Problems with RP's

[Veyd Sahvoz]

I swear there is so many problems with RP's now and I hope I'm not the only one noticing it. The first problem is that almost every RP dies after about 8-10 pages. If your going to join an RP people then stay with it. Seriously it gets really annoying when you just make a character then never post, post then leave, or leave half way through. RP's die out when you just randomly leave so say if you're going to leave or something. Another problem is why do people say they are interested and never join? It's weird. Lastly, if you are going to join an RP stay with it to the end.

 

[eclipsa]

Here's what I tend to do. My Marvel rp is on page 17, when people disappeared, we just went on without them. I've had several die, but that works as often as not. Do a time skip, don't explain what happened to the character. If they come back, they can respond as they feel need. Never wait too long for a response unless someone tells you "hey, I won't be on until this day" and then you can wait for them.

 

[Veyd Sahvoz]

I've tried that but whenever I plan a time skip everyone gets upset. When I wait to long other RPer's get bored and leave.

 

[Zilla]

I am not afraid to build into RPs a rule that if you haven't posted for X amount of time, your character is going to get written out by the GM. This means whatever makes sense for the story, whether that's getting killed off, kidnapped, ran off with the faeries, fell into a well, etc. Some options allow for a long lapse when a player can come back in. Like a few years back I had a player who had a semi-planned sudden departure (we knew it could happen) and for three months we RPed as if that character had been kidnapped. When the player didn't resurface, the character was presumed dead. Almost nine months later the player finally returns and there was more to the story from that.


Look, people have lives. People lose interest. They move on. They may develop a character they end up not being able to play. A thousand things can happen to an RP, and they don't *need* to be problems. Be flexible. Make it work for the story in some way.


Don't be afraid of conflict, drama, death! People are too afraid to kill off characters. Don't! It can make for a great story.

 

[Veyd Sahvoz]

Thanks for the advice, and I understand that people have lives. Hell, a month or two ago I was packed on by school and work that I hardly had time to RP but I at least told the GM I would be gone a while. Like my thought is that if you're going to be gone tell someone in the RP, if a person leaves just outta the blue I suppose killing them off would be more okay.

 

[call me rae]

For some it's a matter of conflict or precieved negativity. They won't tell you they're going to leave because they want to avoid hurting your feelings or causing friction in the group. These tend to be somewhat more tentative people anyway.


In that case I'd do what @Zilla suggests. When you start out make sure everyone knows what will happen if their character doesn't post for X amount of time. That way if they do leave then you already have a plan for dealing with your characters and no one can complain.


Because it's in the rules and by joining the roleplay your are indicating you will obey said rules.

 

[Adorable Shounen]

Ah, the eventual fate of good stories. I do get disheartened when the RP's I'm in slowly die off due to lack of posts. But you really can't blame 'em. In my case, even though I want to roleplay so badly at that, I get bombarded by my college life that it's really hard to balance the two. It's kind of hypocritical of me to say that I get upset at RPers who leave the roleplays when I myself tend to abandon roleplays due to being busy.


What is unfortunate about good roleplays that tend to die immediately is when a "main/major character" who made a huge impact to the story and/or to the other characters has it's mun abandon the roleplay. It's difficult to just brush said character off, so the roleplay pretty much deteriorates from there to the point where leaving it is inevitable. If this is indeed the case, we can't do anything about it.

 

[BloodOrchid]

This often happens when I write stories. The plot bunnies breed all over the place, I start writing a few chapters and then I get writer's block, and then I start a new story...But when I rp, sometimes I get stuck but usually as long as I have something to go off of I can keep an rp going. Sometimes I make multiple characters in case we want a death or something like what was previously mentioned in an earlier reply.

 

[Zer0]

I make RPs that I like, so that even if it's just me and one person, the RP lives on.

 

[Frede]

I prefer to play one x one but yes this problem happens. My move will be contacting them after a long amount of time (1-2 weeks) and see if they respond. If not, then so be it, I will understand and move along. If they do respond, I give them some time but won't contact them again if after another week they don't reply the RP. Usually, they will reply with reasons like busy and okay, that's fine. Well, real life is quite unexpected so you won't know what will happen to your RP in the middle of it.


As from my side, I try my best to contact my partner if I cannot keep up with the RP anymore (usually stresses kill my muse). I know, silent treatment isn't a good one.

 

[Adorable Shounen]

The "waiting for replies" game is what kills the roleplay. If you make your post and notice that no one else makes a reply in a span of a week, GM included, it's safe to say that the roleplayers are losing interest. Posting another reply to get their attention doesn't really work as you have poured all the interactions in your previous reply.

 

[Grammatic]

Helpful, and interesting topic.