How to meet new people to RP with?

[Sarakitteh]

I see a lot of topics and comments here about people not being good at club scenes or disliking them, and while I don't exactly have anything against clubs, I agree that it's really difficult to break into an established circle of people you have no connection to. So what's the solution? How can we meet our fellow RPers we've yet to be acquainted with, if not through Pocket D or the various club events happening at night? In-Character teams might be one answer, but that can't work for everyone or every different type of character out there. One thing I really liked about another game I played was that the forums had a 'Making Connections' thread, so people could post what they were looking for and others could respond either to that post or by messaging them privately. It would be nice if we had something like that here, but I'm open to any other suggestions on how to get involved with RPers outside my supergroup.

[GraspingVileTerror]

A Roleplayers' Connections thread would be great.  I'll summon a few folks to see if we can't put our heads together on organizing something of that nature.

 

@CrystalDragon, @TwoDee, @Darmian, @HelBlaiz, @rookery., @McSpazz, @_Kai_, @Latex, @GM Kal, @GM Tempest, @TalynDerre, @chase, @Andreah, @VV, @Bastille Boy, @Fermmoylle, @irkallanprince, @twozerofoxtrot, @Dreamboat, @FrauleinMental, @Sovera, @Six-Six, @Saeletra, @Moka, @Ry, @Muppy, @Heraclea, @Greycat, @seawater, @BasherBot, @MTeague, @Oginth, @Eoraptor, @PaperKilly, @Kallisti, @Coyotedancer, @Chuckledunk, @Fidgetcetera, @OctoberRaven, @Kelri Irris, @Retrobytz, @Siouxsie, @Sic, @Paragon Vanguard, @Sabrehawk, @Magairlín, @Zodai, @r0y, @Castilonium ...

(I know I'm missing a TONNE of roleplayers who frequent the forums, and I'm sorry.  I can't keep going.  My memory isn't that good.  So, please, everyone; feel free to tag someone else in to the discussion if you feel this is the topic that they would like to weigh in upon.)

 

So, I like things to be very organized.  I know that's not ideal for everyone, but I'd like to start us off by proposing a little reading from previous discussions to see which elements we may want to incorporate in to something of this nature:

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/20878-community-project-the-roleplay-scale/

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/6611-what-kind-of-rp-you-want/?tab=comments#comment-60955

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/9312-what-are-your-thoughts-on-long-form-story-arcs/
https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/20317-outlier-roleplay-genres-character-types/

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/21568-rp-character-form/

 

At the moment, I'm kind of thinking a framework modelled after the likes of online dating sites.

Flag your personal identification labels (for examples):

 "Light tone, Themes of noble-bright heroics, No death/serious harm to player-character(s), OOC often, Gameplay-focused"

versus something like

 "Medium-dark tone, Themes of struggle and redemption, Serious harm but no death, OOC only when necessary, Narrative-focused"

and then mark the ranges of interest you have in those categories.

 

Something efficient, clear, and provides other players the necessary tools to decide "cool, I think I'll message them and see if we can come up with anything."

 

How do you other folks feel?  Can we workshop it?

[_Kai_]

Making connections type thread, works, the City of Roleplay Discord has a seeking-connections channel that I have met two cool people to RP with via.  
Community RP Events also can work, but, those kinds of things require more than one person to run, I tried to do several on my own in the early days and it just wasn't viable enough.

 

I fully admit I don't have time to read all those topics but I suspect it boils down to not finding the right RP, with the right characters, in the right timezone, and hoping to stumble across things organically rather than organize something, because that works in a lot of games.  Unfortunately I'm the type of person that ends up in RP more by making friends OOCly and then contriving characters to meet than following up on listings, but it _does_ work, and is worth doing here!

[Magairlín]

I think you've put a lot of work into the RP scale. It seems to me that that would form a good upper limit for what people might use to describe their characters, but I'm not sure that amount of detail is necessary. Plus, I wouldn't say I prefer a specific tone; it depends on what fits the character concept. Even with the light/medium/heavy scale, it's a spectrum, people interpret it differently, and SGs might cater to a range of styles. I do think that choice of medium is a good thing to mention: in-game is more immersive, discord is more mobile-friendly, and the forums make it easier to look up old posts.

 

I like a mix of long form and one-offs. give examples. server wide arcs seem like they'd be unwieldy but I've never been involved in one. Of the RPSGs I've been in, they limit arcs to the SG itself and coalition partners.

 

TLDR: I'm not sure that much granularity is necessary. 

 

I think what I'd want to see in RP personals ads is what tone(s) the person is looking for, what character concepts they have, RP format, and timezone.

[Sarakitteh]

19 minutes ago, Magairlín said:

I think what I'd want to see in RP personals ads is what tone(s) the person is looking for, what character concepts they have, RP format, and timezone.

 

Yes, this! Keeping it simple would be great, provide vital info and if someone's interested, more things can be worked out in messages.

[GraspingVileTerror]

So . . . that begs the question:

Which info is the vital info exactly?

 

Tone/Theme(s)

Number/Variety of characters
Format
Availability

Shard (since, let's be fair, not all roleplayers are on Everlasting)

 

Anything else/different?

[Sarakitteh]

1 minute ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

So . . . that begs the question:

Which info is the vital info exactly?

 

Tone/Theme(s)

Number/Variety of characters
Format
Availability

Shard (since, let's be fair, not all roleplayers are on Everlasting)

 

Anything else/different?

Providing information about the characters you're looking to RP, like a small description of their personality (or a carrd if people do that for their personal chars, I've seen a few for venues) and for example whether they're a hero, villain, rogue etc. On top of the things you mentioned, in my opinion these are the vital tidbits.

[GraspingVileTerror]

Ah, but there might be a slightly problem with that . . . 
https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18342-list-of-character-lists/

 

If, for example, I were to list a description of -each- of my characters, well . . . that's just my character list thread being repeated ( https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/10583-vileterrors-roleplay-characters-as-of-2020-04-27/ ).

I suppose if someone has fewer characters, it might not be a big deal . . . 

BUT, alternatively, if everyone posts a character list thread independently, and then links to that list with the Roleplayer Personals post, that could work quite nicely.  Yes?  Maybe?

[_Kai_]

Personally?

1-3 characters per post, more than than and my attention is now elsewhere. 

PICTURE. Sometimes its just a cool costume that makes you think 'that might be a fun character to RP with'.  

HOOKS. Theme and tone are great but tell me 'works at Paragon U', 'hangs out at the Up and Away burger', 'sings bad karaoke at the bar every Friday night'

Timezone/Availability is also important if you're looking for in game RP

[Crystal Dragon]

As much as I love the idea of compiling lists of characters per account, I feel that there are quite a few singular threads for account character lists. I don't mind the idea of having a list of details to help with filling out a character bio, prompts if you will rather than a standardized form, but I hadn't really seen anything but for a couple questionnaires that fit that sort of usage. I do think that we could use some writing prompt threads, scenes or things that make us think about our characters and their reactions to such things. Just...you know, throwing my two cents out there. But for meeting players in game? I'm the odd ball that tends to just drop into a scene without worrying about causing upset or disruption and introducing my characters, even if it's just some silly trip and fall in a puddle sort of thing.

[Darmian]

Hey @GraspingVileTerror! Thanks for the add.

 

I'm not going to be any help to you or others here though. I don't RP here and frankly will not RP with people I don't know IRL. I got burned out on that in Cam Larps back in the day. I'm sure you're all lovely but it's not for me.

The nearest I get is playing tour guide now and then on one of my AEs. If anyone wants to use them for RP feel free!  Hell, if you count "The Meteors" as a prequel then one set is 50 missions!

 

Anyhoo, hope you all find ways to connect better.

 

Kam.

[Coyotedancer]

'Not entirely sure why I got pinged here, either... I only do very casual, mission-team type RP in the City anymore, and lately even that's been in "once in a blue moon" territory. I'm absolutely no help for anything organized or scheduled to happen on a regular basis. I'm just not in-game that often.

 

As ever, people are free to use my Sanctum base if they want to, but the odds of me joining into anything myself are pretty slim. XP

[GraspingVileTerror]

I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to weigh in.  I value broad and different points of view, particularly while trying to craft something that is meant to be used by many different people.

[Moka]

Interesting idea! As I poke my head back into this game once more, I wouldn't mind being able to broadcast myself and what my priorities/preferences are. 

[jkwak]

i would much like to prefer something in Character rather than something OOC to seek connections, it can still be a thread in the forum, but ICly it could maybe be something like a "bullitin Board" hanging in a public area

[twozerofoxtrot]

Sorry VT. I appreciate the inclusion with an estimable cadre of other players, but I've sworn off organized RP a while ago. I just fly the tag on characters I like to stay mostly IC with while in-game.

[Siouxsie]

I have to agree with jkwak I'd prefer something in-game, but of course that would take development time.  These boards are a reasonable second but aren't really designed to make it all that feasible for players to find one another, and what percentage of the players come here?  A third party site could be designed specifically for the purpose, but it needs a designer, a maintainer, and enough critical mass to make it worthwhile so I don't see that going anywhere.

 

The official Discord is another alternative?  I've never even thought about going there myself to know what is or isn't present.  As the other thread shows there is resistance and/or ambivalence to the idea, and probably more likely to be used by smaller groups once they have established contact.

 

I do walk around with my RP tag up.  Maybe additional tag types and colors would be an easy to implement thing that allows for an in-game solution?  Actually an RP tab would rock if we could have a couple of fields to expand on our types and preferences, especially if it was searchable.

[Vulpoid]

I apologize if it is hidden somewhere in this thread, but I remember there is a way to change the color of your name to indicate you are interested  in roleplay.
It is a /slash command.
Anybody remember?

[A Cat]

45 minutes ago, Vulpoid said:

I apologize if it is hidden somewhere in this thread, but I remember there is a way to change the color of your name to indicate you are interested  in roleplay.
It is a /slash command.
Anybody remember?

/roleplaying toggles it on our off. 

[Dona Eis Requiem]

I don't RP in-game but, why not have a global RP LFG channel? 

You could even incorporate it into your RP to help keep immersion.

Instead of thinking of it as OOC (on your end, at least) use it as a scrying device your character goes to; a computer (the SG Supercomputer, for example); a telepathic scanning of the populace....the possibilities are endless.

 

[GraspingVileTerror]

There actually is a "Looking for RP" Global Channel, as well as the RP/OOC duo, and RPG-13.

However, despite having over 1300 members, the RP/OOC channels usually have less than 100 online at a given time these days, and maybe 1% to 10% of those ever use the Channels as of late.

 

I find that there is a call for passive recruitment efforts, with the assumption that some one else will put in the active effort to review those "personals" and make the outreach.

And I can't blame 'em.  Goodness knows that I constantly feel drained doing active outreach.

 

So, yeah:  It would be stellar to have something baked in to the game by the Devs, but I don't anticipate that being a priority for any of the current Team members . . . 

And thusly it falls to us to try our hands at various solutions.

 

I think a multi-prong effort might be useful.

Either one thread with a clear line for players to distinguish between in-character first person messages, in-narrative third person hooks, and out-of-character player-to-player communications, OR three separate threads, each done in one of those three approaches.

[Magairlín]

 

47 minutes ago, A Cat said:

/roleplaying toggles it on our off. 

/macro RP roleplaying to turn it into a button. You can also just hit H and select from the dropdown.

[Siouxsie]

39 minutes ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

There actually is a "Looking for RP" Global Channel, as well as the RP/OOC duo, and RPG-13.

However, despite having over 1300 members, the RP/OOC channels usually have less than 100 online at a given time these days, and maybe 1% to 10% of those ever use the Channels as of late.

 

Despite being in tech, I can be clueless about social stuff (like chat channels).  I'm sure I'm not alone.  Are these channels and a clear step-by-step on how to join listed in the RP board?  The post we have seems to be dealing with board posts instead of in-game channels.

 

Seems like prime sticky material that would help towards the goal of people finding one another.

[GraspingVileTerror]

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/1104-rp-and-ooc-global-channels-code-of-conduct/ is stickied, but it's in need of an update.  And that's another community project sort of dealio where I want everyone to have an opportunity to be involved.

[Siouxsie]

I found that, but it just looks like rules.  Maybe I'm blind and skimming to fast (one of those ADHD days).  Shouldn't the first or second paragraph list the channels and something like:  /joinchat RP-IS-AWESOME

 

I need my hand held!😄