Operation Audacious Phoenix

I think it would be helpful to add a toggled option that lets you tick whether you're seeking male characters, female character, or 'doesn't matter', and then people can sort the forum list so they can view the RPs their characters would be 'eligible' for.

I wish I could give a really valuable and convincing argument, but really I'm just lazy and I find it hard sorting through the threads for people specifically looking for, say, female characters for an MxF pairing (which is a rare sight, if you ask me, and would make my life easier).

Considering all of the gender options actually available, I don't think this would be reasonable to incorporate. It's far more than male and female, and focusing on those would be pretty exclusive.

Especially when it's so easy to state what you're looking for in a searchable title.

Majority of seeking RPs I have seen (keeping in mind I frequent the AO LFRP) are as simple as MxF. I guess you're right that the option doesn't cater to everyone in its specificity, but that would be what a 'not applicable' option would be there for. I'm sorry if this sounds blunt or crass but not every feature on the site is going to be able to cater to every single individual out there (yes I am aware of the possible irony here). I just think it would be a feature that would help most of the people on the site, and that makes it plausible.

I'd argue that targeted features should be to help those targeted more fully participate, such as disability-friendly features - not be things that only lift a portion of users above others that are already frequently left behind. And frankly, writing off all the others as a "No preference" type option such as "not applicable" would be super insulting and a big step backward in RPR's efforts toward inclusivity.

Alright well, to each their own.

I can see where you are coming from khaellar

The majority of titles in the LKFRP - Adult Only board (and quite a few posts in the normal LKFRP general forum too) do state what the poster is specifically looking for IC pairing wise (especially for 1x1 RPs)(not so much for group RPs)

MxM, MxF, FxF is clearly listed in the post titles today and has been for quite some time and variations of it

That is the general trend I have seen in the LKFRP posts so far, especially adult board, used by a significant portion of the user base posting there

Some users list "any" in the title though those are less common by comparison

And of the listed posts which do not specify a preferred IC pairing in the title as such ... you still find that IC pairing preference inside the post content itself usually towards the end of the plot.

In which case it could be helpful to have male - female - any (the most widely used and listed poster choices) as an IC pairing filter option to help you find RPs your character qualifies for, rather than wasting time reading the plot and getting all excited about it just to read at the end of the page that the character of yours that you had in mind doesn't qualify for this awesome adventure after all

Assuming that you feel like playing a specific female or male character or seeking a specific IC pairing for them at the time of search.

Characters do not reflect the writers (I myself have a variety of characters from different genders) as do many players here though not everyone does

I can see Novalynn's point regarding inclusivity for other gender characters (which would be encompassed under "any IC pairing preference" option)

But I also see the inconvenience that khaellar wanted to highlight with this post (reflection of the bulk of the LKFRP AO listings today) of finding RPs with specific IC pairing preferences listed that your character may be eligible for

Not having this IC pairing toggle means that users have to manually filter through the listed results to find suitable posts for their characters which is something more time consuming (though no more than it is today)

Having this toggle would not be more exclusive than LKFRP AO forum is today, given that posters already clearly target or seek a specific IC pairing preference of their choice in the title or content which tends to exclude alternatives all the same.

It may even make the finding RP experience less disappointing and hurtful by helping users see the inclusive posts that their characters are elegible for (under the option "any IC pairing" umbrella for example) than be forced to see a large list of specifically excluding LKFRP posts if their character is neither male nor female for example

You may get less results by choosing one option "male IC pairing, female IC pairing or any IC pairing" but you know your character qualifies for and is welcomed to join all of the displayed results, resulting in a more friendly, welcoming and comfortable experience than scrolling through lists constantly feeling left out

For the sake of inclusivity, "any IC pairing" could be left as a default choice to start with which can then be changed by the poster at will

Or maybe for inclusivity you could add all the possible character gender options. Unless that wasn’t the problem and I misread

I have no position on whether it should or should not be implemented, but if this indeed became a thing, maybe instead of the default choice being "Any IC Pairing" it could be something like, "See All Ads" -- which would leave all the ads with all the types of pairings visible by default, for someone who doesn't have a certain one of their characters or a certain pairing type in mind when searching.

Then the filter options could be there, including "Any IC Pairing." So it'd be like "See All Ads (default)" and a toggle to "Sort By IC Pairing Type." Then, if you select that, you can see the options, including "Any IC Pairing."

That's my only suggestion--to leave the default as seeing all the ads, if this was implemented. Then, filtering for only ads whose authors indicated they would be open to Any IC Pairing Type would narrow the list further.

I can see how the thing could create problems (I just tried to write a list of possible pairing preferences and couldn't figure out how to do it without it sounding dismissive), but I can also see why it would make searching through roleplay ads easier. I see the good intention behind it 100%. But I can also see where it could cause bad feelings to have a list that lumps nonbinary characters together into one checkbox. So I don't know, I can see both sides! I can see benefits and disadvantages.

But yeah, I think the default should be to see all ads first, no matter what the decision on it.

I do agree with your view Abigail that making the full selection available it a long list of choices. Perhaps the default could be left blank.

At the moment, when you create a new character from scratch the gender is a blank drop down list that displays 3 default choices "male, female, more options"

Applying the same principle of 3 choices maybe a good starting point, with the possibility to drill down further to the full scope when you choose "more options"

It would also be handy to include "any IC pairing or not applicable" for those 1x1 writers who really don't mind at all who or what their co-writing characters will be and prefer not to select any specific IC pairing preference (more likely to be the case in the general LKFRP forum).

Soon, we will hopefully have a new feature to find RPs by type of RP (1x1, small group, large group) so this filtering by IC pairing option to further narrow down the results may be more appropriate and focused towards 1x1 RPs only, since small and large RP groups have a wider scope for all genders to fit in

Since it's so very common to put MxM or FxM in the title or body of the post - why not just search by keyword in the Find RP section?

i would like for it to be available like the option when you browse through characters, where you’re able to choose which gender identities you’re particularly interested in seeing!

I definitely feel like this is something easily solved by just typing M/M or M/F or F/F or M/F/F, or M/TF (Transgender Female) ect, any variation into the key word search when using the LFRP.

This is already a thing you can do! o:

Yes, she's not suggesting it for characters, she's saying she wants to be able to search RPs just the way you can use the pre-existing search for character genders.

Ah okay I didn't see the word 'it' I just saw 'I would like for there to be'

Wups. 🤣

Because of the possible variations to these common IC pairing requests.

See example below

this is not an extensive compilation of all the possible ways being used to describe the same thing

lfm
LF M
M / M
M/M
MxM
M x M
M Only
Only M
only male
Looking for male
Looking for M
Guys wanted
Seeking other males

A filter for IC pairing would bring up all the results that are currently looking for a male character rather than have to run multiple searches for the different keyword variations or have to trail through the list of results to find the type of RPs I am looking for

Ok admittedly I can see the potential concerns this would raise, though some have pointed out that a similar system could be used here as for the character creation process, perhaps even the same kind of drop-down list you get when just assigning male or female to your character doesn't feel right--those same extra options could be used here, perhaps, though perhaps the person creating the LFRP thread could select all that they might be interested in rather than being limited to just picking one choice.

I say all this now, because I can begin to see the points Tusitala has been making, particularly with that last post.