Request threads: when do you know you're done reading?

[MissShelby]

Depending on who you ask, a request thread is better off being as brief is possible, or as detailed as possible. Obviously it's a matter of preference. So I thought I'd see what the consensus is.

 

[Jazzi]

I think the best RT are concise. Not forcing you to read a novel while still giving you enough information to know if you're compatible or not. And, most importantly to me, saying what youre looking for in the title of your RT. "NAMES REQUEST THREAD" doesn't tell me anything about what I can expect to find inside, which forces me to possibly waste my time reading a RT on a topic Im not interested in. Cant speak for everyone else, but I often skip RTs with titles like that over and keep on scrolling by. It's like a grocery store keeping everything in unmarked boxes and forcing you to waste your time looking inside each one until you find what you came for.

Also this should probably be in General Discussion.

 

[MissShelby]

See, I took a guess as to where it was better off. I'll have it moved

 

[Monochrome]

I don't mind a reading a detailed RT at all especially if I'm trying to see whether that person and I share similar interests. I actually rather read something more detailed so that way there's no issues later on.

 

[MissShelby]

I think the best RT are concise.

Anyway. To respond to this. I interpret your explanation as being synonymous with picking up a movie, reading it's plot summary, and knowing whether or not you want to watch it. Am I on the right track?

 

[Jazzi]

Anyway. To respond to this. I interpret your explanation as being synonymous with picking up a movie, reading it's plot summary, and knowing whether or not you want to watch it. Am I on the right track?

Correct!

 

[Dirty Fingers]

I tend to start skimming first so it can be over in seconds. What tells me I am a bad match for the person,

Fandoms - I'm just not into them and they seem to be the "theme du jour" so it happens often. The people who like them seem to only want to play them which is fair enough so I just stop reading/skimming.

"Riot Act" request threads - The ones where the rules are longer than the actual content.

Smut based RP's or non con/rape don't appeal to me.

No ideas - Especially tedious when there are just paragraphs of everything else and yet not a single idea listed.

Colours/Fonts that are hard to read.

Any or all the above will make me stop skimming.

 

[MissShelby]

No ideas - Especially tedious when there are just paragraphs of everything else and yet not a single idea listed.

...this exists? Thankfully I haven't seen one like it yet! I see tons of RTs without rules or preferences listed. That's usually where I stop. You'll spend so much time sorting out preferences that convos go old and often ghosted. At least to my experience.

 

[MissShelby]

I really only stop reading and click out when I see rules/preferences that will make it impossible for me to roleplay with that person.

To be honest this is a super fair approach. I try to make my rules/preferences my only content on a thread that isn't under a spoiler tag. So there's no excuse not to have read it first.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

It all depends on how quickly I find something that screams incompatibility to me. I don’t really care how neat and friendly or chaotic an RT is because when I do browse through threads, I generally do just that...browse through first, looking for certain things. Such as RP locations, as in PM, Thread or Discord. If I see Discord only play, I’ll instantly stop reading. Even if we are compatible in everything else. Sadly, that’s one thing that’ll just kill it for me. Because I seem to run into things more often than not, that don’t agree with me about an RT, I end up not doing much searching on a regular basis.

 

[VerboseVillain]

I generally read thoroughly, but that's because I enjoy seeing the ideas/plot that they come up with. Even if don't plan to get a new RP or their rules don't work for me, it still gives me ideas for what people find sexy and what they don't. And sometimes you see that plot hook that you are willing to bend your normal limitw in order to try it out.

 

[Perversion]

I'm the only person that voted for one minute it seems. I should explain myself.

If in a whole minute, 60 seconds of reading through the thread I already had enough interest to open, I can't find reason to stay then I think it's unlikely I'll find one in 2, or 5. It doesn't have to be a good reason either, just a comment that makes me smile, a pairing or plot that interests me, just the base concept alone could be enough before I've opened it.

But if I'm not interested or the way it's done can't grab me then how will the rest hold onto me? Sometimes they have a limit that puts me off, sometimes it's just a sense we wouldn't pair well, usually it's just not what I was looking for. No harm done. Also I tend to browse on my phone a lot and some people have these little characters that might look good but don't actually show up as anything on my phone screen. Simplicity has them beneath their name, 5 posts above mine. They say spooky succubus, but I had to attempt to copy and paste them to learn that. Not usually a big deal but some threads use them so much that I have to drop it and maybe come back later on my PC.

 

[LunarVixen]

Honestly. If it's wicked long. It deters me. I like to keep mine short and simple. But often I feel like it gives the impression that your not a 'good writer' because you don't have loads to read.

So if it looks interesting, I'll skim it. Hehe. If I feel like it's worth reading and the person and I can work well in writing, then I'll go back and read it all. Because you don't want to piss off a potential partner by contacting them and already screwing up.

Or! If they have plots listed, I'll read through those. If I see one I like, i'll go back and read what else they've stated.

 

[Evo Var]

I skip straight to plots then pairings and kinks. If there is a plot/pairing that interests me then I will jump back to the top and read through all the rules to make sure I believe our styles will gel well.

As mentioned above a thread with not plots and only pairings or just preferred cravings tend to make me hesitate because personally, it makes writing a decent pm difficult if I do not have enough info about what that person is looking for.

 

[Spelefink]

It depends on the content.
I tend to check for the kind of character the person is looking for first, then I look for interests and kinks. If the match is still good at that point I start reading the thread through entirely. If there is only little to no information about ideas and interests in the thread at all, I won't even stay 5 seconds, lol.

 

[Fabulam-Admissarius]

The RT's that get my full attention are the ones that start off with what they are looking for in a writing partner as opposed to the story ideas and or kink. If you both have similar writing expectations and goals all the other stuff will usually sort itself out.

 

[skyfetcher]

The OOC caveats (everyone has them, including everyone who doesn't list them in my experience) and some idea of what they want to do are essential for me. One but not the other is a crippling sign for my attention. No, you don't need to wait until you get a DM to mention kinks you like/don't like or express that you only work with people who post at x speeds - by making what you've got upfront, you save everyone's time, and if you won't cover that, I'm not going to likely waste time since a huge minority of what I look at is something I feel will result in a play. I take better to an RT that gets out what I don't like over the one that lists some pairings or superficial ideas and tells you to DM them, regardless how appealing the ideas might be. Conversely, a request thread partially implies you're looking for something in particular, and I'd like to know what you're going for, what ideas are bouncing in my head. It's not entirely fair, but I have concerns when I see an RT that only lists a bunch of pairings without anything more enlightening, even in a case where the OOC stuff is good. Sometimes the OOC stuff makes up for it, though. Then you have the ones that say "I don't know, DM me and we can work something out". Sure, that's a valid method, but that's not going to work for me.

A few seconds first tells me if the structure is something I'd like; yeah, I'm bad, I judge on structure sometimes, as well as certain keywords for kinks I don't like. If I'm looking at something smutty themed, I'm going to look for an interest in bondage; if I don't find it, the chances are too high that there's probably not going to be a match. For truly plot-focused stuff my judgy nuances tend to go to another level altogether. But I digress. Depending on what the thread's broadly about I decide if I want to keep reading. When I do, I'm going to take the OOC stuff to see if there's dealbreakers and see the plot stuff to judge compatibility, since what people put themselves out for I find to be the direction they tend to like going, and it's only fair that I don't want to push people in an interest I have when it's clear their minds are just on other priorities. Stuff like a huge emphasis on incest and celebrities usually makes me click out for example, since there's a fairly accurate stereotype of play in my mind that I know will much more likely than not result in me just not being into it long term.

After all that, I do what I should have done in the first place, see if the partner with their tastes fits into the schedule, if I can commit enough time to meet our mutual standards, and things like what sorts of ideas I actually want to get into.

I should note I have nothing against parings as a part of the RT - they're an excellent way to jog my imagination, and RTs that do that certainly are doing something right. I just don't have enough to go on when that's all the substance I have to work with as far as what the partner wants from the experience. Even some general details on what themes you want to explore are fine, just as long as there's more than a bunch of 'thingxthing's in a row that tell me almost nothing about what you're really looking for.

 

[Dirty Fingers]

I should note I have nothing against parings as a part of the RT - they're an excellent way to jog my imagination, and RTs that do that certainly are doing something right. I just don't have enough to go on when that's all the substance I have to work with as far as what the partner wants from the experience. Even some general details on what themes you want to explore are fine, just as long as there's more than a bunch of 'thingxthing's in a row that tell me almost nothing about what you're really looking for.

Pairings when there are ideas, whether they be broad or more specific are fine and also work with kink list and other information in terms of what the person wants to explore. When you get the RT's that just list pairings alone though, that tells me nothing. Student x Teacher, Mother x Son etc is too broad and could involve any back story at all. Although if I am forced to make assumptions, I will assume the only thing the person wants is to have the two fuck and be done with it.

 

[skyfetcher]

Pairings when there are ideas, whether they be broad or more specific are fine and also work with kink list and other information in terms of what the person wants to explore. When you get the RT's that just list pairings alone though, that tells me nothing. Student x Teacher, Mother x Son etc is too broad and could involve any back story at all. Although if I am forced to make assumptions, I will assume the only thing the person wants is to have the two fuck and be done with it.

Precisely. While I have nothing against someone who is ultimately looking for a 90% smut experience, I try to limit my experiences to people who do it with more substance, and I just can't make that jump if I literally don't have anything to creatively work with. Student x Teacher, Mother x Son are similarly so common and cliche that there's nothing that stands out and no reason for me to think I've found a good fit.

 

[MissShelby]

I suppose this was to be expected. But I don't necessarily see a clear front-running answer to any specific type of thread structure or style. It (maybe obviously) depends on the reader and therefore is subject to just as much individuality.

I had hoped to pinpoint some kind of common ground for a best structure for a request thread. I'm not sure there is one!

I currently use what I call short-format explanations where the key details are expressed. It allows for a partner to come in and help fill in the rest of the details with preference based stuff. Kinks and limitations, and what not. I'd hate to think that, for each story, the best approach would be to have a short version and a long version. But maybe that's the case. Something for everyone. If you will.

 

[skyfetcher]

I had hoped to pinpoint some kind of common ground for a best structure for a request thread. I'm not sure there is one!

Nope. Never was, perhaps never will be unless a site makes a form. Some systems are more logically decent than others, though. Covering basic ideas about who you are and what you want to do is a pretty good guideline for any RT looking to be serious, even if length, formatting, and so on all have their nuances and nothing that is really universal. Some things will straight up appeal to different people. Clean layouts tend to catch people beyond specific interests.

Really though, your question doesn't really lend itself to a particular layout - it's people's tastes that are the defining metric, and those can never be universally catered to. Best you can do is try to find out what stands out for your audience.