Can I ask for opinions on my Request Topic?

Started by Matttheman89, May 09, 2015, 01:03:35 PM

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Matttheman89

I don't know if this is cool or not, but I'd really like people's opinions on it. I've only gotten one or two responses on it, and I'm wondering if I've made it off putting somehow.

Am I being too specific with some of the ideas? Too vague? I tried to make it clear nothing is set in stone, but I'm not sure I did a good job.

Is it too cluttered? I tried to organize it by genre, but sometimes I worry that it comes off a little messy.

Is it bad that I've made it so fandom focused?

Any opinions or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=220349.0

Jag

Too fandom focused? No such thing. :)

I think it's fine. Don't worry too much about how many responses you get. I used to go months without a bite and then several bites a day for a few weeks. I don't think it's messy. You put what you want and what you expect in a partner.

I do find it's a little better if there is one or two specific plots that you ate craving to give them their own plot thread. I have most of mine split out between fandom. DBZ gets it's own thread, Ghostbusters gets it's own thread, TMNT gets it's own thread, and so on. That way people can just pick out the thread for the universe they like and not have to deal with looking through the rest.
Ons/Offs // Request Thread (Updated 3/10/24) // Slow to Reply at the Moment

Oniya

Quote from: Jagerin on May 09, 2015, 01:19:19 PM
I do find it's a little better if there is one or two specific plots that you ate craving to give them their own plot thread. I have most of mine split out between fandom. DBZ gets it's own thread, Ghostbusters gets it's own thread, TMNT gets it's own thread, and so on. That way people can just pick out the thread for the universe they like and not have to deal with looking through the rest.

Alternatively, you can put links to your various fandoms into the first post like a table of contents.
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O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

consortium11

Fandom does limit your audience and thus those that get in contact somewhat; they have to be familiar with and like the fandom or they're unlikely to get involved. That said it's not as if you've picked particularly obscure ones in this case or demanded too much in depth knowledge so that's unlikely to be a huge issue.

What I can say is that you may want to work on the formatting somewhat. The heavy use of spoilers is useful for not littering the page with dozens of pictures (which can be really awkward for people browsing on mobiles or slow connections but it does look a little ugly. A simple tip my be to put an extra blank line after each one, especially in the ones under each pairing, to break things up a little. Likewise possibly resize the pictures within the spoilers so they're the same height (you can do this by adding a height=x in the image tags such as the example below:

[img height=400][/img]

Otherwise keep in mind that there's no magic pill when it comes to interest threads. Sometimes you'll go months without a response. Other times you'll have multiple ones a day. Think of any time you've browsed over an interest thread, been intrigued by the idea but not got in contact. Sometimes there's a good reason for that... perhaps you were up to the limit of rps you could handle. Sometimes there isn't really a good reason but you just didn't. That's not the fault of the interest thread, it's just life.

Matttheman89

Thanks everyone. I'll keep what you've said in mind for the future. :-)

NileGoddess

If I may add my input, your posts come off as extremely confrontational and demanding. There are politer ways to express what you are looking for in partners as opposed to "Here's what I want, my way or the highway."

In the link that you posted:

Quote
-First and foremost. ONLY CONTACT ME IF YOU ACTUALLY PLAN ON COMMITTING.

You could probably do away with this entirely, as it sounds a bit petty and elitist. Of course, we'd all love to guarantee our games will continue, but more often than not, we have little control over it. So instead, you could say something like  "I'm looking for long term writing partners" and leave it at that, if you really feel the need to say anything.

Quote
-Communication.

Most of this part is fine, but it comes off as a bit desperate. All you need to do is stress the importance of communication once. There's no need to layer on all the justification. In fact, you could just say that you really enjoy communicating, and that will attract the type of people who do so.

Quote
-Post size.
-Spelling and grammar.
-Someone who's willing to help me carry the plot.
-Posting Frequency.

I've come to discover that I find people who explicitly vocalize these requirements to be somewhat irritating, simply because it comes off as saying 'you need to be good enough to talk to me.' A lot of what you are seeking here can be found by simply browsing someone's post history. As far as finding people who enjoy story developing, that's also easily discovered by communication. I've had people PM me with 'I really like this idea, do you want to do it?' and I'll reply with 'Perhaps, but let's talk about some of the details. Where do you see this concept going, etc.' More often than not, lazy players will simply reply with 'I'm up for whatever you want to do.' Someone more interested in developing the plot will offer ideas, suggestions, and scenes. Posting frequency can also be discovered through post history. If someone sporadically disappears for months on end every month with no activity, you may want to reconsider it when they say 'I want to plot a major, long term story with you.' I've had partners enter a game, then say "I'll post tomorrow" only to go inactive for 3 months...only to reappear in another thread where they say and do the exact same thing.

As far as fandoms, just be aware that you'll have an easier time finding games with themes people really enjoy. My hentai game was extremely popular because that theme and setting is extremely popular. My attempt to get a milf neighborhood game was not so popular, so it never got started. There's not much I can suggest here other than maybe explore and try some new themes and settings; that's how I discovered my love for the superheroine theme.

Jag

I also want to add in that while Canon x Canon games are fun for Fandom, they are less likely to get responses than Canon x OC or OC x OC. People are usually more interested in playing out the setting and not the set characters. I enjoy playing canon characters and my partners usually prefer to play an OC opposite that canon rather than another canon. Not everyone likes the idea of trying to get into the mindset of a per-established character.
Ons/Offs // Request Thread (Updated 3/10/24) // Slow to Reply at the Moment

Matttheman89

Those are all good points, thank you.  :-)

I was aware of some of that as I was typing it up, NileGoddess. But I stuck with it anyway, even though I thought some of it might be a bit much. But I've changed my opinion on it since then, and I've changed some of it around now to make it seem less standoffish. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. The last thing I want to do is offend anyone.

I've also just finished trying to overhaul the topic a little to try and make it seem a little more organized. Could I get more opinions on it now, please? I'm sorry to be a bother, but I really want it to be as good as it can be.

In particular, I want to ask about the post for Anime RPs. I'm a little worried that it's getting too big, and people might be turned off by how much there is to read.

Top Cat

#8
First: NileGoddess's point is extremely on-point and accurate. You've already addressed that, so let's move on.

What I would suggest, looking at your thread, would be to restructure it. If you want to keep it to just one thread (as I do), instead of having separate distinct threads (as Jagerin suggests), then the best way to do it in my opinion would be something close to what Oniya suggests:

Have one post within your thread for each separate fandom.
Have an index at the top with links to each separate post. That way, someone interested in your Dragonball ideas can click and jump straight to that, while someone with no interest in anime can skip down to, say, the Video Games section.

That way, someone can get a quick summary of what you're looking for, and can jump quickly to the parts of it that they're interested in. Someone who is interested in pure-OC stuff rather than fandom stuff can ignore all of the fandom posts without having to scroll slowly through the thread looking for something that catches their eye. You've already got nine posts in the thread, with five of them being little more (to other people) than a "bump" post - put them to good use! ;)

Note, of course, that how you structure it is entirely a matter of personal preference - just because Jagerin and I have different approaches, that doesn't mean that mine is right and his is wrong. Both work. The important part is that you want to give a potential partner a quick hook to keep them interested, and a way for them to easily get to the parts that interest them. Very few people are going to want to read dozens of paragraphs to find just one that pushes their buttons - if they haven't spotted something that keeps them interested by the second screen-page, they'll probably back out and move on.
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NileGoddess

Quote from: Matttheman89 on May 17, 2015, 10:04:07 PM
In particular, I want to ask about the post for Anime RPs. I'm a little worried that it's getting too big, and people might be turned off by how much there is to read.

It is a bit large, and the only way around that is to prioritize and consolidate. Consider how much you as a person can handle at one time, and what stories you absolutely want to get started first. Let's say you have enough time to balance three roleplays at once. Flesh out your top three ideas with exactly what you are looking for. Then, put the rest of your ideas in a separate thread if you want them to have exposure, or remove them entirely until you have a free spot open up. If you have a ten ideas you want to play, but only three you know you for sure want to do, why give them all equal weight?

I'm of the opinion that a considerable amount of effort should go into interest checks, and only one idea per thread. It is, after all, you pitching an idea to a group of people, and you need to not only impress them, but give them all the requirements and information the roleplay must contain. There's no real rule against the amount of interest posts you can make (as long as you're not churning out similar ideas by the dozen and constantly bumping them). That's not to say it's a guarantee that you'll attract players, as a lot of it boils down to whether it's a popular setting.