Really random Ares question

[Pavel]

I almost never heart. Not because I don’t like the scene or anything, I just don’t generally do that sort of thing. Same with upvoting posts on here, or liking stuff on social media. Tis just how I’m wired.

By that same token, I generally don’t read scenes I’m not in. It’s still weird to me to do so.

[YetiBeard]

I rarely heart my own scenes unless it is specifically about someone else’s story if that makes sense?

I am a big proponent of likes, becuase I enjoy interacting with other people’s story even if I’m not actively involved. I think it’s fun to see what resonanted with people on my own scenes and in other people’s scenes. I just recently pushed for this to be included on a game that had decided to hide them because I do enjoy that type of interaction so much. A big part of what keeps me sticky on a game is caring not just about my character’s story but others’ storylines as well and often times the likes is an indicator that something important or fun happened in a scene and it’s worth reading vs skimming.

I do get that this causes people to get twitchy about comparing likes and can make people view it as a how much people like them, enjoy their rp, etc. Personally I do enjoy the popular scene posts to highlight things I might have missed, but I get why that’s not a positive for some.

[Nilli]

@YetiBeard I agree with the general sentiment, but also think it’s more meaningful to just reach out to folks to say you liked a particular scene/thing? Which I know you also do, just noting that there’s always options other than hearts/comps/etc.

I’m ambivalent on hearts but do heart my own scenes, also more as a quiet way of signaling to my scene partner(s) that I appreciate them.

[KarmaBum]

@YetiBeard said in Really random Ares question:

I enjoy interacting with other people’s story even if I’m not actively involved.

Just something to try / challenge yourself (general YOU): In addition to leaving a heart, page someone to tell them you enjoyed their writing.

You might be surprised how much a little positive feedback encourages someone to keep writing.

[Pavel]

@KarmaBum said in Really random Ares question:

Just something to try / challenge yourself (general YOU): In addition to leaving a heart, page someone to tell them you enjoyed their writing.

( Please don’t page me randomly to tell me this. )

[bear_necessities]

@KarmaBum I always feel so giddy when someone gushes about a scene I was in, or comments on a pose I did. It is definitely encouraging!

[Omen]

@bear_necessities That was one of the ways we encouraged people to praise others in the absence of our heart system, but maybe that was also based on personal preference. @KarmaBum was one of the first people to really do this to me and it made a big difference in my confidence, more so than watching a heart counter tick up (or not).

[Third Eye]

I mean, I compliment people, both personally and when the system has it as an actual mechanic. I don’t think I’m particularly shy about saying I’ve enjoyed someone’s RP or what I’ve enjoyed about it.

I also heart scenes.

IDK that these things are mutually exclusive.

[KarmaBum]

@Third-Eye is why I said “in addition to…”

[YetiBeard]

@KarmaBum for sure. I really love comps for this reason too, even more than a page. A comp sticks around and also provides a fun reminder of the scene it’s referencing. Often my comps are just X line made me cry, laugh, both, etc.

[KarmaBum]

@YetiBeard I can dig it. I haven’t used the comps system, but it seems like the rough equivalent of p yeti=yo, that was awesome, ty for sharing!!

[tsar]

@YetiBeard said in Really random Ares question:

Often my comps are just X line made me cry, laugh, both, etc.

I feel perceived lol

[Jumpscare]

I heart every scene after I read it. Not only to keep track of what scenes I’ve read, but because writing a full scene is worth a heart in my opinion.

[tsar]

I feel like the hearts, paged compliments, and comps system are all a net gain.

Back when we didn’t really have these things, people still managed to feel real bad about other player’s RP and supposed popularity to due a myriad of issues. I remember not posting logs or sending a puppet to another room to do RP so I could avoid people seeing who I was playing with.

And why? Because at least one deeply insecure person was on my case about other people liking me. “Why do they like you and not me?” and I ended up tailoring my behavior to suit someone who was doing nothing to address their own issues.

I won’t do that anymore. I heart whenever I remember to heart, comp when I remember to do that too, and I’ll shoot people the occasional page. I think a general trend towards overall positivity is beneficial for everyone and I’d rather keep those things than lose them.

[Faraday]

@tsar said in Really random Ares question:

I think a general trend towards overall positivity is beneficial for everyone and I’d rather keep those things than lose them.

Yeah I think it’s all a question of perspective. Like, why do we have upvotes here? What’s the point? Inevitably someone’s going to get bent out of shape that (this) post was upvoted and (that) post wasn’t.

But it goes both ways, too. The same upvote that might cause one person to feel insecure can cause another person to feel validated. Seeing that people who weren’t involved in your scene and aren’t part of your immediate friend circle liked your RP can be gratifying.

Since there are ways to turn it off for yourself (by muting the forum category and even using custom CSS tools to hide the hearts if they also bother you), I don’t see why it has to be turned off for everyone. But YMMV.

[KarmaBum]

@Faraday said in Really random Ares question:

custom CSS tools to hide the hearts if they also bother you

I do that on games that have them, but I can’t install custom CSS tools on my work browser, and there aren’t any for mobile devices to my knowledge.

So I still kinda gotta see them most of the time.