Viewpoint What makes you nope out of a search thread?

[rae2nerdy]

Yeah, probably not. It just shows up so much it was my first thought upon entering this thread.

It's cuz a lot of the youngsters are getting older. Someday you too shall reach the ripe age of barely an adult and omg what am I going to do with my life?

 

[Genkai]

I get the age thing (I'm in my late 20s) so I wind up writing with people who are in their early 20s. I won't write with anyone too far from my own age due to both comfort and similar lifestyles. Someone still in high school or just starting college has more free time (IMO) than someone with a full time job. At least that's what I've found. It's easier to talk to someone closer to your own age, I find. And that pace is something that is easier to adjust.

At least when I was 14-17, I had so much time on my hands and I had so many RPs going on at once. I'm older, I can't RP the way I used to and I want to write with people who understand that and have gone through some level of growth as people.

But 18+ may also be for another reason too...but I won't get into that.

Fact is, age restrictions suck. I wanna write with someone who's say 22, but they won't RP with someone 2 years older and or younger. Then I move on. It's not something to take personal.

 

[MasterRed]

Oh, I don’t mind at all. It just makes me leave a search thread cause there isn’t much point in being there, haha.

 

[Relayer]

For me specifically, a few things.

[...]
5. No coding, plain font. Again, this is mostly personal for me. It comes off to me as a lack of effort, I realize that it might not be, but I like BBCode. It makes the thread look nice, and if for some reason I can't read it, I have no issue highlighting or quoting the thread to read it, especially if I think we might make a good match.

I am curious and also somewhat concerned about this response. Are there a lot of people who feel this way? To me, this sounds like judging a book by its cover, or a product by its advertising campaign...

 

[PhoenixMire]

Yeah, probably not. It just shows up so much it was my first thought upon entering this thread.

That would be a pain. Thankfully I am 18+ so I don't have this problem, but I can understand how frustrating it would be. I never make the distinction that I only want 18+ RP partners, because as long as we can write a fun story together and my RP partner is mature and doesn't act like a spoiled 12-year-old, I don't at all care what age they are.

 

[Brea The Brave]

When I read a search thread and I have the distinct feeling they are asking for ERP.

I RP'd on G+ I know what an ERP search thread looks like.

Usually when they have stuff like this:

Police Chief x New Recruit
Best friend x Best Friend's girlfriend.
Ceo x Employee

I could be wrong but these sound very pornlike to me and I will have no part in it.

Search threads that ask me to be Canon character.

Search Threads that ask for real fandom stuff like they want you to play as their favorite K-pop star, their favorite celebrity, band, and whatnot.

 

[Genkai]

Relayer I agree.

I don't like coding because it's distracting and an eye sore. I almost shy away from people who use it a lot. So I think the inverse holds true. I still look at IntChks that use coding but I find it difficult to navigate and find it distracts from content.

But I do think aesthetics are important to some. But to me they're not.

I've seen poor posts (2 lines which to me is poor IMO) put into a code to make it look super nice and I'd rather see someone write more than worry about presentation but that's just me. But yeah it boils down to how one present's themselves. I don't think it's right to think someone who doesn't use code as lazy or low effort.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Search Threads that ask for real fandom stuff like they want you to play as their favorite K-pop star, their favorite celebrity, band, and whatnot.

This bothers me so much. I get that everyone has different tastes, and that's fine, but there's something deeply awkward and even kinda creepy to me about writing about real people. Idk why, I loathe it. Maybe this is terrible of me, but if someone wants a real person RP, even if they have some other good non-real person RP plots in their interest check, I'll still nope it on outta there. It's just something I can't deal with for some reason.

 

[Brea The Brave]

Search Threads that say things like "I reserve the right to leave the RP at anytime" but then turn right around and say "Don't just leave the RP"

So let me get this straight, you reserve the right to leave at any time without saying anything and I'm just supposed to accept it, but if I am unhappy with the RP and want to leave I cannot do the same? Not that I would ever ghost on anyone I usually tell you if I am unhappy and want to leave but basically what I am hearing is a double standard.

 

[AndPeggy]

-When the player is underage. I'm a little older so it's just awkward when I want to do romance.
-When the player talks about how they don't have time. i.e. 'I have three jobs, two kids, and am in college! so I might not have time to write!'
-That attitude! It's really common apparently (based on the replies on this thread), of someone just being so nasty in their search thread. Why would anyone want to RP with that?

 

[peritwinkle]

-That attitude! It's really common apparently (based on the replies on this thread), of someone just being so nasty in their search thread. Why would anyone want to RP with that?

An explanation for that might be that they want to assert themselves and they want to be taken seriously, which I respect, but to be frank to me it just seems condescending and pushes me away.

 

[AnimeGenork]

"This will be taking place on Discord."

Well come on man that's why they made the Off-Site Ads section.
Excuse me while I nope

 

[PhoenixMire]

"This will be taking place on Discord."

Well come on man that's why they made the Off-Site Ads section.
Excuse me while I nope

Yeah that always bothers me. I avoid the off-site ads section like the plague for a reason. I'm interested in RPing here, not anywhere else, and it's annoying when people post their interest checks in the wrong section. I get that some people maybe do it because they don't know any better, so someone just needs to politely tell them to move their thread, and that's fine...
But what really bugs me is when people say in their thread, "I'd reaaaallyyyy prefer to do this over Discord. I guess I can RP here, but I'd rather not." and it's like. Look. There's an off-site ads section for a reason. Just post there. It's disheartening to read an interest check that I'm actually into, only to discover the person would rather RP offsite.

 

[rae2nerdy]

AnimeGenork and PhoenixMire you can report these and put in the reason “Discord search in wrong section”.

The staff will move it

 

[Onmyoji]

+1 I'm also looking for rp here on RPN and it's an immediate nope when I see off-site requirement. I know it's allowed if a person states that main interest is to rp on site and off-site is just an option, but sometimes it's clear that it's undesired option, so yeah.

Yeah that always bothers me. I avoid the off-site ads section like the plague for a reason. I'm interested in RPing here, not anywhere else, and it's annoying when people post their interest checks in the wrong section. I get that some people maybe do it because they don't know any better, so someone just needs to politely tell them to move their thread, and that's fine...
But what really bugs me is when people say in their thread, "I'd reaaaallyyyy prefer to do this over Discord. I guess I can RP here, but I'd rather not." and it's like. Look. There's an off-site ads section for a reason. Just post there. It's disheartening to read an interest check that I'm actually into, only to discover the person would rather RP offsite.

This is why you should report those threads if you come across them, so that the mods can move them to Off-site section, since they can't realistically check every single thread if it's in correct section. It's not so that the users will be punished, more just to place the threads where they should be.

 

[rae2nerdy]

So a new thing that I was reminded of recently.

When a search thread mentions Giants / Tinies. I don't even know what it means exactly but the description always reads like a fetish.

 

[fluticasone]

/is one of the people who can come off as an elitist easily simply because I code and am blunt as to what i ask for.

i actually prefer roleplayers who are incredibly frank about what they look for. whether it’s required doubling, specific character orientation, fc choice, whatever else. i like them because i dont have time to waste on those where i have to ask if they’re ok with x or y. it saves both parties the trouble. if i nope out or not after is already a matter of preference rather than a specific trait. having dissimilar interests (ie anime vs real life fc, darker themes vs romantic stories, aesthetics vs none) isn’t really a “nope out” situation because they’re preferences. this isnt something that makes me uncomfortable or leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

on that same vein, i dislike searches whose limits and shit simply state “ask me!” as said before, it’s a time waster. i’m wading through the searches looking for someone to match my interests - i dont wanna have to pm every single one that catches my eye simply because i have some things im unsure of.

an instant nope for me, before i even see preferences and all that shit, is not setting the same expectations on themselves vs their partner. any expectations i set on my partner i set on myself. hence why i explicitly state im ditch-friendly. if an rper who i asked to rp with says they dont like being ditched, then i wont ditch them. but if they say they expect constant communication from me but is followed up by “i might disappear occasionally” on their side, that’s a big red flag for me.

 

[rae2nerdy]

fluticasone I met someone similar to your last point in a general chat on another site. I will call them Debbie Downer (DD for short).

DD describes themselves in a similar way to an overwrought edgy Mary Sue so I’m 90% positive they were just a troll.

like they complained that all these little kids they’re roleplaying with had crushes on them, literally all of them. (The kids were 12-15 and DD is around 20)

They said that people in real life all had crushes on them even though their an asshole.

They said that people couldn’t talk to them about certain things than would drop all these edgy hints.

Like you can’t compliment me on my look or personality but let me spend an hour talking about how all these kids love me and also how my personality is garbage.

It was so bizarre and just and endless train wreck of them complaining about something and immediately backtracking when called out on ways to improve.

By an hour In it was obvious they were either a little kid lying about their age and trying to sound edgy only they were talking to a group of actual adults so none of the edge was working.

Or they had some kind of actual mental health issue they didn’t want to addres.

Needless to say every time they pitched their group I booed the heck out.

(Side note they also never actually said what the roleplay was about so oddly it tied into both your points)

 

[Vortix]

Usually I'll take the L when the user responds back with a one-liner. This is a common issue and I tend to dip without another word, which isn't good on my part because I should be more confrontational about it. But I've surely had others comeback with something snarky when I've asked to simply lengthen the reply a bit. It just sucks when you sit at your screen for an hour or two, maybe more, putting a ton of effort into your half only to get hit with the infamous one line reply. This also makes it difficult to be able to give them something back that's decent.

Another thing, I've only had this happen a few times, but when someone makes their character the center of the whole RP. Their character will be super depressed and crying or overly loved and everyone's obsessed with them.

 

[peritwinkle]

Usually I'll take the L when the user responds back with a one-liner. This is a common issue and I tend to dip without another word, which isn't good on my part because I should be more confrontational about it. But I've surely had others comeback with something snarky when I've asked to simply lengthen the reply a bit. It just sucks when you sit at your screen for an hour or two, maybe more, putting a ton of effort into your half only to get hit with the infamous one line reply. This also makes it difficult to be able to give them something back that's decent.

A solution for this might be trading writing excerpts beforehand. You can see what you’re dealing with before spending hours planning and writing.

 

[scorpiodragon]

Certain people I have rped with before that I have had issues with in the past on here.

Wanting romance and nothing but romanance or too fast romance. I’m not a teenager and while some teenagers get into that stuff without thinking of the consequences, most romance is drawn out over a period of months or years in the real world.

One liners and text speech

This: *Looks at Ben.* What are you talking about? *Confused look on face.*
Basically actions in stars and no quotations around speech.

Slice of life: I have tried it before but it usually dies or is often the same thing. Like airplane crash or school.

 

[Abendrot]

Too many rules. They’re necessary, but 8+ bullets of rules is usually a sign of a over-bearing/controlling GM

 

[peritwinkle]

Too many rules. They’re necessary, but 8+ bullets of rules is usually a sign of a over-bearing/controlling GM

On the complete opposite spectrum, the infamous “rules: ask me!”, as fluticasone said. Makes me click away instantly.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Something I've seen pop up lately when people make their interest checks great big blocks of text with barely any breaks.

on the other end of the spectrum when the entire search is just "Wanna rp with me?" than I nope out quickly. Like that is how you start a PM not an interest check.

 

[Psyche]

Not too sure how common this is, but when the plot idea centers around one character. For example- “MC is a beautiful princess/half demon/half fox/half unicorn. This rp will be about exploring her past and why she is so special. YC will be a normal person trying to win her affections.”

Feels like the purpose of the other character is to gawk at/assist/be a lover to the “main character” whose the star of the show.