Experiences Longest Roleplay?

[Elowyn]

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.

 

[Letho]

The longest one for me was probably a group one that went on for almost ten years. It's hard to say exactly why and how, but it was definitely a mixture of people really caring about their characters and the story, active DMs and administration in general, a lot of OOC conversations as we played, and just... The members of the group becoming close friends.

But even other than that, most of the roleplays I start - group ones or one-on-ones - usually last for years... With the exceptions being the random groups I occasionally join here, because those die shockingly fast - if they begin at all. It still surprises me, to be honest.

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

On another site I have a group that's been running for a little over a year now and another that's been going for seven months. In terms of groups, I think some of the aspects that help are...

• Group chemistry first and foremost. All members need to be able to get along both OOC and IC. Few people are gonna stick around if they have to interact with someone whose writing/character they can't stand, or if they can't tolerate some of the OOC personalities. Neither of my groups are super chatty, and I wouldn't say they are close friends - my relationships with each of the players are more like acquaintanceships, honestly - but they do occasionally talk, and when they do, they get along.
• Patience. Slow periods happen because sometimes life and mental illnesses interfere. Most of my players have stuck around through those periods, so we've been able to continue with the games. In fairness, I think some of this has to do with age. Where I'm active, the site is predominantly full of 30+-year-olds.
• Commitment. A willingness to not keep one eye on the door, but if I'm honest, I think what's helped with my games is that new group pitches don't come up as frequently on the site they're on, compared to a place like RPN, where there are one or two pages of active interest checks. It's harder for temptation to lead someone astray that way.
• An ability for the GM to not become so easily disheartened, especially when there are those players who inevitably drop out/disappear. It's important to focus on the players you do have, not on the ones who leave.
• An ability to keep the game moving, especially in the beginning. The start of a game is a trial run for a lot of people, where they determine if they like their character, the story, and the group, so they aren't gonna be as committed at this stage. It's easier to maintain their attention and develop that commitment if the game starts with good momentum. If someone doesn't post in the allotted time that they were supposed to, communicated through your rules, skip them and move on. They lose no more than a minute or two of IC time and can pick back up in the next round. And if they don't, then that means they probably weren't that interested, anyway, and you potentially kept your game alive, because you weren't waiting around for someone who wasn't going to post.
  
  Nudges may be important even in the later stages of the game, too. If things stall too much, it's harder to regain that momentum, but GMs can maybe afford to be more lenient once they've cemented the interest of the players.
• Good attitudes and flexibility also go a long way. Other people aren't always going to do something you love, but you have to be willing to roll with it. Obviously, everyone has limits, but if those limits are too strict, it's not likely a group is gonna work out for that person. I think this also means understanding that a group consists of multiple people, and that the game has to cater to all of them to some degree. If someone expects a group to only cater to their availability and interests, then they shouldn't be in a group. And lastly, an ability to handle disagreements and criticism goes a long way. I've seen people drop out of games because a GM gives them a light slap on the wrist, or because someone points out an inaccuracy in their post. Relationships involve compromises and communication, and that's naturally going to involve the less-than-pleasant moments, but that's sometimes part of a group developing and becoming a cohesive unit.

Some of the above is applicable to 1x1s, too, but I admit I haven't had as much luck with those. Largely me. I often get bored when it's only two people writing back and forth.

 

[Lorsh]

I have had 100+ page roleplays back on ROBLOX

Not a lot of words per post though

 

[Spoiled Bread]

The first RP I joined back when Facebook was still fresh lasted roughly three years, and we didn't even know we were roleplaying.

 

[soldiersfolly]

my longest form roleplay is the one i am currently in- we're a little over a year! it's one of my favorite things ive ever been a part of

 

[WhiskeyMarten]

A roleplay I'm in that's been running since late 2021 is currently at about 3000 posts across two threads. Lots of people and lots of passion, lead by a great, very organized gm

 

[.quietus]

Two years, give or take.

 

[GojiBean]

The longest RP I was a part of lasted for approximately 3 years. It was one I ran on another site between late 2016 through early 2019, and it was loosely based on a story I'm trying to write and publish.

I was using roleplaying as a means to conceptualize and fine tune the characters, lore, mechanics, worldbuilding, etc. Even went so far as to have made a language (though it was very limited) for a the primary antagonists to use. And by the time I started this RP I felt that where it was at worked really well. And, obviously, the length of time the RP lasted made me think so too... Until I actually started formally studying creative writing and found out just how bad it was which forced me to start again from scratch.

But yeah. That was the longest one on memory.

I miss those days when I could get an RP to last that long. Lol.

 

[GammyWamzee]

okokok.
So my longest RP has been about 33 Pages long. Each response is about 500+ words per character! This rp has been going on for about a year!

My tips!
>OOC Chatter, and Chemistry.
-Share songs and media with eachother
-Share ideas and AU with eachother
-Respect eachother's boundaries

>Dynamic Characters
-Characters that are 3-Dimensional (include hobbies, foods, love languages, family)
-Characters that mesh well together

>Multiple Characters. My best and longest lasting RPs have had 3+ characters.
-3 Main characters per person. However many side characters.
-Just swap out characters, and focus on more as time goes on

>World Building
-My favorite Rps have been fantasy based, with a lot of world building!
-It doesn't have to have pages of building, just information, fill in the rest.

 

[Onmyoji]

On this site, the rp with biggest post count was 577 posts. They were fairly short though, not sure about word count. Lasted for about a year. So while it's longest in post count, it's not longest time-wise.
The 2nd longest one was 277 posts and over 120k words. Lasted for 2 years or a bit more
Third was 190 posts and not sure about word count, but all those posts were fairly long, so I assume around 100k words as well. Lasted for around 2 years, still ongoing

I also participated in a 2-year DnD campaign on Discord.

 

[fluticasone]

Hosted a three year roleplay a long time ago. Posts averaged at 700 word. I think we reached around 300 posts and hit three major plot points. It died mostly because I had to halt most of my online activity - I was the primary storyteller, since it was a bit of a Dnd-esque thing with everyone reacting to what I introduced. Eventually I outgrew the friends there even after I could get back in and we just never picked it back up.

But as a lot of people have mentioned, it comes down to chemistry and luck. I don't think being friends with your RPers is absolutely necessary. I have very good friends on here and we can't keep an RP alive to save our lives. I've also had not-so-close RP friends where we kept a very content heavy (think 1k words per post with a specific emulated writing style) going for over a year. It does help a lot if you have a GM who has a clear vision of what is going to happen in the RP, even if it does mean ditching people who wind up ghosting.

 

[TooCommon]

I had one roleplay that has been ongoing since 2019. It's gotta be the longest I've had and I couldn't tell you why neither party has lost interest/been unable to continue. It's a fun story though, we've come a long way (:

 

[Jet]

41 pages, so 1025-1049 posts, averaging about 400 words per post.

Total of about 400k words, which is 40 novel chapters.

I ran it for 1 year 8 months, good times! I learned a lot and met some good people.

I'm DMing a new project and we're almost on page 16. Hopefully we can surpass the other one. Fingers crossed.

 

[Elowyn]

41 pages, so 1025-1049 posts, averaging about 400 words per post.

Total of about 400k words, which is 40 novel chapters.

I ran it for 1 year 8 months, good times! I learned a lot and met some good people.

I'm DMing a new project and we're almost on page 16. Hopefully we can surpass the other one. Fingers crossed.

Awesome! Good luck!

 

[zizikitty]

Oh man. Longest one consecutively I think ran for about a year? I met this really awesome person on another forum site (I cannot remember the name but the site was nearly dead last time I check on it). It was an rp about a vampire and were wolf who were in an almost Harry Potter type of magic school. The two man characters were fated to change the world. My villain wanted both dead (for separate reasons), they ran away from school and had a massive adventure running from their parents and the murderous werewolf. It was so good until my buddy started hyper focusing on them having a baby.

But is was full of turns, action, character building, funny moments, sad moments, just… was so good.

 

[dangerfluff]

The longest one for me was probably a group one that went on for almost ten years. It's hard to say exactly why and how, but it was definitely a mixture of people really caring about their characters and the story, active DMs and administration in general, a lot of OOC conversations as we played, and just... The members of the group becoming close friends.

But even other than that, most of the roleplays I start - group ones or one-on-ones - usually last for years... With the exceptions being the random groups I occasionally join here, because those die shockingly fast - if they begin at all. It still surprises me, to be honest.

A group staying together for 10+ years sounds like an impossibility! I had no idea you could pull that off. That's incredible.

 

[Vibe_Lad]

My longest roleplay streak where not a day went by without atleast one or two responses was around one and a half months.
But my longest active roleplay was on an application named geeking, was an apocalypse scenario where I played a national park medical technician and my partner was a college aged woman who worked in the town the scenario was set. We roleplayed that setting for almost two years, my guy was supposed to haul medical supplies to a remote village from a survivor compound my character worked for. My partners character evolved into a battle hardener and cold hearted veteran survivor. The plotline evolved where I dropped hints my character was struggling with PTSD due to horrific sights his field work forced him to be exposed to, and devolving into a nihilistic shell of his former self, and my partner asked me to stop the roleplay as is felt "too real"

We continued other scenarios, but my longest roleplay ended in a mine shaft where we took shelter from a blizzard. I liked the dynamic. Still miss it.

 

[Caffeinated Joy]

The longest RP I ever was part of was on another, long-gone site. It lasted for (stops to think and count)...I don't know, exactly...many, many years. It's more than just having a good plot and good writers. We worked well together, let everyone have their creative input, didn't let one person take over the RP and understood this is a hobby and everyone has a life outside of the RP. Idea bouncing went something like "Hey, I have this thought. What if x happens" and someone would go "Oh, awesome...AND y thing can happen." and someone else would say, "What about z?" and so one. It was collaborative, which I love. Too often idea bouncing goes. "Hey what about x?" with an answer of "OK, cool" and nothing else.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

A soul eater AU rp I'm currently in on this very site in group rp, been over a year, has it's ups and downs, but a friend of mine wishes to continue so I stay around as well.

 

[Shawdios]

My longest in word count was 70k+

Time? Not sure. That 70k one was over the course of half a year while going back and forth in a google doc.

Longest one on RP nation? 6 pages, however is was over the course of a month or two.

an RP I’m still in started around 8 months ago, but we’re only three or so pages in on it. (Our OOC is much much longer though)

Mind you I’ve only really been on here for maybe two years.

How to have an RP last? (1x1 in my experience)

Compatibility, willingness for communication and understanding, and flexibility. Lotta times I switch around what character I use as a main focus when things start feeling boring for me or I feel that the focus should shift. Sometimes my partners do the same, sometimes they stick to their first character.

Compromise is another big one.
Hate to break it to you, but you’re probably not going to like some plot ideas your partner may want to use. If you’re already in a RP with them, talk about it and be willing to compromise. If you’re not yet, try to compromise. However if there isn’t a spark when you’re not already invested, tell them such and move on to the next request. Going into a RP that you aren’t excited for or want to do will never pan out.

And don’t ditch when there is a slow period, they will happen to every Roleplay. Talk to your partner if the slow period isn’t because of IRL issues, brainstorm with them.

 

[Pokeking]

Hmm. Maybe two years with Red Ground Tavern & Inn which was the first RP storyline I ever participated in. This was in 2002.

Maybe a year and a half into the storyline, the board that hosted it got hacked and all the progress was lost. The original GM had left long before then so the co-GM had talked about resettig the entire thing. What ended up happening was that the first post was a recap from memory. Unfortunately, that was pretty much the beginning the end. Participation declined steadily until posting became sporadic and players started to drop off. I was the last one.

I hear people mention storylines lasting years and years and I'm amazed because I'm not sure if these are exceptions or standards.

 

[tsurene]

I’ve been involved with an RP for about three years and it’s still ongoing! But technically, I was a “newcomer” and the RP itself lasted for five years, with twenty pages (481 posts) worth of content in total. It was a revival of another roleplay that ended up getting deleted by the GM, and I just happened to join when two of the original writers decided to quit.

Here’s my tips based on my own experiences and observations with the original writers:

Communication
• All of us are adults who’re busy with either work or school, so it’s understandable when there’s a long break in the RP. It’s best to give an update whenever you’re not going to post for a while, and don’t leave during that period unless IRL issues are becoming overwhelming.
• We still chat with each other on Discord from time to time, as well as sharing memes and music recommendations. One of the most important ways to keep a group intact is compatibility, so even if you’re not that close to some members, the group should still be able to tolerate each in order to fully commit.

Character Content
• Not only did we get to know our characters through profiles and IC posts, we also share random facts and trivia in a Discord channel to flesh them out. One of the members even wrote a series of oneshots based on them, and I made “fanart” of them. Ofc not everyone has the time to do that, so you can simply send some minor facts or even share content that’s relatable to your character(s)
• Speaking of characters, they should be interacting with others for most of the RP. Alone time should be kept at a minimum to prevent them from getting lost in the crowd.

Compromise
• We’re still figuring out the end of the RP even after five years, especially since my character was a more “recent” addition. With that comes a lot of changes and more ideas that could stray from the original plot. Not everyone have the same opinions about them, so you should voice any disagree and try to come up with alternatives that’ll satisfy everyone in the group. If y’all can’t come to an agreement, you should feel free to express that and move on to the next idea.

 

[CrimsonDawn]

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.

I'm not entirely sure.

One of mine stretched across 2-3 posts (because the comment limit for a post was 2000 comments, but it was a 1 on 1 roleplay).

Another currently sits at around 50-80,000 words, I think, but that one is a group roleplay. That one's lasted years too, but it's in part because it's on Discord and the comments don't get locked there after some time. Plus, everyone got busy so we're only just resuming it.

The first one had shorter responses, though, and it had been ages since I've found someone who is as easy to roleplay with.

---

Add on: Also, I just want to say, that both of these were either fandom roleplays or roleplays with canon characters. In case anyone is unsure if they have any chance at a successful long-term fandom rp, it can be done, but you'd need to find people who are as enthusiastic as you are for that universe, or some of those characters -- doesn't even have to be the same characters.

 

[Elowyn]

I'm not entirely sure.

One of mine stretched across 2-3 posts (because the comment limit for a post was 2000 comments, but it was a 1 on 1 roleplay).

Another currently sits at around 50-80,000 words, I think, but that one is a group roleplay. That one's lasted years too, but it's in part because it's on Discord and the comments don't get locked there after some time. Plus, everyone got busy so we're only just resuming it.

The first one had shorter responses, though, and it had been ages since I've found someone who is as easy to roleplay with.

Wow, 50-80k is long!

Yeah, it's hard to find good, reliable rp partners. There are also differing interests, etc.