Setting up OhChat: the questions that come up mid-guide

Three things, and they take a minute to prepare. An email account you can open in the same session, a display name you are happy to see on screen, and three concrete traits for your first character written somewhere you can copy from. The traits are the part people improvise, and improvised traits come out as adjectives. Writing them beforehand is the difference between a character who works nights and collects records, and one who is simply nice.

It is a gate you must clear to continue, and it matters because this is an adults-only service. Confirming your age is not a formality you can skip or work around, and if you are under 18 the correct action is to close the page. The characters themselves are fictional throughout — nothing in the app is built on a real person, and it should not be used to imitate one.

All three stages. Creating the account, filling in the entire persona screen and exchanging your first messages sit inside the free tier, which is the whole reason this guide can be verified step by step. Paid plans exist for people who settle into daily use and want more room, but you do not need one to find out whether the tone suits you. Run the free version for a few days first and decide from your own transcripts rather than a description.

Three or four specific ones beat a list of ten. Each trait is something she can bring into a conversation unprompted, and a long list dilutes rather than enriches — she ends up touching everything lightly instead of having a recognisable centre. Pick a job or routine, one thing she cares about, and one opinion she is willing to hold against you. Add more later once you have seen which ones actually surface in conversation.

Two things you will feel immediately: how long her messages run, and how directly she says what she thinks. Short and dry produces quick exchanges that feel like texting. Long and warm produces paragraphs that read more like letters. Neither is better, but a mismatch with your own typing style is the most common reason a first session feels off. If the replies feel wrong but the content is fine, this is the field to change first.

Yes, and it is the most under-used part of the screen. One or two limits — no pet names, no constant questions, no apologising — remove the habits that make a companion feel synthetic faster than anything else. Keep them short and behavioural rather than abstract, because a limit she can check against her own next message is one she can follow. Two well-chosen limits usually improve a persona more than a fourth trait.

Use a three-part line: where you are, what you just finished, and a question with a genuine answer. For example: "Just got in from a double shift, too wired to sleep, is it a terrible idea to start a film at midnight?" That gives her a setting, a mood and something to take a position on. Compare it with a bare greeting and you will see the difference in the first reply, not the tenth.

Three, and judge the third rather than the first. The opening reply tells you about your own message more than about the character. Send message two in the same register, let her adjust, and read the third reply for tone, pacing and whether she brings anything of her own. If the third reply still reads like a brochure, the problem is upstream in the persona fields rather than in the conversation.

Edit the persona when the problem repeats across different topics, and change your message when the problem is confined to one exchange. Replies that are too long or too polite everywhere are a settings issue. A single dull answer to a dull question is not. Change one field at a time so you can tell what caused the improvement, and keep the conversation open — edits apply from your next message and the history stays where it is.