Forums » Suggestions & Development Discussion » Looking for RP Bump Limit

I think I might have brought this up before but lately I've seen it as a real problem lately.

Personally I try not to bump unless I've added new information or get to page 3 or 4 and my topic isn't more than a few days old.

I understand the appeal of being on the front page, most people aren't going to bother to go to page 2 or even beyond that.

However, I have seen an increased number of bumps for topics that hit page two and the owner decides to bump as soon as that happens.

I have also seen topics that have 5, 6, even 7 or more bumps just stacked on top of each other.


I feel like this is a problem because people who are avoiding bumping due to it being a frowned upon practice are essentially losing real estate for their topic to be displayed. I am not saying I want bumping to be ended all together but maybe a hard limit of three bumps a post?

I don't know, maybe this is a community problem and should just be addressed as a reminder that while you might feel your topic is the most important and always needs to be on the front page, you should wait a little while before putting your bump because someone who may have only recently created their topic will get bumped down. And if you do it, others will do it.

So eventually the first page will be nothing but bumped topics. Nothing wrong with boosting interest in something you want seen, I just think it'd be nice if we could be considerate of other's who are seeking also.

If however it becomes a really bad problem maybe a limit should be enforced. I don't know. What are your thoughts?

I'm 100% in favor of making bumps composed of just the word "bump" or any variety thereof against the rules.

I'd much rather see full sentences like "Still looking for x players" and "There are still commission slots available" and things of that nature. They add real info, they feel less lazy and it encourages people to keep topics up to date with actual info.

What Sanne said is pretty much what we want to see in "bump" posts: relative info/updates. In fact, when we see/are made aware of purely "bump" posts, we remove those on principle! Your threads need to stay on topic, always.

Also if you're seeing what looks like an unusual amount of bumping/lazy pushing in a topic, please report it so a mod can look into it. If we haven't dealt with it, it may be because it slipped through a crack.

When bumping my own posts I try my best to stick to informative updates, encouraging messages, or just generally asking "we are still looking for people to join" for etc etc reasons. I don't agree with posts getting constant "bump" messages. Those I find to be upsetting due to the fact that there are even groups that have more than one player bumping the post repeatedly to keep it on the top of the first page. I also try and give myself a time frame to go in and bump on anything. I won't bump if it's been less than a week and I haven't had anything to update the post with. It's just not fair to anyone else looking for roleplays or groups to promote if all you see on the front page are LFRPs full of "bump" that's clearly been just "bumped" 2 to 3 pages deep for several months. At some point I think it's imperative to just create a new post and move forward.

I agree that there should be some serious limitations on users just "bump"ing their posts.

I am aware of that Copper, but I think a lot of people especially those who come from other RP sites where it was the only way to get noticed maybe don't.

I also feel like something of a tattle-tale having to go through and flag bumpers. I mean, maybe call me lazy but I feel like it should just be a known not to do that. It is in the rules. Especially in the Adult Only RP. I expect people who post there to behave like adults and shouldn't have to tattle on them on something so small as common decency to not spam the board with bumps.


To add to this I will see some people shotgun the board with 4-5 idea posts. Separate posts for each of their ideas from their main account. Not anonymous characters or characters themselves just their Username account. They will then go and bump ALL of their topics when they all fall down to the bottom. So the front page might have 4-5 topics from the same user.

This could be solved by just putting it in one post. So if its getting bumped at least thats just 1 as opposed to 5.

If everyone who posted did this, made 4-5 posts and then bumped them constantly it'd get crazy. Idk maybe I've being overzealous on this and maybe its not as bad of a problem as I am making it out to be but lately it feels like bumping has started to become infectious and I personally would rather stop it before it gets out of hand.

Basically I am saying I'd rather be proactive than reactive (IE find a good solution that stops it from happening on the regular rather than just report on the constant that is does happen)

Even like just a Site Wide notice that kind of reminds people to be polite and remember not to get over zealous in the bumping of posts would work for me.

I just wana add my own view on this... Some people do like to try and hold the top spot yes, but there are some of us that bump posts to let people know the idea is still looking, but I only do this when I have one or two ideas at a time, and only once a day at the most, sometimes it takes longer before I will bump a post back up.

The other issue is that sometimes you have to bump something to the front page after it has fallen behind, because a number of players will not go past the first page.

Anyways, sorry to intrude.

I wasn't actually aware that bumping was against the rules! ((Not that I have excessively ever done it to begin with to my knowledge)) I will make sure to add useful information next time if I would like to update my topic! I do agree it is unfair to see the same topics constantly on the front page of the forum. I often miss newer topics.

It sucks to have to do this, I know. But I want you to know that it helps us a lot. We can't keep an eye on every thread, we patrol the forums when we can but with all the other duties (and especially when there's a large influx of population) it's difficult to catch this stuff... Unless it gets reported!

Reporting posts is a HUGE public service, and a service to us. We adore it when you guys do it.

Yeah I know what you mean with bumping- (I'm not going to name any names, though I suppose it wouldn't matter since they deleted their account) but I once saw someone who made a looking for RP post, then eight minutes later bumped it! It hadn't even GONE to the second page before they bumped it. I was honestly taken aback by such a thing, I mean- eight minutes? Really?

Thats fair. I think moreso hopefully this post will make people aware. I don't think people are bumping to be selfish or malicious, I think its just not known that its not really a good thing todo without adding information.

100% in favour of this. Especially as people tend to bump ALL of their seeking topics at one time, and it efficiently knocks 3 or more other new topics off the main page.

Edit I realize that this has been covered by others but it's very frustrating to those who only have a single topic up.

Collapse tags would work wonderfully for just that

Just to clarify, bumping while the topic is still on the first page is definitely against the rules. Bumping threads that are on the second page is technically allowed, but frowned upon (with emphasis in bold). Ideally a 'bump' is done with an update on a topic instead of the word bump to make it a meaningful addition to the topic. https://www.rprepository.com/help/forum-rules#52

This is also why I said I'm 100% in favor of having the word bump banished entirely, because as the rules are right now, they only discourage usage of the word 'bump' for threads on the second page, but they're still allowed.

I think this rule was fine when RPR was much smaller, but with the growth we've had, it's starting to hit a point where the activity in LFRP and Art & Creativity forums is frequent enough that bumping is interfering with visibility. In most cases, bumps are absolutely unnecessary. Updates on the topic however are always useful.

Personally, with the creation of the 'Find RP' tool, I don't think 'bumps' should be allowed at all. With the Find RP tool, you can check a box for posts where the OP was recently active, so if the player is online enough to be bumping their posts, they'll show up on that.
Honestly, I don't think I ever go to the actual forum of LFRP anymore; I always, always use the 'Find RP' tool.
I think Kim should adjust the rules and put out a sitewide notice of the update, saying that any bump posts are not allowed. You can post again to add relevant information (as mentioned in other people's posts, such as 'still looking', 'heres some new info', etc), but no bumping just to get it to the first page. The first page of what? If others are like me, there's no pages when you use the Find RP tool. So just use the Find RP tool!

I am all for bumping within reason, much as Ryu, Sanne and PrettySir stated above. Wait till it's on page four or something, follow common courtesy and give others a chance to be seen because it is frowned upon. And there's no reason to bump that frequently anyhow.

The only reason why I would be against banning bumps entirely is that there is a lack of usage for the search tool, especially with influx of new members as well as the old reasoning of ease. If there is a forum to look at and browse through, why muddle through search when it is all there for me anyhow without, oh no don't say it, having to type anything? It's extremely petty, but hey, I can admit that I've evaded the need to type in exchange for clicking buttons.

I think perhaps putting in the rules for every forum in the PLEASE READ sticky that the bumping guide lines be added. It may be repetitive but it may have some effect, which is better than the lack there seems to breeding at this moment in time.

I actually discourage people from making "combined" RP ideas, as it makes the RP Finder tool less useful, which means fewer people will use it, which means page 1 real estate will be more meaningful, which means that more people will feel the need to bump.

One of the goals of the RP Finder is to make whether or not you are on page #1 less of an issue, as you will still be seen by the same number of searchers if your post is relatively fresh (within the last two weeks or so.)

Be aware that long term, even if we ban bumping entirely, as the site grows it will become close to impossible to stay on page 1 of the LFRP forum for a meaningful length of time. The most sustainable solution is not to try and keep people on page 1 longer, but to make page 1 matter less, through promotion and growing awareness of the Find RP search.

I would not want to ban bumping entirely, as one still needs to respond *occasionally* to their RP topic to keep it showing up in search results. If we put a hard limit on it, we end up with scenarios where someone still wants to advertise for players but has reached the limit on the number of times they can promote it, so they choose to just make a new version of the post entirely and restart the process. Then we end up with duplicates in the Find RP tool.

It seems to me that one of the methods to both discourage bumping, and make it feel like less of a problem to others on the board, is to find more ways to place emphasis on the Find RP tool. Perhaps we can add a search box directly to the top of the LFRP forum, for example? Add more random "Did you know?" prompts both in sidebars and in context to guide people back to it, and let them understand that bumping is unnecessary?

I like this idea too!

These are great points, and I'm thrilled to hear you use the search tool so heavily!

I like those suggestions.

As I said I before I wasn't sure banning bumping out right is the solution, however I think informing people and taking the incentive out of bumping will help.

Anyway this post was at the very least an attempt to bring public notice to the issue before it became a real problem. I think making Page 1 matter less and making the Find RP tool a bigger asset to the community are moves in the right direction.

I am just glad we could have a discussion about it!

I just feel the need to mention, I honestly never type anything in when using the tool. I just check a box (usually the one about being active recently), and hit 'search'. That's honestly all I do. I also really like it because I can click the x for the various topics that don't appeal to me, and they won't show up again! Whereas on the forum, especially with this bumping problem, you're likely to see the same topic every time you go to look through it.

I agree with Kim, an emphasis on the Find RP tool is the way to go!

Just to be clear, I'm not chastising you, and I appreciate this discussion as well!

OMG. Why did I not think of this.

How about I add a check to see if the content of a post says nothing but "bump" or "up." If yes, it checks to see if the topic is still on the front page or has been bumped in the last 48 hours. If yes, it stops it from being posted, and gives a quick explanation of when/why it's banned and what we like to see instead anyway.

That should cut down on the amount it happens and needs to be reported significantly, and also give people coming in from other places private introductions to our cultural norms here rather than the sometimes startling event of a mod deleting after the fact.

In addition to the other suggestions I just named, of course.

Kim why are you so smart!