy, with or without other genres mixed in.
• EDIT: My apologies for making this more of a pet peeve air-out. Speaking as a player, my best RP experiences have come under GMs that engaged (collaboratively and socially) with all of their players. If there's to be one person that anyone can go to to talk story arcs, or hit up for a collab, it should be the GM. Having been in a handful of situations where this did not prove to be the case (and having been on the receiving end what felt like exclusive and directed apathy), that's the kind of experience that just really sours this little hobby of mine. And I get it, some people are just a bit more hesitatant to work/socialize with those that they don't have a [good] prior history with. I get the same way (though, oddly enough, RPing is the exception to this; writing with new people, getting to see different kinds of ideas... that's kinda my jam); this might be harsh, and a callout on somepeople, but if you're the kind of person that genernally prefers to write within their established circles, keep your GMing to that. I realize I may be alone in this perspective; it is what it is.
  
  Otherwise, it's helpful for GMs to be transparent about what standards they will be holding people to. Most do so in terms of post length, and general RPing rules. But being equally clear about things like how collaboration will be enaged. Most RPs I've been in have asked little in the way of prior collaboration before engaing in IC interactions. A few have expected more advance planning. The latter cases tended to not make that part clear until after a blunder had already been made. Overall, just managing the expectations of those that would be interested, especially if you are accepcting new-to-you faces (who may not quite know how you roll).
• Kinda something I've been gnawing on for a minute: as someone who has known having either myself or character rejected upon application, I always find myself wanting feedback from the GM(s). Was it a character issue? Do I, as a player, simply not check enough of the boxes off? Yes, this is just a hobby, but, as with any hobby, it's fun to get better at as time goes along. While it tends to be rare outside of Advanced RPs to outright not make the cut, I'd love to see more GMs giving actionable feedback in those situations. Unless, of course, the reason for not accepting someone is simply because the RP has hit its maximum capacity.

It's no big surprise that the role-playing scene has shifted drastically in the last few years. People have more real life responsibilities, AI can make finding a face-claim difficult, etc.

The purpose of this thread is honestly just to gather feedback from the RPG community on what rules and guidelines people like to see when they consider joining a roleplay now.

For example - do we prefer posting deadlines? Do we still prefer real life faceclaims? How many characters do we enjoy handling per RP? What genres are more popular now? As GMs, how are we going about making sure writers stay interested and engaged without coming across as overbearing or annoying?

I just want to hear what makes you interested in a Roleplay (outside of engaging plots) and what makes you go "oh, nuh-uh"?

okk so let's go from the start I guess?

1. Posting deadlines are something I'll always advocate for but soft ones specifically. Life happens to everyone and a GM who understands that will always retain writers longer than one who doesn't imo.

2. Character count is something I think should be flexible on a per-writer basis with a cap of two being a solid default, but a GM who knows their players well enough to trust certain writers with three or four is fine as well.

3. Face claims are honestly not something I feel strongly about either way. I think all of them have merit and the right choice really depends on what the RP is going for aesthetically.

4. For genre, I've personally noticed a real uptick in superhero and slice of life RPs lately, though I love a good horror but I also know it's one of the hardest to sustain.

5. GM engagement is the big one for me, and the one I have the most complicated feelings about. The things that have worked best in my experience are having a Discord with low-pressure spaces so like…as one example, having celebratory reactions when someone posts. Plotting with individual writers in DMs so they feel personally invested in upcoming story beats is also something I think gets underutilized, which is unfortunate because if you know something exciting is coming specifically for your character, you want to post pretty much. Public praise for good writing goes a long way too, though it's worth being thoughtful about how that's structured. And on that note, I've seen recognition systems that had genuinely wonderful intentions but ended up reinforcing a pecking order rather than celebrating the whole community, and it can do more damage to morale than no recognition system at all. And it's not about scrapping the idea entirely as...that would defeat the entire purpose of me bringing it up in the first place, lol but maybe have things in a way where everyone feels like their contributions are visible.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Interested to see what everyone else thinks.

It's no big surprise that the role-playing scene has shifted drastically in the last few years. People have more real life responsibilities, AI can make finding a face-claim difficult, etc.

The purpose of this thread is honestly just to gather feedback from the RPG community on what rules and guidelines people like to see when they consider joining a roleplay now.

For example - do we prefer posting deadlines? Do we still prefer real life faceclaims? How many characters do we enjoy handling per RP? What genres are more popular now? As GMs, how are we going about making sure writers stay interested and engaged without coming across as overbearing or annoying?

I just want to hear what makes you interested in a Roleplay (outside of engaging plots) and what makes you go "oh, nuh-uh"?

Honestly, some 15 years into this, it becomes more of a relationship game. (Platonic, geniuses.) If anything doesn't click or feel right, I'm not committing. At my writing level, there's too much craft and revision instincts that kick in and don't turn off to waste that on someone/a group that doesn't work for me, for whatever reason.

Anything petty or toxic? I'm gone. You know who you are.

Secondly to that is everything else.

Heroes are popular but reductive. SoL has always been popular (although apparently I've too much social anxiety these days to try one). Fandom has always been popular. Fantasy waxes and wanes. Horror, urban Fantasy, sci fi, more niche so good RPs that last six months can be difficult to find.

I find myself role-playing with a graphical maestro at the moment. I'm not an image/graphics person. I'm a writer that can't draw a stick figure, and the only image editing I'm capable of is resizing.

They intimidate me as much as having to pick a FC for a SoL game. (If you think I know the name of a celebrity under the age of 25, ANY celebrity, I will disappoint you.)

They don't care, though, whether I pick AI or real life or art or comic scans or...whatever. It takes the pressure off, and if I can point to one thing:

Things that take the pressure off? Key.

Whether that's social pressure, character sheet pressure (I truly loathe them at this point and will often not join a RP that requires any CS of any effort), or narrative pressure, or anything else. Make my life easier. I will do the same for you.

GMing...it's just trust. Yes on humane deadlines. (I have a life. It's not uncommon for a week to go by where I thought I'd have time to write that, but I didn't. Or something is blocking the emotional engine behind generation. Whatever the case.)

People that stick around. People that can push narrative. People that make room for you IC. Don't ask me into a game and then it's just you and two people writing amongst yourselves. I'm not here to be your audience, alone, no one is.

The rest is a matter of play it by ear's.

Apologies for the rambling nature.

I'll probably be in the minority but I've never really been afraid of that, so the only thing that really turns me off joining a role-play is there being an incredible amount of focus on formatting/style/"flair" over actual hard writing.

I don't really care about character sheets. I'd rather you just describe him/her/they/them in the role-play. I don't care about Pinterest images. They're nice, but I can take them or leave them. I don't even care if you use AI to generate something. As a writer by trade AI doesn't worry me at all. All I want to see is a genuinely good, hard pairing/concept. Show me something I can sink my teeth into; something obsessive, something gritty, and I'll show up every single day to contribute.

I also don't like cliques or rules. More often than not on RP sites (though not this one, as far as I can tell) groups of people form groups and gossip about others. I just don't care about that at all. Toxicity sucks and I just can't get on board with it. I don't care about ego or getting points for following the crowd.

In terms of genres, I like:

Fantasies, mysteries, world-building, or gritty noir dramas. I like lots of conversation. Lots of talking back and forths and accusations. I adore love and romance especially when it doesn't involve any level of OOC. I like gushing with my partners about how incredible the RP is going as we see the characters come to life. Mostly I like drama.

That's it. Truthfully I think most of this is very "head noise" and difficult to pin down. The honest way to say it is: I want the role-play to be genuine. I want to go in for something someone is excited about. If it doesn't have any heart and soul in it, I'm not there for it.

1. I’m mixed on posting deadlines. As a person with ADHD and Autism, it sometimes takes months to get a reply in. I know that slows the RP down, and it makes me feel guilty. Having the deadline can be helpful. At the same time, rushing me does not help.

2. Images should be optional. Not a requirement. Read the text I wrote under the appearance section, the image is supplementary. After all, it is a text based media, not a visual one.

I don’t care if you use RL faceclaims, I still imagine your characters as cartoon characters anyway. :P

3. I prefer controlling one character at a time, but I’ve done more than one too, so it depends.

4. It would be easier to list RPs I don’t like. Horror and Apocalypse.

5. What would be great is for RPs is to have some sort of active OOC discussion. That being said, I’m not very helpful with that because I don’t really know what to say a lot of the time sooo…

My preferences for what makes me apply for or pass over a roleplay hasn't changed much over the years. I mainly look for three things:

Engaging plot, or at least a good enough premise to sink my teeth into. Simple character sheet that doesn't demand a deep psychological profile down to how a character likes to part their hair. A nice enough word count I feel like we can write an actual story, not too short it's more chat-speak and not too lengthy it's basically just singular posts with self-contained events (collab posts excluded, obviously).

Whether or not I pass on a roleplay is usually based on my personal tastes. I avoid most SoL- and apocalypse-style roleplays. It's not that they can't be interesting, but heavily rely on sandbox mechanics that have just put me off them in general. AI involvement in writing is an obvious pass, but so far I haven't really seen it come up beyond image generation which I'm pretty okay with. Also adverse to fandoms that are basically OC x CC instead of building on something original within that universe. Similarly, if an original story requires specific character archetypes to be filled with set personalities and dynamics, I pass on that as well.

@Sugar and Spite I just don't feel comfortable using a real person's face for one of my characters. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I like the art I have for them? Or maybe because I'm not particularly familiar with most actors. *shrug* All I know it is makes me twitchy, and I don't like doing it.

I can respect that, and I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Do you think that the GM giving resources to help find faceclaims when requiring RL FCs would be beneficial to you, or people who have the same train of thought? Not asking that to try and persuade, but just genuine curiosity.

@IAmTheIsland I agree that deadlines can be a double edged sword kinda thing. If one were to just let life direct the pace of an RP, what are your thoughts on going in that direction? I imagine it can be difficult to trust people will return or to keep plots going (especially in sandbox style) if people are disappearing for months unless you are writing with people you know well - which makes us end up in the `clique hole`. I also agree that I myself would like more feedback on why sheets are being denied. I try to give feedback k as a GM when I deny a sheet, but I feel most others refrain because it can - more often than not - be seen as offensive.

@Qia Case by case for character caps is something that I can and do vibe with. That being said, it can sometimes look like you aren't holding peopke to the same standards and rub others the wrong way because you're 'letting someone break the rules.' Have you seen something similar and/or do you have any thoughts on navigating that? As someone who's been on the site for 10+ years, there are certain writers that I know and am more willing to be a bit more lenient with, but I never want someone to feel like they are being treated different, simply because I do not know them. I can also attest to your thoughts on a praise system; I've seen them do both good and bad. Kinda feel like a well rounded praise system starts with the GM team - you cannot raise this writer, and not the next. Even if it's something like `great post!`, I feel like it is important to acknowledge everyone, and if the GM doesn't set that standard than others will be way less likely to follow.

@Ruby Haven't heard anyone compare RP hunting to relationships, but I can say that I wholeheartedly agree with that analogy. One of my biggest pet peeves lately has been feeling like I'm putting in a shit ton of effort, and getting.... way less than what I put in. Which I know you can't expect everyone to be you and all that jazz, but it does bum me when I'm excited as hell and that isn't being reciprocated. Not sure if I've articulated that point like I want, but don't want to ramble.

I've always heard that SoL can be intimidating, though as someone who's mostly done SoL for nearly half my life, I've been fortunate enough to not have that experience. Is there anything particular that is keeping you from joining SoL specifically, and if so, how would you like to see GMs approach those things?

@Deadline When you say formatting flair, are you more referring to cells, scroll bars and intense coding like that - or just any and all BBcode a turn off for you? As someone who likes to make things pretty, I can agree that it can be a lot of unwanted, added pressure to make an aesthetic post every time, but I've always been curious where people draw the line on aesthetics.

@Azure Bubbles I myself have fallen into the slump where I don't feel like posting for a bit. What is a good deadline length that allows for downtime, but also keeps the RP moving somewhat consistently in your opinion? On the topic of OOC discussion, do you think OOC works better on site, or through a discord? I know people mostly use Discord now, but I've found that it can backfire sometimes.