tldr; people aren’t as committed to rp as they used to be so admins make safer choices. part of that commitment was filling out an app. people don’t do that anymore in part because they’re afraid of being laughed at for playing a basic character.
if you read all of this, bless you. this started off as a message about this but i ranted so i figured it was better to make my own post.
i think the reason plots are all the same is because they’re a safe bet. no one wants to spend their energy on a group that won’t even open. when a unique rp comes along, some people are afraid to apply in case no one else does. applicants don’t want to waste their time either. there’s a reason apps flood in faster when you say, “we only need five more to open” or whatever.
before appless rps were common, i used to see niche groups. there was a bio women’s wrestling league rp, a skeleton polygamy experiment rp, etc. there was more variety.
appless rps are a catch 22. for those of us that have grown up rping, appless rps have made it easier to stay in the rpc while managing our other responsibilities. the downside is, the rise in appless rps have contributed towards the lack of commitment. it’s more of a mental barrier than anything. people assume a group is dead if there are only a few starters posted on the opening night. in 2013 or earlier, i joined a group and was one of two people online during the first day. we para’d and i stayed up so late i knew i’d be exhausted at school. we made the dash active rather than lurking.
most of us still have blurbs written out about our characters (in intro posts), just not in a bio/paragraph format. despite that, i can’t remember the last time i filled out an application. part of it is feeling like it’ll be time consuming and dull. again, there’s a fear of being the only applicant so you don’t want to put all of that work into an app, only for it to lead nowhere.
talk blogs, cancel culture, & fleshed out characters
another part of it is, in my opinion, pressure to have a well-fleshed-out and unique character. i think stuff like this (not solely this blog. i loved it when it was active. please don’t think i’m blaming them – just the collective abundance of stuff like it), mean-girls-lite talk blogs, and vague posts directed at certain people in the rpt tag added that pressure.
i don’t know how to phrase this in a way that won’t get taken out of context but cancel culture shouldn’t have as big as a place as it does in the rpc. i’m not talking about allowing shitty behavior. it’s the spirit of wanting to shittalk each other. for example, some exposed posts aren’t necessary and are done more for entertainment than justice. it’s gossip masquerading as holding people accountable. how many times have you looked in the rpt or rpc tag and seen people subposting each other when it’s very clear who they were talking about? and then you went back later and saw the person they were talking about making some sort of statement about it? if it’s that clear who they’re talking about, why don’t they talk directly to the person they have a problem with? because it’s not actually about solving the problem. it’s an opportunity to gossip without being called mean.
i don’t have the words to explain it properly. all i can say is, because i’ve seen people laugh about each other’s characters in the tags and because you often see people attacking each other vaguely in the tags or on talk blogs, i definitely feel like i have to apologize in my intro if i just wanna play a tropey basic character.
turnnoffyourmind
dededos
kianamaiart
ellievsbear
titsay
blakekathryn
jbbartram-illu
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
