Why do RPs fail?

[Ursa Minor]

In my personal opinion I would have to say lack of communication. Either one rper is doing all the work and just gets bored of the whole thing or no body is willing to put forth the effort. I would also have to say life in general or just procrastination because I know that I saved a couple rps to my bookmarks, but even I kept saying that I'll reply later and then I'll do the same thing when that later comes :/

 

[The Doorman]

I forget or get too busy and never make a character.

 

[hellrazoromega]

Apathy can play a roll to, we live in a world with more distractions than ever before. Maybe it is my age showing but people can turn to streaming TV, free MMOs, Tablets and phones, and a host of other things that did not exist when I began roleplaying and I have a feeling (nothing provable, mind you) that it as impacted RP all around. Even factoring in real life, I have not seen as many multi-year long running campaigns, even in the table top world as I used to. That is not to say they are not out there, I just think people are being pulled in more directions, for their entertainment, and other things, than ever before. Like I said, just a hunch.

 

[The Doorman]

Apathy can play a roll to, we live in a world with more distractions than ever before. Maybe it is my age showing but people can turn to streaming TV, free MMOs, Tablets and phones, and a host of other things that did not exist when I began roleplaying and I have a feeling (nothing provable, mind you) that it as impacted RP all around. Even factoring in real life, I have not seen as many multi-year long running campaigns, even in the table top world as I used to. That is not to say they are not out there, I just think people are being pulled in more directions, for their entertainment, and other things, than ever before. Like I said, just a hunch.

This here.

 

[Circus]

I've also been thinking that people get wrapped up in the creation of characters and plot ideas that execution is hardly given a second thought. Hardly see any RPs get past 3 pages or two weeks before they keel over. Shame.

 

[The Doorman]

People neglect to respond

 

[hellrazoromega]

I've also been thinking that people get wrapped up in the creation of characters and plot ideas that execution is hardly given a second thought. Hardly see any RPs get past 3 pages or two weeks before they keel over. Shame.

I can so see this aspect.


It seems so many people, though certainly not all, love the setup but not the follow through. Many people get bored quickly when the (as some see it) tedium begins. To put it another way, some folks are idea people, they love coming up with concepts but don't really want to play them beyond the fleshing out strange of character creation. We all know the type, those who have this great story/book/screenplay idea they will share with you ad nauseum but 10 or 15 years later all they have are a few scattered notes and no finished product.

 

[Flashko]

Ive recently learned more about burnout through personal knowledge, and study of those I RP with. I recently learned that burnout is less of not caring, and in fact its about caring too much and getting yourself swirled up into emotions that end up just being draining.


Example


When two people exchange knowledge with a GM over the stories general line, and perhaps a large twist gets slipped out. The surprise is no longer there, and cant catch them off guard. Even worse is that depending if you are one to emotionally damage (not exactly, just nettling people with emotions) They're really not gonna want to see your character recieve trauma, and congruently thiers from seeing such an ordeal. Those twists, REALLY have to stay under wraps. That's your trump card.


When someone involves intense emotion into thier RPing, and eventually like everything. It runs out. People get emotionally exhausted and cant continue.

 

[Archie]

I can so see this aspect.
It seems so many people, though certainly not all, love the setup but not the follow through. Many people get bored quickly when the (as some see it) tedium begins. To put it another way, some folks are idea people, they love coming up with concepts but don't really want to play them beyond the fleshing out strange of character creation. We all know the type, those who have this great story/book/screenplay idea they will share with you ad nauseum but 10 or 15 years later all they have are a few scattered notes and no finished product.

Oh yes this absolutely, and I think another thing is just that people are better at musing over an idea for a couple weeks or months and thinking something would be really cool than innovating and creating on the spot. The best character I've played with the creator named Alfred Balls and he was just hilarious even though he was a perfectly normal, sociable, and genocidal noble in a dystopia, aka not fit for angsty romance.


And what does he do the first scene? Well everyone's meeting at a coffee shop and these two characters with crazy histories are having this cringeworthy romantic discussion after they got broken out of prison, and he just walks up to them, totally breaks in and starts hitting on both the guy and the girl at the same time. Through them (ahem, through them), he gets connections in the resistance and ends up playing both sides in this wicked cool way.


So many people are so afraid of touching other people's plots that they don't realize how helpful they can be and how much their characters can change over RPs.


Another thing is GMs just don't send a lot of PMs reminding people and don't actively reach out and say "how can i help you get in". It's nerveracking for newer or not so confident RPers to break in, especially if an ingroup knows eachother.

 

[hellrazoromega]

I have also noticed that there are two broad groups of Role Players (sure there will be other categories than this but I am talking in very broad terms--so this will in no way apply to everyone). The first group is fine playing off each other and having plenty of character interaction and sometimes could almost keep a game going with no Storyteller/GM. Sometimes they get so carried away the GM needs to step in and get things back on track. Group two on the other hand wants, or needs, to be taken by the hand and put on a rail and led to each 'ride in the theme park'. In other words they have no ambitions for their character other than what the GM throws at them. I find that those in the latter group tend to loose interest quickly, this goes back to the lack of investment in the game or characters that others have brought up.


Just as @Archie pointed out some times you need to jump those rails and make things happen, as a GM I personally love when my players start to pursue their own goals (so long as they don't try and take over the game) and work with them to work it into the game.

 

[DerUbermensch]

I usually blame lack of dedication or real life consequences for the reason why RPs die. A small yet dedicated bunch is always the best group for RPing. Sometimes I cancel my RPs when I feel guilty or abort for real life reasons. Keep in mind that players have lives too.

 

[hellrazoromega]

Real life will always be a valid reason for RPs to end. I think it is the unspoken reason everyone keeps in the back of their mind. I have noticed a usually high failure rate lately, this is of course anecdotal, but I can't help but think there have to be factors beyond real life. Hence, our little ongoing discussion.

 

[DemonKitten]

I sometimes have this habit of losing desire in one of my own roleplays because others seem to lose it and I am a very empathetic person. If people are excited than so am I so that contributes to me

 

[Vudukudu]

I might just be whining and everything actually boils down to being my fault, but I feel like a lot of the people who applied (having given up on Authoring, myself) to my RPs never saw the same picture I did. I was the kind of guy who sat down for hours, cranking out a massive, detailed setting. Intricate maps, factions, races, technology/magic, whatever. If it was relevant to the setting in a functional way, I explained it.


Whenever I finished a project like these, having spent all sorts of energy on its production, I'm extremely excited to get it going. There's a plan, there's a universe prepared to accept any of a million interesting character concepts, and there's room for characters to be plot forces without having to completely drive it themselves. I'm particularly careful about this last part, attempting to insure that the group has potential responses open to them at all times.


But I always feel like no one else really gets it. I hope it makes sense as a metaphor of sorts, but it seems like I put up a wall mural, and then a bunch of people got really fixated on individual details of it and forgot that its actually a whole image. It felt almost inevitable that a player or two would be woefully inept at navigating the setting, another had mistaken it for a Realistic RP focused solely on emotional breakdowns, and the final guy gave up because of the other people.


I usually get one or two people who actually get it, and I appreciate them greatly for the effort they contribute. I just wish I could get four of five of them.

 

[Circus]

I've been thinking that problems arise when there are too many RPers. I think a smaller group is more manageable and allows for tighter RPs. Also reduces the time waiting for everyone to post.

 

[hellrazoromega]

I've been thinking that problems arise when there are too many RPers. I think a smaller group is more manageable and allows for tighter RPs. Also reduces the time waiting for everyone to post.

I agree with a caveat, I tend to front load my games with a couple of extra players over what I am conformable with. It has yet to fail that a few flake out in the first few days, or even before characters are made. So in the end I end up with a smaller group from a larger one, as you say.