Membership That's a deal breaker...

[xexes 108]

Rules is the last thing on the list for me.

 

(1) Skin - is this place for me? If I can't read it or it annoys me, then no!

(2) Writing - can I jive with this? will I feel challenged enough to try to write better?

(3) Activity - will I stay interested in the site?

(4) Premise - can I come up with ideas?

(5) Rules - can I get along with them / do I fit in?

 

We've all joined a billion roleplays, I'm honestly just checking at this point to see if they're @#$*-heads or not.

 

So it's not a specific rule, it's the general sense of all the rules put together. Are these people super strict? Are they berating? Are they relaxed? Etc.

 

Look man, if I really like a site, you can have a rule that says all posts have to be exactly 250 words and in haiku format and I will do it every time for you.

Edited July 11, 2017 by xexes

[CovertSphinx 710]

13 hours ago, firefly said:

Any reference to how much the site hates drama
 

 

Ironically enough, it's also the #1 clue that the site is on the "clique" side.

[Rune 1,099]

Mandatory templates. 

[Kittenmitten 40]

Honestly, rules are seldom my breaking point. There are a few things I dislike (character limits, ridiculous activity checks), but I'm pretty flexible if I like the lore and the members seem nice. What turns me off about rules is typos, run-on sentences, chatspeak, and the like. I'm generally very understanding of typos, but the rules are often one of the first things a person sees of the site (it is for me, at least) and if they can't take the time to make a good impression there, then what's the rest of the site going to be like?

[Zahhy 130]

UPDATE:  Also - I just realized that we were talking about RULES that are deal-breakers so I'm adjusting my comment.

 

I guess the only one I have is where I have to create an account to view the Forum. I don't want to create an account unless I know I might play there. I get weird about giving my email address out before I know if I like something!

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by Zahhy

[Guest Carnival]

Some of these are pretty similar to what others have said, but I'll repeat them anyway.  My deal breakers:

• If a site isn't 3-3-3 - I hate holding myself back when I write and prefer a site that's Adult oriented where everyone is allowed their creative freedom.  Even if I like the way a site looks, if I find that it's not 3-3-3, I'm instantly out of there.
• No pretty graphics/events - This one is a bit more shallow, but what can I say, I love my pretty graphics XD.  While this isn't an instant deal breaker if I like everything else about a site, I really do enjoy the places that really pimp out their sites.  Events make me even more likely to join as I love the interactive, fun process.
• Must post once a week - I just can't do this, especially if I have more than one character.  If the only way I can keep my positions is if I have to post once a week, even once every three weeks, I won't join.  Posting once a month can sometimes be a challenge, but I can at least do that with multiple charries, but anything below is a no-go.
• Rudeness - I always go back to this one, but it really is the biggest dealbreaker.  If the staff or members are rude, bully newbies or are intimidating, I won't be clicking any further.

[Uaithne 543]

Most people have mentioned the things that are deal breakers for me: word counts of any kind, strict or rude rules, lots of lore, tiny fonts, bad skins, etc. But here are some other things that turn me off:

 

- Too many character graphics. Its not that I find them annoying just by existing, it's that I don't have the time or interest to find, resize, and host tons of images. I don't want others to do it for me because sometimes I have to use very specific pictures because different hair styles or make up or outfits just aren't what my character looks like. Plus I'll sometimes use older pictures and there aren't a trillion unique photos for a trillion unique image slots.

 

- Moving gifs. I actually . . . physically can't handle them. The jerkiness, the constant motion . . . It's too much for my poor little brain. I have a gif blocker on my browser which helps, but if the graphics still move around despite the blocker, I won't join.

 

- Mandatory "trigger warnings" for mundane crap. Sexism, slapping people, classism, using a mean tone, etc. I have no desire to cater to sensitive people who need to be protected from everything, nor do I believe that there are people who need legitimate trigger warnings for all of these topics. It's cool if other sites want that atmosphere, but it's not my thing. I'll tag triggers that are actually triggers for existing members, or I'll tag "adult content," but I'm not going to warn someone because my character said a mean thing to a person of a different color/religion/class/etc.

 

- Banning discussion of religion either IC or OOC. I know people don't want conflict, but I love talking to people about their faith and hearing how their religions work and what holidays they celebrate. One can have peaceful, educated discussion about religion without it being turned into something offensive or argumentative. If it does (because some people do do that), you treat them like they became rude or argumentative about any other topic and don't punish everyone else from sharing their culture and beliefs in appropriate and friendly discussion. I've learned so much about religions I never thought much about by casual discussions with RP buddies.

 

- Sites that don't have a good community. I need the community. Everyone can be really awesome, but if we aren't bonding and hanging out OOC, you've lost me. I need the extra level of engagement to find myself drawn to a site. Otherwise your site is pretty much the same as the next site.

[Huli 31]

Tbh, the biggest make it or break it dealbreaker for me comes before I even look at the site in depth. If I can't stand the layout, there's no way I can stand the site even if everything else is incredible and amazing and right up my alley. Rp is about writing, and if I can't read the posts without squinting and tilting my head, yeeeeah no. Bye.

[FriedKilamari 46]

Bad admins, definitely.

 

If I look at a site and see the admins only RPing with a few select people, I'm going to be a little wary. I understand time constraints and only being able to manage a certain number of threads, but when an admin has multiple threads with one other person, it sends off red flags. I can look past this if the community is good, though.

 

Admin favoritism, however...I can't. All members need to follow the rules. The admin's "favorites" should not be exempt from this.

 

I also nope out of sites that seem to be all about the admin's characters. Site wide plot about the admin's character? The last plot was also about them? No thank you.

 

Also just...rude and disrespectful admins in general send me packing before even joining. Admins need to be welcoming and fair. They're the PR for their site, and if I see an admin being a jerk on another site, I'm gonna give their site a pass.

 

I also pass by sites that have been on the same site wide plot for years. To me, it just looks like no one's interested in it, or that the site just can't hold enough members to make it work. I want something I can engage in, something that I can see being resolved! Three years is just...way too long for one plot.

[NFT47 40]

Along with bad admins, I think lore and plotlines that are too restrictive. I feel like if you have too many hurdles to jump over when it comes to making a character, that normally is something that will get me to back away from a site pretty fast. For example, a place that is part of the Marvel Fandom better not have a lot of restrictions on characters. I tend to play someone that is generally overlooked in the fandom in general, but if I get to a board and you tell me that she is opened but I would have to play her at 80 years old and a lot of her major characters (that I would likely request) in her storyline have already been killed off....yeah, not worth it for me.

Edited August 20, 2017 by Toastie

[KAIJU 0]

I'm usally pretty flexible, rules are there for a reason.
But I've been seeing this recently that kinda makes me frown;

"you must post your shipper and claims withing 48hrs of being accepted or they'll be put back up for claim"

 

I mean I get it but I hate having some timeframe put on something after being accepted. Like if you're not avaliable right away after waiting a few days they'll toss you right back out??

[Squeeji 19]

Any time I see a 'No double names' thing I hit the 'x' button so fast Chrome chokes a little.  As a teacher I'm well aware that people can handle having the same name in the same room without exploding, for real.

[Frizbee 14]

Most of these have already been said but:

 

The first thing I judge on is the skin. Shallow, I know, but if it's just a clusterfuck of links and images I'm outta there. Less is more, in my opinion. I like sleek and easy to navigate. I don't want hundreds of images cluttering my screen and the choice of clicking on a million links. Just point me in the direction of the most important/most read threads and I'm happy. Also please don't burn my retinas with clashing colours.

 

Word counts that are above 300. Some days I have more muse than others and writing is a hobby for me, not a chore. On the other hand, sites that have no word count at all put me off. I want to know that whoever I'm posting with is going to give me something to work with! Quality over quantity all the time, but I can't stand getting one sentence back when I've taken the time to write a paragraph or two. It's like sending a long text and getting back 'k'.

 

Apps/profiles that are overcrowded. Or that require to add in 10 gifs and/or images. Please. I have an avatar and a table is that not enough to show you what my character looks like?

 

Allowing signatures. Not so much of a problem on non-RP boards (like resource sites) but I just find them messy? Some people use them, some people don't, some people have massive ones and others have teeny ones. I'm so OCD about this it just drives me up the wall.

 

I'm sure there's others if I took the time to think of them but I'll just leave these for now lmao

[Sophie Hatter 38]

rules that are weirdly aggressive, as if i already did something to get into trouble.

 

if every member is being looked at as a potential problem, then i don't want to be on a site. and even if that's not the case, how you word your rules is an important gauge for guests of how the community is and staff expectation. so it's probably not the best idea to emphasize warning systems and punishment throughout all your rules.

 

[Gothic 307]

A word count is one way I won't join. 

Excessive talk about drama. 

A million hoops to get through before I start playing the game. 

Condescending or snippy rules.