Forums » RP Discussion » Length of ads and profiles - How much is too much?

So, uh-- I think there have probably been threads about this before, but I couldn't find them.

I was recently working on a roleplay ad and a new character profile, and I started wondering if they were too long. As I was working on streamlining them, I also started wondering what people think about the lengths of roleplay ads and profiles.

On the one hand, long ads can mean you have more ideas and you're being more specific about what you want, which helps save time and cut down on misunderstandings. It's also just fun to write out all that info, imo.

On the other hand, long ads and long profiles combined make for a lot of reading, which might be intimidating or off-putting to some players. And it can cause problems with ADHD, as I can personally attest to. Additionally, in the case of profiles, some players might prefer to find out all that juicy info from roleplaying.

As I was thinking about this, I got curious about what other roleplayers think. Do you to make them long, with a lot of information? Do you prefer to keep it short? Do you find it offputting when other peoples' ads and profiles are shorter or longer than what you like?

Personally, I like when an ad (and an RP post) fit on my laptop screen. I like informative thread titles (save the cutesy ones for the actual RP). And I like seeing a solid idea that leaves enough room to imagine how my character might interact with the plot.

If I click on ad that has just a sentence or two, 99 times out a 100 (there's always that one exception, right?), that's not enough information to grab my interest and I will just click away. On the other hand, if I have to scroll and scroll and click through a boatload of setting information and a mountain of rules, my eyes are gonna start glazing over and again... I will just click away.

Good organization can often help that. The collapse tags are nice, particularly if there's a large list of potential plots with just a quick summary of each one visible. Then I can click into just the ones that might be potentially interesting to me. Well organized bullet points are appreciated too versus a large wall of text.

But with all that said, I think making your LFRP ad how YOU like it will help attract like-minded players. So I wouldn't worry too much about trying to cater to the masses. Write it and then come back tomorrow with fresh eyes and re-read it. Would it grab YOUR attention?

The above summarises my view succinctly.

I try to keep my role-playing adverts relatively brief while expanding on various points when asked. I don't know what plot suggestions or openings will appeal to what people, so I tend to invite discussions to see whether elaboration results in an agreed-upon plot. I have no desire to pigeon-hole myself in terms of potential situations and long-term plots and try to present a variety of proposals as a result.

As for character profiles, I enjoy reading and writing and that is reflected. What is more indulgent in terms of looking up the character is not as prominent as the basic necessary information that may be pivotal in making a decision to engage or not.

As someone who tends to respond to LFRP ads rather than making them, I can say that what Juls says here is quite on-point with how I see them. Her post above fills my iPad screen perfectly and would be comfortable to read through. As an ad-reader, the title should have the pairing parameters of what is looked for in it (e.g. MxM, MxF, etc.) and the genre (e.g. Medieval, Fantasy, Modern SoL, etc.) with a short catchphrase that depicts the general plot line desired.

The contents should start with a brief synopsis of what the RP would entail, and a following paragraph detailing the writer’s preferences (e.g. Average Post Length, Average Post Frequency, Hard Limits, Method of Contact, etc.) which helps preempt a lot of the early back-and-forth OOC PM traffic with any interested parties.

If an ad seems interesting on the forum to get a read, giving as much information in as brief of a post is preferable to a novella of text. With multiple prompts, the collapse function is worth its weight in gold as it gives the reader sub-topics to choose to read.

Anyway, I’m just adding my 2¢ to what Juls already said. I myself prefer a well-made, detailed character profile as it shows me the creator has put a lot of effort into their creation. The scale of detail can vary with rough summaries for characters who are to be developed in the process of roleplaying fine. The bare minimum for me to be interested is the character profile has an Icon uploaded (even if it’s not a character depiction. The default question mark icon is offputting to me and signals to me the creator isn’t that into presenting a complete character. Something other than a default template is desirable as well.

Anyway, another 2¢ from me. I’ll toss in another 1¢ and make it an even nickel

Good points from all three of you~
That sounds lile great advice. I guess even if I am a bit on the wordy side, I should be looking for partners who vibe well with that.

Also I actually forgot all about the collapse tag, lol. That'll be helpful for keeping things organized and concise.


That makes sense. You certainly open yourself up to more possibilities that way, and it gives you room to be flexible, which is a great trait for a roleplayer. I do tend to post more specific plot starters, but I also usually try to make it clear that these are just suggestions to get the planning started.

Agreed with this part of your response especially. I'm willing to let a blank icon slide if it's a new character profile and maybe the person just hasn't gotten around to changing it yet. But if that's combined with a default template and very sparse information on the page, I tend to feel like the character is still in the very early stages and maybe isn't ready for roleplay yet. If the roleplayer is just the type who doesn't put much detail into that sort of thing-- I don't think that's necessarily wrong or bad, but it does tell me they probably wouldn't vibe with my wordiness very well, haha.