Advice/Help What is it about a search thread that draws people in?

[cloudyskies]

I’ve been having a lot of trouble finding partners for a long time. I was wondering if it’s something specific that turns people away from my threads? It could be because I’m particularly picky with who I write with, but I haven’t been finding many people that would make a good roleplay partner when I do.
Does anyone have advice for this or is this common?

 

[Chordling]

There's never going to be a single answer to this. Each roleplayer is unique. But here are a few things that you can do to increase your chances of finding other players.

Make sure your interest check speaks about you and your writing experiences in a positive manner. No one will want to roleplay with you if your interest check says doesn't reflect how much you enjoy the hobby. Think of it like a resume or job interview. The employer won't hire you if all you have to say about yourself is negative.

The next thing you can do is look at other people's interest checks and reach out to the folks you find interesting. It's a two way street. Just spend a bit of time reading through some of the interest checks you find in the forum. Go beyond the first page. This is RpNation, not Google, so active threads within the past 24 hours can be seen in the first six pages sometimes! You can use the forum thread prefix filter to narrow down the results by your own interests as well. Lots of people put effort into creating their interest checks, so make sure to put in as much effort into reading them. Plus, there are some high odds that you would need to read some of them anyway, if the same people decided to reach out to you first. Lots of people show their interest check to prospective partners as an easy way to express their interests and ideas.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Your search is fine. Partners just come in waves, I have run into a dry well with my own roleplay fandoms before. I usually just take up a temporary hobby while I wait (like go through that tv backlog I’m meaning to get to, find a new podcast to listen to)

Plus it’s getting to be finals season in school so wait a few weeks and see if people come back from that.

 

[Idea]

Hmmm... looking at your last three interest checks I don't see much particularly wrong with them. They seem well-organized and are definitely nice to look at, as well as properly informative. The only thing I would say might be a bit of a problem, and it's not that big of one, is that there is something of a high demand there regarding the combination of post length and post pacing. A quick loss of interest after only a few days, when the standard of length you set is 200-500 is hard to keep up with. People who want bigger posts will not appreciate being rushed, people who like quicker replies may find the seeming expectation (and I say that because you didn't outright ask for this, it's just the only number to go off of) overwhelming and unable to be something they can remotely promise you.

Aside from that there's a very distinct lack of specific ideas in your search thread, the latest one aside form 1 plot (which is crossed out giving the impression whether correct or false that it is not available anymore) really leaves the work of coming up with the idea to the other person. Complete or more specific ideas are better for getting interest because if the person has their own ideas they want to do they are likely to not need much of a prompt and to instead just make their own interest check. If there's nothing to hook a person they are likely to take one of the many other options the community presents to them. Your interest check is definitely a good, very good one, but it might not be "better than" the alternative even for those that do not find the requirement prohibitive.

I recommend
A) Putting the partner requirements into numbers, as the impression I got was not that you require as much as your self-introduction might suggest.
B) Trying to add some more specific ideas. It doesn't even have to be complete plots- just prompts or pairings might do fine for the sake of giving more direction and realize better "what can be gotten with this person that one can't get with the next one over".

 

[cloudyskies]

A) Putting the partner requirements into numbers, as the impression I got was not that you require as much as your self-introduction might suggest.

Can you explain this a little better? I don’t know exactly what you mean

B) Trying to add some more specific ideas. It doesn't even have to be complete plots- just prompts or pairings might do fine for the sake of giving more direction and realize better "what can be gotten with this person that one can't get with the next one over".

It’s harder for me to think of complete plots but I do have a bunch of scraps and prompts I’ve wanted to try but didn’t know how to introduce them/ whether I should. I think I have a good idea of what to edit though, thank you

 

[Idea]

Can you explain this a little better? I don’t know exactly what you mean

Well, for example you say that you typically write 200-500 words, if you're willing to accept lower amounts from your partners maybe you could say something like "I would like the posts to be at least around 150-300 words depending on the situation and my own posts". Something that makes it clear (if such is true) that you don't want anyone to feel pressured to write you 500 word posts every couple days even on busy weeks or you loose interest (I am exagerating a little, but hopefully you get the idea).

It’s harder for me to think of complete plots but I do have a bunch of scraps and prompts I’ve wanted to try but didn’t know how to introduce them/ whether I should. I think I have a good idea of what to edit though, thank you

No problem. Without actually knowing what those incomplete plots and prompts are exactly it's a little bit difficult to advise further, but I do wish you the best of luck!

 

[Jet]

My interest checks usually do well, and my #1 priority is to get to the point.

I don't start my checks with long winded lore exposition. Instead I cover the basic premise and setting type, followed by expectations and a couple rules. I don't bother with code but I'll use images and centerblock to keep things neat, otherwise it's standard text.

 

[Faulty Daemon]

It really depends on the person reading it.

Personally, I like the search threads to be simple and straight to the point, rather than long-winded rules and such. Also, properly organised threads are easier for me to read. So if someone has their interests in 1 paragraph without an empty line somewhere in between, I quickly stop reading and move on.

 

[Sibelle Grey]

Clarity, in my case. Clarity, clarity, clarity. I want to know how you are as a partner, what you like to roleplay genre-wise, what you enjoy in a roleplay theme-wise, and what you want from me. That doesn't mean your interest check has to be a paragraph long-- I tend to make mine as detailed and clear as possible, with spoilers so it's not a huge block of text. The idea is that the other person should have a very clear idea of who you are and what you're looking for. Vagueness in interest checks, for example, turns me off immediately, because it means we'll have to do more initial work just determining what they're into, and some part of me worries that I'll have to be the one supplying ideas for them to vet, because they don't seem to know clearly what they want. I do not want wishy-washy, and I do not want someone who's mostly along for the ride, because that means they expect me to do the driving.

Chordling said it's like a resume, and I completely agree. This is the first and potential only impression the only person will have of you. The impression I'm looking for is someone who knows what they like (which means they're less likely to waste both our time on an RP they're not enthusiastic about and then dip), knows what they expect from me (so I can decide whether I can meet that comfortably), and is proactive in offering up ideas (because it means I won't be expected to do more plotting than is fair and carry their characters through the events of the RP).

Looking at your interest check, if I can offer some advice (although I'm definitely not an expert, so grain of salt and all), I'd say:

- Consider giving people content expectations in either paragraphs and/or sentences. Not everyone knows what literate or advanced translates to in actual content, or what 250 words looks like in a post. I always find it clearer when someone asks for 2-5 paragraphs of about five sentences each, for example. It helps me, personally, visualize better. Also, some people who haven't been on sites that use 'literate' as terminology might find it elitist.

- Concerning themes, you say you're okay with 'darker' themes. Feel free to add in examples. I feel like 'dark themes' is a term that gets tossed around in our community a lot, but it might not mean the same thing to everyone.

In one sentence, don't hesitate to be super-specific. It never hurts. You have some specific plots in your check, and that's awesome and useful to have an idea of what you're into and whether you might be into an idea someone else is craving. Don't hesitate to tell people what kind of mood you're going for in the roleplay, as well. Light and fluffy? Angsty and dark? Realistic, so varies? A sense of urgency due to impending doom or being chased? Tone is super important to me, so I like to set that up fairly early on.

In any case, your interest check is great! I think interest is really just one of those things where the right person has to see your post at the exact right time. Doesn't mean you're doing it wrong.