Viewpoint I want to do ALL of the RPs

Hello there.

My situation is this:

I am currently in 3 active RPs, both here and on Discord, and there is a 4th one in the works. I know that feasibly I should not take on any more RPs because I don't want to burn out and I don't want to take on more than I can handle. However, there are days when I am just DYING to RP and none of my people are on. When this happens I often find myself doom scrolling through interest checks wishing I could join in ALL of the RPs.

My question is this:

What do you do to stave off boredom and the desire to RP while waiting for replies? Also, how do you keep yourself from just doing ALL of the RPs? There are so many good ideas out there, and I have ideas constantly brewing as well, but there is only so much time in a day, so how do you manage it?

Oh and did I mention ALL of the RPs?

Thanks and have a good one!

While waiting, you can plan the next rp replies! Or just think about fun bits of the backstory to enhance your character with in future replies. Or you can make an AU of your rp just for fun!
Sometimes talking about roleplays is as fun as roleplaying XD
You can also try to juggle the roleplays like Rp1 replies on Mondays, Rp2 replies on Tuesdays etc lol

If none of that works, can still do other hobbies. Write a non-rp story or read/watch something that can inspire you for your current roleplays.

Taking up ALL the rps will only lead to burnout, while it's tempting it's still better to know your limits ^^

Onmyoji said:

While waiting, you can plan the next rp replies! Or just think about fun bits of the backstory to enhance your character with in future replies. Or you can make an AU of your rp just for fun!
Sometimes talking about roleplays is as fun as roleplaying XD
You can also try to juggle the roleplays like Rp1 replies on Mondays, Rp2 replies on Tuesdays etc lol

If none of that works, can still do other hobbies. Write a non-rp story or read/watch something that can inspire you for your current roleplays.

Taking up ALL the rps will only lead to burnout, while it's tempting it's still better to know your limits ^^

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These are all great ideas, thank you for responding.

I have tried writing solo, but I'm not much of a story writer. I've tried and I always hate everything I write. I would love to break into this though, it just doesn't seem to work unless I have another writer to bounce ideas off of. I'm not skilled enough to build a whole world and story on my own.

When I get like this the ONLY thing I want to do is roleplay lol. You are right though, and I know if I do more than I can handle the outcome will not be favorable. This is just my favorite hobby right now and I lack patience when I'm stuck on something. (Not only that but the RPs I'm in right now are SO good; it's like waiting on the next book of a series that won't be out for another year. XD)

I guess I just need a swift kick in the booty so that I stop just staring at my screen and waiting.

Auralunabella said:

I guess I just need a swift kick in the booty so that I stop just staring at my screen and waiting.

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Stop staring at the screen and waiting


Seriously, try to think ahead and imagine how the rp would develop next. By the time other people reply you will already have ideas ready! That's something I've been doing a lot and it helped to write replies when needed.

Onmyoji said:

Stop staring at the screen and waiting


Seriously, try to think ahead and imagine how the rp would develop next. By the time other people reply you will already have ideas ready! That's something I've been doing a lot and it helped to write replies when needed.

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You can pry the screen from my cold dead hands. XD

That's a good idea though. Do you find it difficult to do without knowing what the next reply is going to be?

Auralunabella said:

You can pry the screen from my cold dead hands. XD

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Look, there is a dragon behind you! *snatches the screen*


I find it more fun than difficult, just trying to imagine how the rp would proceed. Even if I miss with my assumptions, the ideas I generated can be used some time later. And I usually enjoy developing my characters so it's always nice to get into their heads some more that would help me to rp them.

Onmyoji said:

Look, there is a dragon behind you! *snatches the screen*


I find it more fun than difficult, just trying to imagine how the rp would proceed. Even if I miss with my assumptions, the ideas I generated can be used some time later. And I usually enjoy developing my characters so it's always nice to get into their heads some more that would help me to rp them.

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Aw man, I fell for it. XD How am I supposed to RP now? *digs out phone* To heck with formatting.

That's cool, that makes perfect sense. I like to let my characters develop themselves a lot of the time, but there is one RP I'm doing where this could actually be useful. Believe it or not, an RP that I was in 7 years ago and left for reasons unremembered has recently been revived and I have very little memory of whatever plans we had for it. Some ideas and planning could really help with that one.

Look, the dragon is not alone, there is also.... *ahem*

Sounds like a good opportunity to do some planning! Good luck with that

Onmyoji said:

Look, the dragon is not alone, there is also.... *ahem*

Sounds like a good opportunity to do some planning! Good luck with that

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What? What is there? *stares intently at my phone waiting for replies*

Thanks though, I appreciate the input.

Auralunabella said:

What? What is there? *stares intently at my phone waiting for replies*

Thanks though, I appreciate the input.

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2 dragons

DragonSlayer57 said:

2 dragons

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Aw, now that's not fair. Pfft.

Aw man. I thought you were cool, Oji. Outing my hiding spot right behind Aura.

In all seriousness! Additional hobbies are my recommendation. Usually if you're getting antsy or distressed when you can't participate in a hobby, I find it's because you're not dividing your time properly. If you only have, say, two hobbies, and RP is one of them, then 50% of your hobby time is suddenly gone when you don't have a RP to respond to. That's a whole half that's been poofed away. But if RP is one of 10 hobbies then it's not nearly as devastating of when you can't access it.

Not sure if this is your situation or not! I've seen it now and again though, and been there too.

If that's NOT you, and you really want to commit harder to your RPs, then I also agree with Onmyoji! Plan scenes! But also look for music, make a playlist with it. Sit and plot backstories. Search around for art that inspired you. Post a message in the OOC gushing about a scene, be it from 2 minutes ago or 2 years ago. Maybe find an artist to commission, if you've got the cash to spend. Heck, there are a few artists that pop up on RpN here that'll do it for free!

One thing I frequently end up doing is rereading. Generally I reread posts, but sometimes I'll go back and read old scenes from RPs that have gone inactive. I actually have one RP that I've officially finished, and I think I must have read through its entirety three or four times now.

Just make sure you're properly balancing your time and you'll be fine!

Daisie said:

Aw man. I thought you were cool, Oji. Outing my hiding spot right behind Aura.

In all seriousness! Additional hobbies are my recommendation. Usually if you're getting antsy or distressed when you can't participate in a hobby, I find it's because you're not dividing your time properly. If you only have, say, two hobbies, and RP is one of them, then 50% of your hobby time is suddenly gone when you don't have a RP to respond to. That's a whole half that's been poofed away. But if RP is one of 10 hobbies then it's not nearly as devastating of when you can't access it.

Not sure if this is your situation or not! I've seen it now and again though, and been there too.

If that's NOT you, and you really want to commit harder to your RPs, then I also agree with Onmyoji! Plan scenes! But also look for music, make a playlist with it. Sit and plot backstories. Search around for art that inspired you. Post a message in the OOC gushing about a scene, be it from 2 minutes ago or 2 years ago. Maybe find an artist to commission, if you've got the cash to spend. Heck, there are a few artists that pop up on RpN here that'll do it for free!

One thing I frequently end up doing is rereading. Generally I reread posts, but sometimes I'll go back and read old scenes from RPs that have gone inactive. I actually have one RP that I've officially finished, and I think I must have read through its entirety three or four times now.

Just make sure you're properly balancing your time and you'll be fine!

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All these dragons creeping up in the chat lol, I see you.

I DO have other hobbies. I DO. I swear lol. I do I just find myself not wanting to do much lately. I love to crochet, but I haven't touched it in over a year; I've lost motivation for most of my hobbies. This is the one I'm fixating on right now dangit. The one thing I DO do (hehe doo-doo, I'm 5) is re-read. I re-read ALL the time. It's my favorite. I just gush to myself about how awesome my partner is to how proud I am of my replies... I don't want to bug anyone lol. Most of my partners are kinda cold OOC so... (not all)

I want to be the best writer I can be. That I want.

All your ideas are amazing. I just need to find a way to force myself to implement them lol.

Auralunabella said:

Most of my partners are kinda cold OOC so... (not all)

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Aw man yeah, that bit is rough. Tbh the very peak of RPing is finding someone who will scream either with you, or AT you, about your RP. Depends on the situation.
Treasure those people always, they are precious. Or just DM me and scream at me about your characters. I live for this stuff.

Daisie said:

Aw man yeah, that bit is rough. Tbh the very peak of RPing is finding someone who will scream either with you, or AT you, about your RP. Depends on the situation.
Treasure those people always, they are precious. Or just DM me and scream at me about your characters. I live for this stuff.

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Haha don't tempt me.

Auralunabella said:

Haha don't tempt me.

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Offer's legitimate! Open year-round
I hope you find a good way to pass the time, as well!

Daisie said:

Offer's legitimate! Open year-round
I hope you find a good way to pass the time, as well!

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I appreciate that and I may take you up on it. I'm sure I will, I just love RPing so much it's probably a problem hehe. Thank you so much for responding.

Yeah I totally agree that having a screaming partner is sometimes better than rp partner, even if you don't rp you can discuss the rp (or anything, really)

I've never had a screaming partner but it sounds fun.

Feel free to scream at me as well, I like talking about rp in general
That's why I'm hanging around RP Discussion section so much lol

I LOVE talking about RP. Feel free to hit me up any time, anyone. I have one friend that I've never RPd with, we just constantly bounce ideas off one another for our RPs.

I try to remind myself that I made commitments to other people and that it would be unfair to jeopardize our story/game by overburdening myself or burning myself out by taking on more roleplays. It's not the funnest way to temper temptation, but commitment and discipline are rarely sexy.

Auralunabella said:

What do you do to stave off boredom and the desire to RP while waiting for replies?

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I have too many hobbies and interests to ever really be bored unless I am doing something which I end up finding boring or otherwise prevented from doing anything. There's simply not a moment in which I don't have several things to do. This really contributes to my love of slower paced, but more substantial replies / posts as an RP format, and in 1x1 RPs I have come to the practice of not having a set timeframe within which my partners need to respond (IC). I'll wait months if I have to for the kinds of posts I love.

In addition, it helps that what I enjoy most in RP is the results over the process. Writing is a means to the satisfaction of the finished character, post or whatever else, and seeing the other player's reaction(s), and seeing their posts and how they react to and follow up on what I've written. Seldom is there an actual urge to RP that isn't the result of a new RP idea or my interest in an interest check, and if there is one to write, I will write something of my own.

Auralunabella said:

Also, how do you keep yourself from just doing ALL of the RPs? There are so many good ideas out there, and I have ideas constantly brewing as well, but there is only so much time in a day, so how do you manage it?

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Firstly, I'm very picky with the kind of RPs I get into. I don't need a lot of RPs to begin with and given what I put into those I am on, I can't be in that many either. So the selection criteria rises. A frequent cause of me dropping interest is how fast replies are required, or a lack of post requirements I would find satisfactory. The former is pretty much an automatic deal-breaker, the second means the RP needs to be a lot better of a sale for me to risk having to deal with the kinds of posts that bore me to death and make it hard to make a post I can feel satisfied with, but really there's a lot more, from attitude to the GM having priorities I can't trust etc...

For example there recently was an RP that was in a genre I absolutely love, quite possibly open to the customization of characters I like, with amazing aesthetic presentation, a GM who clearly knew what they were doing and gave thought and passion into writing the interest check and every other part thus far made, and really was just overall amazing. However, this RP also very clearly showed, as I kept reading into it and its lore, that it expected you to know a bunch of terminology on things I knew nothing about. It communicated with those in a very immersive way, but not one I could properly understand. I think it's an RP with jaw-dropping potential for any participants, if things go well. That being said, it's not an RP I can see working out for me, because I'd bee too lost. I would fail to understand things happening or that I was supposed to do, I would be frustrated by mistaken expectations, I would miss out on in-jokes and references and all the rest. I wouldn't be able to fully appreciate or fully participate.

One rule that, when I can I apply to both others and to my own ideas is the one-two week rule for hype. Feeling hype or really motivated for an idea for a moment, or even for a few days, is a REALLY poor indicator of something you can remain motivated for in the long-term, and very few people do short-term RPing. So while there are times when the offer is too time-sensitive for me to have the time for it, I usually try to only go for an idea after I've sat on it for some time, hopefully weeks, and still find myself attracted to the idea of trying it out.

My own ideas are the most easily delayed, as they aren't tied to anyone needing them fast. For my 1x1 ideas usually when I have them cemented as something I really want to do, I compile them into one of my bigger 1x1 search threads (my "Plotting Everything" threads). This helps select my ideas in several ways. For one, it forces me to write them out which ends up with some mixed or thrown out. Two, my requirements and turns out just the sheer size and complexity (by which I mean its various sections and code, though the code is bypassable because I always make a semi-coded version) actually end up turning a lot of people away. Three, those who stay end up choosing plots they are interested in of their own accord.

My group RP ideas on the other hand... To be honest part of it is just staved off by the idea of the things I will have to do once I actually start one. Which actually helps me throw my ideas to the wolves and see them compete until they solidify into a more concrete choice.

All of these strategies have one thing in common: I keep an eye out for the future. I don't just think about what I want to do in the moment, I think about how sustainable it is, both in feasibility and fun, to try to go for something.



You already got some great answers, but hopefully you'll find something useful in mine as well.

Best of luck and happy RPing!

Auralunabella said:

What do you do to stave off boredom and the desire to RP while waiting for replies? Also, how do you keep yourself from just doing ALL of the RPs?

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I remind myself of the RPs/real life commitments that I already have and consider the level of busyness that would arise if I joined more. It would be unfair to everyone if I couldn't commit time to everything just because I joined something on a whim and ended up stretching myself thin.

In terms of activities, I try to keep a good amount of hobbies both creative and not. Shows/movies, and books are all good for scratching that media consuming itch while video games provide interactivity. Visual novels and RPGs are especially fun if you want to focus mainly on story.

Idea said:

You already got some great answers, but hopefully you'll find something useful in mine as well.

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I did thank you. You gave me some very good information, especially the two-week rule. I think I will be implementing that from now on. I appreciate your thorough reply.