What Kills a Good RP ?

[MechanicalSnake]

Well said...

Im pretty bitter today cause my favorite group RP just died due to the GM leaving XD
Even if I get life comes first, doesn't make it any better!

 

[Brendanfp]

Im pretty bitter today cause my favorite group RP just died due to the GM leaving XD
Even if I get life comes first, doesn't make it any better!

Yeah man I feel you. The last rp I was interested in died in two weeks due to the gm leaving. That will kill an rp faster than anything.

 

[Vespura]

The plot becomes boring, or people quit replying

 

[Kylesar1]

Allowing bad players to fester- If a player is a problem in the RP, they need to be called out and told to improve. RPs need to be fair to all players or the good ones will run

Inactivity- Nothing worse than having to wait days for someone to reply.

Ghosters- People who post, then disappear without notice. Most of the time it happens after the CS but before their first post, but it's bad after they engage people in interaction then disappear without a trace.

 

[DVationz]

In my opinion and personal experience as both player and DM (both in roleplay and custom dungeons and dragons campaigns) there are a few key factors to both making/maintaining a good rp experience. Obviously the first step is getting your idea out there and getting people interested. Most people think this means that they have to have their whole story fleshed out, but this isn't the case, and on any progressive storytelling format you should never have a set schedule for the story. Yes, you can have key point that WILL happen, but you should keep your story flexible and breakable. If players feel restricted to following a story a specific way, they'll stop enjoying it and leave because they don't have any creative input to the story. However, you can't give them too much freedom either because that's when you get "god modding" and other such tragedies that destroy a good rp.

In addition to what I've mentioned above, you need to sift through your members before you take the rp seriously. What I mean by this is that you have a "prologue" of sorts. This is pretty much the introductions of everyone's characters and perhaps a minor event or two in the story. By the time you're done, you should be pretty well aware of anyone who may cause an issue whether that be due to almost game breaking writing, poor spelling/grammar, or excessively slow responses (The last one depends on the whole group's frequency though). Address these problem children as you see fit, and then continue the rp accordingly.

While the rp is going, keep in mind 3 main factors...
1. The speed of the rp.
What I mean by this is that you want to keep the story moving forward, but you want to also allow players to have time to develop their characters and stories. In the beginning, depending on the type of rp, it's okay to take things slowly as your players get a feel for how the rp will work in the future. Don't stay slow though, make sure you speed up when things need to move along so that the rp doesn't get bland or stalled.
2. The story.
Obviously a good rp needs a good story. Now, I'm obviously not one to be some ultimate judge, and neither is anyone else. But you want to have a story that people will enjoy and want to come back to. If your story is just "kill this guy, fight some baddies, here's some downtime" and repeat the process, it's going to get bland pretty quick. At the same time, you don't want to over complicate things with a story that seems to create more questions than answers (this excludes mystery based rp to an extent). You want a simple enough story that people can follow without too much trouble, but you want a complex enough story that people remain engaged.
3. The interactions.
Characters interact, and no matter how much the player sticks to the character, there will be moments when they break character. This is fine, but, as I've seen many times before, you can't let them get away with it too often. Sure, the occasional break in character is fine, and could even develop the character more, making it more real, but too many breaks and you no longer have a character. At a certain point, players stop "playing" and that's not what you want in your rp. This won't always happen, but you should keep an eye out for how frequent it occurs because that player could become a problem if ignored for too long. Another thing about interactions is that you can take certain interactions and expand upon it. Say, for example, two characters create a close relationship. Perhaps a sub story thrown at them would keep things more interesting. This does 2 things for you as a DM, 1. It gives you more story options as you could potentially add aspects of it into the main story (at your discretion) and 2. It makes the players feel like they're a part of your storytelling. When players are given a chance to take control of some minor story in your overarching story, they're happy. Let them take a little control from time to time.

Honestly, if you keep all of what I've said in mind, you should have a pretty good experience in regards to running an rp or maintaining it. Obviously certain rps will demand different rules and qualities, but if you have the main idea of what I've said, you can apply it to pretty much any sort of story. I do hope this helps! DV, out.

 

[Brendanfp]

In my opinion and personal experience as both player and DM (both in roleplay and custom dungeons and dragons campaigns) there are a few key factors to both making/maintaining a good rp experience. Obviously the first step is getting your idea out there and getting people interested. Most people think this means that they have to have their whole story fleshed out, but this isn't the case, and on any progressive storytelling format you should never have a set schedule for the story. Yes, you can have key point that WILL happen, but you should keep your story flexible and breakable. If players feel restricted to following a story a specific way, they'll stop enjoying it and leave because they don't have any creative input to the story. However, you can't give them too much freedom either because that's when you get "god modding" and other such tragedies that destroy a good rp.

In addition to what I've mentioned above, you need to sift through your members before you take the rp seriously. What I mean by this is that you have a "prologue" of sorts. This is pretty much the introductions of everyone's characters and perhaps a minor event or two in the story. By the time you're done, you should be pretty well aware of anyone who may cause an issue whether that be due to almost game breaking writing, poor spelling/grammar, or excessively slow responses (The last one depends on the whole group's frequency though). Address these problem children as you see fit, and then continue the rp accordingly.

While the rp is going, keep in mind 3 main factors...
1. The speed of the rp.
What I mean by this is that you want to keep the story moving forward, but you want to also allow players to have time to develop their characters and stories. In the beginning, depending on the type of rp, it's okay to take things slowly as your players get a feel for how the rp will work in the future. Don't stay slow though, make sure you speed up when things need to move along so that the rp doesn't get bland or stalled.
2. The story.
Obviously a good rp needs a good story. Now, I'm obviously not one to be some ultimate judge, and neither is anyone else. But you want to have a story that people will enjoy and want to come back to. If your story is just "kill this guy, fight some baddies, here's some downtime" and repeat the process, it's going to get bland pretty quick. At the same time, you don't want to over complicate things with a story that seems to create more questions than answers (this excludes mystery based rp to an extent). You want a simple enough story that people can follow without too much trouble, but you want a complex enough story that people remain engaged.
3. The interactions.
Characters interact, and no matter how much the player sticks to the character, there will be moments when they break character. This is fine, but, as I've seen many times before, you can't let them get away with it too often. Sure, the occasional break in character is fine, and could even develop the character more, making it more real, but too many breaks and you no longer have a character. At a certain point, players stop "playing" and that's not what you want in your rp. This won't always happen, but you should keep an eye out for how frequent it occurs because that player could become a problem if ignored for too long. Another thing about interactions is that you can take certain interactions and expand upon it. Say, for example, two characters create a close relationship. Perhaps a sub story thrown at them would keep things more interesting. This does 2 things for you as a DM, 1. It gives you more story options as you could potentially add aspects of it into the main story (at your discretion) and 2. It makes the players feel like they're a part of your storytelling. When players are given a chance to take control of some minor story in your overarching story, they're happy. Let them take a little control from time to time.

Honestly, if you keep all of what I've said in mind, you should have a pretty good experience in regards to running an rp or maintaining it. Obviously certain rps will demand different rules and qualities, but if you have the main idea of what I've said, you can apply it to pretty much any sort of story. I do hope this helps! DV, out.

Thanks this was super detailed. I love to hear from current gms in the community.

 

[Kankri_Vantas]

There's lot of things that can kill a roleplay with me.

1. An obvious lost of interest, the partner stops caring about grammar.
2. The lack of sentences. When you start off with 8-20 sentences and drops to 1-4, it makes me want to end the roleplay. It's okay if it happens a few times but when it repeats its annoying.
3. Lack of character building. When your character is the same like the beginning.
4. Too many cliches.

 

[Brendanfp]

There's lot of things that can kill a roleplay with me.

1. An obvious lost of interest, the partner stops caring about grammar.
2. The lack of sentences. When you start off with 8-20 sentences and drops to 1-4, it makes me want to end the roleplay. It's okay if it happens a few times but when it repeats its annoying.
3. Lack of character building. When your character is the same like the beginning.
4. Too many cliches.

All very true. However sometimes cliches, tropes, and archetypes can be hard to break.

 

[uhh]

1) Lack of OOC communication.
- It has already been mentioned, but it's incredibly important. I honestly believe it's often overlooked, and that a lot of roleplayers want to make connections -- but the longer you've been in the game the more you realize: a) I'm gonna get ghosted on, b) my RP partner is going to fall in love with me, c) the more people there are, the more unnecessary OOC drama. Communication is desperately important; it honestly needs to happen at some point, or the RP itself won't happen.
* This is more 1x1, versus a group setting.

2) Honesty.
- This is a really hard concept for some people; then others, they take it overboard. People are scared to say: "Hey, this isn't going the way I planned," or "Yo, I'm losing interest." I've done it in the past, too. The more comfortable you are saying these things, the longer roleplays will last. Then, of course, you can be too honest -- as in, "Hey, your writing sucks. We're not compatible, I hate you. Go back to the kid threads."

3) Not finding balance.
- One player wants to roleplay exclusively EVERY DAY, and another can only roleplay once a week. If you know you're going to get overwhelmed at the first pace, try to set something more comfortable. If once a week is too slow and you know you'll stray, negotiate or don't begin something knowing it will likely fail. This kinda goes back to number one, too.

Someone mentioned this, and I think it's also overlooked a lot. If someone approaches me and explains their character as "timid and shy," but their character's personality is loud and unabashed in roleplay, it's confusing and kinda off-putting. Development happens -- but why create a character, only to change them at the beginning of the RP?

So many things. Find compatible partners, enjoy yourself, communicate.

 

[CallmeMyth]

1. Lack of initiative

I’m sure this isn’t the absolute “only” reason an RP ever dies. However; from my personal experience, a lot of things that cause a good roleplay to fail can be credited to a lack of initiative. A lot of good RP ideas don’t even get off the ground because nobody wants to take the time needed to get the RP underway. Maybe it’s just that nobody wants to feel responsible for maintaining an RP.

That therein lies the issue, though. It almost seems like people don’t realize an RP is a collective group effort. RPs that rely heavily on a GM are the quickest ones to die if, lets say, the GM leaves. Because nobody wants to take the initiative to step up and take the place of the person who used to be the active GM. And it baffles me because, if you enjoy writing and you enjoy the RP you’re taking part in, why let it die just because one person leaves? Even if that person is the GM. Anyone can do the job, but most people lack the desire.

This applies to everything, even posts between players. If one person hasn’t made a post in a while, most people will simply let the RP die instead of taking the initiative to contact that person and say “hey, when are you gonna make a post?” Or just simply making a new post, in an effort to draw the other person’s attention back to the RP. There’s always workarounds that can be made, but nobody ever bothers.

In short, people can be kind of lazy. I’m guilty of it too. Although, in most cases I feel like my lack of interest in an RP can always be traced back to other people’s lack of initiative. If I’m breaking my back trying to get someone engaged in an RP, and they just aren’t reciprocating my efforts, I lose interest really quickly and eventually I’ll quit RPing altogether.

 

[MechanicalSnake]

Honestly I had about five group RPs here I liked and they all died rather quickly.
Once the GM had no time anymore, once the GM got sick and went to hospital, once the GM left without explanation.
And then in one RP, suddenly, everyone left. I swear there were ten people involved, who posted a LOT of stuff within three days or so, it was hard to even catch up, and suddenly my post was the last and now its been weeks and nobody of the ten people ever came back. XD
I

 

[Brendanfp]

Honestly I had about five group RPs here I liked and they all died rather quickly.
Once the GM had no time anymore, once the GM got sick and went to hospital, once the GM left without explanation.
And then in one RP, suddenly, everyone left. I swear there were ten people involved, who posted a LOT of stuff within three days or so, it was hard to even catch up, and suddenly my post was the last and now its been weeks and nobody of the ten people ever came back. XD
I

It's sad but it happens...

 

[Brendanfp]

1. Lack of initiative

I’m sure this isn’t the absolute “only” reason an RP ever dies. However; from my personal experience, a lot of things that cause a good roleplay to fail can be credited to a lack of initiative. A lot of good RP ideas don’t even get off the ground because nobody wants to take the time needed to get the RP underway. Maybe it’s just that nobody wants to feel responsible for maintaining an RP.

That therein lies the issue, though. It almost seems like people don’t realize an RP is a collective group effort. RPs that rely heavily on a GM are the quickest ones to die if, lets say, the GM leaves. Because nobody wants to take the initiative to step up and take the place of the person who used to be the active GM. And it baffles me because, if you enjoy writing and you enjoy the RP you’re taking part in, why let it die just because one person leaves? Even if that person is the GM. Anyone can do the job, but most people lack the desire.

This applies to everything, even posts between players. If one person hasn’t made a post in a while, most people will simply let the RP die instead of taking the initiative to contact that person and say “hey, when are you gonna make a post?” Or just simply making a new post, in an effort to draw the other person’s attention back to the RP. There’s always workarounds that can be made, but nobody ever bothers.

In short, people can be kind of lazy. I’m guilty of it too. Although, in most cases I feel like my lack of interest in an RP can always be traced back to other people’s lack of initiative. If I’m breaking my back trying to get someone engaged in an RP, and they just aren’t reciprocating my efforts, I lose interest really quickly and eventually I’ll quit RPing altogether.

Yah honestly it always comes back to that. Like if the people are interested enough the Rp will continue.

 

[FlyingDemon]

Rejecting someone based on a difference (lenght, world setting, plot), while i understand the "i don't want to be bored" stuff,
it would be actually more civil to ask politely the "why a person can't write that much?" you can get your answer most of the time, it's probably better to ask that reacting like:

"i hate you *insert insult* *insert a way to kill a character* *make a public humiliation on how bad said person is*".