Do you read other RPs?

I get curious when I see all those thread RPs with a high view count. I doubt two people would view their thread 300 times to write 10-15 exchanges. This got me wondering if members, not always guests and search engines, actually take the time to read some RPs by other people?

- Do you read RPs by other people? How often?
- When you do, do you search by the title or the writers?
- Some people do it to get an idea on the level of other players, if you do this, do you read the entire thing or do you skim the posts?
- What RPs are you currently reading? Come on, give em a shout out.

Some people do it to get an idea on the level of other players, if you do this, do you read the entire thing or do you skim the posts?

I don't skim but I don't read the entire thing. I read enough to get a good gauge of whether or not I can work with said person that I am looking into, if there are a handful of pages; I go through at least a page and a half to two, from both users, if the posting is good enough. If said person seems to be picking up the slack of their partner, I do jump to another story for extra measures. Which is part of the reason why I don't have many partners anymore, or RP much anymore.

I have at random times caused by boredom, popped into a thread to get a read. Those never last for more than a page at most.

I don't consider it a privacy issue but more an editing issue. It is expected that everyone puts their best foot forward when role-playing but the idea and importance is put upon the fun and the spirit of it. Usually, you have only one person to impress and their standards are the only ones that you have to meet. So, a lot of rps, for that reason, have an unpolished look about them. You know, you've got your retroaction that is fine and all when rping but when reading it, makes for a really clunky narrative. And then you've got the regular myriad mistakes that might not be caught from the couple of edits before submitting a post. It's not meant for wide consumption a lot of times, so, all the complaints and irritants I'd have are kind of pointless because it is so unpolished. Plus, referring to the other thread, not a lot of people either 1. plan any kind of story other than pairing and characters, they just continuously wing it and it's all about interaction and capturing that raw, unfiltered ROLE-playing and 2. plan anything cohesive about the story. Even if they have a base plotline to start with, they just go with it, either not talking to each other about plans beforehand or keeping those plans very simple and vague the entire way through. THAT can be a bit of a mess to read through; not knocking that type of rp, because if they get enjoyment out of it, that is the important thing, but it is not meant for outside consumption, honestly.

So, for those reasons, no, I do not read other rps. All the things I would complain about a badly edited novel are usually there but without any of the expectation for professionalism and audience.

Plus, I'd actually ask to make sure 1. people like you reading their rps and looking at them and 2. they're okay with having their name put out there publicly before you start listing the rps and users you like to read. Just because it is a privacy issue and not everyone is open to being criticized or receiving criticisms about their rps and if you put their name out there like "Hey, read this, or check this out!" people will be inclined to offer their thoughts about the work, some of the time.

Reading anything posted over a public forum cannot be considered an invasion of privacy. The notion is absurd.

I don't read role-plays, more or less for the reasons Rudolph Quinn stated. I find that many role-players aren't very good writers, so I have no desire to read what they write. The ones that type massive posts create what is essentially a labor to read through. The best stories are page turners, where things happen within a reasonable amount of words. Role-playing, to many people, is about lengthening every single action, thought, and interaction to the extremes. Nothing happens until both partners are completely satisfied with every morsel of detail. It is an interactive experience about mutual pleasuring (sexual or otherwise), so it's only natural that most people will seek to linger on any aspect each partner considers interesting or fun. The catch is that these things may not be interesting for an outside party to read. In other words, most role-plays have pacing problems. On the other hand, the very short back and forth replies are often boring and poorly written anyway-- they only work to shorten the meandering nature of the larger posts. Then one should consider how many people role-play, and how unlikely it is that most of them know how to craft a good story, or even utilize good characterization.

This isn't to say I'm good at writing. I'm mediocre or average at best, and I'm sure some people would read what I've written and say I'm terrible.

Bluntly, ignorantly, and arrogantly: I have no interest in the poorly thought out, poorly written, and poorly paced writings of other people. I'm sure there are some very fine writers here, and probably some role-plays that would be enjoyable to read, but I have zero interest in finding out.

Role-playing is mostly interesting to the parties involved, because of the unique interaction; each reply is a personal, unique reply to what you have written, and is bolstered directly by the desires and expectations that have been placed on the role-play. Any reply that meets even the minimal of those desires and expectations is a person receiving what they want from a story. It's difficult to dislike a story when you have a hand in guiding it, and the other person helping write it is responding in a way you like. The outside observer does not have any such expectations or involvement, so it reads plainly. They don't get the mental massage of another person responding to their fantasy, or enriching it, therefore the experience is hardly the same.

I don't read other peoples roleplays as they're written to satisfy only two people's preferences; the parties involved; and not for a wider audience. Therefore, I find it difficult to become immersed in them, or the characters. I might read a post here and there, but that's about it.

I know in my own I employ a fair bit of retroactivity which as Rudolph and Mitsu state, can make for clunky reading and pacing problems, and I think you need the context of being involved as one of the collaborators, or for it to involve 'your' character, for it to not appear completely unwarranted/clunky, or detract from the flow, and to take an interest.

As a collaborative endeavour, which involves each character/writer having their own perspective on the same interaction at the same time, I view it differently from story-writing, and that retroactivity is something I enjoy, and I mesh best with others who are of the same mind/style, however I can understand why people dislike it. Particularly when reading it from the outside.

I also see what's thrown back and forth between the parties OoC, and 'invisible' to others, as being as much a part of the story as what's on the page itself, and a lot of times people are attempting to read a story without having all of it available to them.

I've visited places where people can be judgemental on how a person writes. It's a shame that many write for recognition as opposed for the love of writing... In answer to the question, I merely view a thread to see the likes/dislikes and what roles people are after. I never view threads that have names in brackets. In my opinion, roleplay threads should be kept private. Again, just an opinion, mine's doesn't matter.

Romance all the way! WOOP WOOP!

RandomGuy12something... said:

I've visited places where people can be judgemental on how a person writes. It's a shame that many write for recognition as opposed for the love of writing... In answer to the question, I merely view a thread to see the likes/dislikes and what roles people are after. I never view threads that have names in brackets. In my opinion, roleplay threads should be kept private. Again, just an opinion, mine's doesn't matter.

Romance all the way! WOOP WOOP!

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Names in brackets? Those are the rp threads. We have issues with spammers sometimes so any threads without the players names in the title are closed by mods. It's the rule. Since all rp threads have names of users in the title you're saying you don't read rps? Because that is what this thread is about. I guess it's a no-brainer since you explicitly say that rp threads should be private but the way you say "names in the brackets" it is confusing because it makes it sound like those aren't the exact threads we're talking about and referring to.

Perhaps I didn't portray what I wanted to say properly. As far as I understand, there is a section for requests; ladies and gents. Most request PMs to discuss the roles etc. Those are the ones I read. The brackets I'm referring to are have in them the names of those who are roleplaying. I hope that makes sense? Or please correct me if I've misunderstood.

Shovel said:

Perhaps "invasion of privacy" was a poor choice of words. It's just not my business so I don't look into it.

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Rudolph Quin said:

RandomGuy12something... said:

I've visited places where people can be judgemental on how a person writes. It's a shame that many write for recognition as opposed for the love of writing... In answer to the question, I merely view a thread to see the likes/dislikes and what roles people are after. I never view threads that have names in brackets. In my opinion, roleplay threads should be kept private. Again, just an opinion, mine's doesn't matter.

Romance all the way! WOOP WOOP!

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Names in brackets? Those are the rp threads. We have issues with spammers sometimes so any threads without the players names in the title are closed by mods. It's the rule. Since all rp threads have names of users in the title you're saying you don't read rps? Because that is what this thread is about.

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RandomGuy12something... said:

Perhaps I didn't portray what I wanted to say properly. As far as I understand, there is a section for requests; ladies and gents. Most request PMs to discuss the roles etc. Those are the ones I read. The brackets I'm referring to are have in them the names of those who are roleplaying. I hope that makes sense? Or please correct me if I've misunderstood.

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This has nothing to do with request threads. At all. Nobody in here is talking about req threads. Nobody has referred to req threads except you. That is not the topic of discussion.

The topic is role-play, the threads with an actual story going on.

The threads in these sections:

General Rps

Taboo rps

Fan-based rps

Non-sexual rps

Semiprivate rps

Why did you quote Shovel? That's their personal opinion about that, not the accepted decorum or rule, otherwise, there wouldn't be a thread asking "do you read these?" I mean, I get that you share that opinion but it is not the general guideline for it. Plenty of people read other people's stories for fun around here. In fact, that could be argued why they're even placed in the forum setting in the first place, to be viewed and opened at people's leisure. Otherwise, we'd all advertise with a posted email address, right?

Rudolph Quin said:

RandomGuy12something... said:

Perhaps I didn't portray what I wanted to say properly. As far as I understand, there is a section for requests; ladies and gents. Most request PMs to discuss the roles etc. Those are the ones I read. The brackets I'm referring to are have in them the names of those who are roleplaying. I hope that makes sense? Or please correct me if I've misunderstood.

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This has nothing to do with request threads. At all. Nobody in here is talking about req threads. Nobody has referred to req threads except you. That is not the topic of discussion.

The topic is role-play, the threads with an actual story going on.

The threads in these sections:

General Rps

Taboo rps

Fan-based rps

Non-sexual rps

Semiprivate rps

Why did you quote Shovel? That's their personal opinion about that, not the accepted decorum or rule, otherwise, there wouldn't be a thread asking "do you read these?" I mean, I get that you share that opinion but it is not the general guideline for it. Plenty of people read other people's stories for fun around here. In fact, that could be argued why they're even placed in the forum setting in the first place, to be viewed and opened at people's leisure. Otherwise, we'd all advertise with a posted email address, right?

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Woah, woah! Calm down there. I liked what she wrote but it came as a quote...it was an accident and unintentional. I'm new here and don't know how to use this properly. I was just explaining what you questioned... I only said that that's what I read as opposed to people's roleplays... There's no need to be so full on about it... Gosh! Can't even state an opinion without someone trying to shame you up. Despicable. Oh well!

Last time I post on an open question... : /

Adiós.

Anyway, back on topic....

It totally depends on whether or not I'll venture into reading RPs. Clearly, as admin, there are times when it's just plain necessary. XD However, as a reader and searcher for those golden RP partners, there've been times when I've ventured into an RP thread to garner a gander. Basically, there are 3 things that might make me look at someone's RP (and this is just me being me):

1) I see my friends have an RP going and either they've mentioned it to me or the title or idea sounds awesome or something of that nature...so I give it a peek and read it (sometimes just chunks of it, sometimes all of it).

2) I'm searching for potential RP partners and I'm not able to discern matches based on the RT section OR I'm trying to bulk up on info I've gathered when reading the RT section. Meaning, putting some RP to the username can make a difference as it gives you an idea of writing style, what things they like to write and a slew of other nifty things.

3) The title just seemed cool. Yeah. Sometimes you just want to get a peek and see what cool things are going on around the boards. When it comes to these RPs I tend to just skim them over or read just a few posts. But it still gives you an idea of what is what. It doesn't mean I'll deviate from my own goals and aspirations as an RPer, but sometimes if an idea seems cool it can inspire or make you ponder things you might not have before.

I read rps as part of my being a site mod, then i also read if i am approached by a member for play to get an idea of how they write. I will read old and new partners threads... and not to toot my own horn, but my own for inspiration.

Ok, i also dont see it as an invasion. Sometimes if the story doesnt capture my eye then i dont read all of it.

For partners, If your writing doesnt draw me in within the first three posts i dont consider you as a partner. I am a snob. I admit it.

I will read all the posts if not looking at that person as a partner.

It's actually neat to read your POV, Shovel, and I can get where you're coming from.

Personally, as someone who tends to write almost exclusively in threads, I don't mind or care if someone reads my RP. Basically, in posting my RP to a thread, my mindset is the following: it's now public domain, this means anyone can read it, thus I shouldn't get pissy if they do. I also figure it's a way for potential RP partners to gain insight on how I write and what sorts of things I will write based on what I've written in the past. I mean, I think my request thread gives a clear enough picture of things, but some people do like writing samples. Well, having all those threads gives plenty of writing samples. Though, some of my RPs are better written than others, LOL! XD And sometimes that just can be based on the content/story and a bunch of other factors...or just because I write (hopefully) better now than I did 5 years ago!!! hahaha!!!

Some worry about how if others see what they write that it could color their view of them. And I will say, that a part of me held back from writing certain things because of this fact. I just outright avoided it since threads were permanent. But I realized, who cares. You are who you are and if people can't discern creativity from the real you or just whatever else, then that isn't my problem. It's theirs. I had an earlier chat with Shovel about this and learned that this is why some people just won't venture into reading others stuff...out of fear of gaining a bias. Personally, I have a lot of respect if you know you might gain a bias by reading something you fear could change your view on someone. It means you know yourself and where you might have weakness and that's totally cool. Makes sense to me that you'd avoid reading. Besides, to read or not to read doesn't matter. It's up to you to bother or not and doing either isn't right vs wrong. It's a preference. : )

Shovel said:

I've been reflecting on this a bit and have decided to give it another shot at stating my personal stance on it. (Not an objective rule, but a personal and subjective feeling on the topic of viewing other peoples roleplays.)

It's not my story. It's not my scene. And it's not my creative space. And I don't have a desire to peek into other peoples threads when it comes to one-on-one roleplays. To illustrate my point, I will use an analogy.

Say you are at a gathering of a lot of people in a public space (Think of General Discussion and most other OOC sub-forums) and two people at this gathering start to hit it off. They decide to branch off on their own away from the group and have a discussion just between the two of them. (One-on-one threads) Even though it is a public space, I don't make the assumption that they are okay with me listening in on their conversation between just the two of them. Plus, if I do read over their thread, it may color my perception of them and there is room for misinterpretation of who they are as a writer or a person.

To me, it gives me a similar feeling as I would if I were eavesdropping. And it makes me personally uncomfortable to do. I do my best to act considerately and respect peoples creative spaces even when its out in the open for anyone to read.

And to clarify, I am not saying anybody that does read other RP's is doing something wrong. I am merely saying how it makes me feel to do it. I could be dead wrong about this and am being irrational about it.

One final note: I hardly ever do thread roleplays anymore, so maybe my feelings on the subject are a bit biased.

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I'm not picking apart your preference here. You're allowed to feel however you want. I just don't think that analogy works very well, because of the unique way the Internet, and public message boards, work. When you post on a public forum, it's an implicit invitation for ANYONE to read what you're saying. It's very different than a group of people talking, and then two people breaking off to have a private conversation.

The two people at the party that hit it off, and want to have a private conversation, leave the group. In message board terms, they take their conversation to private messages, email, instant messenger, text messages, or ANY other form of communication that is NOT the public message board. That being said, I do not believe that two people speaking within earshot of other people, offline, are necessarily entitled to other people shutting off their ears. The similarity between online and offline interactions are that private conversations must be had in way that other people are very unlikely to overhear. Sometimes people overhear when they don't want to offline, so if someone eavesdrops on me, I typically blame myself for not being careful enough.

Like I said before, the notion is still absurd no matter how you spin it. It is irrational for you to feel that way, more so in terms of this unique, message board case. However, that doesn't mean you have to be comfortable with it. People are uncomfortable when they see intimacy in public, a kiss or even a hug. Some kinksters have sex in public and hope people see, but it doesn't mean one has to be comfortable with watching it. I may think it's entirely silly for you to feel the way you do, but that doesn't mean it's wrong for you to feel that way.

That being said, I have few reasons to argue for why anyone should read role-plays. I mean, I don't even read them, and I likely won't. The only way I'd go and read a bunch of role-plays is if it's some kind of duty or study.

darkangel76 said:

Some worry about how if others see what they write that it could color their view of them. And I will say, that a part of me held back from writing certain things because of this fact. I just outright avoided it since threads were permanent. But I realized, who cares.

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I have to censor what I say all of the time, and I often refrain from posting. What I have to say are the types of things most people would not take very kindly to. If I had less respect for the moderation team here, I'd be less inclined to pull my punches. While I know you are talking more along the lines of role-playing, I do find this aspect interesting too. The why we do and do not post is a topic just as, if not more, interesting.

darkangel76 said:

Personally, I have a lot of respect if you know you might gain a bias by reading something you fear could change your view on someone. It means you know yourself and where you might have weakness and that's totally cool. Makes sense to me that you'd avoid reading. Besides, to read or not to read doesn't matter. It's up to you to bother or not and doing either isn't right vs wrong. It's a preference. : )

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Thank you for your kind words. ^.^ It is a personal preference of mine and whats right for me may not be right for someone else. I know how I am and how I feel, so I go by that. But I wouldn't dare tell someone what they are doing is right or wrong.

Mitsu said:

I'm not picking apart your preference here. You're allowed to feel however you want. I just don't think that analogy works very well, because of the unique way the Internet, and public message boards, work. When you post on a public forum, it's an implicit invitation for ANYONE to read what you're saying. It's very different than a group of people talking, and then two people breaking off to have a private conversation.

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Yes, I was wondering even as I was writing my opinion piece whether or not such an analogy would translate well into the online world. And I would agree with you that if you post something on a public forum, you shouldn't be surprised or offended if someone decides to read it.

...but my feels, tho. :/

I don’t read other people’s role plays. One of the reasons for that is I’m afraid I will like how someone reacts to a certain situation, and if I find my character in a similar situation, if not the exact same one, I’ll be tempted to respond the same way someone else did. I’m not naïve enough to think my reactions are the first ever to certain situations. Of course not, but I take away the temptation to copy someone else. So if I’m doing two role plays with “Larry”, and I read his role play with “Sally”, then I might want to copy what “Sue” does to certain things. Plus there’s also seeing certain situations that “Larry” might put “Sue” in that I find myself wanting. I hate to literally copy another role play like that. I have been in this position before. One of my current partners has a role play going with another member, and I like the situations her character is in. I would love to have them happen to one of my characters. I did mention to him how much I liked the character he used, and now I have a role play with the same character. *shrugs* I will read a role play if asked to, and I don’t mind giving out advice on what I think about said role play if asked.

It’s really just a matter of personal preference. I have looked at other people’s role plays. Sometimes because it’s a current partner, and other times because it was a past partner. I don’t look at past partner’s role plays that often. I have my reasons for that. With current partners, it’s a matter of being curious as to what else they’re writing about. I like to see what else they enjoy.

I haven't really read any RPs. Usually if I'm planning a RP with a partner I will look at some of their threads. Sometimes I'll skim, sometimes I'll read it through it really just depends. I've had a few instances where my prospective partners posts just pulled me in but that doesn't happen very often.

I have nothing against reading RPs, if I found one I really wanted to read I would. There are people who will RP only through PMs or IMs and its usually because they like the privacy [some are of course just shy. And then there are those who are shy and like the privacy so theres that]. I RP in threads because I actually do like when people read my stories and the organization....I like that a lot too. But I really do like people reading my RPs, I won't lie it is an ego boost especially if someone contacts you about it [either to comment on it or to say they liked it and wanted to RP with you]. Certain ones anyways. I'd be mortified if someone went way back into my history and was reading some of my first threads here. X_________________X;;;;

But....I tend not to read things in certain areas of BMR. Going to what DA said about preferences and the like. Generally I don't really care what people like as far as writing goes, I mean there are so many different kinds of RPs out there and some are really cool. But as this is an adult site I tend to avoid smut ones because I don't really like RPing it but I hate reading it more.

If thats what you like to write, thats what you like. But I've never been keen on reading a story that is smut themed, especially since there are some kinks that do bother me severely. What you like is what you like but [as an example since this kink is banned] if I was reading a story that had little kids being used as sex toys and what not...I'd have issues getting past that to talk to the person.

So certain kinks bother me a great deal. And I know that there are kinks involved even if its a plot based RP. I just feel like I have less of a chance coming across my particular dislikes as far as kinks go in plot based stories. And there are cases where in a plot based RP, even if a kink I dislike is used if its used for the right reasons I won't mind it as much.

As another example, I do not like rape. I don't, at all. However, if it was used as a plot point or for character development [there are a lot of variables with things like this] I'd have less issues with it and would actually enjoy that story a bit more. But usually you find things like that in smut themed RPs for sexual excitement and thats what gets me in a plot vs smut RP. In smut it is because of sexual excitement and certain things freak me out [obviously] and when I see someone using something that freaks me out for sexual arousal...I feel kind of...weirded out? I guess.

So while I don't really read RPs through myself, if I'm going to be reading something of someone elses I avoid certain areas and pay very close attention to the title of the thread.

Yes, yes I do. I read other RPs. It's how I learnt about RPing. It gives me an idea of what it is like. Also, I still read them. I just randomly browse roleplay topics. If I like the title, I may dig in and if I like how it's going, I'll bookmark it and wait for it to finish.

If I had some long-term partners or friends, I probably would.
I did read one RP once that, some people I befriended, were in, and it was unfortunately full so I couldn't join, but still kept up with it.

Otherwise, I just don't have a personal investment. There might be some out there that would be enjoyable to read, but like, I'm not going to sift through them to find it when I could just read a book.

I'll admit to reading other people's threads. Sometimes because I'm checking out a prospective partner's writing style, but more likely because either a) the title interested me or b) I've read something else one if the eriters did and I enjoyed it.

I also like to think of what I'm writing as having an audience beyond my writing partner. I don't assume other people really are reading it, but I hope they are and they're enjoyiing tbe story.

I don't know if that makes me weird, or just a frustrated fiction writer...

I've never read someone else's RP from start to finish but I have read pieces of other people's stories. I do it for a couple of reasons - 1) Looking for other potential writers whose style or skills appeal to me and might make a good partner for a story and 2) just to pass the time occasionally, especially when I'm in the mood for a story but for whatever reason aren't in the mood for the current book I'm reading. I've found some great partners, and great stories, by doing this.