Experiences Which fandom has the highest rate of flaky RPers/people who ditch RPs?

[TwistedEverAfter]

Heya! Long-time RPer, newbie to the site and first time posting. Let me know if anything is in the wrong space and I'll correct it!

So this is something that has always been on my mind since I've started RPing waaaaaay back in the day. I started off RPing original stuff and using OCs, but then discovered the glorious world of fandom RPs. These were much more fun for me, and easier, because I knew the characters and there was familiarity. Interests change, and you go into new fandoms, and I found that certain fandoms had more consistent RPers who would actually stick with you, and other fandoms... not so much. I'm the type to send a message after a while (like, two/three weeks? Ish?) to check if my partner is okay if they haven't let me know they'll be AFK for a longer period of time, or if there was a tech error and my email was lost, and I let all my partners know that if I'm radio silent for a week to shoot me a message. If I get no reply within a week, I assume the RP is ditched and dead, I cut my losses and move on.

I've noticed something though, and I'm curious if anybody here has noticed as well, do certain fandoms have more ditch-prone flaky RPers? If so, which fandoms do you find have the highest percentage of people that vanish mid-RP based on your experience?

I feel as though I'm on a never-ending hunt for Drarry RPs, and I've found that so many people in the Harry Potter fandom ditch out of nowhere, for no reason, and then don't reply at all ever again. (Also, JKR has terrible views and I do not support her, let me get that out there as well.) I found that back in the day the Hetalia fandom was actually the best RP fandom in terms of starting a long-term RP and actually sticking to it and communicating when the RP is over. Or, so those are my experiences. What are yours?

 

[Onmyoji]

I'm a long time fandom roleplayer and I don't think I noticed the difference between the fandoms, other than large fandoms being more prone to ghosting because they're, well, large. The proportion of people who ghost is bigger because the total number of people roleplaying the fandom is bigger.

In small fandoms there are less people overall and it's hard to find any rp partners at all, so when you do find someone they sometimes stay longer because they also have no one else to rp with lol But in the end even small fandom partners may disappear for various reasons (real life, lack of interest etc.)

 

[Sorin]

I haven't noticed a proportion difference between ghosting as far as fandoms and original Roleplays go nor have I noticed one fandom having more of an issue with it than others. The fandom that you used as an example, however, is a megalith of a fandom. Even when everyone also hates the author's toxic views, Harry Potter is and always will be one of the biggest fandoms on the internet. And, in fandoms that are huge, there is usually a lot of options to work with, so folks are probably prone to be more flaky/ditch as opposed to smaller, more niche fandoms.

 

[TwistedEverAfter]

Those are really good points! Thank you!
Definitely smaller fandoms tend to have more consistent RPers, though Hetalia (at least back in the day) was pretty massive. Sure, not as big as Harry Potter, but by its own right, it was still a very large fandom, and the RPers there were pretty consistent and less flaky. This is something that I was super curious about because I wasn't sure if it was just me imagining things, or if others had picked up on it too. I suppose this is also my first time trying to RP in a fandom as big as Harry Potter and was just pretty surprised that I'd find an excellent Drarry RP, only for them to peace out after some varying amount of time. Hopefully I'll find some good partners for it on this website!

 

[Sorin]

Those are really good points! Thank you!
Definitely smaller fandoms tend to have more consistent RPers, though Hetalia (at least back in the day) was pretty massive. Sure, not as big as Harry Potter, but by its own right, it was still a very large fandom, and the RPers there were pretty consistent and less flaky. This is something that I was super curious about because I wasn't sure if it was just me imagining things, or if others had picked up on it too. I suppose this is also my first time trying to RP in a fandom as big as Harry Potter and was just pretty surprised that I'd find an excellent Drarry RP, only for them to peace out after some varying amount of time. Hopefully I'll find some good partners for it on this website!

I hope you are too! Best of luck on your hunt!

 

[TwistedEverAfter]

Thank you so much!

 

[nerdy tangents]

Harry Potter roleplayer and I think it’s less the fandom and more the ship that’s causing the issues.

I agree with the point that there is no appreciatable difference in ghosting between types of roleplays, certain ships are significantly more popular then others (and this is across the board, not just in HP).

Canon x Canon ships are the least common types of roleplays. Canon x OC are the most common. OC x OC are somewhere in the middle.

So yeah I think folks like maybe the idea of Harry and Draco fanfic but don’t actually want to write it out themselves. Or at least that would be my guess based on my experience in the fandom.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Also if it helps the whole “people leaving randomly after a few posts” thing happens all the time in every type of roleplay.

The best strategy I have found for preventing it is telling people right up front “I don’t expect you to reply immediately to my posts. If you need a month to get a reply out that’s fine, I don’t mind waiting.”

This way I am going into it with the expectation that I might not hear from my partner every week (and they might not hear from me) so no one is stressing out about whether or not someone has left.

I also look to how much the person is contributing to the story. Are they adding in their own ideas or just going along with mine? Are they talking about both characters or just focusing on their own?

That is also usually a big clue someone is on the way out when they don’t really seem to care about the story beyond just agreeing with everything you say.

 

[TwistedEverAfter]

That's really interesting! I definitely agree that some ships are just overwhelmingly popular compared to others in the fandom, but I didn't realise that that was how the ship "ranking" (is this the word I want? Probably not) with CxC, CxOC, OCxOC pairings is in popularity. Or rather, how common they are to find.

This is something that always confused (intrigued?) me, and maybe it is just in my imagination after all now that I think about it and hear from others, that certain fandoms are more/less prone to ditching. Perhaps I was just unlucky in certain fandoms or with certain pairings? I've had a mixed bag, between TV, anime, book fandoms, all in varying popularity and sizes (from, like, Harry Potter, Naruto, Hetalia, Yuri!!! On Ice, to smaller ones in comparison like xxxHOLiC, Yu!Gi!Oh!, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, many others that I'm definitely forgetting). Not to say that I only have bad experiences in certain fandoms! I've got some remarkable Drarry RPs even now that are very consistent and have stuck by me for quite a long time, and are still my RP partner from, like, a year or two ago.

I think one contributing factor is exactly as you said: expectations about reply speed. I always make it a point to let people know I'm cool to wait a prolonged time if I know the RP is still on (I've had an RP that had one reply per six months, haha, not that it's something I'd prefer), so I'm chill with that, but I think it was also the platforms that I was finding these RPers on because that was never established from the start, just brought up in OOC by me.

Hopefully it's different here! That's why I signed up. I finally needed a good and proper platform for RP hunting, lol. But you bring up very valid points. Definitely things to keep an eye on! Thank you for adding!

 

[nerdy tangents]

Yeah I would say the type of roleplay has nothing to do with the rate of ditching.

If anything I think it’s a demographic issue across all of roleplaying (fandom, original, 1x1, group, etc.)

As people who are doing the roleplay get older they have more things to juggle and thus are more prone to leaving a roleplay when they get overwhelmed or bored with a current idea.

I know when I started I was just heading into college and had a lot of free time whereas now I’m a full time worker and can only reply at a much slower rate due to just general busyness.

Also the reason people leave is less often as personal as people make it in their head.

I have had four or so partners disappear due to long term medical issues and for obvious reasons they just dropped off the face of the planet. So I just learned not to get too worked up about it and trust that people will let me know what happened if they want and if not well it’s probably not my business.

 

[TwistedEverAfter]

Absolutely spot on with the whole getting older thing! I've definitely got less time to RP now than I did when I was in university, that's for sure, and I always give my partners the benefit of the doubt because I only RP strictly with adults, so I always assume offline > online is the standard, and things happen, which is a-okay. I check in after a bit, if they don't reply after a week, then oh well~

I just think it's a shame that people can't say if they're done with the RP (not that I feel I'm owed anything, nor do I want details, it'd just be nice to know something as simple as "I'd like to end the RP" or what not, especially if I'm hyped about the plot in question so I'm not left hanging). It's something that would get me bummed for a bit if it's a really fun RP, but I get over it after a while. Just like you said, if they want to drop it and won't tell me why, it's none of my business. 100% agreed there!

I think ditching is wide-spread regardless of RP type or RPer age, just because it's something I've experienced long before my bones started to crack when I squat, lol. I can only comment on 1x1 fandom RPs that I've experienced, as those are the only ones I do and have done for years now, so it's good to hear about other people's experiences with fandoms and originals etc.