RP in - Threads vs PMs???

RP Threads vs PMs???


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Hades

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Hey all,
Felt curious to know why some people prefer to RP in PMs while others in Threads.

The poll is actually less relevant, I am really curious to read your replies with your reasons to choose one or the other.

I am the PM type myself, my reason is simple, if I am having multiple RPs (which most of us do) sometimes one RP is being more thrilling than the others in a specific moment, so that one will get a reply before the others, if this would happen in public threads rather than PMs some people might be offended and confuse the thrilling haze I might be having in a specif RP with lack of interest in another RP.

Also, post length, some people give me lots to work with, some give me less, I don't want the ones that give me less to work with thinking I am putting less effort in their replies.

Tracking, I find way more simple to track my RPs in PMs, not that I find difficult to track the others, but I just find it easier on PMs.

And those are my reasons, let me know yours :)
 
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I RP via threads.


On another forum.
 
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I prefer threads. Always have. It is easy to subscribe to them in order to keep track. I like keeping the inbox for brainstorming with partners or general talking. I don't have to worry about deleting a thread when I do an annual cleaning of it too.
 
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I prefer threads, largely because I also prefer group roleplays rather than 1x1 roleplays and threads are the norm there.
 
Personally I only rp through threads.

Reasons (not in order):

1. I really don't like that people can see when I last looked at the PM... Some people aren't very patient. In my mind it feels like if they can see that I have looked at the rp one day ago but not given a reply, they will feel like I'm abandoning them or am too slow, even though I some times just need time to let their post sink in before I reply or need to wait for a day when I have more energy to reply. Even now when I only use PMs for chatting, I am afraid of looking at them if I'm not in the mood of replying atm because they can see that I've seen it but not replied to it. o_o

2. I want to be able to save my roleplays and not have to delete them. I don't want to have them on my computer, because I can never organize stuff well on my computer for some reason >_> (Seriously, I have like a hundred different documents that lies randomly here and there, and I barely know what half of them are, and some of them are probably exactly the same as some others because I have forgotten that I made them o_o) Iwaku saves EVERYTHING, and if it would ever be erased, they would warn you so you can download the threads content. But you have limited space in the PMs, and if I remember correctly there isn't any way of downloading the content from there so you would have to copy paste it to a document, which in a fifty pages rp would take some time.

3. I do want my roleplays to be visible for the public. Not so much so that others can follow the story, though I don't mind if they want to read them, but if I'm going to start a new rp with someone and they want an rp example, I can just link them to some of my recent rps that reflects my current writing style and has similar themes as what we will be playing. Then they can check as many posts as they want to see what my normal state is, instead of me just selecting a few of the best posts which might just be how I write on occasions when I'm feeling awfully inspired. (Also I love going back and read really old rps from when I started on iwaku, and I like linking them to others so we can laugh at them together xD)

4. PMs have limited space and I do prefer to use that space for chatting about the rps or just random chatting, especially since the wall have a character limit so that space isn't very good for chatting. Trying to fit my roleplays in the PM area would just fill it up way too quickly.

5. While I'm not a big fan of group roleplays, I do make and join them at times. They would be pretty hard to do in PM if you don't already know who will be joining. It's not impossible, but threads are more convenient for those purposes. And if my group roleplays are checked in the watched threads list, then I want all the other rps I'm in to be looked at there. To have them spread out in different places like groups, threads and PMs would be a bit confusing to keep track of. All one x one and normal chatting stays in PMs, all group chatting stays in OOC threads and all rps stays in IC threads. Then it's easy to keep track of where everything is and I know where to go to check out what.
 
I find threads easier to keep track of; my inbox gets pretty crowded
 
Limited Space and Temporary mostly. I want to leave my mark on Iwaku, like getting a thread to the Hall of Fame area.

Visibility, I am the type of RP-er who greatly prefers my RPs to be visible to others. Let them read! It warms my heart to bring enjoyment to others. Also, I actively stalk threads myself. :)
 
I would just like to say that I've never seen anyone get pissy about seeing someone reply to some threads quicker than others. It only makes sense that some RP's just naturally move at a faster pace and that you might have inspiration for one sooner than another. Plus, the only times I've ever even noticed an RPer being significantly more active on some threads than others was when I had players who were being slow to post because they said they were busy, only to find that they were capable of spending plenty of time on other threads, meaning that they probably just didn't want to tell me that they were no longer interested in mine (which is a whole different matter entirely). At any rate, it's not something I take notice of often, and I certainly wouldn't be upset at someone simply for posting on another thread before mine, especially if they're still posting at a decent rate on mine.

And if you meet someone who is that possessive about whose RP's you reply to faster, and actually pays close enough attention to your RPing activity on a regular basis to even notice that sort of thing? You probably shouldn't be RPing with them in the first place, because they don't seem like a particularly fun person to be around.

That said, I use threads, mostly for reasons that people have already mentioned: they're easier to keep track of, you don't have to delete them (and I like to look back on my old RP's), and they're much more well-suited for group RP's (which is mainly what I participate in).

Additionally, Iwaku formats PM's such that the paragraphs are much longer and skinnier than they are in thread posts. Long PM's just... don't look quite right to me, and they require more scrolling to get through than a thread post of the same length. And, since I typically RP in threads where posts can sometimes be several paragraphs long, I do prefer seeing them formatted in a way that actually lets me see an entire post (or at least the majority of a post) without scrolling. Easier to read that way, which is especially helpful when looking back at a post to pick out specific bits of information that you want to reference in your reply. It's a minor thing, but, yeah, those awkward skinny PM's would certainly get to me after a while.
 
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1. I really don't like that people can see when I last looked at the PM... Some people aren't very patient. In my mind it feels like if they can see that I have looked at the rp one day ago but not given a reply, they will feel like I'm abandoning them or am too slow, even though I some times just need time to let their post sink in before I reply or need to wait for a day when I have more energy to reply. Even now when I only use PMs for chatting, I am afraid of looking at them if I'm not in the mood of replying atm because they can see that I've seen it but not replied to it. o_o


I was not aware I could see when my pm was seen XD where is that?

And if you meet someone who is that possessive about whose RP's you reply to faster, and actually pays close enough attention to your RPing activity on a regular basis to even notice that sort of thing? You probably shouldn't be RPing with them in the first place, because they don't seem like a particularly fun person to be around.

I actually find that sort of interest rather flattering XD a bit annoying and obsessive at times, still not a reason I would be mad at someone XD
 
I was not aware I could see when my pm was seen XD where is that?

To the right side on large-screened devices. Down below the reply text box on phones and such.
 
To the right side on large-screened devices. Down below the reply text box on phones and such.
I honestly can't find that anywhere, using a PC, could I ask maybe for a prnt scrn with that data highlighted?
 
I honestly can't find that anywhere, using a PC, could I ask maybe for a prnt scrn with that data highlighted?

No can do, I'm on my phone. It's in the conversation participants list, under each person it'll have a line that says "last read date." That's the thing redblood was talking about.
 
Oh... I don't have that:
Participants:
2
Replies:
48
Last Reply Date:
Yesterday at 6:58 PM
Last Reply From:
**********
No last seen data XD
 
Oh... I don't have that:
Participants:
2
Replies:
48
Last Reply Date:
Yesterday at 6:58 PM
Last Reply From:
**********
No last seen data XD
That's the Conversation Info information. Just under it should be a header that reads Conversation Participants and lists the people in detail, including that last read date.
 
Oh... I don't have that:
Participants:
2
Replies:
48
Last Reply Date:
Yesterday at 6:58 PM
Last Reply From:
**********
No last seen data XD
It should be just under that. If you look under last reply from, you should be able to see conversation participants, and that should look like this:

CONVERSATION PARTICIPANTS

 
I don't have a last read date in any of my convos 0_0 never had.
 
I don't have it either. Which makes me think that it is a staff thing, since the two in this thread who can see it are staff of some level.
 
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Oh, that makes sense somehow XD
 
I don't have it either, most likely Staff guys/gals thing.
 
I actually find that sort of interest rather flattering XD a bit annoying and obsessive at times, still not a reason I would be mad at someone XD
Well, you said it was one of the reasons why you RP in PM's instead of threads, since you wouldn't want someone bugging you about that sort of thing, so... figured it was worth bringing up that I never see it happen.
 
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