This might be a bit of wishful thinking, but... with RPR 2.0 on the way, who knows...
Ghosting a pretty common occurrence on this site, at least in my experience. And I'm sure there are many reasons for it. Forgetfulness, loss of interest, changed minds, RL issues, etc... but it would be nice if there was some sort of automated process involved to at least put the ghostee at rest.
My thoughts would be a sort of notification system that if someone's been inactive from a subscribed IC thread or IC PM for a certain amount of time (say, 2 weeks), they're sent a reminder with a choice of selections. The reminder could be non-intrusive, so as not to annoy anyone who has legitimate reasons for disappearing, but at the same time, not too easy to miss. The notification should only be sent once to prevent spam.
The choices could be something like "I'm not interested in continuing with this RP", "I will reply to this RP soon", "remind me later" and "I am not sure"; and when chosen, the partner(s) in the RP get notified of the selection.
That of course would have another requirement to work: the ability to mark a PM as IC. It might also help if there was an option to make a forum thread subscription public (entirely optional - the default should still be private), that way the RP's 'host' can if they wish ask partners to publicly subscribe to make sure all active participants will get the notification. Anyone who cancels a subscription will no longer be notified, but their disappearance from the list of public subscribers should be enough to notify the other participants that they're no longer active.
Replying to the notification could be entirely optional - with the option of just dismissing it without sending an automated message to the involved partner(s). That way, an anxious person not feeling up to interacting with a former partner doesn't need to, and their partner can assume that the RP is unlikely to continue, so they're not left worrying about it. Also, the notifications should be disabled when relating to RPs with users who have been blocked.
Ghosting a pretty common occurrence on this site, at least in my experience. And I'm sure there are many reasons for it. Forgetfulness, loss of interest, changed minds, RL issues, etc... but it would be nice if there was some sort of automated process involved to at least put the ghostee at rest.
My thoughts would be a sort of notification system that if someone's been inactive from a subscribed IC thread or IC PM for a certain amount of time (say, 2 weeks), they're sent a reminder with a choice of selections. The reminder could be non-intrusive, so as not to annoy anyone who has legitimate reasons for disappearing, but at the same time, not too easy to miss. The notification should only be sent once to prevent spam.
The choices could be something like "I'm not interested in continuing with this RP", "I will reply to this RP soon", "remind me later" and "I am not sure"; and when chosen, the partner(s) in the RP get notified of the selection.
That of course would have another requirement to work: the ability to mark a PM as IC. It might also help if there was an option to make a forum thread subscription public (entirely optional - the default should still be private), that way the RP's 'host' can if they wish ask partners to publicly subscribe to make sure all active participants will get the notification. Anyone who cancels a subscription will no longer be notified, but their disappearance from the list of public subscribers should be enough to notify the other participants that they're no longer active.
Replying to the notification could be entirely optional - with the option of just dismissing it without sending an automated message to the involved partner(s). That way, an anxious person not feeling up to interacting with a former partner doesn't need to, and their partner can assume that the RP is unlikely to continue, so they're not left worrying about it. Also, the notifications should be disabled when relating to RPs with users who have been blocked.
Some kind of automated message for inactives could also help, although I'm not sure how appropriate it would be I guess.
Say after two weeks like you suggested of inactivity, any IC threads would be automatically notified that the person had not logged onto rpr in said amount of time, regardless of how long ago the last post was made.
Say after two weeks like you suggested of inactivity, any IC threads would be automatically notified that the person had not logged onto rpr in said amount of time, regardless of how long ago the last post was made.
This doesn't sound nearly as bad as the title first has me worrying, though it does seem like it would be tricky to balance. Ideally, we could all just communicate better with each other, but this might help some to feel a little safer expressing that they don't want to continue through an automated system instead of trying to find the right words to say to a person.
One concern I have is the dramatic difference in post rates members of this site have. I have a few that have been waiting on me for months - even one that's been waiting half a year and which previously was on pause for I think 2 years. Normally I try to move a lot faster, but if I had a message coming at me periodically about those... I'd be more likely to dump them just to be rid of it. (I do try to communicate a senses myself, though.) I also have a partner right now who tends to take awhile from the sheer number of RPs they maintain, and someone like them might get barraged.
Meanwhile, a discrepancy between settings could lead to further stress.
A lot of thought would definitely be needed, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea.
One concern I have is the dramatic difference in post rates members of this site have. I have a few that have been waiting on me for months - even one that's been waiting half a year and which previously was on pause for I think 2 years. Normally I try to move a lot faster, but if I had a message coming at me periodically about those... I'd be more likely to dump them just to be rid of it. (I do try to communicate a senses myself, though.) I also have a partner right now who tends to take awhile from the sheer number of RPs they maintain, and someone like them might get barraged.
Meanwhile, a discrepancy between settings could lead to further stress.
A lot of thought would definitely be needed, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea.
I see a few issues with this, but I do think it is something that could be interesting.
Novalyyn wrote:
This doesn't sound nearly as bad as the title first has me worrying, though it does seem like it would be tricky to balance. Ideally, we could all just communicate better with each other, but this might help some to feel a little safer expressing that they don't want to continue through an automated system instead of trying to find the right words to say to a person.
One concern I have is the dramatic difference in post rates members of this site have. I have a few that have been waiting on me for months - even one that's been waiting half a year and which previously was on pause for I think 2 years. Normally I try to move a lot faster, but if I had a message coming at me periodically about those... I'd be more likely to dump them just to be rid of it. (I do try to communicate a senses myself, though.) I also have a partner right now who tends to take awhile from the sheer number of RPs they maintain, and someone like them might get barraged.
Meanwhile, a discrepancy between settings could lead to further stress.
A lot of thought would definitely be needed, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea.
One concern I have is the dramatic difference in post rates members of this site have. I have a few that have been waiting on me for months - even one that's been waiting half a year and which previously was on pause for I think 2 years. Normally I try to move a lot faster, but if I had a message coming at me periodically about those... I'd be more likely to dump them just to be rid of it. (I do try to communicate a senses myself, though.) I also have a partner right now who tends to take awhile from the sheer number of RPs they maintain, and someone like them might get barraged.
Meanwhile, a discrepancy between settings could lead to further stress.
A lot of thought would definitely be needed, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea.
Well I was thinking... if the notification popped up like where friends requests do right now on the home page, it might not be hugely annoying. Also, I suggested it be a one-time notification, though the 'remind me later' would lead to later notifications... and if the receiver could then set a timeframe for the reminder (not the original notification, just the 'remind me later' follow-up), it might offset their schedule better (particularly if the automated message sent to their partner includes the chosen timeframe).
It's a well thought out idea, but somehow I think it might feel pressurey. It might feel like the site pressuring a response, even if it was automated.
I have an alternative suggestion. What about a form like this that can be initiated by the ghostee?
I have an alternative suggestion. What about a form like this that can be initiated by the ghostee?
But then again maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it's where friend requests are
Reminders of some kind are possible.
Telling other people when the last time a person logged in was is not going to happen, though.
Telling other people when the last time a person logged in was is not going to happen, though.
I wouldn't mind this, but I do have different reply times based on interest, life struggles, and all that. I would really rather not be given a standard 2 week notification for every roleplay I have.
I think it might be helpful if this feature was more of an optional feature so people could control the amount of time between those notifications or choose to completely turn them off entirely. I really appreciate how rpr has given so many ways for users to turn features off and on. It's a huge love of mine for the site itself.
I think it might be helpful if this feature was more of an optional feature so people could control the amount of time between those notifications or choose to completely turn them off entirely. I really appreciate how rpr has given so many ways for users to turn features off and on. It's a huge love of mine for the site itself.
I think "reminders" is probably not going to happen. But for many years I've wanted some kind of central place where a person's active RPs might appear, whether they're in groups or PMs or on the public forums. They might change colors the longer it's been since a reply, for example. Maybe they get dimmer over time if you were the last one to post, and brighter if you aren't. Something like that.
I don't think I would feel okay publicly showing my PM rps... that would feel intrusive. Considering they're set to PM being a private message. I would want them to remain private. I may be misunderstanding though.
However if this is a private feature that only a user would see these highlighted and faded ones that would be neat. Something on the sidebar that shows those active pms or forums. Maybe make them one color for when you responded last and a different color for when another user replies.
However if this is a private feature that only a user would see these highlighted and faded ones that would be neat. Something on the sidebar that shows those active pms or forums. Maybe make them one color for when you responded last and a different color for when another user replies.
Kim wrote:
I think "reminders" is probably not going to happen. But for many years I've wanted some kind of central place where a person's active RPs might appear, whether they're in groups or PMs or on the public forums. They might change colors the longer it's been since a reply, for example. Maybe they get dimmer over time if you were the last one to post, and brighter if you aren't. Something like that.
Makes sense. Like prettysir said, a central place on a person's profile or something. Like a tab or something. I have to admit there have been times I have for some reason thought it wasn't my turn when it was my turn, and then realized it weeks later, although it doesn't happen often, and the color change thing would help that.
PrettySir wrote:
However if this is a private feature that only a user would see these highlighted and faded ones that would be neat.
Yes, this would be a private feature.
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