Suggestion--For Easier Partner Browsing

[TheMandii]

On the forum boards, where it lists topics like such:

Topic name / TC (topic creator) / Last Post

The gender/title of the TC should be listed next to their name for people who are looking for specific gender partners! I think this would make things easier, especially when people don't list M for F, F for F, et cetera.

[Nadir]

Why would the gender of the topic creator matter at all? It would be handy if they mentioned what gender character they were seeking but this isn't a dating site, this is a role playing site.

[Oniya]

Especially since there are some of us who play almost exclusively cross-gender.  I have very few RPs where I play a female role, and 98% of my plot-bunnies are M/M.  A system that automatically put that I (as the topic creator) was female would do me no favors.  I roleplay with what's between my ears.

[TheMandii]

Why would the gender of the topic creator matter at all? It would be handy if they mentioned what gender character they were seeking but this isn't a dating site, this is a role playing site.

I was, in no way, implying that this is a dating site, so I don't quite understand why you would jump to such a conclusion...

Many people will only role play with the opposite gender, it's just their preference. Personally, I have no preference. I just happened to think that it would make browsing more convenient for people who do have a preference.

Especially since there are some of us who play almost exclusively cross-gender.  I have very few RPs where I play a female role, and 98% of my plot-bunnies are M/M.  A system that automatically put that I (as the topic creator) was female would do me no favors.  I roleplay with what's between my ears.

Precisely! It's not a matter of discrimination, simply convenience!

Edit: I actually read your post wrong. Whups.

[Nadir]

But - for example - I make a thread, wanting to play a male character, and I post an ad. It will say "Liege" in the important section, and I'll get people coming into my thread looking for me to play intersexed characters or futa characters.

It would just lead to confusion and frustration, and potentially a person who would RP with me to not even take a look in my thread, because they think I'd only play my RL gender

[Oniya]

But - for example - I make a thread, wanting to play a male character, and I post an ad. It will say "Liege" in the important section, and I'll get people coming into my thread looking for me to play intersexed characters or futa characters.

It would just lead to confusion and frustration, and potentially a person who would RP with me to not even take a look in my thread, because they think I'd only play my RL gender

This.  In my case, I'd have people coming to me looking for females, when I very rarely play them.

[Nadir]

*nods* And I only know a hatful of lieges who play characters of a third gender

[TheMandii]

I think you're both just generalizing the entire community...Which doesn't make you too much better on that regard.

Not everyone is going to discriminate against your gender on a personal level. Many people just like to know precisely who they're talking to exactly when they try to form an RP-based partnership.

They display your gender role or (non gender role) on your profile anyway, what's the difference?

[Oniya]

Then why is it necessary to further publicize it?  As you said, as soon as they open the thread, they can see it.

[Nadir]

I don't see how my experiences are generalising the community. I can literally only name five lieges who play genders that are not either male or female. I'm sure there are more, but it's still a very small proportion. I would support the idea of the gender of character looked for to be easier seen, but the gender of the original poster is really not  an important factor

[Formless]

They display your gender role or (non gender role) on your profile anyway, what's the difference?

Exactly ...

Once you click the thread , you can already see the requestee's gender. If you consider a single click to be a big deal , then that is your issue.

Many here write for the writing itself and that does not require anything more than another person with similar interests , regardless of gender.

Besides many Kabul their thread titles with their preferences , so there you go. :)

[Nessy]

I keep seeing gender, but it sounds like this is more a reference to sex than gender. I am not sure the original posters gender or sex would really matter for a lot of writers, and for those who do, well it doesn't take a lot to click on a RP request and realize you're not in the running. Since I play the opposite sex, if I am not sure if they are okay with that, I drop them a PM and ask. I've run into only a few rude responses doing that... and we're talking one or twice a year sort of thing.  I would hate to see the subjects get cluttered with a bunch of requirements, and yes, some of them are very vague to the point you have to click to find out what they are looking for.

I am wondering if like a secondary subject would ever be possible, small text, a place to list out more specifics. I've not really seen that on other message boards, so I am thinking that would not be a minor tweak.

[TheMandii]

The point I was trying to make was that a lot of people, if you look through their request threads (especially males) specifically say they only want to RP with people who are FEMALE in real life, not because they want to have relations with that person on a really personal level, but because it might make them uncomfortable if they knew they were role playing with another man. Since the nature of most RPs here are obviously sexual, since that is the point of the site, players have a right to pick and choose who they get involved with on the site.

I'm noticing this in the vast majority of the request threads I've read so far in my time here, and on Blue Moon, as well as on other RP forums and chats that I've visited in the past.

Personally, if I think it's fun, I will play the role. I've played Women, Men, Futa, genderless, it doesn't matter to me, personally. I was merely thinking of making it more convenient for the majority.

And as for those having problems with people not even reading your topic and asking for third gender RPs based off of your "N/A" gender status (like Liege), there are ALWAYS going to be people like that. You just have to deal with it, or ignore it.

If you're so worried about the discrimination and the ignorance, then you should appeal to Elliquiy mods to remove the gender tags all together, but you won't, because that's just the way things have always been on the site.

[Nadir]

...

wow

[Blythe]

There are Lady, Lord, and Liege tags for those interested in knowing their partners' gender. There is a gender symbol that can be set in a person's profile. There is no particular need, in my opinion, to do more than that. How many times must it be displayed before people can be bothered to read it? There's already two very obvious ways to see a person's gender, so I don't support a third way to display it, because that would be rather redundant.

EDIT: I should mention that I'm not trying to be discouraging about anyone suggesting new features. I just thought that this idea wasn't necessary with what we have now. Wasn't trying to be offensive or anything. 

[Trieste]

Hiya Mandii! It's nice to see a new person throwing out suggestions. I realize that a lot of people feel that the addition of a player gender to the seeking threads index would better serve searchers. I also realize that seeing little extras on the site that you suggested is fun! So I can see both sides.

I know staff looks at many suggestions and I know that often the difficulty with adding new little features, even if some won't use them, is that the owner of the site, who is also the developer who works on it, has very limited time to work on 'extras' on the site. He's working on developing a new content management system (CMS) for Elliquiy right now, and a lot of people are eager to see how it comes out. So this problem might actually be solved already in the new CMS. Or the new CMS might have a feature that makes the fix you're suggesting irrelevant.

I hope that the replies you've received don't discourage you from offering suggestions in the future when you think of them. 

[Nadir]

Relevant question - the gendermatching on the on/off matrix. Does that "see" the gender of the user and use that to search, or does it just read the gender of the characters you play?

[TheMandii]

There are Lady, Lord, and Liege tags for those interested in knowing their partners' gender. There is a gender symbol that can be set in a person's profile. There is no particular need, in my opinion, to do more than that. How many times must it be displayed before people can be bothered to read it? There's already two very obvious ways to see a person's gender, so I don't support a third way to display it, because that would be rather redundant.

EDIT: I should mention that I'm not trying to be discouraging about anyone suggesting new features. I just thought that this idea wasn't necessary with what we have now. Wasn't trying to be offensive or anything. 

Hello again, Blythe!

Oh, I understand completely, and I can absolutely see where you're coming from. Perhaps if it could be an option that one could toggle, that would be better instead of something that appears automatically for all posters. Or not, because It might be a bit redundant.

What some people who have responded to the thread don't understand is that I'm not saying it's a suggestion that's necessary to the forum, simply an added convenience. No need for everyone to take it so personally.

That's why it's a suggestion, not a demand, you know?

Doesn't matter too terribly much to me on a personal level, just figured it was a nice idea for the people who do care. It bothers me when other people refuse to see both sides of things...

Hiya Mandii! It's nice to see a new person throwing out suggestions. I realize that a lot of people feel that the addition of a player gender to the seeking threads index would better serve searchers. I also realize that seeing little extras on the site that you suggested is fun! So I can see both sides.

I know staff looks at many suggestions and I know that often the difficulty with adding new little features, even if some won't use them, is that the owner of the site, who is also the developer who works on it, has very limited time to work on 'extras' on the site. He's working on developing a new content management system (CMS) for Elliquiy right now, and a lot of people are eager to see how it comes out. So this problem might actually be solved already in the new CMS. Or the new CMS might have a feature that makes the fix you're suggesting irrelevant.

I hope that the replies you've received don't discourage you from offering suggestions in the future when you think of them. 

Howdy, Trieste!

Oh, I was unaware that there's new features to be installed on the site, thank you for the information, and I look forward to seeing them!

Negative comments don't discourage me at all, and if I think of more suggestions I will certainly voice them no problem