Player used Me First

I'm of the mind that "competition breeds innovation". Communication and cooperation follow along, altogether providing a reliable basis for improvement at all times.

I like expressing interest. I don't like reservations, and I don't like posting works-in-progress. The only exception is when that progress is sufficient for review, and you can have that taken care of in private. For example, when a character's history or personality are complete before other sections, being able to check for consistency (both in itself and in the RP's universe) is worth sending it if you aren't (or don't need to be) asking questions in advance. This adds up to less overall hassle, regardless of how many edits you may have to make in the short term.

Reservations discourage competition for slots with limited availability, and I feel this method is almost guaranteed to reduce the quality of the final product, this concept of exclusivity causing only stagnation for the applicant. The one who reserves has no pressure whatsoever to deliver besides maybe a deadline. This can be seen all over the place in the technological world's monopolies and oligarchies (e.g. telecoms and ISPs), and it doesn't only apply on that macro scale; it affects personal growth, too.

If, in the end, a non-reservational approach means that some players' characters-in-the-making?or even a finished character that might need further alteration?will get binned, then so be it. Their effort created a need for the accepted player to excel; and the pressure of another player's character being accepted over theirs drove them to create something better, as well.

tl;dr Reservations make people lazy.

Personally, I don't like to make reservations. If I'm interested in joining, and there's an open spot, I'll crank out an SU and post it when it's done. It encourages me to quickly and succinctly sum up my character, so people can easily see what they're like.

Of course, one downside to this is that my SU's are pretty devoid of ornamentation, and if there are limited options (like starters, titles, or entire chatacters) and someone posts and SU or reserve for that option, I sometimes have to go back and change that aspect of my SU, resulting in rapid improvising and a drastically different character.

Admittedly, it doesn't usually cause problems, but I elect not to reserve spots, and get a little sore when someone else does and takes my spot while I was busy making a whole SU.

I don't entirely like to make reservations, but I usually have to because otherwise someone will reserve my spot. In my RP, I don't do reservations unless the person can show me a completed application and it needs a bit of work; then, and only then, I reserve the spot for them so that they can fix what needs to be fixed. I'm not a fan of reservations, but they can be pretty useful if you do them right.

I think of It like reserving a spot close to the front of the ooc, not an actual spot.

I never understood reservations for RPs.

Heck, I didn't even realize it was an option (at least, initially it was) in the RP I was joining and was just planning to write an application before all the spots get filled up. I mean, I never used them before so I don't think I'll ever start now.

At the same time, if a hyped up RP gets posted when you are asleep, and you wake up to find that the GM is already satisfied, that's a bummer ); but that can be helped by the GM at least letting potential players know a minimum time they have to make applications before they start accepting. Not a max limit after which everything is said and done, but just "hey, I won't look at applications before sunday, just so you know. Take your time!"

I would say I too try not to make reservations, though I definitely have in the past, but try to express an interest, more as a way to remind me that I like the RP and would like to be in it if possible. If i don't do that I typically end up forgetting about due to other events or IRL things. I'm also of the mind of trying to post almost, if not fully, completed SUs so as not to keep the RP from stalling out before it ever begins.

Im sure ive done it, but If I dont finish the su within an hour I generally dont decide to join.