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RP's that didn't make it - What kills a RP discussion



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Which was the reason for rps you've hosted and/or joined that failed?


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King Sora X

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We've seen this a lot.Hell, I know I've seen it to every rp I've been apart of. It either is caused by loss of interest, not enough people, not enough characters, people losing track after speed-posting, and flat out a dead-end, pointless idea to begin with.

Whichever it is, what has been the most for you? Was it the lack of interest? Not enough people? Not enough characters? People losing track? Or just a dead-end completely?

For me, it's always been a combo of all of the things I just listed. On one occasion, it was loss of interest, and people just posting, or wanting to post. It's frustrating, but that's how rps end up on ending...and not in the good way, obviously.

I would obviously love to change the outcome every time, but the pure fact of it all is that you can't change it. Just gotta work with what you got or try something else.
 

Chill

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Re: Rps that don't make it

I tend to lose interest once a roleplay takes too long to get anywhere, or when thers decide to do their own thing instead of focusing on the story.
 

Smoofy

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Re: Rps that don't make it

Dissent within RPers would often force me to leave an RP. Like a conflict of interest, since this forum isn't RP centered, different kinds of RPers find their way here and the different groups clash. Loss of direction is big one too. Generally in the RPs I'm involved with there are enough people but within the section itself there is a lack of total RPers.
 

King Wolfe

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Re: Rps that don't make it

Dissent within RPers would often force me to leave an RP. Like a conflict of interest, since this forum isn't RP centered, different kinds of RPers find their way here and the different groups clash. Loss of direction is big one too. Generally in the RPs I'm involved with there are enough people but within the section itself there is a lack of total RPers.

I love subtext too ^^ .
 

Orion

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Re: Rps that don't make it

One of the biggest factors that contributes to the death of a roleplay is a sense of aimlessness. As creative as people are, when they're wandering around in someone else's world (or someone's take on a world they're mostly familiar with) it can be difficult to know exactly what to do or what's expected of you without simply striking out on some path and just following it, everything else be damned. Many roleplays die early because the careful sense of direction and plot advancement that was set up for the start of the story wears off as the manager has to let go of the reins and allow other people to take over the story of their own character/s.

Another is a sense of disconnectivity. When the group of a roleplay splits up into two teams that aren't directly interacting, it's very hard to have someone invest the time and effort in reading the other side's story when there's no clear indication of how it will affect them, and this of course down the line can lead to confusion when teams have to meet up or be re-organised before setting out once more. People just lose interest in half or more of a roleplay when there's a portion of it disconnected from their own narrative thread.
 

Ðari

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I've fought with roleplayers before, I've been stereotyped, prejudged, and categorized too.
That's why :)

And like what Jezza said about teams, do you think we need less roleplays involved with factions? Most of the time, the two never really interact for some reason or another, sometimes a host won't give an order or direction for that engagement to take place, or when they do it causes problems since nobody explores the unavoidable conflict in roleplays and the stereotyping/prejudgement phase starts. I cannot tell you how many times that has happened to me :/

If you wont engage with equality, or hold the same expectations of others (mind you feelings of self-consciousness is an element in development as an individual in RP'ing as a whole, but don't hold it against people) then the dissent occurs.

Lack of improvising (in a good way).
Not many will ask questions of what they can do, or what would be acceptable to do directly to the host, if the host him/herself hasn't given them a sense of direction or implied an incentive.
 

Shinra

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mine most of the time was loss of interest or not enough RPer's...
 

Thor.

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Re: Rps that don't make it

One of the biggest factors that contributes to the death of a roleplay is a sense of aimlessness. As creative as people are, when they're wandering around in someone else's world (or someone's take on a world they're mostly familiar with) it can be difficult to know exactly what to do or what's expected of you without simply striking out on some path and just following it, everything else be damned. Many roleplays die early because the careful sense of direction and plot advancement that was set up for the start of the story wears off as the manager has to let go of the reins and allow other people to take over the story of their own character/s.

Another is a sense of disconnectivity. When the group of a roleplay splits up into two teams that aren't directly interacting, it's very hard to have someone invest the time and effort in reading the other side's story when there's no clear indication of how it will affect them, and this of course down the line can lead to confusion when teams have to meet up or be re-organised before setting out once more. People just lose interest in half or more of a roleplay when there's a portion of it disconnected from their own narrative thread.

I love you hard for saying this. These are the things we all battle even when we aren't aware of it. I'm just glad someone else has picked up on it. I feel like giving someone a goal that can be definitely achieved by the people involved is a massive help, and I've ALWAYS been huge on RPer input so the second part was easily fixed by involving the people in the story.

I think the problem is largely, aside from what you said so aptly, is the lack of dedication. Most people are not ready to write shit every single day, then no one posts then it dwindles. This is how an RP ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper.
 

Stavvy

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Coming from a time where I'd be a part of six RP's at the same time, under a constant torrent of words, I can say one thing: People are forgetful. People have a life outside of roleplays and often will forget to continue the lives of their characters. It frustrates me, yes, but it's understandable. I just wish people would have some sort of universal standard, or if when the person starts the thread and says,"This is a very active RP" the participants would take it to heart and check it at LEAST once a day, if not more.

So yeah, a lack of dedication is mainly what kills RP's in my experience.
 

Orion

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Adding on to my comment about roleplays quickly losing their initial sense of direction, because I've seen this especially in the Shades of Blue roleplay. When you're sort of the sole 'mastermind' behind the whole project, it's very easy for you to push things along and get a lot done, usually with quite large posts as well. Even among experienced roleplayers, I think a manager doing this can turn them off or even intimidate them: When it doesn't feel like they're pulling every thread of narrative and directing all the other characters, people can feel like they might be stepping on already-established plans by striking out on their own. In original worlds, or when a lot is going on, usually strong roleplayers can lose a lot of confidence. Plus, the aforementioned loss of direction typically impacts upon one's initial dedication to a roleplay, which just exacerbates things.

Do you guys think some guide or list of 'what kills roleplays' would be useful for the section to sticky up somewhere?
 
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Thor.

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I totally think that it would a useful sticky. And I have to say that a lot of what kept any of my RPs alive was just personally knowing a lot of the people involved. I could kick their ass into gear or talk to them and get them excited again. The whole thing was a nice setup and, though most of them failed, I did spend my entire highschool career in fun and active RPs
 

Chromatic

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The way I see it, the matter can be whittled down to a lack and/or loss of interest. Everything else I see on the list can be attributed to reasons why people lose interest.
 

Mirby

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I think one thing that kills an RP is cheap moves that make no sense. Moves like this can lead to arguments in the OOC thread, and cause the dissent that Smoofy mentioned, and really smash the dynamic of the RPs. Though this applies to canon RPs, when someone is unfamiliar with the series the RP is based on. And when they try to force something into the RP that doesn't necessarily make sense and ends up more of a bad crossover of random franchises than anything that might make people stick around.

Just my thoughts though.
 

Thor.

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There are RPs that die, not because they have become bad or because someone is too controlling but just because everyone involved got too lazy or unmotivated. Sometimes the posting just...stops. And that is the most disheartening kind of RP death I personally think.
 

Ðari

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I've finished at least 4 on this site. I haven't finished one since, about 4 years ago :/

Lets not neglect to mention over-active rp's. Such a thing exist, when people machine gun post to the 9th Ring of Hell and those looking to jump in are literally reading pages, retaining information, processing, and then attempting to fit themselves in.
 

Thor.

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I've only finished two unfortunately, and I do think that a rapid pace can definitely scare people away. Hell, I've seen it personally. I do think though, that both of the one's I'd finished suffered from machine-gun posting pretty badly. I think the rapidfire posts come from passion, so I've always viewed it as much less of a problem personally.
 

Orion

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In some cases, though, I've found a rapid pace can help. The first and only roleplay that I joined that finished under its own steam - Organization XV - had so many posts each day that it demanded you catch up on it quickly. It felt like a natural extension of that would be to get your own post in, lest you be left behind.
 

Chromatic

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In some cases, though, I've found a rapid pace can help. The first and only roleplay that I joined that finished under its own steam - Organization XV - had so many posts each day that it demanded you catch up on it quickly. It felt like a natural extension of that would be to get your own post in, lest you be left behind.

But how many posts constitutes "so many?"

And what was the condition/quality/length of those 'so many' posts?

Terms like that tend to be relative to the community at hand.
 

Ðari

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I've only finished two unfortunately, and I do think that a rapid pace can definitely scare people away. Hell, I've seen it personally. I do think though, that both of the one's I'd finished suffered from machine-gun posting pretty badly. I think the rapidfire posts come from passion, so I've always viewed it as much less of a problem personally.

I feel you bro, the ones I finished were with a relatively small cast of roleplayers, that didn't exceed 8 people. The posting was moderate-paced (at least 2 a day from each member)
 
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