Preferred Genre(s) or Fandom(s): Medieval Fantasy, Cyberpunk
Preferred Word Count: 2-3+ Paragraphs per post (or more)
Preferred Violence Content: 1 (Implicit Violence, No Gore)
Preferred Sexual Content: 1 (Suggested Sexuality, Nothing Explicit, No Genitalia)
Preferred Level: Open To All and/or Advanced
Looking for:
✦ Rated "Grungy, Neither Filthy Nor Neat": A board that is rated (un/officially) TV-17, 2/1/1 (Language/Sex/Violence). I like mature themes, but I'm not into Erotic Roleplay, nor am I into hearing about someone's [Vital Organ #1] being [Verb] through their [Vital Organ #2], etc; it literally would make me physically ill.
✦ 'Legacy' Transplant Character Option: A board where I might have an opportunity to transplant one EXTREMELY powerful character, but still have the option to bring in newer, younger, weaker characters.
✦ Territories/Lands & Sub-Boards: I began (along with a couple others) a trend of setting up a Terrain (Fantasy) Map, setting up a Grid, and letting players designate the coordinates of where their characters are located, and getting to have a Sub-Board with their custom 'location' in it. I am not married to the idea, but it would make me SUPER happy.
✦ Faceclaims: No preference on whether we use Live, or Drawn/Animated Faceclaims, but if real faceclaims are required, I request the right to tweak it a bit in photoshop to make my character better resemble the character he's/she's my FC for.
✦ SOCIAL: Happy Medium between Overcrowded-and-Clique'ish to the extreme and Ghost Town in terms of activity.
- Relaxed activity requirements would be good. If people can't even greet me when they see me, and they get so caught up in every 'flavor-of-the-moment' topic that catches their fancy that they don't even notice me asking questions, or talking to them, that's not going to make me a happy camper.
✦ No "Big Brother" Social Vibe: I am not vying for OOC 'Head of House', nor do I want to have 'Immunity' to not get banned from the forum, nor do I want to be the subject (nor recipient) of gossip or conspiring for/against this person or that person. My ideal spot encourages Self-Moderation in it's players, and is guaranteed to ban someone asking for someone else's ban, than the target victim.
✦ Forum Software: Proboards V5 has it, Xenforo has it, so do Burningboards, and so many other platforms, most of them absolutely free. Sorry, but I need a Rich Text/WYSIWYG/"Preview" Editor if I am to make my home somewhere. No "[bt]]e[g]r][][f[we][wqe]f[/][ ][/][/b][q][/q][w][/w]w[][f]w[f][wef][wf][]f[/rage]" as my sole means of releasing a post, please.
Not Looking for:
♦ Modern (I 'RP' modern daily, in the Offline Realm)
♦ I am okay with a large board, but I do not want a board whose members have become so tight-knit, that anyone new is pretty much S-O-L when it comes to conversation or finding RP.
♦ Sites who use excessive Meme smileys. I can enjoy a satirical Meme (from one of many Meme Generators) with the next guy, but I want 90%+ of my conversations to have ZERO use of Memes (and MINIMUM chat-suffocating "LoL" Chatter)
♦ Boards with excessive lore, rules, or guidelines; this goes double for older RPGs. If I have read through the Rules, Guidelines and Terms of Use, yet get pelted with demands that I read hidden rule threads that weren't available with the rest of the info (but that I will get vilified for not knowing/using), XARXU won't be a happy camper.
♦ Boards with a strict Rule Count, unless it's just to ensure ZERO one-liners. If a site I'm on has no word limit, I may post up to 400-1,200 words....but on a site with a 200 word limit, it'll take all I've got to just break even, and I'll probably burn out quickly.
Willing to look at other sites not listed?: Probably
Other notes:
✦ I am an advanced'ish writer myself, but I am not a snob. I will RP with just about anyone, whether we're RPing T1-T3 Style, or T6 Style, but whether someone makes frequent typos (so long as their heart and spirit is in the story), or uses multisyllabic Oxfordian English, I will write with good people wherever I find them.
✦ I don't like being micromanaged. I wouldn't mind being part of stories where one of my characters is a Secondary/Supporting Character (and someone else has the spotlight), but I don't like when people passive-aggressively try to script my characters, then get angry if my characters have minds of their own.
✦ VERY strict rules about abstaining from the RP Taboo of IC/OOC Blurring are necessary. I have characters, each with varying personalities (some more than others) from diverse backgrounds, and some of them will be ruder than others, while others will be kinder and more polite; at the end of the day, though, there's a bold line between me In-Character and me Out-of-Character (at all times), and I need that to be the case with the others I will be writing with.
✦ I have a pervasive need to be helpful, whether it is helping with my Photoshop or MS Office skills towards the ends of bringing people's characters to life, I have not appreciated (in the past) being treated coldly for this. Each of us has a particular set of strengths, and what few gifts I have in this life, I like to use constantly, and as such have become pretty good at them; I won't tolerate being mistreated due to this.
✦ Finally, to paraphrase what another member wrote, I like new boards, where people aren't set in their ways, and the community is still malleable. Older a community is, the more set in their ways they tend to get, and it's rare that such a site is hospitable to newbies who have their own thoughts, beliefs, and modus operandi.
♦ Oh, and one I keep forgetting to mention: I like the old-school, linear up-and-down Message Board layout (circa 2005-2011), before people decided to start removing the lines and borders, and just make forums a fancy, pastel-colored Bulletin Board. Those boards are very pretty, yes, but I am going to struggle to enjoy a site that doesn't use the old-school/linear format, does not provide it, or is unwilling to make a special skin for those like me who prefer the older style.
They can be whatever color(s), etc...just, look at any Proboards/PHPBB/etc board when it is first made, the structural layout (how boards/categories are arranged) are - after the Skins/CSS and all that are updated - what I am looking for.