"Why won't anyone respond to my ads or wants?"

[wildmaven]

I've had several people ask me that recently, so I thought I'd put this up for discussion.

There are many reasons that your ad has gone unnoticed or ignored or no one has responded to your "looking for" posts. Below, I've listed some of the reasons:

1. Have you mentioned that you'll report someone for sending you the wrong thing? This is an instant turn-off to potential responders. This makes people worry about your potential as either an admin or a member. Who wants someone who is so quick to report something?

2. Are you overly specific about your wants? It's fine to want a particular character but to say "they must be able to wear purple jogging pants" just makes you look like a control freak.

3. Do you have spelling or grammar mistakes in your ad? Your ad is a reflection of your writing style. If it isn't the best example of your work, then no one is going to want you.

4. Do you require that responders put something personal in their reply to your "looking for" ad? Again, instant turn-off. Yes, we'd all like personally tailored PMs, but people are more comfortable sending just their ads. Just imagine all the wonderful sites you've missed because you scared them off.

5. Is the character you described in detail so limited that it won't fit into someone's plot? Your character should fit into their plot, not the other way around.

6. Is your ad really long? People skim. It's the reality of the world right now. Get to the point in as few words as possible.

7. Do you break the rules of the posting guidelines for advertising or the "looking for" threads? Who wants to hang out with someone who can't even get those simple rules straight?

Do you have other reasons? If they're good, I'll add them to this list. Feel free to reply to this post.

[Clannibal]

My top reason for skipping over potential role plays are numbers 2 and 6 in particular.
I'm also turned off by people who seem rather unfriendly. If they are rude before I've even met them, I don't want to bother with it. At the end of a long work day I prefer to spend my time with refreshing people, not control freaks or highly critical people.

An example of this would be something petty like this, I guess:

"YOU MUST BE HIGHLY ADVANCED. I don't role play with retards!" or "If your character is stupid, I won't want to role play with you, SO DON'T BOTHER!"

Usually people don't put that kind of thing in ads, but I've seen it before.

I also don't care too much for ads that only have a picture that doesn't tell you much about the site. I like to know what I'm clicking on or what kind of role play I'm about to walk into!

[hopefullyyours]

Number 2 is a big one. I know that it sucks going to a forum and seeing that your favorite canon character and/or faceclaim has been taken already but it seems like such a petty and superficial reason to pass up what could be an otherwise great site.

This might relate to number 5, but when people describe their character as being bitchy, mean, or cruel that seems to be an instant turn-off for me. It just seems like a bad way to advertise yourself when your biggest selling point is that you can play a horrible person extremely well.

[Little Devil]

What turns me off forum is if the forum is close to guest veiwing.

I am not into role playing but more into political discussion and debate and chatting.

It gives me the you know what when I see forum that looks interesting to join and when you click onto the link you got to join it to see what going on.

[Clannibal]

^ YES, I can't stand wasting my time on private forums. Sorry, not going to bother joining when I may not even like the site. I'm a browser - I shift through the member responses and rules and whatnot before joining.

Which reminds me, on the topic of role playing, once again I am INSTANTLY turned off by the "one character per account" rule. You're telling me I have to waste so many minutes of my time every day, logging in and out of several accounts, just to respond? Super cheap way to get "extra members" and make your member count shoot way up! Role playing is a hobby, not a job, and I like to enjoy my time to the fullest extent possible. To me, having 8 different accounts on one site is no fun and makes me even less eager to post responses.

I'm not going off-topic, am I?
[/end_rant]

[hopefullyyours]

midnight -

I've done both one account per character and one account per member and both work for different things.

For staff, it's a lot easier to keep track of things for each character when they're on solo accounts. When rewards are given out based on how many times a certain characters posts, or when ranking levels are based off that, having them lumped together in one account would add in much more work for staff.

A quick log-in box makes it easy to switch between characters; the box is on all pages and you stay on the same page you were at when you switch to a new account. You also do not need to log out and then in when you use those.

[Clannibal]

That's a good defense for the method! I still don't like it for my own taste. It's easier for staff, not necessarily for the members. This also may be because of the fact that I do not care one way or the other about "rewards" for role playing and whatnot - personally, I like a more carefree environment that doesn't pressure you to "be the best" or require you to post like crazy in order to get the best the site has to offer. I just want to role play to escape reality and make some great friends in the process (: I will keep that in mind next time I see that account rule, though.

[SelBear]

2, 5 and 6 are big ones in my opinion. And I know why people do them because a lot of people who RP are control freaks, not trying to offend anyone. One thing that makes me upset most is when I'm trying to send ads is specifically saying that you will not take new sites or they must have at least 10 members not accounts. As an admin and a person who also searches via the "Looking For" thread I don't see why you would want to limit yourself so much. I do not want to RP with control freaks who don't want to RP with someone who may make a mistake. I just look at this for fun not for a second job.

[wildmaven]

Jun 3, 2012 22:14:48 GMT -8 SelBear said:

I do not want to RP with control freaks who don't want to RP with someone who may make a mistake. I just look at this for fun not for a second job.

I agree. There isn't a single person in this world who is perfect. Plus, when people make their ad more like a thesis, they are making it easier for people to miss something and accidentally send someone an incorrect ad. I've seen some "looking for" ads that describe what they want at the top, but waaaaaaaaaaay down at the bottom, hidden in the middle of a rant, they mention something else that needs to be included. Most people will find the section of the post (Harry Potter, for example) and only read that section. If it's important to you, then include it in that section.

[SelBear]

Jun 4, 2012 14:16:14 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

Most people will find the section of the post (Harry Potter, for example) and only read that section. If it's important to you, then include it in that section.

This is how I make my posts I usually outline it kind of like a project for school or something, like before you write your story. I prefer it that way, it makes it way easier to find things. So first I list all my important things, like I find it necessary for me to be able to play gay characters therefore that is one of the things I list. Just like I like the One Character per Account rule so that is there as well, and then I write what I want specifically for each RP, makes it better that way in my opinion.

[Fragleheart]

Roleplay level. Biggest pet peeve EVER!

It's frustrating to see people that will only join a forum if it's advanced, or has an 800+ word count. Not only are they limiting themselves in finding a forum, but they are denying the beginner roleplayers the opportunity to learn from you. I learned to roleplay by watching the more advanced members on the forum, so I hate seeing elitists running around, refusing to give new comers the same opportunity I had.

[wildmaven]

Jun 5, 2012 10:51:37 GMT -8 Fragleheart said:

I learned to roleplay by watching the more advanced members on the forum, so I hate seeing elitists running around, refusing to give new comers the same opportunity I had.

I agree with this to a point. I love it when someone new comes along, but if they can't follow a plot, or if their writing is so bad that it is hard to make sense of what they wrote, then they can just drag down a board and make it look bad. It's a delicate balance.

[`rainyday]

Not going psycho if someone messages you a site you are not interested in. I PMed a member, and overlooked something that I thought was a preferred but not needed feature I got a very rude message back asking if it had that feature, saying if it didn't there's no way they are joining and they are reporting me for messaging. Gee, thanks...

[SelBear]

Jun 7, 2012 8:02:27 GMT -8 `rainyday said:

Not going psycho if someone messages you a site you are not interested in. I PMed a member, and overlooked something that I thought was a preferred but not needed feature I got a very rude message back asking if it had that feature, saying if it didn't there's no way they are joining and they are reporting me for messaging. Gee, thanks...

Yeah I've had this happen before with me as well. In my opinion it really discourages the person from advertising specifically. I mean it's easy to interpret things differently for each person. I don't see the point of reporting people in all truth. Like when I get a PM and it's not something I want I just close the PM and don't think about it ever again.

[`rainyday]

If you ask for a forum about football, and get sent one about dogs, I could get the need to report for spam, but never would myself. The worst I've done was sent a bit of a harsh message back, saying to please next time read what I wanted since the site she sent me was nowhere near what I posted. But going crazy over a mistake can be nuts >.> /dealing with this now.