Limited slots?

[DoomFlavored]

Despite having had an account here for a while, I'm relatively new to this website. One thing I've noticed about the 'culture' hereabouts is that near every rp I look at has a slot or role count that they're trying to achieve, and seemingly no less either. I often see roleplays that have plenty of characters accepted, but no one's posted, possibly because they are waiting for the last role to be filled or something.

This is very different from what I'm used to. Is this normal?

I'm used to simply letting characters come in and post essentially as soon as they're accepted, and letting in as many people as one can find acceptable Characters.

[PaulHaynek]

It's about as normal as the opposite, trust me. There are a lot of RPs here in RPGuild (who knew?) and I've seen both kinds with more or less equal number.

[Carlyle]

Sometimes I want a full group before starting the RP, sometimes I don't. Usually I go for reviews first, then final acceptations on a later date. I suppose it's just a matter of preference to how the GM wants to run their RP.

[Dervish]

Keep in mind the character tab might not be representing active characters; the post with the sheet will still be there regardless if a player is still active or dropped out.

It mainly comes down to how a GM wants to run their RP. Some, like myself, focus more on character driven plots and player engagement so having massive quantities of active players would be a nightmare to manage. Other times, the story itself calls for a very limited number of characters (a rough example off the top of my head, a RWBY RP where canonically teams are 4 people), and so on.

So yeah, it's common, but there's always a reason for it.

[DoomFlavored]

I'm considering running a naruto roleplay on here. What would be the best way to describe to folks here that they can just post as soon as their character is accepted? Cuz I'm not going to really care about waiting until there's a certain amount of people heh.

Also my rp is going to have a different team setup than canon. Rather than the 4-man squads with the jounin, it's going to be a 'Battalion' with all the students and multiple instructors among them, where the players can split and regroup at their leisure. Makes rp management much easier :3

[Spambot]

I'm considering running a naruto roleplay on here. What would be the best way to describe to folks here that they can just post as soon as their character is accepted? Cuz I'm not going to really care about waiting until there's a certain amount of people heh.

@DoomFlavored

If you wish to do it that way, saying "post when ready" somehow while having the intro post up and going for people to reply to will do.

[Dervish]

Just outline the OOC standards and stuff like that and explain what you're after. Maybe setting the game to Jump-In and explain that a character sheet needs to be approved is best?

[DoomFlavored]

Alright. "Post when approved" sounds like a good way to go about it. Not big on calling it a jump-in which sounds like what I'm used to as walk-in... which basically means there's no standards to be upheld heh.
But that works fine.

[Spambot]

Just outline the OOC standards and stuff like that and explain what you're after. Maybe setting the game to Jump-In and explain that a character sheet needs to be approved is best?

@Dervish

Definitely not the intended use of the jump-in tag. A 'fire when ready' attitude suffices.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

One could do the "jump-in" method with caveat that players only need post profiles for their characters or some other similar minor criteria but as one imagines, it is not always the case where users would read it. If one wants to get started right away, I agree with the motion that saying "Feel free to post once approved." is the best way to get it started. If anything the sole reason that people seem to wish to a have a number of players first is so that the plot can begin right away but seldom would it be that prevents characters from milling about on their own accord then being called to the plot. From my past experiences, long, long before the Roleplayer Guild, that was the norm and I am of the stance it could apply here just as well if one desired.

[DoomFlavored]

If anything the sole reason that people seem to wish to a have a number of players first is so that the plot can begin right away but seldom would it be that prevents characters from milling about on their own accord then being called to the plot.

@The Harbinger of Ferocity

I can pretty easily just provide a beginning scenario for folks to start in and have people show up into it. Works pretty well especially with Naruto. "Meeting between students and instructors at X training ground."
There done xD