How do you use the non forum rp board?

[Enmuro]

I've always been curious how other people look through posts on the non forum rp request board. If you have a sec, post how you use that board, we'll come up with an awesome'r understanding of how non forum rps happen.

A few leading questions -
-How do you choose which posts to read?
-What about the original poster do you look at? Does it include anything like
    -Their forum usage stats to see when they're around?
    -Their timezone?
    -Their O/Os?
-What is usually your motivation for going to look for IM rps at all (more free time, other rp ended, just looking for ideas?)

For my own part, I mostly narrow the posts down by looking for an interesting title, a poster name that appears female, and then I go through and read the individual posts in order of most interesting to least. Howsabout you?

[Wolfy]

Well, I mostly go for IM RP's when there's a possibility that what we'll be RPing or the Subject matter contained within can't be on Elliquiy..o3o..Of course, they never start out that way, but sometimes they end up like that. *shrug*

[Enmuro]

Thanks Wolfy! I hadn't even considered that motivation. I was mostly focused on people choosing IM rp simply because it fits better with their free time.

[HairyHeretic]

That particular motivation would be fairly minor I suspect, given that anyone who advertised for RPs that were against site limits would find themselves castrated or banned in rather short order. From our perspective, if something is against site rules, that means both playing it out on the forums and advertising for it are equally forbidden.

[bandit]

I'd say that initially my approach is the same. I look for a title that's either interesting or implies a female looking for males. I'll also look for user names that might hint that they're female and check those threads too.

Once I'm actually looking at the thread two things are equally important to me. Ideas that sound fun or at the very least ideas that are similar to some of mine and o/o's that come close to mine. Not everyone is good about putting up details though, either with ideas and/or o/o's which can be a bummer. I don't want to waste peoples time throwing ideas at them that they would never want to play. I also don't want to get my hopes up over an idea I love that they're just going to walk away from.

If I'm going to rp off forums then I'm usually looking for someone who uses yahoo im. It's a good waster of time which I sometimes have an abundance of. I also like that instant gratification of it. If you're both on and both  free the end result is roleplay. I love playing on the forums especially when I get compliments on what I'm writing, but some times its nice to not have to wait for a reply!

[Enmuro]

Thanks for replying Bandit. The order of things you look for in a post after the title and poster (glad to see I'm not the only one who plays the masculine/feminine guessing game) is very interesting. I think we have pretty much the same approach although I admit I seldom look at O/Os. Btw, I gotta say that with your approach to evaluating partners in mind, your sig is perfectly designed. You have your ons and offs handy along with your current ideas. That definitely seems to be the pattern of the most effective sigs too.

I also asked around and was surprised to find how common it is for people to PM users directly. I guess they find people to message directly through O/O searches, or previous plots. This makes a lot of sense, in marketing terms I guess you'd call that "consumer focused" advertising as opposed "product focused," which is what we usually do on the non forum request board. I might hazard a guess that directly PMing plot ideas is more focused and effective but I could be wrong.

And good point HH, more commonlyI could see it being used to advertise plots for niches that are hard to reflect in your O/Os. For example lets say someone has a fetish associated with people who like having huge tvs, the likelihood that two people will connect over that via a simple O O search is minimal (even a text search for "tv fetish" might not turn up "I love televisions in scenes").   

[Wolfy]

That particular motivation would be fairly minor I suspect, given that anyone who advertised for RPs that were against site limits would find themselves castrated or banned in rather short order. From our perspective, if something is against site rules, that means both playing it out on the forums and advertising for it are equally forbidden.

Well like I said, it never starts that way, especially not on here. It just sometimes happen to shift over in that direction when we're actually in IMs. No one that I've ever started an IM Rp with has actually advertised such things...We just get to talking (in IM's, of course. lol) and if they go somewhere that's off the spectrum, I mean...it's just where it goes, ya know?..

It's never on here, Hairy...<3 I love this place to much to risk being banned like that.

[DudelRok]

I've always been curious how other people look through posts on the non forum rp request board. If you have a sec, post how you use that board, we'll come up with an awesome'r understanding of how non forum rps happen.

As an IRC user I tend to wonder in that direction if only out of curiosity on occasion. It is very rare I pick up a game, however.

-How do you choose which posts to read?

Two things:
1) Title - If it makes me curious, I look.
2) Post Age - Due to the rather large inactivity in that section I look for recent post. Especially since a lot of people in that section do not return to E very often.

-What about the original poster do you look at? Does it include anything like
    -Their forum usage stats to see when they're around?
    -Their timezone?
    -Their O/Os?

Well if it's for a non-forum RP I don't see how their forum usage is all that important. I check everyone's O/Os if they seem interesting or their idea seems interesting regardless of where on the forum I even am. Though when looking for an RP partner it's just good business, and proper curtsey, to know what your partner isn't willing to do.

As for timezones... not really important due to my sleeping habits. Not to mention that my willingness to RP can be sporadic, especially in something not forum based.

-What is usually your motivation for going to look for IM rps at all (more free time, other rp ended, just looking for ideas?)

Curiosity, boredom and simply because I felt like it for no reason. That's why I do anything.

[bandit]

Thanks for replying Bandit. The order of things you look for in a post after the title and poster (glad to see I'm not the only one who plays the masculine/feminine guessing game) is very interesting. I think we have pretty much the same approach although I admit I seldom look at O/Os. Btw, I gotta say that with your approach to evaluating partners in mind, your sig is perfectly designed. You have your ons and offs handy along with your current ideas. That definitely seems to be the pattern of the most effective sigs too.

I also asked around and was surprised to find how common it is for people to PM users directly. I guess they find people to message directly through O/O searches, or previous plots. This makes a lot of sense, in marketing terms I guess you'd call that "consumer focused" advertising as opposed "product focused," which is what we usually do on the non forum request board. I might hazard a guess that directly PMing plot ideas is more focused and effective but I could be wrong.

I often pm people directly. Usually what happens is that a username catches my eye on the main page and I check out their profile/o/o page/etc. If I see potential there then I'll toss some ideas at them.

Looking at the o/o page is essential for me because I play adult games. Smut isn't necessarily the focus but when the naughty bits do happen I'd like to know that were on the same page or at the very least very close. I'm all about finding that balance where ideally I find some one who likes my ideas and is generally into the same kinks I am.

[Thufir Hawat]

A few leading questions -
-How do you choose which posts to read?

Depends on the title, but it's hard to explain. Obviously, a "looking for F" thread isn't something I need to read. But it might include other criteria, too.

-What about the original poster do you look at? Does it include anything like
    -Their forum usage stats to see when they're around?
    -Their timezone?
    -Their O/Os?

Ther O&Os only, and whether they're interested in games I'm interested in. I can ask about the rest much faster.

-What is usually your motivation for going to look for IM rps at all (more free time, other rp ended, just looking for ideas?)

To me, it's as simple as "I have some free time, but don't want to start a forum game", since I never run more than one PbP game at a time.

[Envious]

-How do you choose which posts to read?
If the title draws me in, I click. If not, I don't.

-What about the original poster do you look at? Does it include anything like
The only thing I look at are O/Os

-What is usually your motivation for going to look for IM rps at all
Instant gratification. The time is rare and inbetween that I'm able to RP on IM (I'm too stinkin' busy!) so usually it's just a way to relax and pass a good chunk of time.

[Enmuro]

Thanks for giving your insight Rok, Thufir, and Envious! It really does sound like the two most important things to a post getting read, at least by males who seem to be the only ones chiming in, are the title (descriptive and/or intriguing ones) followed by the ideas themselves or possibly even the O/Os.

Something else I didn't even think to ask about
-Does the number of views and/or the number of replies impact your likelihood to click on a thread?

I generally avoid posts with lots of views. Like you mentioned Thufir, for me a lot of IM rp is about instant gratification; A lot of views and replies makes me think the person will be too busy to rp. Even long term, a person who is very popular is someone I don't want to rp with because inevitably they will get distracted from any plots in fairly short order.

Also, thanks to you all I think I've realized the last tact I took with an rp wanted thread was bound for failure. I assumed I could draw more interest by having a title targeting the segment of users who have time constraints. It now seems like time constraints aren't a major factor in shopping around for roleplays. If you're looking for IM rp already, interesting ideas and O/Os come first and time issues can be worked around.

And Bandit, I think you might have convinced me to, cautiously, start to see if a couple targeted rp plot suggestions to users based on their O/Os might pan out.

I've also been tempted to start a new rp wanted thread with a title like "4 plot ideas from fellow elliquiyers."And involve other players in brainstorming a few ideas. I dunno if crowdsourcing fun plots has ever panned out before though hehe but it would be something a little novel at least ;p


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[MasterMischief]

I can get online at work, but for obvious reasons E is blocked.  Play by e-mail (PBEM) has become an excellent way for me to post/e-mail more frequently than once a week.  When I am home, there are just too many distractions.  At work, people tend to leave me alone.

Beyond that, I look for the same things I do for any other RP, someone with similar interests.