Viewpoint Reviving Roleplays

[Crow]

Let's say a Roleplay dies at some point, like, a few months to a few years ago perhaps? Do you ever think of re-hosting it, start from scratch, or do you let it die for good?

 

[pfpfpfpf]

I hate the ones who decide to stop the rp just when they start it out. Sometimes I am told life is getting in the way or this isn't working and it is over which is fine. However, the ones I been getting are when someone asks me to create a plot or try to create a character sheet (which takes me a while depending on what the other wants) they vanish without a trace. Sometimes I see them online and when I ask how they are doing I get no feedback. They either don't respond or they will respond back (which does happen oddly) when they feel like it.

 

[Franklin]

Let's say a Roleplay dies at some point, like, a few months to a few years ago perhaps? Do you ever think of re-hosting it, start from scratch, or do you let it die for good?

As long as I got permission from the previous creator. I'd reboot it . I've given players permission to take over entire forums of mine before. If it has a strong nostalgia then there are other's feeling it to. I just wouldn't feel ethically right taking the whole concept. I usually work around this by taking vague points I like from previous role plays and inserting them into my own original idea. I feel more fulfilled that way. Good luck with it. Sometimes seeking out past members help too. I've done that before. Sometime's your not always craving the specific story but the people that were in it.

 

[Onmyoji]

I agree with the above about asking permission if you want to use other people's ideas. If it was solely your idea then rebooting roleplay from scratch after a while can work, with new players and maybe some tweaks to plot and rules it can kick off.

Asking for permission if you had other GMs in that old rp would be good because sometimes people dislike their ideas being re-used and feel hurt or may file plagiarism reports.

 

[Franklin]

Also! To add to this, on the same wave length of Onmyoji, you can really gather a good rep by doing that. People will respect and flock to your role plays. That is my experience anyway. If you have permission and get in touch with old friends those friends will inform their friends of your ethical behavior. =) If you grow a reputation of just rebooting old role plays, you get a reputation of being unoriginal and a plot thief. Which I don't think your trying to come across as. I'd reach out and see if they are willing for a reboot.

 

[Grey]

I post new pitches for dead RPs every couple of months - just look at Dice Interest Checks, most of that is me trying to revive RPs.
Never with anyone else's RPs, mind you.

 

[Shin Positron Laser]

Let's say a Roleplay dies at some point, like, a few months to a few years ago perhaps? Do you ever think of re-hosting it, start from scratch, or do you let it die for good?

The current RP I am running had its start years almost 12 years ago on an Anime Forum. I was a new member there and loved to talk anime and manga with other members, and one member got me interested in Roleplaying. Ever since, I had joined any RP that interested me on that forum. A year before the forum was shutdown I joined an RP ' The legendary Journey '. When the site shutdown I lost tract of members I used to connect with but I had other forums in which I still Roleplayed.

Few years past, I felt I accumulated enough roleplay experience to create my own and GM. From what I remembered of my experience in The legendary Journey, I tried to build a world and roleplay that would feel like a spiritual successor to it. I would introduce the RP in various forums in the past. Many took to the idea but after a few months the roleplay would die. Any version that died out I would comb through the IC to pick and choose what world building elements I would keep. NPC's, OCs, events and history would many times become canon. Whenever I moved to create a new iteration, I would draw on the past elements, and create a new perspective, with new characters, in the same timeline.

The past 4 years I have been a part of RPNation I have revived my RP 4 times. Every year I restart and every year it dies out currently. But I progressed the story little by little and I hope to continue this for the next little while.

 

[Idea]

My first group roleplay that I GMed was actually a revived roleplay. When the GM turned out to suddenly not be able to host the RP I volunteered to host the RP instead. They gave me permission and so was my first attempt at GMing.

Beyond that, I never did anything like that again. Some of my own roleplays I did try reviving, in particular my boku no hero roleplays, though with different versions each time. It seems every time I try something like that some kind of event happens that significantly blocks my ability to participate to the degree I should,so... eh.

If you wish to revive an RP, first of all, make sure there is a point. I’ve seen my fair share or rebooted roleplays that go on to have the same fundamental problems the last version did - be it on the roleplay itself, or more commonly in the attitude of the GM. So one of two should be happening:

A) There is a significant AND sustainable shift in the circumstances that should make the RP significantly more viable in the short and long term.

or

B) The reboot should happen as a different version in one or more fundamental aspects.

Both of these go double if you are attempting to reboot someone else’s roleplay, as you also have to justify why you aren’t just doing something that is similar in some ways, rather than an outright copy or continuation. If you do pick up someone elE’s RP of course, do make sure to ask permission first!

 

[Gowi]

I tend to mostly only GM my own projects or interpret friend’s projects.

With that out of the way, I sometime have posting lulls and pick up RPs where I left off. If the userbase isn’t interested anymore I call it as a failed RP and decide to put it in my bin for a fresh interpretation later on all the time.

 

[Tove]

If the idea is from my creation and I am feeling in the mood, I would restart it of course completely different from before without including anything associated with the other person.
If the idea is not mine, no. I would just let it die.