Advice/Help Getting players that are actually serious?

[Phadia]

It's been faaarr too long! I wanna get back into RPing.
But I struggle with finding a solid group of players that are actually serious about the RP.
Now, I will admit that I have not always done a good job as the GM. I've had to learn, and in doing so, I've certainly been responsible, in part, for some of my RP's falling apart.
But many of them fall apart because of the typical:

Person: "Oh hey! I'll join!!"
Person: *makes epic CS*
Person: *makes epic intro*
Person: *never posts ever again, nor responds to any form of communication*

The above example seems to apply to a fair number of RPer's I've met.
Or there's always the:

Person: "can i rp with u pls i'm a relly gud rper and i wanna play as a werewolf unicorn vampire hamburger with green spots that DEFIANLTYLL are NOT mold becuz mold is gross and btw i'm actually alergic to mold and my dog died because of the mold and my life actually sux but dont mind me cuz we should rp instead and oh look!! A squirrel!!" (Might be an exaggeration.... XD)
Person: *makes CS*
Me: *accepts said person because maybe they'll be okay....??*
Person: *trashes the RP completely and utterly*

So, that being said, I would like to know what you've found to be most effective at rounding up good players!
Is there something, as a GM, that I can do to ensure the RP lasts a long time?
Is there any way you've found effective at keeping the RP going?

Feel free to share experiences (both positive and negative!).

 

[Slade]

Collect the good ones through 1x1

I've met some really great writers on the site. Unfortunately, I've been away on holiday and I've really been neglecting them. That's on me.

 

[Daisie]

I once had an RPer that seemed a little off at first. The story was seemed super rushed, and in the end, was utterly pathetic. It ended within 2 pages. And no, neither of us actually left, the story just ENDED there. Actually pissed me off. Within 2 pages.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I think there isn't anything you can do to force people to post but I think having realistic expectations helps.

Groups are notoriously hard to get off the ground and get everyone on the same page. The best means of doing this I have found is

A. roleplaying with friends. this may seem kind of clique-ish but I find when you roleplay with friends you're usually more forgiving of long breaks and also you're usually more likely to put the roleplay at a higher priority

B. have a specific schedule in place for posting. By this I mean you start the roleplay saying :
I want you all to post X amount of times in X amount of days. If you go X amount of days without any communication you're character will be removed from the action.

C. Time Skip. If you see posting slowing down or people getting held up than time skip ahead to a new location/new scene. It keeps things interesting and prevents people from getting held up while you wait to see if someone is going to post.

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Now 1x1s are much easier. I found you're best bet there is just set realistic expectations of what you're willing to accept and what you want from you're partner.

If someone contacts you that you don't feel is going to mesh with what you want than don't roleplay with them. Chances are you're first instinct is correct and you're only going to get frustrated trying to let things slide.

Also again let you're partner know exactly what you expect in terms of participation ( be VERY specific ). And if they for some reason disappear I'd give it a set amount of time ( I usually say a week ) then just move on.

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Lastly. Don't take it personally. It is not an attack on you or a means of disrespecting you if people leave. It just means that for whatever reason you're roleplay didn't speak to them.

I usually just give people time ( maybe a message or two ) then move on.

It's not worth the stress trying to figure out why things didn't work out.

Sometimes it just doesn't.

It might have something to do with you but 99.9% of the time it just because the other person wasn't feeling it and didn't feel like letting you know.

 

[MiracleGrazer]

I've hardly ever found problems with finding good players. I think it starts with the introduction of your campaign, if you lay out a premise that includes more than just a gimmick, you'll find those players who are more interested because they are genuinely intrigued with how a campaign is set up, and not just the gimmick alone. They come in knowing what they're expecting rather than going in relatively blind and realizing it's just not for them. I often turn away from interest checks that barely explains anything so I don't even know what to expect. I think some players are just desperate to join anything so you're going to have to find the kind of people who are a bit more cautious, asking questions about the campaign rather than asking if they can play a certain obscure race.

 

[Axel The Englishman]

I’d say a useful way to keep a roleplay active is to setup a Discord channel for OOC communications so you can bitch the nob into responding maintain a degree of chat between your party of roleplayers.

 

[Bang Bang]

It's been faaarr too long! I wanna get back into RPing.
But I struggle with finding a solid group of players that are actually serious about the RP.
Now, I will admit that I have not always done a good job as the GM. I've had to learn, and in doing so, I've certainly been responsible, in part, for some of my RP's falling apart.
But many of them fall apart because of the typical:

Person: "Oh hey! I'll join!!"
Person: *makes epic CS*
Person: *makes epic intro*
Person: *never posts ever again, nor responds to any form of communication*

The above example seems to apply to a fair number of RPer's I've met.
Or there's always the:

Person: "can i rp with u pls i'm a relly gud rper and i wanna play as a werewolf unicorn vampire hamburger with green spots that DEFIANLTYLL are NOT mold becuz mold is gross and btw i'm actually alergic to mold and my dog died because of the mold and my life actually sux but dont mind me cuz we should rp instead and oh look!! A squirrel!!" (Might be an exaggeration.... XD)
Person: *makes CS*
Me: *accepts said person because maybe they'll be okay....??*
Person: *trashes the RP completely and utterly*

So, that being said, I would like to know what you've found to be most effective at rounding up good players!
Is there something, as a GM, that I can do to ensure the RP lasts a long time?
Is there any way you've found effective at keeping the RP going?

Feel free to share experiences (both positive and negative!).

I think animal sacrifices and ritualistic chanting might be the only solution for this one, sorry.

 

[Idea]

There's a simple problem here, but one with a near-impossible solution. The problem is that you can't tell someone's character even if you do know them. And by thet I don't mean the characters we make as roleplayers, but a person's personality, attitude and resilience.

This causes a dilemma: On one hand, you need to attract the right people, so you need something that is attractive to people. But you'll only be able to tell who's serious once that attraction is gone. Most people forget the innevitable fact that a roleplay isn't always going to be fun, that's just how writing is, there's gonna be low points. There's a myth going around that you should treat RPing like watching TV, just enjoy it and if you're not quit. And that of course creates issues. Any form of self-centered mentality will create issues for a group project.

So, with that little rant, where am I going? Well, there IS no way to make sure the players you are getting are serious. The ony that exists prevents you from getting any roleplayers at all. So you just need to keep trying and hope to at least get the right melting pot of players, all in all, you need to be lucky.

I'm sorry if that advise is really bad. I guess the only other thing I can tell you is not to try to deceive your players or attract sharks with worms. Be upfront about what it is you wanna make and how, don't try to please everyone, and don't widen the net just for the sake of it.