Why don't rps with no signups receive any attention?

[Cinnamon]

Rps requiring signups are great, but for those who just want to jump in and have fun, you'd think those with no signups would gain quite a lot of activity. Why is that? Are these types of rps unpopular? I'm not ranting, just asking.

 

[unanun]

Those kinds are usually found on discord. My guess is forum RP is for more structured signups with a focus on plot more than characters. You can also find jump ins for chat-rps and 1x1s, if your partner is up for that.

 

[Dusk]

Another reason might be a lack of advertisement? I know at least when I look for a new RP I check signups and interest checks rather than ICs. Or mostly at this point I get invited by someone. You could always throw up an advertisement to try to bring in some more participants.

 

[Diana]

I've noticed sometimes people post those jumpins without doing an OOC to go with, OOCs also serve as an advertisement that the RP exists and gives people a chance to ask questions or get hyped before posting.

But Dusk is most right, it's all about those ADS BBY

 

[Clockworx]

I'd think one reason could be a sense of not wanting to I guess piss the other party off.
Like OP makes a open RP for people to just jump in but the start is SUPER unclear as to the general stuff and without an OOC, are you really likely to message that person to go "hey i saw your Open RP, I wanted more info?" Probably not because if they couldn't bother to either be more clear and concise or do a OOC as well.

The idea of open RPs i assume is to be sort of free to just jump into, so they should be clear enough that you don't need to ask the starter what they intended and such. So if its not clear enough I could certainly see some hesitation due to just not wanting to go down a route that they werent expecting.

 

[Cinnamon]

I thought rps with no signups didn't require ooc threads?

 

[Diana]

I thought rps with no signups didn't require ooc threads?

That is correct! They're not required at all! But it never hurts to have a place for people to ask questions or read some information, though, especially if it's a group rp. Or even to share character sheets when they want everyone to reference them. I know a lot of times even though it's as easy as just jumping in, there's always people who wanna ask some questions first, cause they're just a lil too scared to post without details

 

[neptune]

I know I don't join those types of RPs because I'm not entirely sure what kinds of characters OP is looking for, and I don't want to come in with the wrong one? I'm much more used to sign-up threads and lots of OOC with the other players before the IC gets posted. I guess I'm just out of my element so I tend not to even consider jump-in RPs as an option.

 

[Clockworx]

I know I don't join those types of RPs because I'm not entirely sure what kinds of characters OP is looking for, and I don't want to come in with the wrong one? I'm much more used to sign-up threads and lots of OOC with the other players before the IC gets posted. I guess I'm just out of my element so I tend not to even consider jump-in RPs as an option.

This is the sort of thing I was saying and likely failing to properly articulate.

Thats my sort of reasoning as well that worry founded or not of just doing something so contradictory to the OP. Sometimes there will be a solid description of what they are looking for but there's always so many questions.

 

[Cinnamon]

All this makes perfect sense. Thanks.

 

[Blind Hemingway]

This is an ancient question, with many different answers.. When Iwaku was founded back in the late 00s, there was no program similar to Discord, where you could have an entire server just to doing what you wanted to. Sure, there were some of us foolish enough to use Skype or AOL (lol). But as forums became a more centralized part of the anime fan fiction and RP community, the need for having an OOC and IC became more important. Many disliked having OOC posts right in the middle of an important scene. So it was considered rude. Jump ins were pretty popular for the newer members and some people still like them. The chat box also had RPers but when you don't have channels for it, it gets in the way. It's just kind of a natural evolution of the needs of an old era and many people following the same codes of ethics to this day.

 

[Cinnamon]

A very informative answer! Thank you!

 

[owlishnerd]

To add to what @Blind Hemingway said. I also think people are just conditioned to believe that a type of advertisement is needed. This sounds like I'm bashing some of this community. That however is not the case. For clarity, chat R.P. even if organized has no real structure. It's just a sequence of random events all going on at the exact same moment. Narratives can still lead writers much the same as in a forum so maybe what I'm saying doesn't make sense to some of you. But when you think about it. It goes by like a chapter or episode of a T.V. show. Which could potentially have like one good mention of an event to happen down the road or a throw back. Usually there's grave importance to this even if it doesn't seem like it in the moment. I like this aspect of Chat R.P. I like this aspect of writing in general. Stupid Disney fluff is what I live for. (I.E. why I genuinely enjoy the Owl House enough to use Eda as a face claim.)

Some people can be dissuaded by the organization. The planning, and length of a post is a complete turn off to new players. Don't get me wrong... I don't think we should aspire as a literary coalition or individuals to shorten our length to appease these people. But having once been that same fifteen year old kid who used to write silly little fluffy one liners with his friends. Solely because I genuinely enjoyed writing. I could personally stand to find a bit of a medium for these players and I know in your heart of hearts you know you could too. They'll be here long after we're done with this. So we should help them get to our level. Not a lot of people want to try that though from my perspective. Especially from where I came from before coming to Iwaku. People have a tendency to be a bit snobbish or they stick to their cliques without a second thought. The latter is not something innately wrong. It's just not the most nurturing action we could do. The former just proves we never grew. We just hold ourselves to a higher standard. Nobody is better than the next person. I think we all agree on this notion to some degree.

Some of our best works are spontaneous. Even if we don't think so at the time. Look at some of your stuff and use that spontaneous creativity to produce your greatest works fellow writers. This has been my Ted Talk. I love you all.