Forums » Suggestions & Development Discussion » Romance Genre Slider?

I don't really do romance in RPs... but there's no way to filter them out from Find RP results. I figure having a slider for romance content might not just be helpful for aromantics like myself however, as it might also be useful for people looking for certain degrees of it. I mean there's already a slider for combat, which personally I'm more indifferent toward the inclusion of than romance.

An example of percentages for the slider could be:

0% - There will be no romance in the RP whatsoever.
10% - Romance between background characters might be discretely hinted at, but otherwise no romance will occur.
20% - Background characters might display romantic affection toward each other, but there is no romance between player characters.
30% - Mild romance may occur in the background.
40% - There is a chance romance could occur, though it's unlikely to affect the plot.
50% - Romance might occur if it is sought after.
60% - Romance is a distinct possibility.
70% - Romance is highly likely and may change the outcome of the story.
80% - Romance plays a large part in the RP and will likely affect the story outcome.
90% - Romance is integral to the story.
100% - Romance is the central theme to the plot and everything else revolves around it.

This would be a good idea. I have to usually repeat in my LFRP's just how much romance will be in the RP and what expect, and it would be a lot easier if there was a slider I could just set to 80-100%.

-slams fists on table repeatedly-

GIVE GIVE GIVE


But seriously this is a great idea and I want it ;A;
I find that as of late all I had been looking for was romance based RPs, where as I used to stay away from them 100%
this would be a super nice feature

This is definitely something I could get behind.

I'd think a slider like this could probably be simplified. I suppose it might be good to include something where there is not even any background romance, for those who might be uncomfortable with the concept in general, and I suppose that would look like no NPCs who are in a romantic relationship? Mostly, though, it seems like you'd only need to worry about player characters and have a range like... no romance, romance unlikely, romance possible, romance preferred, and straight up romance. (I know I'd usually stick to "unlikely" and "possible" in most cases.)

Overall though, I support this idea.

1000% This, please? This is one of the main driving forces behind nearly all of my games I write with other people, and it would be substantially useful. Especially when looking for an LFRP and utilizing that new search feature. Not a lot of people put romance in the title or really add it in as a point on their forum posts they make.

After a while of mulling it over, I also have to agree with this as well. I'm not sure about a full-on slider though, because that would mean having to make more symbols to represent those options alongside the tech/magic/combat sliders. (That and I feel that romance doesn't feature as much in RPs like technology, magic, and overall combat/conflict does to need its own slider, but that's my lone opinion.)

So I also agree with a more simplified range as well, maybe even have them as romantic content checkbox options? Or even just have a "this RP may contain romantic themes" checkbox, not unlike the "sexual themes" checkbox. (Though that one may be way too simple; I kinda like the multiple checkbox option though.) It's just a thought so we don't add more work to an already good and simple slider system.

But if a full-on romance slider is implimented, I feel that the slider options can be a bit more simplified. Like Nova mentioned, most people don't think NPCs or background characters when it comes to romance. For example:

0% - There will be no romance in the RP whatsoever, not even between NPCs.
10% - Romance might be discretely hinted at once or even twice, but otherwise no romance will occur.
20% - Implied romance may occur in the background or be mentioned between characters, but will not affect the plot/story whatsoever.
30% - NPCs and/or player characters might display minor romantic affection toward each other (playful hugs, chaste kisses, etc.), but nothing else romantic will be involved in the RP.
40% - There is a chance romance could occur, though it's unlikely to affect the plot.

Of course, there are other ways to describe these kind of options, but those are just my thoughts on the whole thing.

My personal preference really would be that whatever level of detail in the options, there should be something that differentiates between "romance possible" and "romance preferred" at the very least. The former indicates that the RPer doesn't mind an RP without romance; the latter signifies they'd prefer romance and thus a non-romance based request might either get rejected or result in the RP poster losing interest quickly. Of course that wouldn't be particularly useful for people looking for romance as much as it would be for those looking to avoid it; thus it'd have to be more than just a simple checkbox.

I suppose a multiple-choice radio button set might work in that regard. Maybe having 4 options as: No / Maybe / Preferred / Yes (which could also be simplified to No / Maybe / Yes).

Also with regard to genre icons, would it not be possible to implement a slider without having to create icons (at least right away)? i.e by having it so that the romance slider doesn't affect what icon is generated, thus reducing the workload until there's time or cause to do otherwise?

I also want to mention an observation I made a few days ago. I counted up the genres mentioned in the first 2 pages on the general LfRP forum, and almost half of them at the time included mention of romance (whilst far less mentioned sci-fi - I think there were only 2 that had sci-fi as a cemented theme, though there were a few multi-option threads and a few that didn't have a genre listed at all. The most popular recurring theme was a modern-day setting, and third after romance was fantasy). Of course that's not to say that's always the norm - just that romance does seem to pop up a lot.

I like this option: it's not too intrusive, and yet is right there for those who want to include or don't want to include romance. (It also feels like the paragraph length choices, which is also nice!) I would go for this option in a heartbeat, but that's not to say I don't like the slider option as well. I guess I'm just looking to have the option there without it being in your face like a slider would be (kinda like romance in RP, in a nice twist of irony. )

But like I said, I don't mind the slider at all! If it's put alongside the other slider options, I would use it right away no matter what: if I look outside of my own ambivalence on general romance and view said topic via my own terms and feelings, then I'd outright adore this feature and see its usefulness for many kinds of RP. (In fact, I am on board for it too: I'm just a tad bit abrasive towards the topic of general romance nowadays since everyone shares a majority viewpoint about it that I don't identify towards.)

And you're not wrong, it would be simple enough to add it in without having to come up with new icons. But people like visuals from what I've noticed, and some might wonder why the icons don't change according to their choices (for example, having 100% in romance and 0% in everything else.) But that is of course subjective, and would still be useful without the shiny icons next to it.

I guess the main reason why I'm so fussy about it is because I'm not interested in the options glaring me in the face in the form of a slider like the magic/tech/combat sliders are, you know? I see enough things about romance everywhere else, so I'd just like it to be a more unintrusive option that I can leave out instead of something that you HAVE to see in the form of a main slider when selecting how much tech/magic/combat is in a RP. (Of course, there's not setting the slider option for it, but you'd still have to see it among the other percentages at 50%. And of course, not setting any options at all just so you don't have to see it defeats the purpose of even having the sliders there. So maybe if the romance slider was able to be toggled on and off, I would be more than okay with that option too.)

But the general concept of having an option to state whether or not romantic elements will be included in a RP is well needed in a bad way, so I have to +1 this myself anyway. I'm either-or for how the idea is executed, and will accept the final product with a huge smile on my face, no matter what it ends up being.

I would love to see this myself as a huge romance junkie.

I like the idea of a radio button option more than actual sliders in this instance!

+1 to the radio button idea.

I think romance is too nuanced and complex to separate into increments on a slider, but the radio buttons Riik suggested seem like a good way to propose whether or not it happens at all.

I'm for a slider option. The radio buttons we have now aren't for a genre, so I wouldn't look for a radio button for a genre. I'd look for a slider because Combat, Magic and Tech - which are large indicators of Fantasy and Sci-Fi - have a slider.

Romance has more complexity than Yes, No, Preferred to me, and a huge pointer is how many times I see "I want a slow burn romance" in LFRPs. A radio button can't tell me that with just Yes, No, Preferred. There are types of romance, just like the genres we have sliders implemented for now. Tech having the option of being almost non-existent, Renaissance, futuristic, etc.

I think more in-depth would prove useful for Romance because we can have love at first sight, and slow burns, back and forth tumultuous loves. There's so many options on how to do it, and all of these tickle someone's fancy and it would add a great ease to finding the right type of romance that a writer is seeking and matching with someone else.

THIS