I'm about ready to give up again. (Rant contained within)

[Fus ro dah]

I took a break from RPN a while ago, because I got sick to gorramn death of me spending days and weeks, sometimes months building a world, storyline and the whole RP only to have it die after a few posts.


So I came back, hoping things had changed.


HAH.


My reboot of my Skypirate RP has died before the ships even take off, again. My monster hunter-esque RP looks like it's dead before anything can even happen.


Why? JUST WHY RPN? WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN AN RP AND THEN GO 'OH I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE'. It's miserable, and frankly, I find it insulting. People show interest and lose it quicker than they should. I love creating RP's for folk and most of the time they fill up swiftly, but then people stop posting without a word and I wait, and wait... and poke, and then they finally admit. Oh, yeah, too busy/not interested anymore/joined more rp's and have too many/generic excuse #5443


I'm about ready to quit again and just lurk.

 

[danielvaltameri]

Understandable why you'd get irked. Not getting any response is irritating. If they didn't want to continue they should have said something as well, instead of leaving it silent until you remind them you're around for them to give a reply. Something like that has driven me nuts in the past when I roleplayed. If they don't want to continue, then fine, but if it was so early on in the roleplay, why'd they bother in the first place? And if they don't want to continue, why didn't they say anything?


Not ragging on anyone on RPN personally though, I don't know many at all, and haven't had the experience on here (yet), but something like this I quite honestly understand all too well. It's happened everywhere else for me and it's just annoying. Sorry to hear you've had these experiences.

 

[Fus ro dah]

So many RP's, even ones I join die so fast. The ones that last the longest always seem to be ones I have literally zero interest in. ._. I'll just stick to lurking.

 

[White Masquerade]

Keep up the work Fus. You just have to find the right people. The Finding a Role-player option would be the best place to go.

 

[Fus ro dah]

It's not finding them that's the issue, it's keeping them posting. People quit without a word, vanish without a word, lose interest and don't say anything until I push and push for them to post. ._. It's just a vicious cycle that really gets me down because all my work goes to waste.

 

[haru]

Meep. I'm soorryy. I usually wait for others to post then I base my words and actions off that. O.o

 

[QuirkyAngel]

It's a sad fact, but it's human nature. People lose interest quickly if they aren't invested in the world or their character.

 

[cam]

This is a common problem amongst roleplayers. Almost every partner search or recruitment thread always has a clause about quitting without notice. It seems like something everyone has experienced and have perhaps even done ourselves.


There's probably a lot of surface reasons for it, but on a deeper level, creativity is hard. There are few hobbies where the participants feel such a deep, private love-hate battle quite like writing, drawing, and other creative pursuits. It's super easy to get burnt out, and it's also super personal when it happens. It's hard to get away from the mindset of believing that a creative failing must also mean a personal failing. I can imagine a lot of people would just assume distance themselves from this entirely, rather than admitting it aloud to somebody. This could be why there's little or no communication when somebody finds themselves no longer interested in an RP.


Having been on both sides throughout the years, I know it's just going to happen. It became a lot easier for me when I stopped stressing about it. It also got me to readjust some of my RP priorities - nowadays I'll mostly pitch smaller, simpler concepts instead of the much grander epic worlds I used to do. There's less investment in terms of "wasted time" if it falls through. But if it really picks up, and it turns out we're a great match for each other, then I know I've got somebody dependable who I can work together with on those bigger and grander stories if we so choose.


So don't give up! Instead, maybe try something different for a while? Do some ideas that you might think are throwaway, and just enjoy the freedom of not investing so much of your time and energy to it? It could benefit both you and your writing in unexpected ways. :3


Err. *cough* That's enough of my armchair creative counseling for one day.

 

[Poisoned Youth]

People have short attention spans. I feel for you, but you're certainly not alone.


Just joined this site, but I RP a lot on various forums. It's so frustrating when people just disappear.

 

[Mireille]

People leave, people quit, those that stick either do so because they want to and enjoy it, or feel they are obligated to. Have I left a RP without saying anything? Yes. Why? Because, I wasn't interacted with at all, and it died soon after. Why? Because, no matter what someone puts, it always seemed to be null, ignored, or punished in some way. Here's an example from an RP I did. Player A escapes through window that was described in the room. DM doesn't like that, and has everyone die, from something, not even relevant to the RP. The problem with an RP is it takes commitment true. But, if someone posts something, only to have it completely ignored, or killed off by doing something completely logical. Then, yes they leave. Whilst its good to have people take turns, that one person (whom never posts) can ruin it just like that as well.


Now does it suck that RP's seem to die? Yes, I had a lot of ones I was apart of that I enjoyed and they died. Do I actively search for roleplays? Not entirely, because they just end up dying or doing a complete 180 of what was suppose to be the plot. Another example, those post apocalyptic things, you know zombies. People immune to bites? Like really? The logic? 'They are immune to the zombie disease by blood'. Makes sense? Somewhat. Okay so they can't turn if they die, but that's not what's injected into you from a bite, all the diseases germs and otherwise, on a decaying mouth, with possible animal feces, and guts are what kill you. Not a 'Zombie Virus'. (Yes, sounds a bit gross, but needed to be said.)


That said, do I give up on roleplays? No, mainly for those reasons, if I'm being completely ignored, me leaving without a trace doesn't affect anything. Not a thing, nor does it change the outcome of the RP. Why? Because, my character technically never even existed. I put a lot of effort into my characters, only to be ignored 100% of the time, unless being instantly killed? No thank you. But, yes it mainly comes down to commitment, not being ignored, and on top of that keeping the RP interesting. Some people just don't get notifications (I know I don't.) If you make a RP in the future, hit me up. I'll take a look and see if it's something I'd like to be apart of ^^. Just don't ignore me or I'll hit you with a trout.

 

[Vipm1]

People get excited about new RPs but then get bored about the character or setting and suddenly get bored. I don't think they mean to quit suddenly but they find themselves posting less and less until they just stop completely. Sucks, but I guess it cant be helped :/

 

[Atom]

ATOM'S FIVE STEP GUIDE TO STARTING OFF AN RP SUCCESSFULLY

​

Step 1

​

Planning, creation, etc


Step 2


Recruitment


Step 3


Activity


This is where I'll begin actually explaining. Activity is fundamental. But not IC activity, no no, OOC activity. Use that OOC tab and get your players taking! Spur on discussion about your RP, their characters, what they want to see plot wise, etc.


Generate a level of excitement for the RP within them through discussion.


Step 4


Don't Idle


Try to avoid staying in Step 2 for long.


Step 5


An exciting start!


When you do start do it right! Start with an exciting event of sorts and make sure EVERYONE can be included in some way. Off someone's character wouldn't be present then organize something behind the scenes that would bring the character there. And always go big to set the scene!

 

[ToteMaus]

I have seen this often as well. However, once I've joined I commit to an RP, and never leave unless the rest of the RP goes dead, I'm usually the last one to post when an RP dies. That said, if you want RPers who won't give up/lose interest easily, I'm your woman!

 

[Brainess]

I think this is happening to me right now ...............


cries

 

[Fus ro dah]

ATOM'S FIVE STEP GUIDE TO STARTING OFF AN RP SUCCESSFULLY

​

Step 1

​

Planning, creation, etc


Step 2


Recruitment


Step 3


Activity


This is where I'll begin actually explaining. Activity is fundamental. But not IC activity, no no, OOC activity. Use that OOC tab and get your players taking! Spur on discussion about your RP, their characters, what they want to see plot wise, etc.


Generate a level of excitement for the RP within them through discussion.


Step 4


Don't Idle


Try to avoid staying in Step 2 for long.


Step 5


An exciting start!


When you do start do it right! Start with an exciting event of sorts and make sure EVERYONE can be included in some way. Off someone's character wouldn't be present then organize something behind the scenes that would bring the character there. And always go big to set the scene!

I've been Rping for 20 years, I do all this stuff and include people. I do what I can to keep things moving, but the way things have been going I'm better off adding my RP ideas to my unwritten novel pile.

 

[Atom]

Atoms 1 step guide to making people stay


Smack em in the mouth for being rude.

 

[Brainess]

Atoms 1 step guide to making people stay
Smack em in the mouth for being rude.

Thank you very much!!! xD