Does anyone have concepts for what type of race they want to do in mind yet? I want to avoid doing something similar to what someone else is doing, so I'd like to avoid duplicates if possible.
Formatting: I have never opened a centered youtube song on Roleplayerguild.com and thought to myself "Gee, this song is both musically pleasing and fitting, I sure am glad they put this here." I also never dug GMs who put flavor text all over their interest checks and OOCs. A hackneyed philosophical quote by your header is okay, but anything more than that crosses the line for me.
Yeah, I never understood the youtube links either. First and foremost because music actually doesn't inspire me a great deal beyond being interesting background music or fitting music for when I've already decided on a theme (i.e. I'd listen to a Western song if I was already writing in a western world, but I'd never listen to a western song and go 'I wanna RP this specific song').
Build-Up: You can sort of gauge the skill of a GM based on whether or not their interest check sounds like a blurb or a tutorial. If I have to get four paragraphs in to start understanding the interstellar feudal monarchy of the kingdom of Hoopajoop where the story takes place, you lost me. I think the reason for this is that people who base their writing on books they have read use the interest check to act as a blurb -- a literal standard of advertising
Well yes, but,
people who base their writing on video games and tv shows are used to media that doesn't need to advertise the meat of their stories, and thus, sounds a little flimsy when presented in this format. When you want to write a story that's ostensibly Halo, the interest check has to build the entire world from the top-down, starting with the fun Master Chief space marines you're trying to sell and ending with the historical reasons for alien military expansion or whatever Halo was supposed to be about.
I could understand a 'gamey' explanation and tutorial style ordeal if the game was, you know, actually meant to be a game with rules, mechanics and so forth. Ex. a DND thread might need explanations and tutorials on how to calculate stat x and y. Other than that specific case, I think that 'story' RP's that enter into 'gamey' explanations are not really that appealing no.
<Snipped quote by Moss>
This one makes me salty. Everybody using the same damn modern Pop renditions of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and the same damn generic-ass Two Steps From Hell "epic" scores as their theme songs and thinking it makes their characters more unique
Put some effort into your brainless trend-following for God's sake
Two Steps from Hell is the great example of this one, yeah. I feel the same way about people who use character images that are a dime a dozen and that everyone uses.
build-up & organization-- a primary title followed by your selected image -- if at all, for even text can be manipulated in presentation, using header formats on top of smaller, accentuated texts -- or an image set upon a title. Images are telling but not wholly important, but if you build upon what is given, this shouldn't be an issue. People are rather lazy, so sometimes it's best to get straight to the point -- I've had to tell myself this -- and come down to a brief section about yourself and any specifics you might have and feel crucial to include. Follow up on prompts, plots, starting from most desirable and leading from there, indicate a preference if needed. I write my plot sections with key terms and themes and hide the rest away in a hider so as not to clutter the layout of my thread. Close it out with something brief and that doesn't distract away from what has already been written, miscellaneous information maybe that won't fit anywhere else.
So, would you say that it is best to organize a story prompt like so (as this is the image I get when reading your description but I'm a slow person so I might be misunderstanding):
Title of the RP: The RP of RPington [insert image] dark | gritty | bad writing | racing cars | also dogs
As I am reworking my 1-on-1 interest check for the umpteenth time, I find myself wondering, Odin, how will you make your 1x1 thread more needlessly complex than the last time? Will you insert a code that needs to be cracked before the other player finds the secret key to be allowed to roleplay with you? And this got me thinking as to what the best "tips and tricks" are for an interest check.
Mind, I am fully aware that this is a totally subjective question, and everyone will prefer different things. But, I am wanting to collect multiple opinions so that I can see what the standard is or should be.
I am particularly interested in the following:
Sections. What sections should be included and which should definitely not? Think about rules, information about self/ideal partner, etc.
Imagery and 'dress up' of the thread. How much is too much and how much is too little? What types of aesthetic design choices make you more attracted towards RPing with a partner, and which ones make you want to run away?
Build up. What is the best and most logical build up of your thread section-by-section?
Organization. What's the best way to organize a thread, organize the suggested plots, and so forth?
[center][color=gray][b]Just an Aragorn looking for his Arwen[/b][/color][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/FrPe6BA.jpeg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/ugdwUng.jpeg[/img][/center]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="bb-center"><font color="gray"><span class="bb-b">Just an Aragorn looking for his Arwen</span></font></div><br><br><div class="bb-center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/FrPe6BA.jpeg" /> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/ugdwUng.jpeg" /></div></div>
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