Experiences Longest Roleplay?

Four Years, roughly. Second is about three.

I would generally say it takes enough freedom for people to get creative and make ideas they really like. And can can stick with for the long term. All the while, having a solid enough foundation to attract people and have some sense of direction.

Narratives should come from many different angles. Sure you can have a GM feed you all the narrative but usually, the longest lasting RPs have a group of people who sort of contribute plots of their own. I think it's important to have groups of people contribute to plots. I think basically any RP usually does well when more than one person is feeding the "plot". Usually a lot of RPs I see that last this long have multiple points of failure. People inevitably go through points of transition in their lives or have things happen. So being able to have plots come from multiple people really helps.

Generally, I think it's a good thing to be very invested in other characters beyond your own as well.

Might be a bit of a hot take. I don't think RPs or ideas should be made from fads or something you've just seen. I think long lasting RPs tend to be made off broad genres that people have been interested in for a long time. Fad RPs or characters simply made in the moment tend to pass from what I observe.

Usually the end of these RPs I've seen occur in private messages. Some drama unfolds in secret and then it boils over out in public and explodes. This can happen a couple of times but if issues don't really get resolved then people tend to quietly or loudly leave and start their own thing or join someone else. The two longer RPs I was in went out with a particular bang. Then people stopped replying. While ironically, most shorter RPs I see go out with more a whimper.

One on one RPs I have tend not to last long. And when one did for me, it's because it was going at a rate of 1 reply a month or every two. So it'a hard for me to comment very decisively on that. I'd imagine both people would have to more evenly distribute the weight of the story with an abundance of plots.
 
I recently learned that some old players from one of my major roleplays in 2015 (or maybe earlier?) are still working on new content, eight or nine years on. That game was an iteration on a setting that had been around since about 2012, with lots of lore continuity, and we're still playing sequels and spin-offs to this day.

The word count for that game is easily over a million, and multiple millions for the setting as a whole. I wouldn't consider that particular iteration still alive in a meaningful way, though.
 
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Maverick Six said:
Four Years, roughly. Second is about three.

I would generally say it takes enough freedom for people to get creative and make ideas they really like. And can can stick with for the long term. All the while, having a solid enough foundation to attract people and have some sense of direction.

Narratives should come from many different angles. Sure you can have a GM feed you all the narrative but usually, the longest lasting RPs have a group of people who sort of contribute plots of their own. I think it's important to have groups of people contribute to plots. I think basically any RP usually does well when more than one person is feeding the "plot". Usually a lot of RPs I see that last this long have multiple points of failure. People inevitably go through points of transition in their lives or have things happen. So being able to have plots come from multiple people really helps.

Generally, I think it's a good thing to be very invested in other characters beyond your own as well.

Might be a bit of a hot take. I don't think RPs or ideas should be made from fads or something you've just seen. I think long lasting RPs tend to be made off broad genres that people have been interested in for a long time. Fad RPs or characters simply made in the moment tend to pass from what I observe.

Usually the end of these RPs I've seen occur in private messages. Some drama unfolds in secret and then it boils over out in public and explodes. This can happen a couple of times but if issues don't really get resolved then people tend to quietly or loudly leave and start their own thing or join someone else. The two longer RPs I was in went out with a particular bang. Then people stopped replying. While ironically, most shorter RPs I see go out with more a whimper.

One on one RPs I have tend not to last long. And when one did for me, it's because it was going at a rate of 1 reply a month or every two. So it'a hard for me to comment very decisively on that. I'd imagine both people would have to more evenly distribute the weight of the story with an abundance of plots.
Click to expand...

Hey I got two long running 1x1s going. They are at a slow pace but I haven’t had the time for fast pased roleplays since COVID first hit and even that was because I lost my job at the same time. So literally nothing else to do but post.

I think with 1x1s what’s most important is communication and patience. If you need instant gratification then it’s probably not gonna be a good long term fit for you.

If you are busy and don’t mind waiting on replies it can be great long term style of roleplay. I have multiple roleplays that are 20+ posts in that average maybe a post every two weeks when they’re active. All of them have taken month long hiatuses but everyone knows that when life is no longer busy they can just check back in.
 
Time wise: about 6 years, word count? I honestly do not remember. Me of 2012 would have cared to know tho lmao
 
Elowyn said:
My question is: What is the longest roleplay you've been a part of? (time-wise or word count-wise)

And how do you keep going for so long? I really want to go long term with someone but it usually peters out within a year if not a few months.
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13 years. My friend and I RPed X-Men from 2004 to 2017. Writing back and forth between the two of us, as well as rping/admin on various forum based X-Men rps. I mainly played Nightcrawler and Cyclops. We both had our "main" characters but we also divvied up the rest of the canon X-Men characters as "ours". I played mostly Kurt, with Scott right behind him.

I loved playing Warren (Angel), at least my AU Warren version. My favorite stuff to reread was anything Warren centric.

I was also Charles, Wolverine, Kitty, Emma Frost, Rogue, Northstar, Storm, and my lone OC: Nigel. Nigel's mutant power was holding his breath indefinitely in liquids. He was vaguely chavvish British, sweet and odd in a flakey stoner giggly way. He was Jono's drummer, didn't go on missions much and just kind of around. He was useless and weird but in an endearing way.
 
Elowyn said:
My question is: What is the longest roleplay you've been a part of? (time-wise or word count-wise)

And how do you keep going for so long? I really want to go long term with someone but it usually peters out within a year if not a few months.
Click to expand...
I've had a few last a while. Generally what kept it going was breaks. Believe it or not its totally okay for a role play to stall for a period of time. If people feel inspired enough they will come back. To hold accountability when people just don't commit but also be relaxed and say "hey but if you want to keep reading go right ahead!". This leaves things open for others to read your collective role play even if they are not in it. Thus networking the role play almost by word of mouth! Invite people to read your work and a role play can literally last years! ;) To have an understanding that everyone needs inspiration and guidance when writing is so important too. Don't smother but provide that sweet inspiration catering to their character. Because every member wants to feel special. I often make a point of doing a special event for each character or keep a certain plot point in mind.
You are not writing a story for them but with them. Be open to a vast and diverse crowd with a strong sense of safety to the rules and guidelines. Create a sense of safe non hostile environment that is fun and people will flock to your good nature.

If a role play stalls for a few week on me I'm okay with that. If it stalls for a month. Totally okay! If it stalls for a few months I'll throw a plot twist prompt and that usually brings people back

Edit: When it was not weird to do so. I've also become pen palls with people I've written with before that can also create a sense of community
 
Madam Love Love said:
I've had a few last a while. Generally what kept it going was breaks. Believe it or not its totally okay for a role play to stall for a period of time. If people feel inspired enough they will come back. To hold accountability when people just don't commit but also be relaxed and say "hey but if you want to keep reading go right ahead!". This leaves things open for others to read your collective role play even if they are not in it. Thus networking the role play almost by word of mouth! Invite people to read your work and a role play can literally last years! ;) To have an understanding that everyone needs inspiration and guidance when writing is so important too. Don't smother but provide that sweet inspiration catering to their character. Because every member wants to feel special. I often make a point of doing a special event for each character or keep a certain plot point in mind.
You are not writing a story for them but with them. Be open to a vast and diverse crowd with a strong sense of safety to the rules and guidelines. Create a sense of safe non hostile environment that is fun and people will flock to your good nature.

If a role play stalls for a few week on me I'm okay with that. If it stalls for a month. Totally okay! If it stalls for a few months I'll throw a plot twist prompt and that usually brings people back

Edit: When it was not weird to do so. I've also become pen palls with people I've written with before that can also create a sense of community
Click to expand...
I love that! I feel a lot of pressure to continue outputting posts, so it's nice to just rest for a while, put it aside, and then if the time comes, to return to it. It's mostly me creating the pressure lol, so it helps hearing it from someone else.

Creating a non-hostile, safe environment... I can definitely see what you're saying.

Plot twist, huh? Good idea~
 
Probably 2 years. It was one of the first ones I joined. It was a One Piece AU. After that, everyone One Piece RP couldn't compare.
 
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