yeah, we all saw it coming, didn’t we? this group was built to be a place of positivity, to be a safe place for people to want to write and have fun with each other. yet, whilst us admins worked our hardest to do this for our members, in turn it saw ourselves not being treated with respect.
we shouldn’t have to dread logging onto the main because we know there’s going to be some sort of drama to deal with, especially when it’s things that can be easily resolved amongst the members themselves. we didn’t make this group to hold anybody’s hand and yet it feels like we’re being pulled by both arms in every direction and the brutal honesty is that it’s really fucked with our mental health.
it feels like no matter how hard we try to please people, there is always someone to be upset. even though all we’ve ever done is try to accomodate -- hell, we were accused of personally attacking someone because we politely requested a change of faceclaim to ensure other’s in the group still felt as though they were in a safe place. we don’t get paid to be treated in this way, or talked down upon (and even if we were paid, that’s still not fair).
maybe we’ve been too nice and we allowed ourselves to be walked over, but we’re not gonna apologise for trying to be good people. we worked so hard to try and make everybody feel comfortable, to feel included, and then it’s disheartening to see so many just... not bother. maybe we’re still stuck in the old era of tumblr roleplaying where queuing replies wasn’t a thing (which we still don’t fully understand) and maybe we’re asking too much to expect replies more than once every few days -- activity has been our biggest issue but we really weren’t sure what we could even do to try and boost this. it sucks, it really does because we had so many hopes that this could work but frankly we’ve burned ourselves out and writing is no longer enjoyable for us. we knew then that we had to close.
so, thanks for a good few weeks but we’re honestly grateful to be done here so we can finally breathe.
hi all, please be advised that we’ll be closed for applications from 4th - 8th january. if you’d like to apply or send in an application for a new character then be sure to get it in this weekend so you can dive straight in!
the reason being is that us admins basically just need a little break! we’ve been very overwhelmed by the attention we’ve gotten this past month since we opened (for all the right reasons though, it’s been incredible!) but to keep our own mental wellbeing up and get us back into the flow of our own writing, we’ll be closing our submit box just for a few days.
it’s kinda crazy how much attention to detail and time goes into running a group but we also feel like because of it we’re missing out a lot on getting involved with you guys and we don’t want there to be that hierarchy between us -- we just wanna write with you!
so, we hope you all understand and don’t hate us too much for it. we’ll still be checking in on the main of course to keep things moving, to answer questions, it’ll just be new apps on hold so we can have a little annual leave from it haha (it really does feel like a part-time job sometimes!)
once we return to taking apps, we’ll be changing the process slightly so that applications will be accepted on a specific day(s) of the week in order for us to manage our timing better. it’ll mean having to be a little more patient but hopefully it will give you enough time to get your accounts and intros together so everyone can get stuck in straight away!
after a much-needed little break, we’re happy to re-open our applications. however! me and kenz have decided that we are no longer going to be an appless roleplay.
the reason for this is that we’ve experienced it far too much where people will join, we’ll spend a lot of time updating them on the main and creating a graphic for them, only for that person to leave without even giving the group a chance. this seems to be a common issue amongst appless roleplays as it takes such little effort for someone to join, but the admins themselves end up spending a lot of effort adding them to the group.
it’s just so frustrating and we feel like we’ve wasted far too much time and effort dealing with that, when we could have been spending that time writing with the people who actually want to be here!
so, to try and tackle this issue we’ve devised a new application system.
the information of our character graphic will now be our application. every new applicant (and second, third or fourth character) needs to provide a biography for their muse that is several bullet points or paragraphs and includes a background, along with information regarding the wanted connection they are applying for and how it involves their muse.
this is to ensure the player has thought about the connection and hasn’t picked one out for the sake of it, which again, has happened a few times now. it isn’t fair to the person who has had their connection picked to then be let down by someone who doesn’t want to join in. we hope that this will minimise the amount of time-wasting we experience as a whole (not just from an admin point of view) and instead, bring us back to a group of writers who all want to get stuck in! (and yep, we’ve increased the character limit to 4!)
applications will also now be accepted every WEDNESDAY and SATURDAY from 8pm GMT/2pm CST. this is just so me and kenz can keep on top of everything that comes in <3
we’re going to be tighter on activity, too.
our four day rule will still apply, but text threads and musings will not count. there’s a reason we ask for your activity level on our application because we want to be sure that all of our members will be consistent in the group and not just coast to avoid activity checks. it isn’t fair to the group or those involved through connections for someone to not be active.
if a member frequently appears on activity checks, they’ll be removed. we’d think it’s safe to say that they don’t wish to participate in the group and aren’t suited for the level of activity we’re wanting to achieve. we understand life gets in the way sometimes so just drop us a message for a hiatus!
lastly, we don’t expect everybody to keep messaging each other for plots, but we do want to see some more starters being made and people interacting with those.
whilst we know it’s easy to have someone reach out to plot, sometimes people like to do things naturally through chemistry in a thread, so maybe do a starter call in the ooc blog or post a new starter!
ultimately, what you gain from this roleplay is what you put into it -- i think it’s been one of our biggest issues from those who’ve now left us, that they may be expecting things to be handed out to them in terms of plotting and interactions. but if everybody is waiting for everybody else to post a starter or plot with them, then nobody is on the dash and it really does put people off!
so get stuck in and you’ll quickly realise we’re a fab little community of writers and we really do adore each and every one of you <3
we’ll be posting our latest venture in the ooc blog shortly for you guys to give your input on - so do keep your eyes peeled!
hey everyone! as it’s now the holiday period and things are getting very busy for some of us, we just wanted to let you guys know that we won’t be holding any activity checks until after the 28th december.
we hope you all have a wonderful break and are able to spend time with your loved ones if you’re celebrating -- especially after the year we’ve had!
you’re still of course more than welcome to pop onto the dash and write as usual and we will still be accepting applications, too!
we’re so excited to launch our brand new side-blog for the roleplay! we didn’t want to create your standard gossip blog and we also feel that in a lot of instances, those types of blogs can be a hub for negativity which is the last thing we want here. therefore, we’ve created an interactive, creative platform for anybody to use as and when they wish - there’s no obligations!
every wednesday we’ll host an agony aunt session and keep your eyes peeled as the gazette may be recruiting some guest spots on certain weeks if your character fancies giving it a go.
the admins will be posting some examples over the next 24 hours, just to give you guys an idea of formatting if you’re not sure -- but ultimately, we want you guys to be as creative as you like! whether it’s with a graphic, a text post, or anything else.
the gazette is yours and we can’t wait to see what you make of it!