Experiences Group RP length

Lilliana2

Death is no excuse for disobedience
What’s the longest group RP you’ve been in? What’s made you lose interest or drop and group RP? What’s a common factor you see in most long running groups or a common factor in those that don’t last long? Anyone have any secret technique to keep their groups alive? Or any other thoughts on group RPs timelines really, I want to know what it is that makes or breaks groups. Let me know your experiences!
 
It wasn't on RPN, it is actually my weekly in person D&D group. Our first campaign ended after a year and half, the story being told out to its natural ending, and we picked back up with two new campaigns! We're slowly approaching our two year anniversary of playing together as a group.
 
It wasn't on RPN, it is actually my weekly in person D&D group. Our first campaign ended after a year and half, the story being told out to its natural ending, and we picked back up with two new campaigns! We're slowly approaching our two year anniversary of playing together as a group.
That’s so impressive! I have t had any group RPs last longer than a few months 😢
 
These are a lot of questions wow

What's the longest group RP you've been in?
I can proudly say that one of the rp's I made (not on RPN) lasted for almost a year!

What's made you lose interest?
Sometimes the people roleplaying with me are jerks and I feel like I have to do everything perfectly, that's when I decide to peace out.

What’s a common factor you see in most long running groups or a common factor in those that don’t last long?

It very much depends on the players themselves. In the longest running RPs I've been a part of there was always some kind of posting order or similar system. For example, 1. Afropuppy 2. Username 3. Username. That way everyone only posted when it was their turn and nobody got left out, making the whole experience more enjoyable since everyone was a part of it. On the short-running rps though, I see the exact opposite. People can post whenever they want, leaving players that might have been away for a couple of days completely confused and without something to do. It might seem fair to let everyone post whenever they wanted, but people get left out too often.

Secret technique? The posting order. It can be fun to have a break from it once in a while but you have to know when to start it again
 
What’s the longest group RP you’ve been in?

An rp on a sandbox forum, for 2 and a half years. Technically coming up to three in May but only one 1x1 scene still happening.

And an rp that started in a chat then moved to a forum, which lasted the same length of time, maybe a bit longer.

What’s made you lose interest or drop and group RP?

We had a huge plot line we had to resolve, where the characters fought in a war. It was a bit of a grind, and because we knew what the end was going to be it lacked spontaneity, and everyone was exhausted when it finished.

At other times: RL making it hard to continue because I couldn't run the rp any more. Losing interest in the setting or theme. Drama OOC. Friends leaving the rp.

What’s a common factor you see in most long running groups?

I think it's down to player compatibility. If you can get along OOC , discuss plots and stuff, encourage each other's hype, and keep everything chill it really helps. Also - not having a GM, or the GM being hands off.

Anyone have any secret technique to keep their groups alive? Or any other thoughts on group RPs timelines really, I want to know what it is that makes or breaks groups. Let me know your experience.

First of all, make sure everyone involved wants to contribute to the story. Pawn-type players are more likely to drop out because they have no reason to keep playing.

Have multiple scenes or storylines running concurrently so that you can break down the group into smaller units, like a series of 1x1s or 1x2s rather than a big group posting together.

Be friends or at least be compatible with the other players OOC. Also compatibility in play style and post length helps.

Keep your stories with some spontaneity to keep it fresh. Don't railroad the plot, let the characters develop it themselves. Allow people to bring in their own curveballs and run with them.

Let players come and go. If you keep a good core membership, other characters can float in and out, adding a bit of texture to the world. Don't be afraid to make up the endings of scenes if someone ghosted from it, or kill off characters if the players disappearance hinders the actions of the group.

Create a good atmosphere IC and OOC.
 
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Keep your stories with some spontaneity to keep it fresh. Don't railroad the plot, let the characters develop it themselves. Allow people to bring in their own curveballs and run with them.
Lol my roleplays barely even have a plot to begin with xD. For example, my most recent roleplay, a stray dogs in an abandoned city roleplay, has the very complicated main objective of (quoting from my own words) "Just survive, meet other dogs and form a pack"
 
Lol my roleplays barely even have a plot to begin with xD. For example, my most recent roleplay, a stray dogs in an abandoned city roleplay, has the very complicated main objective of (quoting from my own words) "Just survive, meet other dogs and form a pack"

I'd suggesting having some kind of plot if you want this to last, otherwise you will get bored. It doesn't have to be anything world-shattering, but things like conflict between the different dogs, struggles they face on the way, antagonists from outside.
 
I'd suggesting having some kind of plot if you want this to last, otherwise you will get bored. It doesn't have to be anything world-shattering, but things like conflict between the different dogs, struggles they face on the way, antagonists from outside.
We're already doing all of those things, we just didn't plan for them. It happens naturally
 
So the longest running roleplay I was ever a part of (however briefly) went on for four years. Two of them actually.

The reason I left them was because of IRL stuff (I was flunking out of college both times if memory serves).

Now what kept them going was a combination of two things. One was player compatibility : we had a core group of people that were very close and communicated constantly about our days and where we wanted the roleplay to go.

Second was story progression. Both implemented time skips to move the story along, with the second one having premade scenes that were designed to keep things moving and the first just had players building the plot in previous events.
 
The longest... Will be almost eight years now, I think? And is still alive.

What makes me lose interest? Many things, but the atmosphere is the most important factor. If I can't deal with the other players, I don't feel like writing anymore. I need to make friends with at least some of them. Other than that... The way the people in the group write - if their posts are always short and full of mistakes, I don't exactly feel like subjecting myself to them... Though of course I understand it can happen from time to time, I know people may have different native languages, we're all humans, etc. Edgelords, Mary Sues, the typical stuff also matters. Favouritism. The owner of the group allowing (some?) members to break the rules of the world... Or the owner acting like everyone else should just dance around their character(s). And so on.

The common factors for the groups that live long? Honestly, I would say Harry Potter; I think the oldest groups I know are mostly about Harry Potter. But other than that, simply fandoms, especially the bigger/more inclusive ones. Example? Marvel. You can do basically everything with that world, so everyone finds something interesting to do and the characters can be extremely different.
Obviously, the atmosphere is important, the way players interact - if they care about each other, they will most likely stay and continue writing together. A good owner - fair, patient, but assertive - and active game masters are also necessary to keep the roleplay alive.

The factors for groups that die quickly? I think it's often the owner losing interest and just moving to another project. Sometimes the idea - though not necessarily bad - simply isn't popular enough. Other times new members get scared away by something that I've mentioned before - like favouritism, OOC dramas, etc... Or the lack of attachment to other players does the job.

About secret techniques - basically what I've already said. Be active yourself, be interested in your players, try suggesting them things to do or finding them people to write with, but never force them to do it. Be understanding, allow some things, but don't let anyone spoil the fun for other people. Give your players a chance to do better - but if they don't change their ways, don't be afraid to punish them. Make sure there are no circles of friends that don't allow other people in. And also... Keep adding new things, plots, ideas, characters, missions, events, whatever you can think of - so that it doesn't get boring... But don't overdo it. Players generally need time to deal with something (a mission, a battle, etc), then get some rest (for example, focused on interactions between their characters) IC. Check what they want to do at the moment. From time to time, offer prizes for their accomplishments. There are many other ways, too, but I would say the ones above are the most important.
 
What’s the longest group RP you’ve been in? What’s made you lose interest or drop and group RP?

The longest I've been on was a boku no hero academia roleplay called "Peace Sign Academia". It lasted I believe around 7 months, which is kind of ironic considering that when I first made it, it was only meant to be an in-between roleplay before my next project (AKA I expected the RP to die quickly). It turned out that, beyond just BnHA's popularity, my own methods ended up being better received than I was expecting, and I was lucky to get a decent melting pot of players too, having a number of active and invested players who were willing to cooperate with me and one-another. Up to this point most of my RPs had died around character creation, so this was the first time I really got to go through the other aspects of running an RP and learning from that experience. It had a very big impact in how I run RPs today.

As for why it fell apart, there's a number of reasons. I didn't, strictly speaking, loose interest, but the RP went into a zombie state for almost two months from which I couldn't see it getting saved at all. I think the biggest turning point was during a trip I took with my family, during which I only had very brief access to the internet for a couple hours a day, and it was right before going to sleep. This prevented me from doing the tasks that I had as a GM, from reviewing character sheets to making sure posts were meeting the requirements, to controlling most of the NPCs and moving the story forward without letting it stall. Furthermore we had a player with which I didn't along at all that would throw around complaints, bend the rules and generally attempt to exploit the system for their own benefit. I wasn't there to deal with those myself, which meant not only that they were allowed to run with those things for a lot longer, but also that it ended up getting to people a lot more. That trip let to stalling of the roleplay and the undermining in trust that was crucial, especially in the more controlling style I had back then.

Now, I made a lot of bad decision back then. I let too many people join the roleplay, I made the plot points too strict, my response to people clearly exploiting the rules was not to deal with those people but to increase the number of rules, I was too lenient in some aspects and too tough on others. Even today, of course, I am still learning how to run things, but yeah... there were a lot of reasons why the RP died. A lot were on me, some were in some particularly bad players, others were in just the general difficulty of running an RP, the natural stalling of momentum that needs players to be able to continue despite it.

What’s a common factor you see in most long running groups or a common factor in those that don’t last long?

Well, first, almost no RPs really "last long". I think it's getting somewhat better, judging by the fact that I see more names more commonly pop up during longer spans of time, but that isn't very strong evidence. The point is, it'd be remiss of us to dismiss the fact that either the cause is more fundamental, or that the several causes for RP's quick failure are independent.

Gun to my head though, there are a few things that I could bring up...
-> Lack of OOC activity is often a sign that the RP won't be able to hold. Player interest in the roleplay often carries over into their investment in the OOC discussion, be it in one's excitement or curiosity in discussing characters, scenes, plans or anything else related to the roleplay, or be it just the players building connections with one another through socializing. Roleplay is a hobby and a group effort, investment in other people as much as the story itself is a very important component. When the RP lacks that element it can much more easily start feeling like a "chore".
-> Especially in more detailed RPs, players who are unable to keep up with the level of detail when in a situation in which they have to be proactive are likely to be losing or soon to lose interest. This tends to happen especially with newer roleplayers, who may expect an action RP to be constant action or aren't able to deal with a slower pace (or the reverse, didn't consider their own schedule well enough to prevent almost immediately being too busy for the roleplay they tried to get into).
-> Lack of GM activity also tends to be a big, big factor.

Anyone have any secret technique to keep their groups alive?
If people did, RPs wouldn't die. Unfortunately, a lot of it boils down to "are players compatible, interested and available?" which is mostly a matter of luck.

There are a few things that you may be able to do though. Firstly, you will want to have a good foundation to begin with. This includes knowing your playerbase (AKA, the kind of players who you want and would be interested in the kind of RP you're making) and appealing to them specifically. Keeping continuous activity, as well as making sure to interact with your players and making them feel included in a regular basis is a good idea as well.

...and I'm too tired to come up with anything else, even though it feels like there is so much more to say... oh well, I hope at least this much is helpful.
 
My longest running RP IRL lasted two years and ended neatly with room for a sequel, which I will probably never get to run because getting five adults in a room to play with any regularity is nearly impossible.
My longest running here on RPN was also about two years but fizzled out because I wound up too depressed to function and allowed it to collapse.

I've found generally the key to success is having a group who become friends. Also, I feel like any RP without a defined narrative arc is kind of doomed not to finish.
 
Longest group rp I've been in: 8 months

Longest RP I've been in: 4 1/2 years.

Interest is a fickle thing and super hard for GMs to control as there are several factors involved they might not know about. Have their players booked more rps than they can feasibly keep up with? How is their irl lives going? Was their joining more because they were bored and can't find anything else vs actually interested in contribution.

So I wouldn't plan around keeping your groups interest. There are a few tips you can you do to try and maximize your group rps lifespan as long as possible.

1) Don't be discouraged!

If your rp fluctuates in activity, players dip, or any other bump in the road happens, have a plan to recover from it and attempt to act on it. A lot of things I witness is that ONE person will drop due to lack of interest, irl concerns, or what have you, and quite a few GMs just kind of give up or execute some kind of poor plan like 'kill their char and continue' or something. I've seen quite a few GMs pull off an exit for those players or even give them room to rejoin after speaking with them about their situations which people have taken. In short, a lot of rps die because GMs tend to get discouraged the moment things go south and give up on salvaging their rps. I'm not saying all do that, but I've seen quite a few lose their rps entirely once one or two people out of like ten have dropped.

2) Have a co-GM (preferably someone you know)!

Co-GM's are lifesavers. Especially those you click with well and can bounce ideas for the rp freely and share half the burden with you. They're someone that can step up to the plate if you have to briefly dip for IRL and vice-versa. Some rps even like to have 3 GMs just so there are no deadlocks with decisions or based on irl factors. Another thing I have recently witnessed as an example of good GM / Co-GM coordination is group management. The group rp in question was way bigger than that GM anticipated so the two GMs formed smaller groups and ran them concurrently with the groups meeting at some junctures. Then the groups would just meet at some junctures or switch off for different tasks later. The smaller group sizes gave more of an opportunity for everyone to contribute and left no one lost in the crowd.

3) OOC is very, very important.

OOC is basically your meter of interest. If players are actively participating in your ooc, they're likely making contacts within the rp, forming plots, creating ideas they would like to see etc. While I have seen some measure of success in RPN's OOC pages, a lot of RPs are now using Discord to communicate. Discord makes it easy to organize OOC, make announcements, etc. Essentially, a healthy OOC is a healthy rp even more so than the IC as people may have posting restrictions such as 'can only post once a week', but if they're participating in the OOC, they're 'still actively participating'. A good OOC also lets a GM get in contact with their players and form plots with them to ensure their character is included and valued. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.



4) Be flexible

I think one of the hardest things for an RP to pull off is a balance between the main idea a GM has come up with and player freedom of choice. Players shouldn't be running amuck all the time, but their ideas and plots should have some bearing in what happens in the story. Say you as a GM planned a main quests that involves the character party get hired to save a princess and become national heroes, but your party is all full of anti-heroes who feel its better and more rewarding to just capture her and ransom her to the enemy for money. In my opinion, there is no reason that should not be allowed to happen as the characters that you approved are only keeping in character. It might not be what the GM had in mind, but if they wanted a story where every outcome is as they wanted, they'd be better off just writing a story alone or doing a 1x1. However, allowing too much freedom in a group setting can lead to the rp becoming a madhouse and writing any kind of story can turn into herding cats. Everyone should have an idea of the what the overall main idea is so they can plan around those events.

I know that sounded as if I were being too critical on GMs, but it's really more of a thing both the players and the GMs need to be fully aware of when going into an RP (how much freedom does the player have to impact how the story turns out.)

At the end of the day, group rps are more luck than anything. You can do everything right as a GM and STILL have an rp die in a short amount of time. We're in the age of instant gratification and lack of patience. While having a boundless determination for the RP to succeed and being persistent DOES pay off, there still can come a time when the writing is on the wall for any rp. Just depends on how much you're willing to dust yourself off and go back to square one.
 
The longest group roleplay was around 1.5-2 years.

It ended because it was created on a website not initially intended for roleplaying, and eventually the site rules got stricter about what they allowed in the comments. Basically, we were forced to either move, quit, or be kicked off entirely. At first, we did try to relocate the roleplay, but finding a site that we all could access was complicated. We even tried creating a group google doc, but the admins of the original site actually FOUND THE DOC and deleted EVERYTHING. So yeah, that's when we pretty much gave up.

I think what kept it and other long term roleplays boils down to a few things.

1) Creativity. Letting all the players contribute and throw in new ideas basically whenever they want to. Sure, they should run it by the other players if it's major, but a sudden jolt of excitement always keeps things interesting.
2) Not having a GM, and if there is one, they shouldn't be overly controlling. They create the plot and resolve any problems/drama that might pop up, but don't try to dictate everything that happens. You don't want people to lose interest because they feel like they have no say over where the roleplay goes, or because they don't necessarily like where it's being taken.
3) As someone before me has already said, a posting order can do wonders for your roleplay. They keep anyone from getting left out. But also, if someone loses interest or doesn't reply for an extended period of time, they can become confusing and stall the development of the roleplay ~ so use with caution.
4) Be friendly. The longest roleplay I've ever been in survived so long because all of us became close friends, talking about our day to day lives as well as plotting together. It was always fun, probably the most fun of any I've been in since.

That's about it. No life-changing advice. Just what's worked for me in the past (:
 
I honestly think the best way to keep an RP alive is to make sure there’s at least one post a day, to keep things moving. And it helps when people actually want to be in it, and don’t disappear forever with no explanation, that’s what ended the last 2 I was a part of
 
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Longest I was in one was 2 years, though it lasted about 4 as far as I know. ( I joined in at the end) Unfortunately, it died when the GM stopped posting one day. The other one was a three-time reboot of the same rp that lasted over a year and a half. We finally let the rp die (instead of v.4 reboot jaodsi) for a fresh start, but are still running a group of the same fandom today.

Anyhow, as many sides above, OOC is very important. Players need to work with each other constantly, with the GM, and the GM needs to take all of this into consideration. For the GM (or creator of the RP, just whoever's running the plot) having a plan is really important imo. Be flexible ofc, but have a direction. Chatroom/drop-in type RPs can work! I just can't give many words on that given I have no experience on the topic. You can't really predict the problems you'll run into, besides some common ones like activity. Yet, sometimes low activity isn't an issue, some times it is. At the end of the day, even if most of the groups got to want the rp to be alive, bad luck can strike and you just can't work past certain issues you encounter. Even the same group of people, the same gm, might not work twice. You never really know for sure, but keeping interest + communication up helps any rp, imo.
 
Longest I was in one was 2 years, though it lasted about 4 as far as I know. ( I joined in at the end) Unfortunately, it died when the GM stopped posting one day. The other one was a three-time reboot of the same rp that lasted over a year and a half. We finally let the rp die for a fresh start, but are still running a group of the same fandom today.

Anyhow, as many sides above, OOC is very important. Players need to work with each other constantly, with the GM, and the GM needs to take all of this into consideration. For the GM (or creator of the RP, just whoever's running the plot) having a plan is really important imo. Be flexible ofc, but have a direction. Chatroom/drop-in type RPs can work! I just can't give many words on that given I have no experiences on the topic. At the end of the day, even if most of the groups got to want the rp to be alive, bad luck struck and you just can't work past certain issues you encounter. There's no gurantee with it all :/
I agree all the group RPs I’ve been in died because the GM just kinda disappeared
 
I think another thing that makes a lot of group RPs fail is just too many people, especially if the entire RP relies on everyone being a part of it
 
I do think 5 is the optimal group number for pretty much that reason. Maybe eight at most.
 

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