Reserving Roles

LawOfTheLand · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **LawOfTheLand** on Tue Aug 06, 2013 3:44 pm

Now, there probably are good reasons for this newfangled practice, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Plus, discussion > ranting.

As I understand it, the sequence of events has to be this: Reserve a spot, then you are given so long by the GM to fill out a sheet before the reservation expires. What happened to simply filling out a sheet, and then the GM accepting, then saying "this position has been filled" to everyone else?

I've been shafted out of a spot once because of confusion over reservations, and almost lost it a second time because of competition for a popular spot in one of those "guy 1 gets with girl 2" roleplays. But that's for another thread.

On the other side of the coin, if you know of any RPs in which character reservations were used to good effect, I'd like to see them.

Leli · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Leli** on Tue Aug 06, 2013 4:07 pm

I personally see why some people do reservations. They might see a character they absolutely want to play, but it's the end of the day for them so they can't quite drum anything up too fast that wouldn't fall short of lack luster(or at least I can't). What I don't understand is this attitude wherein someone reserves the spot, and so they're the only one allowed to apply for it. Frankly if there's one warrior in the fantasy RP and I want to play it, and the person that reserved it makes a crap character why wasn't I even allowed to try? It's the same as the first come first serve ideology that could have its own thread in all likelihood.

Lifecharacter · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Lifecharacter** on Tue Aug 06, 2013 6:12 pm

Both reservations and the system of accepting things the first acceptable sheet that gets sent have their problems, and it's pretty much the same problem.

With reservations, the first person to skim the information and post in the OOC gets the spot they wanted, regardless of the fact that someone who reads it ten minutes later would have created, not just an acceptable character, but a great character. Even if the character they finally send gets rejected, at that point you have either given up on the roleplay or created a different character, meaning that it's still likely not going to you.

The other system is similar in that speed tends to win. It's just that instead of who reserves first, it's who makes their character first; which is just rife with problems because that means that you either get people submitting WIP sheets that basically serve as nothing but a reservation, or people who put lots of effort into their character losing out to the person who rushed through their creation.

Personally, I've taken more to the system I occasionally see where there's basically try outs for a spot and everyone is given one week or something to finish their character, after which the best one gets the spot. It makes sure the best person gets the spot and quality is prioritized in character creation over rushing through it.

VitaminHeart · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **VitaminHeart** on Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:27 am

That tends to be why I don't like a 'first come first served' system of assigning roles much. Most tend to discourage working on things and favour people that rush stuff. I'd have a problem with the 'first to submit a character gets the role' system as I tend to like to take a walk or think about what I'll write while going about my business. I'd struggle with making a sheet if I felt I might be going against the clock. Reservations do, at least give you a bit of time to write something decent rather than just trying to bash words out.

That being said, reserving is more or less down to luck, and as reservations require next to no effort on the part of the person, it can also land the GM in a tight spot if someone takes one of the pivotal roles and then sods off.

I lean in the direction of sorting out disputes over slots by asking people to submit and then choosing which I feel is best suited. I have gotten flak for that in the past however as some people don't like competing, which I can understand too.

It's difficult.

PulseTrick · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **PulseTrick** on Wed Aug 07, 2013 12:44 pm

It is semi-necessary to avoid the "Everybody has a katana" trope that oddly I don't see very much around here. Good job Gateway

#goodjobgateway

Kurokiku · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Kurokiku** on Sat Aug 10, 2013 4:45 pm

Well, I think the intent of reservations makes sense: you have a story, you need x amount of characters to run it properly, and you don't want everyone trying to be your combat engineer or whatever. That said... I think the same thing can be achieved to much better result simply by asking people to either let you, the GM, know what they're trying for or else make a post in the OOC about it. That way, people who don't want to compete don't have to and can pick something else, but if two people both really want to be the combat engineer, you as GM get the ability to choose the person best suited for it without having to weigh irrelevant factors like who reserved it first or something like that. It also helps those considering submitting something know what's going on, if there are active applications ongoing, and a little something about other people's character concepts, which can help applicants avoid choosing too-similar attributes.

Really, I think it's a "problem" that is better solved by good communication and basic courtesy than an arbitrary system of first come first served.

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