Rate My Thread?

[storyteller2080]

I've seen a few people do this and I thought I would give it a shot! I've recently done some major revamps of my request thread. Its by no means complete but I thought it would be interested to get some positive constructive criticism. I welcome it! As long as its not too brutal I can definitely handle it. I even have some curious questions I would love to know!

1. Is my about me section to intimidating? (I've had some people comment that it sounds like I'm very intense about writing)
2. Is my section about kinks and what I'm into okay? (This got a lot of work last week and was very bare bones before)
3. Do you think its better to have ideas for a canon pairing vs just indicating what pairings your into? (Niche question I know)

I know some of the photos have to be changed and adjusted! I just haven't had a chance to do it. Some of the spacing also is still a little wonky. So I know the presentation isn't the very best it can be. If you have any ideas on how to make it flow or look better let me know!

Without further ado....

Request Thread

 

[SoleAccord]

1. No.
2. Yes.
3. It's better to show you have ideas up front rather than post two names and nothing else, but that's preference talking. If you have a plot in mind but you're open to other ideas a partner can bring, say that. I'm quicker to hit up people with ideas for both characters and plot than people without them. Obviously some exceptions apply; If everything else about an RT seems good, I might hit them up regardless if I like the characters involved, but showing you put thought into the pairing doesn't hurt your chances at all. Sometimes the deciding factor in someone messaging you is showing that you thought about it beyond just names and sex positions.

 

[storyteller2080]

1. No.
2. Yes.
3. It's better to show you have ideas up front rather than post two names and nothing else, but that's preference talking. If you have a plot in mind but you're open to other ideas a partner can bring, say that. I'm quicker to hit up people with ideas for both characters and plot than people without them. Obviously some exceptions apply; If everything else about an RT seems good, I might hit them up regardless if I like the characters involved, but showing you put thought into the pairing doesn't hurt your chances at all. Sometimes the deciding factor in someone messaging you is showing that you thought about it beyond just names and sex positions.

Thank you! I think so to. Before it was just vague ideas on what I might or might not want to do but I felt it was all a little to vague. Excellent feedback my friend.

 

[Lonely Secrets]

Not your target audience obvs, but I'll offer my thoughts. First, with regards to your questions:

1. Nah, seems fine.
2. Seems fine. I actually like that you present a list, and then expand on it. As an ERPer I generally want to have an understanding of what my partner is looking to get out of the E part of the RP. The list of kinks helps for sure, but having some explanation is even better. Bravo!
3. TBH I can't say as I'm not a canon person. For me, I find a list of pairings to be a lot less useful than having some specific ideas in mind for that pairing. You'll often see things like "Warrior x Maiden" in a list of pairings and it's like... the hell do you want me to do with that?

Some general feedback: consider left justifying your text. I know people think center justified looks better, but it's also quite a bit harder to read (it disrupts the movement patterns in which our eyes have been trained). And do be aware of how your text color looks against the default background; the green you use is fine but just something to keep in mind if you're playing with color.

 

[Revelations]

Let's see... Your thread is somewhat similar to the layout of my own request threads (Which is not meant as a bad thing or accusatory, I'm just saying they have a similar layout and I don't see anything wrong with that, just a point I noticed and could make me biased in how 'OK' it looks to my eyes.).

1) No, I feel it isn't intimidating. I like to know a bit about a partner, whether it's what to expect or what they're looking for from a partner.
2) I actually feel the kink list is a bit long, but you provide a shorthand list which is front and center, so I feel it's excusable. I don't foresee a lot of people reading too in depth to the kinks themselves though.
3) I think it's better to have an idea or two for a potential pairing. How do you see the two characters interacting? What's forming a deeper bond between them entail? What complications can be involved in the RP?). A list of 'X/Y' pairings can be hard to suss out the details of if there's no additional information there.

Overall I'd say your thread looks good, but the biggest critique I have is that it's long. It's a fair amount of scrolling to get through even on a 1440p resolution. A lot of people use 1080p screens or a phone (Maybe a tablet?) nowadays, which are smaller screens and thus make your request thread look intimidating or otherwise difficult to read through. This is slightly hypocritical given my thread looks quite similar, but I recognize it as a problem.

Additionally, most users only look at the first post of an RT. I feel adding new plots or addendums in bumps are making them go by unnoticed by most people.

 

[storyteller2080]

Not your target audience obvs, but I'll offer my thoughts. First, with regards to your questions:

1. Nah, seems fine.
2. Seems fine. I actually like that you present a list, and then expand on it. As an ERPer I generally want to have an understanding of what my partner is looking to get out of the E part of the RP. The list of kinks helps for sure, but having some explanation is even better. Bravo!
3. TBH I can't say as I'm not a canon person. For me, I find a list of pairings to be a lot less useful than having some specific ideas in mind for that pairing. You'll often see things like "Warrior x Maiden" in a list of pairings and it's like... the hell do you want me to do with that?

Some general feedback: consider left justifying your text. I know people think center justified looks better, but it's also quite a bit harder to read (it disrupts the movement patterns in which our eyes have been trained). And do be aware of how your text color looks against the default background; the green you use is fine but just something to keep in mind if you're playing with color.

Honestly thank you so much for bringing up the center text thing! I was on the fence on it. I've noticed a lot of people do very interest arrangements with their threads (not bad or good just interesting). I'm nowhere near that level yet. I've always wondered if Center is a good thing or not. I've always been on the fence about it.

 

[storyteller2080]

Let's see... Your thread is somewhat similar to the layout of my own request threads (Which is not meant as a bad thing or accusatory, I'm just saying they have a similar layout and I don't see anything wrong with that, just a point I noticed and could make me biased in how 'OK' it looks to my eyes.).

1) No, I feel it isn't intimidating. I like to know a bit about a partner, whether it's what to expect or what they're looking for from a partner.
2) I actually feel the kink list is a bit long, but you provide a shorthand list which is front and center, so I feel it's excusable. I don't foresee a lot of people reading too in depth to the kinks themselves though.
3) I think it's better to have an idea or two for a potential pairing. How do you see the two characters interacting? What's forming a deeper bond between them entail? What complications can be involved in the RP?). A list of 'X/Y' pairings can be hard to suss out the details of if there's no additional information there.

Overall I'd say your thread looks good, but the biggest critique I have is that it's long. It's a fair amount of scrolling to get through even on a 1440p resolution. A lot of people use 1080p screens or a phone (Maybe a tablet?) nowadays, which are smaller screens and thus make your request thread look intimidating or otherwise difficult to read through. This is slightly hypocritical given my thread looks quite similar, but I recognize it as a problem.

Additionally, most users only look at the first post of an RT. I feel adding new plots or addendums in bumps are making them go by unnoticed by most people.

Hey Revelation! I hope you're doing well! Thank you for the amazing critique. I also like that you said it was like yours but still had some constructive criticism to give!

Yeah! The longness. I've been thinking the same thing. I wish I had an answer for it. I've thought about splitting my threads, making a original thread and then a fandom thread. Maybe that's the play there. I too recognize it as a problem just not one I'm sure I have an answer too.

 

[Revelations]

I generally keep two threads in males. One is for original ideas and OC stuff, the other for well... Whatever else I'm wanting. Maybe I want to write fandoms or canons in that one, or a specific idea, or a general interest I want to highlight.

Two request threads also allows for asynchronous bumping of threads, in that you could say, bump one thread at 10 AM, and then the other at like 6 PM to cast a wider net of eyes.

 

[storyteller2080]

Hmmmm good point good point. I thought perhaps since I had an Off Thread request thread I had hit my two in "Males". Which was why I was unsure on it. But like you said, keeping two might be my only real trick to seperate the originals and the fandoms.

 

[Lonely Secrets]

Honestly thank you so much for bringing up the center text thing! I was on the fence on it. I've noticed a lot of people do very interest arrangements with their threads (not bad or good just interesting). I'm nowhere near that level yet. I've always wondered if Center is a good thing or not. I've always been on the fence about it.

I feel as if RT design is tricky, and challenging. Insofar as what you're looking for is to find compatible RP partners, the goal of the thread is to signal that. More advanced designs can certainly get in the way of that goal, at the most extreme I've seen threads that seem more like a sample on a graphic design resume rather than as something to be informative to a prospective partner.

Which of course is fine! I know people take great pride and joy in creating those things, and more power to 'em. I just think that as you're creating your thread it's important to keep your goals and audience in mind.