Advice/Help How do I Introduce an RP and Hold People's Attention?

[Abyss]

Hello and thanks for checking out my thread! I'm Abyss (obviously ) and looking for advice on how to set up an interest check. I consider myself pretty good at creating lore and building NPCs, but I'd like to learn what you consider important when building the foundations to start the story.

Essentially what I want to learn is what information do you consider important at the start. Do you want the bare bones so you can understand things right away and decide if this RP is the one for you, or do you want a more detailed introduction that draws you into the story? What information is must have and what stuff would you like to discover IC?

Also, do you have any advice on where to start the story? As a player, when do you feel that a GM is exerting too much control over the plot is too much and how much freedom of choice is overwhelming?

(Genre is more supernatural/modern/science experiment with some mystery/horror undertones.)

 

[Saurosian]

That's the question, isn't it?

I suspect it depends largely on what type of roleplay you're building. Not so much in terms of genre, but in terms of the extent of the lore and the size of the group and the expected literacy.

My #1 suggestion is to be able to sum up the entire roleplay in one sentence, and make that sentence stand out (preferably at or near the top of your interest check). I'd be happy to be a sounding board for this (ie. tell you what impression I get based on your sentence) if you want to discuss it here and/or PM me!

My #2 suggestion is to keep it simple but not necessarily short. I think a better way to frame it is to keep it navigable. Some roleplays need a lot of details about lore, systems, rules, guidelines and policies, etc. Design your interest check such that your readers can go to whichever section they think is most important for them in deciding whether or not they want to join your RP.

Now for an conditional suggestion: depending on your application process, make your character applications available immediately. If you're planning to accept members first and then discuss characters, ignore this. But if you have predefined roles or no real rules for building a character, let people apply immediately after seeing the interest check. This allows you to capitalize on their initial interest, getting them to build up their own investment in your roleplay via their character (which is, of course, their most immediate connection to your roleplay). If you can't do this for some reason, then ensure you have some other way for them to immediately engage. Maybe a specific question you want them to answer in the interest check thread (something to do with the roleplay, not "What's your favourite colour?")

#3 suggestion - engage the people who express interest. Answer their questions. Ask them questions. Discuss ideas. Get the hype going! Keep them invested! However, don't invite anyone to a discord server until you have all of your members. You want the conversation, the hype, to be public so it draws more interest in and shows that this RP has a good chance of succeeding because of how involved all of its members are.

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Now for a specific suggestion.

You're building something paranormal, it seems. The prefix options are not great and how they're used on RPN is even less great. But it matters, because for a lot of people, there are only one or two prefixes that they'll even bother to read the titles for. So what do you do? It seems like this could be futuristic OR fantasy OR realistic/modern, however can you get all those groups to read your interest check?

The answer is to change your prefix every time you bump the thread. By cycling through the relevant prefixes you can get everyone (who is relevant) to read your interest check. Plus, it makes it look fresh and new, so people might give it a second chance! Also, feel free to update the title to better capture whatever audience you're aiming for that day! Remember that you should only bump once a day, though, and try to time your bumps to maximize your time at the top.

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And finally, personal preference. Well, not entirely - I think some of this is just true. But maybe it's just because I've experienced it this way.

Mystery roleplays are the hardest roleplays to run and a good GM alone, while absolutely necessary, is far from enough. Your interest check shouldn't give away much more than the vibes and the basic premise (because more details are just going to be intimidating/distracting when the RP should be very focused; unlike in sandbox RPs where more details are inspiring/reflect how well-developed the world in which you'll be playing actually is). But, you need to make lots of lore available to your players by the time they're working on characters/when the RP starts. Because: they need to be able to drive the mystery themself.

I have never been in a successful mystery group RP. I have been in some incredible RPs that were, at their core, about a mystery - but I can't call any of them successful because they all died. 1x1s are great for mysteries, because usually there the mystery is known OOC but not known IC, so both of you can work together to drive the plot towards its revelations with appropriate foreshadowing, setup, red herrings, etc. It gives you lots to do! But how do you achieve this in a group RP?

I think one solution is to make each character a mystery. Let each member have a secret or some secret connection to the mystery or give them all one part of the mystery that has to be solved overall! Then they have something to foreshadow, to allude to, to inspire them in the back of their mind while they're writing a post. It evens the playing field between GM and players.

Another solution is to just tell them the mystery upfront and then let all the characters work to solve it while the players know the truth. I think this is an underrated option, but sometimes you don't want the mystery to be solved. It's unexplainable, eldritch, obscene! Or maybe solving the mystery as players is part of the roleplay's premise/appeal, in which case this obviously won't work!

Another element is that you want to encourage your players to take initiative - you need to make them feel confident that they can move the story forward. For that they need to either understand the world, the setting, the way that everything in their immediate situation will react; or they need to trust that you and the other players will be okay with them changing the scenario, introducing new elements (eg. new NPCs or NPC actions), etc. --> this last option is, I think, what RPs should strive for. Collaborative creativity. Trust in each others' creative abilities and confidence in our own. Tell the story together, not as players and GM but all as storytellers (with the GM maybe doing a bit more guiding than the rest).

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Okay, TLDR time.

The very basics of making an RP are:

1. Identify what you want to run
2. Identify the audience you need to attract to run that RP
3. Determine how best to attract that audience
4. Keep them around until the RP actually starts

I would love to discuss this more because it's a topic I struggle with all the time. If you want to get into more details without posting them all here, my PMs are open.

 

[Pilgrim59]

Writing is an expressive form of art. It varies at different angles and can spawn various schools of thoughts from it.

Having successfully maintained a steady group of enthusiasts for the last two years, I strongly believe that every story should not be perfect. This is a vital aspect to creative liberties and what you, as a GM, could do with it. A perfect story will always be authoritarian and restrictive. The point is, people come to the internet to relax, not obey. So with that in mind, let's get started.

Being a GM is akin to bringing friends over to play some video games together. You need a purpose to bring your friends over and that is playing video games. The same thing applies to your role as a GM. So ask yourself this - what do you want your players to do in your house?
And this requires you to know what you want to cover first and foremost. Perhaps you saw a cool actiony scene from a past movie that you want to relive it, or maybe it was an idea you wanna put into words to share with others. Either way, you will want to set yourself up with a list of what you want to cover in your RP.

I. Purpose.
To answer your first inquiry. Both. You have to provide enough information to paint your world, but leaving just enough spots for the players to color in by themselves as y'all steady your course down into the story. Be tough, but malleable. Be flexible but resilient. A bit contradicting, I know. But that is what being a GM is like. You pretty much gotta improvise half the time, as things will rarely go as planned. You are fiddling with many other brains while you're holding the candle for them to follow, after all. As such, try to keep a balance between utility (magic and combat system, powerscales, etc.) and auxiliary (currency, calendar system, locations, etc.). Which brings me to my next subject of discussion - interest check.

II. Interest Checks.
Interest checks are, well, to check interests (obvious). But that's not all. An interest check works both as a market test and how others will view your work. If you put efforts into it, maybe people will notice. So don't try to do it simply because you have the materials to do so. Do it because you mean to sell it. Reverting back to the first point, you wanna sell what you know for sure will be covered in the RP. If the story is a simple firefight, sell it as such, don't put things on your interest check that might overwhelm the players. Remember, an interest check is like a leaflet. People will not bother if it's too lengthy. With Tik Tokers in tow, we have the combined attention span of about ten seconds. So here's how you could potentially increase your value on the Group Interest market: BBCode.

Aesthetic is a big element in most RP. For those whose written talents are kept minimal for simplicity's sake, they often turn to a more vivid means of presentation to advertise their ideas. What finer way to do so than with BBCode? There are lots of resources that you could borrow on site. Browse through em and select the one best suited for ya. Just make sure to credit the author of the codes. Courtesy and all. In addition, consider the following tidbits to augment your interest checks: drawings, pictures, loading screen quotes, etc.
Pretty much anything in your ability to convey to people what flair you are going for with your RP. Help them visualize your concepts without having to publish "55 Theses on why Female Protagonists With White Hairs Are OP In This World" on your players to read for homework. Hell, they shouldn't have any homework to begin with. Remember you're trying to sell the idea to get a hype train going, not the final product (laughs in EA). That's all it is. A simple, but most pivotal fulcrum of the interest check is to get a hype train going and take it from there.


III. Lore.
The lore is entirely up to you, as the sole author of the project. The players themselves will decide if they want to participate, so it is up to you to set the line of what is doable and what ain't. That's exactly what the lore section is for. There will be circumstances where too much lore can hamper the players' ability to express their creativity. Who would want to RP a book that's been written? As such, it is always optimal to cover the materials that will be "used" almost immediately after the RP starts. Everything else should either complement what you are trying to accomplish. For example, if you showcase a weapon of sorts, it should have a purpose sooner or later. Remember the old adage "Show, don't tell"? Well, it applies here too. Somewhat.

To elaborate, when lorewriting, many takes their own approach on how to best handle the worldbuilding. But the key difference is the audience. There are those who loves to read every tidbits of history to formulate their own theory as to how the world came to be. You know, the "existential thonkers." And then, you have the small-profile people who keeps it down to earth by simply participating and having fun. You can't cater to everyone. So try to keep the lore appealing to all by universalizing it for any lengthy explanation or mechanics as you may. Everything canon should be written in IC anyways. Always remember, the lore is there to help you remember stuff. It's a part of the story, but not the entire story. So I implore ye to never use the lore as an excuse for condescension. I have seen GMs killing good RPs due to their "because I told you so in the lore" attitude. And of course, players that take advantage of unwritten lore as loopholes to do whatever they want. For the sake of versatility, in case you decide to change some details in the future wihout having to retcon the entire idea. Now, for the "show, don't tell" point. One of the few ways to build a world isn't simply it's history or magic, but the people themselves. NPCs, as you mentioned, plays an important role in this.

IV. In-Character.
The story itself takes precedence. It should come before everything else. Even when planning, you need to determine it's genesis and its revelations. However you go about procuring the end matters as it will show the players just how much you put your effort into your work without shoving tons of reading materials down their throats. It can get exhausting when the lore itself is a novel. What's the point of RP when everyone has yet to write their own piece? That's also another point I would like to address. Everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, their posts, and the tribulations that their chars must endure to get the desired outcome. You can only set the directions, not what the players choose to chase. As such, it is imperative for ya to post, even if no one else does. Do what you can to stir life to the RP by having NPCs tell their stories in the campaign, while you slowly nudge the players to do their part. Exposition dialogues can be effective, as the players get to "live" the moment, rather than reading what had happened in the lore and simply dismiss it. Everyone wants to belong somewhere. Which is related to my next pointer - OOC.

V. Out-Of-Character.
This is the most important part of any RP. You want to get involved with the players. See someone not saying much? Ask them about their day. See a player with crazy ideas that resembles yours? Get them in loop with what you want to envision the RP's direction and maybe create an arc catered towards their char's growth to facilitate such ideas. Y'all should grow together. Engagement, overall friendliness, and hearing what the players have to say will complement serve your interests just as well as your writing abilities. Know your weaknesses and learn from the players themselves. You never what profound wisdom you can derive from the players just by simply talking to them and finding out more about their personal intrigues in regards to their participation and expectations of the RP.


TLDR:
I. Purpose. Find out what you want to write about. What can be done in RP format and how you will action such an order.

II. Advertisement. Interest Checks should show what you have in mind, what you have and which genre it is made for. Add some colors to it by BBCoding or adding fancy pictures to cater to the visual learners like myself.

III. Lore. Write some, but not all. Put out the important stuff that will see use in the RP by the players and yourself. You may add extra histories to color the world, but ultimately, you should stick to simplicity and try to reiterate them every now and then in the IC subtly.

IV. In-Character complements the lore and vice versa. Use the IC to reiterate what you wrote on the lore. Formulaic methods are easier to get into than trying to address everything at once.

V. Out-Of-Character. An active fanbase keeps the franchise alive. Talk to the players, have fun there and excite them with potential revelations for the journey ahead. But try not to spoil everything.

I hope my personal experience and opinion on the matter helps to provide insights as to how you will handle your projects. If anything, you would do well to find similarities or overlapping ideas discussed by the other replies here (such as the one above) to form an opinion as to what the recurring perception everyone shares. Like the Saurosian's pointers written, I also concur with a lot of their points. So take it into consideration when you start your next RP project. Being a GM ain't easy, but you'll get the hang of it in your own style soon enough. In fact, I'm actually an "accidental GM" simply because very little personage shares my vision. What better way to start an idea than to put on the gloves yourself?
Have a wonderful day/night! I bid you the best of luck and may the Lord blesses you with wisdom to carry out your RPing endeavors. I'll see ya around the site. Toodles!~

 

[Malphaestus]

Luck and spirit.

 

[GojiBean]

Hoyo!

As one who's been role-playing for over 2 decades, let me confirm that holding people's interest is incredibly difficult!

Everyone gets a thrill and a jolt of adrenaline about the initial idea. All the possibilities rushing through their minds and the promise of excitement and fun keep them excited initially. But once the RP actually begins and things (as they most commonly do) start off slow as everyone tries to find their footing and feel out everyone else's characters, the excitement declines sharply at a rapid pace. And people will drop or disappear within 2-5 posts.

According to my own experience, the best way to keep the other players engaged is to get them into a form of instant message communication such as Discord or any other IM service whether it's free online or via an app of some kind. Keeping everyone talking and communicating with each other, even if it's not always directly related to the RP, is a fantastic method of keeping everyone active within the group itself. It also helps to more easily open up communication between members whenever they want to arrange interactions for their characters. On RPN, where communication is a lot slower since it's forum/message based, it can be more daunting to reach out to people or engage beyond the RP posting threads themselves, for whatever reason.

Another thing to do as the GM is to make sure that the RP, even in down time, has something to offer the players more than just dialogue and "movement," meaning going from one place to another. There should always be something. Even if it's something tiny like you putting a bit of narration that hints at something that might be on the way very soon, put something there. Whet their appetite every time you post and give them something to look forward to.

Remember this: Nothing kills a role-play faster than zero movement and meaningless dialogue.

What's "meaningless" dialogue, you may be asking?

Meaningful dialogue will always help the story/scene advance in some way, shape, or form. It will offer moments of character building (such as revealing bio information), address current and potential future events, or urge the group to move ahead. For example, a conversation in which your character points out details about something that just happened in the scene and urges everyone to look ahead and press onward with the journey rather than staying still.

Meaningless dialogue will exist solely for the sake of filling space and time without providing anything relevant to the scene or the story/plot. For example, a conversation about clothing preferences that starts and ends with just talking about "my favorite (insert clothing item/color)." To be meaningful, this conversation would need at least one person to suggest they go get some clothes that fit their preference rather than just talk about said preferences for hours on end.

Pro Tip: Never let your scenes devolve into meaningless dialogue that does not advance the scene/story.

Hopefully this was helpful!

~ Cheers!

 

[Chordling]

My current recruitment statistics have shown that about 20% of the original interested group will actually commit and stay in a roleplay.

Don’t let it discourage you out if a healthy majority don’t submit character sheets or even leave after the first round of posts.