RolePlay Forum suggestions

[FlipMode]

Okay so assuming that, beginner RPers have a right to RP with say advanced RPers (assuming said advanced RPer was okay with it and all) I do not have a problem with that in concept.
But the reason why we were thinking of scrapping the tier system is because (among other things) it discourages people from RPing "What?! My RP is not advanced, oh well not worth bothering with then" I do not like that, but there sure are people who do think like that.
And I think we would be looking at the same thing, if it was done by user groups.

Other than that though, I appreciate how out to town you went to share your idea and your original take on it. If it gets more feedback and expansion we can get a better idea on direction to take it though (which is the purpose of this thread after all) ^^.

[Nitro]

I like the idea of tiering the rp's but i think it could be to the rp section's advantage to have 3 seperate rp user groups for members. judging not by the role play but by the member who is playing. now this sounds a bit confusing at first but lets see if i can explain it a bit.

My idea was that if you not only separated the rp's into a three tier system but also separated those who participate in them as well, the people who truly care about role playing and won't just drop out will advance in ranks.

MOTHER SHIP GUIDE IS A GREAT WAY TO SEE HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE

So, how to separate them, well that's simple enough


1. Beginner
The beginner group should be open for all members to join, they are able to post in the beginner role play planning and the beginner role play forum and VIEW the intermediate and advanced(how are you supposed to learn if you can't see what you're supposed to be doing ). If they wish to go up in rank they have to prove to one of the staff members they can handle intermediate role playing by being active in a role play and they should not just be spitting out one liner's left and right.

2. Intermediate
Okay so these members have all proven to the staff that they are capable of being an active member of an intermediate role play. They should be able to see both Beginner and Intermediate planning and playing forums. The same rules apply if they want to be part of an advanced role play they need to contact a staff member and show a role play that shows they are fully capable of doing so.

3. Advanced
Now advanced members are of the highest rank, they should be watched carefully not only by the moderators but by there fellow rp members in order be absolutely sure that their posts are of the highest quality



Now i also think that members should be able to be demoted back down ranks if they join an rp, and break one of the common courtesies of role playing (taking a main role then going inactive) but they should always be able to prove themselves again, and there should be a three strike system.

one strike = verbal warning from usergroup leader
two strikes= a second warning and a notification to staff
three strikes = demotion in role play ranking

Personally i think this idea could use some expansion and i'm eagerly awaiting to see everyones opinion and i think it could really work but i have one last thought, if the staff made certain ACTIVE MATURE role players the leaders of the group it could take some pressure off the staff. ( this way the staff doesn't have to view every request to increase in rank, Kind of like RP mods except not moving threads.)

Thanks for reading it, and hopefully i'll get some good feed back.

I don't think that's a very good idea, because if you are a beginner RPer, then you might feel like the intermediate and advanced RPers are better than you. I think it would cause more rifts in the forum than do any good.

[Azdgari]

I have to admit that I foresee problems in ranking people based on RP skill. I think that's just too hierarchical. Do we even have enough active RPs to justify that kind of a system? And do we really feel comfortable judging each other's skill like that? I think its already a little sketchy to label entire RPs as 'beginner' or 'intermediate' or 'advanced'. I think that actually judging individual people as 'beginner' or 'intermediate' or 'advanced' is too judgmental. And who judges people's skill? I'm not sure how I feel about that system with all the respect in the world to you, Ushujaa. ^^

Also, I'm sure there will be RPers new to the site who are very advanced RPers and won't want to have to start in beginner RPs; that could even discourage them from wanting to do it here at all.

Just my two cents. I don't think there's that much wrong with the system as it is, to be honest. I just see a lack of interest, same as in the fanfiction forum as of late.

[TheRoguePrince]

Many problems arise due to a lack of personal security when it comes to ranking people. Therein lies the problem. Many people simply can't take feeling inferior to someone else, even if they know they are good at something else. While someone might not be the greatest RP user, they could be a great artist, or perhaps a writer. I know that these systems can work, it's just a matter of getting people to recognize that not everyone is meant to be a great role player. This, however, may never happen, as it is impossible to get everyone to understand the connotations of that.

[TheGunner18]

If a new member knows (or rather, thinks) that they're a good RPer and wants to get to the Advanced/intermediate areas quite quickly, then could the member maybe do a sample post that would show their abilities in roleplaying? There could be a set amount of words and a certain quality that the member's sample post needs to live up to in order to get into the Advanced/Intermediate sections.

For example, to immediately get into the Advanced section, the new member would need to have almost no mistakes in spelling grammar (unless English isn't their mother tongue) and they would need to, say, have a sample post of around 400+ words? I'm not sure how much, but it's just an idea for now. The quality of the sample post would have to be very good, too. The can be on whatever scenario the member wishes it to be.

This is in conjunction to Ushujaa's suggestion, and like I said, it's just an idea.

[Ushujaa]

If a new member knows (or rather, thinks) that they're a good RPer and wants to get to the Advanced/intermediate areas quite quickly, then could the member maybe do a sample post that would show their abilities in roleplaying? There could be a set amount of words and a certain quality that the member's sample post needs to live up to in order to get into the Advanced/Intermediate sections.

For example, to immediately get into the Advanced section, the new member would need to have almost no mistakes in spelling grammar (unless English isn't their mother tongue) and they would need to, say, have a sample post of around 400+ words? I'm not sure how much, but it's just an idea for now. The quality of the sample post would have to be very good, too. The can be on whatever scenario the member wishes it to be.

This is in conjunction to Ushujaa's suggestion, and like I said, it's just an idea.

personally i think thats a good idea, but it seems like what the forum is looking for is a way to make rp more friendly to the newer users.

i do want to say one thing though,

i think that yes there should be a ranking system but it's more for the protection of the more advanced rpers theres nothing saying that if the more advanced rper wants to be in an easy rp they shouldn't be able to go to the beginner area and join up with someone, but if we seperate the beginner role players from the advanced it makes it easier to tell, if you're making an rp, who you would want in the role play.

and as for the new rpers, i think it's only fair for them to be seperated into ranks, it's going to happen officially or not, what i mean by that is, certain members are going to be denied into rp's due to there experience with role plays. i've seen rp's that have had the rp leader deny role players that haven't been able to post a sample to show that they are of a certain level.

my idea is just making it easier on the rp makers and the more advanced members. in my opinion if you want to improve you have to know you are doing something wrong. ranking is an easy way to show what the new members could be doing wrong and gives them a chance to fix it.

[Nitro]

Yes, maybe some RP leaders do that, but which RP has done that on *this* site? I think it wouldn't be fair.

[Ushujaa]

nitro while i appreciate your opinion, why wouldn't it be fair? if you're a good enough role player you'll advance in rank if you're not then you'll stay with people of your own level

[Zeke]

I personally see an all-over flaw with ranking people still. It makes begining and even veteran rpers feel inferior just because a mod decides he/she likes the way someone rps. And I dont think that a test post to prove how good an rper is would really work either because someone can just make an extravegant post to try to gain a higher position and slack off in the rps. I think that a better way of still categorizing a rp is by making a key for the rp section. By key i mean that the staff could make a sticky post that would list what beginner, intermediate, and advanced posts should be like (such as beginner: no less that 3-5 sentences, and advanced: no less than 7-8 sentences per post) or something like that. And then the people who make the rps can list in the title of their roleplay what kind of posts they want and the people who join will have to decide if they are willing to post in that manner. This is just a suggestion because some people seem to favor the ranking system, yet it will not put down members due to their rping capabilities

[Nitro]

I like the idea of tiering the rp's but i think it could be to the rp section's advantage to have 3 seperate rp user groups for members. judging not by the role play but by the member who is playing. now this sounds a bit confusing at first but lets see if i can explain it a bit.

My idea was that if you not only separated the rp's into a three tier system but also separated those who participate in them as well, the people who truly care about role playing and won't just drop out will advance in ranks.

MOTHER SHIP GUIDE IS A GREAT WAY TO SEE HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE

So, how to separate them, well that's simple enough


1. Beginner
The beginner group should be open for all members to join, they are able to post in the beginner role play planning and the beginner role play forum and VIEW the intermediate and advanced(how are you supposed to learn if you can't see what you're supposed to be doing ). If they wish to go up in rank they have to prove to one of the staff members they can handle intermediate role playing by being active in a role play and they should not just be spitting out one liner's left and right.

2. Intermediate
Okay so these members have all proven to the staff that they are capable of being an active member of an intermediate role play. They should be able to see both Beginner and Intermediate planning and playing forums. The same rules apply if they want to be part of an advanced role play they need to contact a staff member and show a role play that shows they are fully capable of doing so.

3. Advanced
Now advanced members are of the highest rank, they should be watched carefully not only by the moderators but by there fellow rp members in order be absolutely sure that their posts are of the highest quality



Now i also think that members should be able to be demoted back down ranks if they join an rp, and break one of the common courtesies of role playing (taking a main role then going inactive) but they should always be able to prove themselves again, and there should be a three strike system.

one strike = verbal warning from usergroup leader
two strikes= a second warning and a notification to staff
three strikes = demotion in role play ranking

Personally i think this idea could use some expansion and i'm eagerly awaiting to see everyones opinion and i think it could really work but i have one last thought, if the staff made certain ACTIVE MATURE role players the leaders of the group it could take some pressure off the staff. ( this way the staff doesn't have to view every request to increase in rank, Kind of like RP mods except not moving threads.)

Thanks for reading it, and hopefully i'll get some good feed back.

I don't think that's a very good idea, because if you are a beginner RPer, then you might feel like the intermediate and advanced RPers are better than you. I think it would cause more rifts in the forum than do any good.