Experiences I've been on RPN since 2014, new RPs seem to be on a decline and even less end up being substantial, here's what I think

[TerrorKitty]

Hello! I don't usually do many things like this on RPN, at least I haven't for a long time. I've been through many hiatus through the years and I'm starting to come back full force.
Oh~ and I'm TerrinX if you may know me, I've recently changed my username (You meet a lot of people over 6 years).

So.

The decline in RPs at least as far as I've seen with interest threads. I have a few theories on how and why this is happening, and some comments on what to do about it.

Why are there fewer RPs?
There's a lot of reasons

• Many people have moved on - Especially those who were on the site in it's prime, those who grew with RPN and went from noobs to authors

• Possible influxes of new writers overwhelming the experience - We've all seen it before, a super good looking RP pops up and people jump for it, attracting players of all skill levels, however, the RP is ambitious, detailed, and seems beyond the ability of many. This causes many to keep away, with those better attuned to "more literate" taking the majority. Many of the newer players may try to enter the fold only to see the incredibly detailed CS's or insurmountable walls of text and doing their best to keep up, only to then find that the others are writing these behemoth posts with not just one, but two or three characters each.

It's easy to feel like you've stumbled into something way beyond yourself. I've personally had this happened to me a few times. I thought to myself that I had grown to a place where I could keep up only
to be, well. Overwhelmed and dropping out, retreating to a simple highschool RP where people at most only post like two or three paragraphs, response times are lower and the RP chugs ahead quickly.

At the same time, you can be a well-experienced player, and have a more complex RP written up, but it either scares people away or there aren't enough players of the high bar skill level joining and either no one does or there's a majority of newer players who maybe catch you off guard and it can hurt your experience as a GM.

The prime result would be a mix of skill levels where everyone can learn from each other and not feel too far behind or ahead. This dynamic seemed to have been more abundant in the past but had dwindled into skill-based niches in makes success rates a bit lower I think.

• Age of players and time management - I'm not sure what the age demographics are but for having been here for 6 years I've certainly aged, and so have those who I RP'd with then and up to now. As people get older, sometimes things become easier or harder in terms of RP, especially when it comes to time management. Work, college, etc things that take so much time. Shifts in daily living can heavily impact someone's availability. School is a good example, no matter if you're in high school or college, or not even in school, the academic year impacts the entire site. More people are available during long breaks while they might not be during the school year, especially if you also work on top of that. So the fluxes of players certainly changes throughout the year and some age demographics may be more available than others at any given time, which can affect what kind of RPs are coming out and who's joining them.
  
  
  
• Cliques/Niches - It's safe to say over the years many people have found people they life to RP with and a style or format they're most in tune with. As a result, people may end up with a group they RP with more than others and there isn't much leeway for newer people or new people are not used to that groups style, or maybe they're nervous about a group they're not in.
  
  
  
• Simply there are less RPs being made, or people are mostly sticking to 1x1s

• Those that are made almost seem to never get enough support, or past even the CS, and when they do, it doesn't last long. I've also noticed it only takes one person to drop to stop the entire RP.

There are other things but it would take me forever to write out

As for solutions - I think more people just need to be more cognizant of RP creation and joining. Possibly the site could dedicate a whole month to the creation and joining of RPs, with experienced players/writers holding workshops for the month, a collaboration to make official guides by the people for the people.

I also think newsletter alerts are easily dismissed, so when things like this happen, people are likely to skip them (I mean, I've been here 6 years and I've almost never touched a newsletter) and something like "Super important announcement" or something.

I dunno. I'm kind of tired. What do you think?

 

[Crow]

There are fewer RPs now? Sounds like RPN back then was the RP Guild of today.

I won't deny that I feel RPs dwindling just a bit.

I do have to wonder though - what if it's the world that's slowly retracting from roleplaying, and this site is just part of it? It might sound like an overgeneralization, but think about it. Roleplaying was quite the rage in the old days. Pre-2010s, early 2010s, mid-2010s. Even sites not dedicated to RPing that had an RP section were racking numbers, big numbers. These days, however, not a lot of luck on those fronts.

 

[Grey]

SAME AS IT EVER WAS

SAME AS IT EVER WAS

 

[TerrorKitty]

There are fewer RPs now? Sounds like RPN back then was the RP Guild of today.

I won't deny that I feel RPs dwindling just a bit.

I do have to wonder though - what if it's the world that's slowly retracting from roleplaying, and this site is just part of it? It might sound like an overgeneralization, but think about it. Roleplaying was quite the rage in the old days. Pre-2010s, early 2010s, mid-2010s. Even sites not dedicated to RPing that had an RP section were racking numbers, big numbers. These days, however, not a lot of luck on those fronts.

That's really true, I forgot to add that I came from a large group of people who used to RP terribly on Roblox but grew out of it and when am influx of younger kids kinda ruined Roblox I needed a new place to RP and Rpnation was it. I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of similar stories.

Being introduced to RP is a huge factor as it honestly feels kinda taboo to talk about.

Even among other writers, or even players, like for example I know a lot of people roleplay on MMORPGs and IMVU or whatever, but that compared to something like Rpnation, well.

It's like comparing apples and oranges, yeah you can put them both in a fruit bowl and they're both sweet tasty foods, but they're not the same.

And trying to explain all that to new people can be information overload

 

[Grey]

I think the popularity of D&D streams and Discord have had a big role in reduced numbers, but on the other hand I find the site has a 2/4 year cycle.
Every two years there's a small influx of new people around Spring/Summer, and old members seem to have an average hiatus of 2 years. Every four years there's seemed to be a big influx.
Although I think the mergers in earlier years - 2014 especially, were responsible for the biggest bumps in users.

 

[Crayons]

I have no idea if there are less or more RPs now, I've only been here a year and everything seems about the same during that time, but this was interesting to read.

 

[Murdergurl]

So, I'm pretty new to this site... but I've been Rping for... a long time. I think I've brought it up too many times already, tbh.

Lemme tell you that this Roleplay site is actually VERY active considering the rest of what's out there concerning forum-run roleplay. That being said, there has been a steady decline in participation in recent years all around (on forums). It is NOT unique to this site, as you have observed. Lots of places I used to be on have diminished in their activity. Others have dried up entirely. This isn't for a lack of community. In fact, I will tell you that online roleplaying has actually become more and more popular in recent years. What we are seeing is a shift in the platform that people roleplay on. Places like Discord are the new Meta, it seems. I personally am not a fan, but a LOT of people seem to go for it. It rings more in tune with the newer gen of roleplayers that like that kind of thing. And the new peeps that come in are just discovering the hobby are barely figuring out where everything is. They might be in several groups, and will eventually whittle down their activity to their favored places.

The other thing, is that participation and popularity is subjective. If you are with the new blood, things are great. But after a few years pass, a new wave comes in and suddenly you are not on the hype train anymore (even if you never realized you were on it to begin with). Peeps that have been in the game for a while eventually see the patterns, and have to find a place to fit, or otherwise become very niche in their involvement. Its simply the pace of the scene. New fandoms and styles and such come in as the meta, and if you aren't into it... you sit on the sidelines hoping it will change back. It WILL change... but not likely into what you are hoping for. And inevitably, the ones that find themselves in their golden years now, will be in your exact position in a few years time, themselves.

There are fewer RPs now? Sounds like RPN back then was the RP Guild of today.

Are we talking about the same RP Guild? I've been on there since... I think 2015, and it's always been kinda shitty

 

[Crow]

Are we talking about the same RP Guild? I've been on there since... I think 2015, and it's always been kinda shitty

Very brown site, uses ads to fund themselves, only recently installed a save feature, sometimes there's so many threads yours gets drowned out to page 3 or 4 in an hour...

 

[TerrorKitty]

I've become an rp boomer oof

Discord RP is definitely not easy for me, the format doesn't lend itself to semi-lit + very well,

 

[Chordling]

What are you using to measure the decline of forum roleplays?

 

[Reid]

I dunno. Compared to other forums for RP, RPN is thriving. Lots of activity and interaction. I've seen other forums where the same threads sit for days without any movement. I think what makes RPN a lot more lively is
1. The website format is clean and easy to use, no flashing graphics or clunky menus
2. The website is mobile friendly
3. Discord. In this day and age, discord is the easiest way to interact with whatever community you're in.
4. Active and friendly staff. This might seem minor but in the grand scheme of things, the nature of your community's staff could make or break it. A different community I was apart of broke into shambles because of so much drama between the users and staff, no one knew what the heck they were doing, petty squabbles were common. It was a mess. There's none of that here, and the vibe is welcoming rather than off putting.

I think perhaps what people struggle with is how the nature of RP has changed. Moving away from forum-style/email to a more laid back chat style like discord PMs or how a lot more people use bbc code to make their posts seem more "aesthetic" which might be a big wtf for some folks.

 

[Murdergurl]

Very brown site, uses ads to fund themselves, only recently installed a save feature, sometimes there's so many threads yours gets drowned out to page 3 or 4 in an hour...

Quantity does not denote quality, though. Just because there is a lot, doesn't mean they are good. And really the flow depends on WHERE in the site you are interested.
The Advanced Roleplay section is what best suits my style, and it is much, much slower there. The stuff at the bottom of the first page is already over a month old from what I remember. Factor out the 1x1 RPs and I have even less to look through on there. It's been a couple months since I checked in. But I doubt it's changed much since 6 months ago, a year ago, 2 years, 3 years, etc.

I've become an rp boomer oof

Discord RP is definitely not easy for me, the format doesn't lend itself to semi-lit + very well,

Agree. Discord is crap for peeps who enjoy long narrative. 2000 characters is nothing for a post length most of the time

 

[TerrorKitty]

The frequency of which new interest chec

Quantity does not denote quality, though. Just because there is a lot, doesn't mean they are good. And really the flow depends on WHERE in the site you are interested.
The Advanced Roleplay section is what best suits my style, and it is much, much slower there. The stuff at the bottom of the first page is already over a month old from the last response from what I remember. Factor out the 1x1 RPs and I have even less to look through on there. It's been a couple months since I checked in. But I doubt it's changed much since 6 months ago, a year ago, 2 years, 3 years, etc.



Agree. Discord is crap for peeps who enjoy long narrative. 2000 characters is nothing for a post length most of the time

Not even close, and this year has been my largest growth in writing ability, pumping out 1,000 - 1,500 words average with an upper max of 3,000+

 

[Murdergurl]

The frequency of which new interest chec

Not even close, and this year has been my largest growth in writing ability, pumping out 1,000 - 1,500 words average with an upper max of 3,000+

awesome. It's always cool to hear peeps talk about their progress in their narrative style. I really do hope you find people more your speed here, sooner than later. :-)

 

[TerrorKitty]

Even still, I had given up on RP for a bit because after trying to join RP after RP, making simple or complex characters, only for the RP to never start, or never get anywhere.
Around this time last year I was having fun with a creepy carnival RP and I was going pretty well back and forth with someone, but I was told to cool it down and wait for everyone else, but days, weeks, months went by and they kept saying stuff like how they were gonna do it soon, bla bla, basically they were just annoyed I kept asking, though it seemed like no one was ever going to reply, I just wanted to get my next post out.

I say if an RP is working for a few, it's better to let them continue on, rather than halting that because you're waiting for people who are never coming. Especially when those who are active are trying to interact with those who aren't giving them a better window to jump in.

I don't know if it's just me, but the survival rate of RPs is pretty low

 

[TerrorKitty]

I have a lot of crazy ideas and we'll 0 of them worked out, and I was so frustrated with rps never working out, I was not able to do more than one at time, nor could write too much or have more than one character, there was certainly a time when things were pretty smooth. Last 1-2 years have been so dry.. but that might just be me

 

[Reid]

. I mostly do one on ones because it's easier to say "hey I'm swamped give me a week" and have a single person go "sure" and understand verses a group of 4 or more people.

This is so true. Probably why I stick to 1on1. On top of the fact that groups are too fast for me....

 

[TerrorKitty]

Rps that last years is so beyond me, any of the ones I've ever been in that lasted any significant amount of time was a few weeks, a month or two tops
The only exception being the most recent 1x1 I've been in since Feb, which is still going and is at 260 pages which is around 10 hours worth of reading, so I'm proud of that. I've never experienced an RP like it before

 

[TerrorKitty]

See thats one of the good ones. It's a roleplay you'll talk about years later. A roleplay you'll print into a binder to read later. The OCs you'll draw all the time, that you'll never RP again, but you'll remember them so fondly. This RP of yours is your masterpiece right now. They don't come often but when they do! So enjoy it, because HOT FREAKING DAMN that is a load of pages; I've been there too it's such a great feeling.

It's almost if not already 10hrs of reading, I compiled it into a Google Doc and it's 300+ pages now

 

[Zer0]

I hope that brings you some perspective. This is a fickle hobby, dependent on others, full of compromise and a time suck. You can expect dry spells that last longer than you like, you can expect exciting highs the likes of which you'll be chasing for years to come, you'll create OCs you'll never let go of but never get to RP again, and you'll write up more RP ideas than will ever get played.

Hardest of all you'll make more failures than successes, roleplay is an art and you don't paint masterpieces often.

Well said.

 

[Kaihaku]

I'm new to RPNation but I've been around quite a few sites. I've definitely observed a decline in play by post roleplaying but that's coupled with a general decline in forum traffic. Even extremely active forums, like Giant in the Playground, are not what they were 10 years ago.

On the forum where I've done the most play by post, the roleplaying sub-forum is the only active holdout on what was once a very engaged board. Most of the members have either moved on in life or moved on to other venues. I think online roleplaying is still quite healthy...for one virtual tabletop has really picked up...but, like MUSH or MUD, play by post is fading as people age and new options become available. That doesn't mean that it's going away. There are still active MUD servers out there but I think the heyday is over.

 

[Archie]

Do we have hard data on user numbers? I've had this account for 5 years and if anything I think this site has gotten more active (at least with literate RPs). Last year I kicked off an RP that was almost the exact same as one I tried to boot up years before and got 3 times the number of CS'es. I remember having to scroll through 3 pages of interest checks to find a good one (and that was back when they were broken up by genre), and now there are too many to keep up with.

 

[Whisker]

I've been on this site since 2015 (which I consider the golden year). It feels, to me, like there are more rps than ever flooding in, but that the interest gap has changed considerably. There's just less and less to get excited to RP about the more you lurk. The longer you've been around to see things, the more stale some stuff gets since you have likely seen it a hundred times before. New bloods to the site are booming and firing up interests checks left and right though. Unfortunately, as represented by a lack of good stuff going on right now media-wise, it's the same tried and true stuff like Highschool rps, Superheroes, and Supernatural shenanigans that the older crowd has seen a lot of.

There's a ton of people who just lurk now. I wouldn't be surprised if the site had declined in users, but I think there's also a lot more than people would think who just don't post regularly.