Membership Mini-Profiles, the good, the bad and the FABULOUS!

[Morrigan 1,826]

 

So as I go through sites I see fabulous mini-profiles, I see garbagey ones. I see the same ones over and over and over and over. And what I'm curious about is from a member (and I'll even take staff perspectives too).

 

What sort of mini-profiles do you, as a member, find the most appealing? The most common ones in the roleplay world that I see are the hover effect ones that don't work at all on mobile.

What sort of information do you find useful in a mini-profile? I know this can be specific to the site like species etc and feel free to add that stuff.

What do you find fun as a little add-in, something you kind of like seeing in a mini-profile? A common one I see is like Mini-profile gifs but would it be cooler to have a "Character Playlist" spot instead?

 

Feel free to discuss. I'm looking to see what you love and hate about them without starting a debate. Feel free to screenshot/monosnap/etc some of your favorites if you feel inclined.

[clipsed 231]

A mini-profile should be mini and include the most pertinent info for roleplay. IMO, if you have more than two "tabs" (one for image, one for info, or an image that hovers for info), you are including too much.

 

Also as someone who uses at least one "obscure" PB at any given time, please don't make me include a gif on top of my avatar. Bob McPlayby doesn't have many images to work with as it is!

[Jones 177]

I like things simple. In my opinion a miniprofile should enhance a post, never distract from it. Which means things like hovers, gifs, and nonessential information have no place there. When I designed ours (thanks again @Arceus I would never have figured out those custom profile fields without you) I only included the things that a guest or member would need to know about the character. Ours show the account name, the character's magic level and caste in 'larger text' because they're the important facts that another character would know right away just by looking at that character. I personally like having the player's name there for lurking guest. As a lurker myself I dislike having to refer to a member directory to figure out who wrote the post I'm reading. Our miniprofiles also have a small line for the character's profession/trade/whatever. A link to their app, that character's primary location, and then the tiny but handy post count, shop points, and two small icons for email or PM.

 

Things like age, race, relationship status, anything a character couldn't guess by looking at the character, just seems less relevant to me. I guess I'm a bit of a minimalist with miniprofiles. Their an accessory, though, a things that's nice to have. Not a necessity. 

[Kit the Human 759]

Pretty much as above - though I include age because I forget frequently how old mine are, so it's a handy reference for me.

 

So yes, need to know information only. Links to things like a plotter or application is handy but few people seem to actually fill them in though. OOC name is also handy.

[Huskerdust 625]

I change mine up all the time but they always need: avatar, username/link to profile, number of posts, age, and height. The last one mostly because I need to know, okay? 😛

[clipsed 231]

10 hours ago, Zozma said:

...and height. The last one mostly because I need to know, okay?

RESPECT. I so seldom see this on other boards but height can have a huge impact on a) how a character does things and b) how they interact with new people.

[c.widow 123]

I see mini profiles as a 'glance' into that character so for me I really like to be able to see specifics that are important to both the character and the function of the site.

Character Wise:

• Age
• Height
• Weight/Build
• Colors
• Quote, this I feel is important to a character because just by a line or two of words you can catch a feel for that characters mind (maybe their deepest feelings, motto, etc.).

On a side note, I know a lot of people add a "Played By" in mini p's which I do like to see too but it's a 50/50 for me on want to see. I welcome with or without, so long as it is at least on the profile somewhere in case I need to contact the player to let them know I might take a while to reply or something. 🙂

 

Site Wise:

• Specific game mechanics. For example if the site has abilities/magic or similar functions I would love to see that characters ability or the ability name, if I further need to inspect then I will check profile but at a glance that knowledge is always cool to see.
• Settlement (faction/group/etc.), rank if any, etc. related to their whereabouts or choices of life within game (helpful too as well if on animal games as wolves for example would be able to tell the character smelt of a different pack than their own).
• Post count, this might just be me but I thoroughly enjoy being able to see a characters activity.
• Items if a shop is in use.

[Garmr 106]

On 10/10/2018 at 12:55 PM, clipsed said:

Bob McPlayby doesn't have many images to work with as it is! 

Not going to lie, Bob McPlayby made me giggle so hard along with @MorriganAres the love god gif. 

 

As far as mini profiles agree with the above but also if its a supernatural/fantasy setting the race of the character.  This is mostly because if you're playing one of those creatures with a fabulous sense of smell you'd be able to go "Ugh, vampire" from fifty paces.

[Sage 289]

I HATE the recent trend where everything and your mom is included in the mini. You have 800 gifs, useless information about your character's cat, and just generally stuff I don't care for.

 

I think the one thing I actually like about those minis though is that they usually include player information as well - like their alias, timezone, and if they're down for me to slide in some casual smut. I don't remember who is playing which character off the top of my head most of the time, so having that reminder is suuuuuuuuper helpful.

[Somniac 207]

One: I hate the animated mini profiles. Gives me a headache. If the site has sliders, I'm going to use them as minimally as possible. Same with gifs - if they're not in an avoidable spot, can't join.

 

I love having a tidy place to see the things a character might immediately react to or have a connection with on a first impression: the physical, the social (factions, origins, what have you), and let's be real: a brand spanking new character just screams "ruin my life in exciting new ways!" so post count's nice too.

[Raven 18]

I really like having things in the mini-profile that update a lot for characters, and/or are convenient to see at a glance. IE, height is a really nice one for human role plays, especially when lots of children are being played. Growth spurts are a B.

[Scarlet 8]

I like mini profiles that have an image, maybe a gif, and basic character information.  Anything more than like 10 things on there is just clutter and unnecessary. 

[Icewolf 258]

The should be kept as simple as possible. No hovers, just an image of the character, some basic info (like age, race, where they live/faction affiliation in the game, etc. It shouldn't have lots of information, though and hovers can be confusing and annoying. And if they don't work on mobiles/tablets, are they really worth using? I think age and coding experience of members should be considered too, as older people will probably not like them, (they are probably used to everything being static, and hovers obscure information) and if a member doesn't know a great deal about how fancy mini profiles work, it could put them off from joining your forum as they might not know how to fill them in. One of my rp friends is legally blind and complicated mini profiles would be a problem for her, so disability should be considered to when coding a forum's theme. The simpler it is, the more accessible a forum will be.