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What makes for a good request thread?

L1zaT

L1zaT

Super-Earth
Joined
Aug 16, 2022
At least for my part, there's a couple of things I wanna know when I click on a request thread.
1: What ideas/plots/ scenes.. etc do you wanna play out.
2: What's your writing style like, and what do you expect in a partner.
3: Any dealbreakers. Things that mean we wouldn't make for good writing partners/ things you'd like to include that aren't for me.

Now sometimes threads are.. not well formatted.. and either make that information hard to find, or don't include it at all. This isn't meant to be a callout to anyone or venting, everyone has their own preferences and ways of making a thread.

But I'm curious, what makes or breaks a req thread for y'all? Anything that makes you immediately click away without reading, or makes you more likely to reach out and message the person requesting (assuming the thread has rp of a sort you're looking for/ intertested in).
 
For me, personally,

I'd say a giant wall of text with no formatting of any kind.

If you can't do that on a thread, who's to say you won't do that in a story? Mind, I don't have an issue writing against a lot, but at least space it out and make proper paragraphs. But if it's just one giant wall with no breaks or anything, I click away faster than flies swarm to shit.
 
Makes:
— An overall friendly, or at least polite, tone/attitude. I like it when a request thread has some kind of personality to it, and it's nice to know that writing with the person will be a pleasant experience.
— Good organization. Being able to easily identify the sections of the request thread that go over the most important things (to me, at least) is essential; if I can't easily find the few things that would make me completely incompatible with the person, I'm less likely to dig for that information.
— Some level of site presence. Nothing against lurkers, but I like to be able to browse people's posts for more indication as to their writing style, their personality, etc.

Breaks:
— Constant negativity. I find I don't really jive with those who make RPing sound like more of a job than a hobby. Of course people are allowed to have their preferences and be strict about them, but I find I don't tend to be compatible with those who focus more on ghosting or not having searching success than the roleplays they do have.
— No indication of creativity. I can appreciate a simple request thread, but I tend to gloss over those that don't offer up anything more than writing preferences and quick pairings. I love to plot with my partners, and if I feel like I'll be doing all the work, I don't tend to get too involved or excited.​
 
I stick around when the posting requirements are relaxed. They'll wait a certain amount of days before inquiring, but they aren't setting the expectation that they need a reply every single day. Being willing to try new characters and being up front about their inexperience with one is also a major plus. Being willing to try something new tells me you're coming to work at it, and don't have the expectation that everything you try will be 100% accurate. I love effort, and hate limitations one sets for themselves. Speaking of...

I back out when a potential partner limits themselves to a certain amount of words. I don't get it, I never will get it. I understand a minimum word or paragraph count they always wish to meet, but if they state they have a maximum amount they're willing to write and will never seek to go beyond it if they have enough content, nah, I'm good.

If the experience is OC x OC but they're choosing my character's face claim and personality traits without my input, that's also calling for me to back out immediately. If I can't choose your face claim and personality traits, don't choose mine for me.

If you ask for canons but won't play any in return, also out.

A massive wall of text without any pairings or plotlines to build something from--specifically when they say "bring YOUR ideas", I'm usually out by that point too. I need more than a list of kinks and an expected posting schedule. Share some ideas so a potential partner can come prepared to discuss something. Don't make someone guess.
 
It's finding the Goldilocks for two things; formatting , making a RT is such a simple thing but also so difficult to do as there's no one right way to do it but lots of things that make life harder. tiny text poor choice of colours
Using
too
many
spoilers

Why am I going to wade through that mess in the hope that something might pique my interest?

And also getting the Goldilocks zone for plots, so there's enough information to spark an interest but not so much that it feels like the story has already been written,
 
What I like;

* A list of plots and/or themes and character types the person likes to play. I prefer actual plots and themes and just a list of character combinations doesn't always say much.
* A sense the person likes plot and character development or they are at least honest about just wanting smut which is fine.
* A sense the person can articulate themselves in writing.
* Plot ideas that are a little different,enough with the forced/arranged marriages and mafia!

What I don't like;
* Tiny text or font colours that are hard or impossible to read.
* Faceclaims that look nothing like what their character is described to be like. I have seen people use 20 year old Playboy models as faceclaims for middle aged housewives.
* A riot act of rules and regulations that you are expected to follow if you want to play with them.
* Walls of text without paragraphs.
* No plot ideas which makes me think I will have to come up with everything.
 
The related question I have is do any of the "requests by males" threads actually get interest?

The way this forum works you can't really tell if someone has tons of interest, or if they get none and simply continue to forlornly bump their thread.

However I have run across someone writing about how they have RTs in male, female, and non binary, and the female thread got orders of magnitude more interest than the other two put together. But that could be just them.
 
Wapato said:
The related question I have is do any of the "requests by males" threads actually get interest?

The way this forum works you can't really tell if someone has tons of interest, or if they get none and simply continue to forlornly bump their thread.

However I have run across someone writing about how they have RTs in male, female, and non binary, and the female thread got orders of magnitude more interest than the other two put together. But that could be just them.
Click to expand...
I've had the 'forlornly bump thread' experience and mine are all in the requests by females. I can imagine those generally get more attention, but I think it also depends on the ideas, some are more niche than others and will get less attention.
 
L1zaT said:
I've had the 'forlornly bump thread' experience and mine are all in the requests by females. I can imagine those generally get more attention, but I think it also depends on the ideas, some are more niche than others and will get less attention.
Click to expand...

I'd believe FxF players like you might have all the problems the guys do and then some more.
 
I like and look for short and sweet request threads that tell me all I need to know in a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs. I don't include plot ideas in this, seeing as they often do require more information and detail.

I dislike and won't read long request threads, and I absolutely refuse to reach out to someone if they insist I include a magic word, no matter how interesting they initially seem to be. I understand the point of a "password", doesn't mean I have to like it.

That being said, RTs with no personality behind them won't get my attention either, even if all the important information is listed. If I can't even read the request without losing focus, I probably won't be able to read a roleplay post.
 
Readability and clear, concise plot points and pairings are what draw me in. I don't mind vague rts if it's fandom based, but I really want to know what to inquire about when I message a potential partner.
 
Makes:
  • Visually pleasing. This does not mean that you have to use graphics you've spent many hours tinkering with Photoshop or Illustrator or do impressive Bbcoding that you poured your blood, sweat and tears to get it to work as intended (been there way too many times), but some little graphics, formatting, fonts/colors etc. can get me interested quite easily.
  • Easy to find information. If I can easily find relevant information on the request thread then that of course increases the chances of me hitting the person up.
  • Interesting plot-ideas, pairings and fandoms in-common.
  • Good vibes. Pretty vague, but I am a person I rarely hit anyone up myself, but those I do usually present themselves as a chill person through their RT which makes me send a PM on their way.
Breaks:
  • Certain titles. If the title is something like "Looking to bang busty babes" or "Incest part 2 - electric fuckaloo" then I will most likely not open the request thread. Not judging anyone, but more often than not these threads don't contain anything of interest for me.
  • Like mentioned above by Solo negativity. If I can sense any passive aggressiveness, bitterness or anything like that I will skip contacting the person.
  • Relating to the above: Some strict timelines and guides people expect roleplaying to happen. For example "If you don't reply twice a week RP will be dropped."
  • Unorganized, messy threads with long paragraphs that are hard to read.
  • In contrast: Extremely short and simple requests. Sometimes simple is good and less is more, especially if the aim is to brainstorm a plot together from the scratch, but if the request thread is just someone asking for a kink or pairing without anything else then I do pass those.
  • Anything that shows that we are not compatible as partners basically (who would've guessed?)
Some are rather vague, but I think these are the biggest things that make or break the thread for me.
 
I am still rather new, so not sure how much of my input is valid here...

As many people here have stated...
  • Well organized
  • Visually appealing
  • Decently thought out plots
  • Some of information as to their interests
In contrast to what other have stated though, I rather like longer threads... Provided the information is actually useful, and well presented.

I'm not going to get into my specific deal-breakers as I don't want to offend anyone. We can safely say that most things in opposition to the above list are on it though.

Wapato said:
The related question I have is do any of the "requests by males" threads actually get interest?
Click to expand...
Again, I am new here so it could be a matter of "shiny & new", or maybe my "type" of characters and plots are just trendy right now. But, I haven't had any problem getting interest in my thread. The amount of RP requests I have gotten has been both flattering, and a little overwhelming at times.
 
Baka said:
  • Certain titles. If the title is something like "Looking to bang busty babes" or "Incest part 2 - electric fuckaloo" then I will most likely not open the request thread. Not judging anyone, but more often than not these threads don't contain anything of interest for me.
Click to expand...
I think the importance of a good title is generally underrated on the request forums. It doesn't matter how pretty your thread is, how creative your ideas are or how good your writing is, if you're using a title that no one's going to click on. Sure, there's that preview thingy, but that only pops up if your cursor has hovered over the title for a while, and even then only gives you a few extra lines to work with.

My #1 recommendation is to ensure your title is descriptive. Generic titles like "Looking for RP" or "Siph's cravings thread" don't tell me anything about the content of your thread, except that you're looking for RP -- which I think is a reasonable assumption from the fact that you're posting a request thread to begin withl. Obscure references -- song lyrics, movie quotes, etcetera -- don't tend to garner any attention either, and are most of the time just confusing.

Is there a particular plot or pairing you're looking to play? Put a one-sentence summary in the title. Are there specific kinks you're looking for explore? Put them in the title. Are you looking to play characters from particular fandoms? Don't just call it "Siph's fandom thread", but list those fandoms in the title itself. If there are too many plots, kinks or fandoms to list (a title shouldn't be too long either), list just a few, perhaps the ones you're most interested in.

It's no crime to change your thread's title every so often, either. That's one of the easiest way to get new attention, while at the same time giving you a chance to figure out what works and what doesn't.

Although I'd say a good title is by far the most important one, the two other things anyone will first see (and might ever see) of your thread is the gender pairing tag and your avatar. All I can say about those is to use them: a simple indicator of what genders you're looking for is the tiniest amount of effort to give a basic piece of information, and anything different from a monochrome letter will make you stand out just a bit more.

My recommendation to frequently change things up applies to the thread itself as well: whenever I see a freshly bumped thread that hasn't had an update since two years ago, I always start to wonder whether they're still looking for what they're advertising, or if there's a reason why they haven't found anyone to play with, or if they're just lazy . . . Prejudice aside, though, as with titles, changing things from time to time is a great way to get a feel for what works.
 
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