Roleplay Success Poll [For Content Development]

Why do you lose interest in the roleplays you're in/What makes a roleplay die?

  • Plot - Slow or Boring

  • Plot - Unclear or Confusing

  • Plot - Hung up on one character

  • Plot - Too Stereotypical

  • Plot - Not What I Expected

  • GM - Kind of an Ass Hole

  • GM - Too Restricting

  • GM - Disorganized

  • GM - Poor Communication

  • GM - Ignored RP

  • Players - Too Much Smut/Language/Gore/Etc

  • Players - No Collaborations (Private RPing separate from the IC)

  • Players - Too Many Collaborations (Private RPing separate from the IC)

  • Players - Inconsistent Posts/Constant Hiatus

  • Players - I Lost Interest

  • Players - Poor Writing Skills

  • Players - Drama in the OOC

  • Plot - Other (Specify in Comments)

  • GM - Other (Specify in Comments)

  • Players - Other (Specify in Comments)

  • I am a cat.

  • Other (Please Specify!)


Results are only viewable after voting.
S

Soulserenity20

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Original poster
Hello beautiful world. I am Soul, and I enjoy helping people learn, grow, write, and create. One problem I've noticed (and encountered) across Iwaku is that a lot of roleplays just don't stick. I think to myself, why is that? What could be wrong? I've looked at my failed RPs and looked at my successful ones and I see some trends, but I want a clear picture of what's going on in the minds of the players.

This poll is my reaching out to you, so that you can tell me why roleplays fail.
Is the it GM? Is it the players? The plot? Are you actually a cat? Or is it something else?


The information I gather here will be used by me, and probably other staff members, to help develop exercises and guides to help increase the success rate of roleplays here. So please, be honest. Be violently, brutally, and perfectly honest. Please, don't specify names of roleplays or players or GM's (unless you're offering praise, we're not here to hurt feelings, that's the thread about American Politics and veganism) but tell me what went wrong from your end.

Are you a GM? What are your perceptions about how things ended? What went wrong?

Are you a Player? What made you drop? Or what did you see happen before the ultimate demise of that one roleplay you just really thought was going to last?

So let's talk. Let's open up a dialogue about that pesky graveyard we constantly look at with a deep sense of longing, wondering what could have become of our sexually confused and emotionally suppressed but optimistic character that never got a chance to blossom into a bold, selfless heroine and save humanity from the cannibalistic mutants.

Tell me why your roleplay failed so that I can help make it successful the next time around.
 
A major thing that kills a role-play is none other than this asshole called Vivian.
For me it's crippling self-doubt most of the time, I've met so many amazing writers here and in comparison to my writing it kind of just pales. There's also the issue of a fickle muse.


Muse: What do you think you're doing? WRITING?
Me: Nvm
 
(Disclaimer: I only do group RP's, and I GM far more often than I join another person's RP. So, that's the perspective that pretty much all of this is coming from.)

I answered "Plot -- slow or boring", as well as "GM -- disorganized", "GM -- lack of communication", and "GM -- ignored RP".

I think that most, if not all, responsibility for keeping an RP running smoothly lands on the GM. Obviously if a GM ignores their RP completely then they would be very lucky if the players managed to pick up the slack and basically do the GM's job for them -- and while that does happen sometimes and it's kind of awesome, a GM certainly can't expect it to happen. Disorganization and lack of communication are also big problems. Keeping an RP alive doesn't just mean creating an interesting story. It means keeping the posts coming, which means talking to people, asking what's up when people seem to be inactive or have trouble posting, and keeping the players informed of what's going on so that no one feels lost. Keeping an RP well-maintained calls for good organizational and people skills.

A slow or boring plot is also an issue, because it's also the GM's job to make sure that players have something to do. If things are getting boring, then people are going to lose interest. And it won't just be one or two people dropping out because they're not into this particular story anymore or life caught up with them or whatever -- it'll be lots of people dropping out, and then everything falls apart when the last few members who would've otherwise hung on, look around and see that everyone else is jumping ship, so they might as well, too.

I considered voting for "players -- losing interest", as well, but decided against it, and for a very important reason. The way I see it, dropouts are inevitable. People will drop out of your RP. Which means that it's the GM's job to prepare for that, and handle drop-outs with stride, so that the RP can keep going even when players drop out. An RP should be structured in a way that allows for the RP to continue if one of its players leaves. You should never be in a situation where any player leaving would completely cripple the RP, because you never know who's going to stay and who won't. And when a drop-out happens, and the IC is frozen because people are waiting on the guy who left -- don't just sit there like there's nothing you can do about it. As GM, you have control over your world and your story. You can say that that character got killed off, or found a reason to leave the party, or just got up and walked out of the room, so that the other characters can continue interacting without them. Often times it's so easy to remove a drop-out character from a scene. So I can't stand seeing GM's say that their RP died because of one or two drop-outs, when the RP could've easily been saved if those characters had only been dealt with in some way. (Of course, a GM should also try to make the story engaging and give players something to do, so that you don't have everyone losing interest at once, like I mentioned before -- but I see that as a bit of a different issue than just individual players losing interest on an individual basis while most of the rest of the RP is still hooked and active.)

And while I guess most other options on this list certainly aren't helpful to have around, I was honestly kind of baffled to see "plot -- too stereotypical" featured here. Because when it comes to RP longevity, I think that's the opposite of a problem, really. Stereotypical plots are everywhere for a reason. It's easy for people to join magic school RP's, and fandom RP's for big-name titles like Naruto, because lots of people are already familiar with these premises. Familiarity is good -- it means people will have an easier time joining. And these ideas might be "over-done" in many people's eyes, and therefore might not match some people's individual tastes, but, the point remains, a generic idea is still bound to have plenty of players gravitate to it, because it's easier for people to wrap their heads around than a groundbreaking original dystopian future RP where the earth has been taken over by aliens and the players will need to read massive info dumps about alien physiology and the aliens' unique culture and political structure. And when you have a surplus of players, it's easier to handle drop-outs, because you aren't as dependent on each individual player to keep things going. And when it's easier to handle drop-outs... well, you already know my opinion on that.

Of course, it's still possible to have a GM who isn't good at managing all the fine details and keeping people engaged -- and even with a surplus of players, an RP can still be brought to a halt if the GM doesn't allow anyone to post just because of the dropout of a wallflower character who could've easily been removed from a scene without anyone even noticing. BUT, that's all dependent on the GM's capabilities, at that point -- and a generic plot does nothing to help or hinder that.
 
I voted; there's two points aside from voting I'd like to make:

"No collaborations" is not a negative thing to me, it takes the fun/unexpected aspects out of roleplay when you collaborate "offline" with someone else on the next move.

In general the burden is and should be on the players, not so much the GM. It's in the worst of times (in life and in RP) where true heroes are born.
 
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A major thing that kills a role-play is none other than this asshole called Vivian.
For me it's crippling self-doubt most of the time, I've met so many amazing writers here and in comparison to my writing it kind of just pales. There's also the issue of a fickle muse.


Muse: What do you think you're doing? WRITING?
Me: Nvm
Lol I understand. It can be hard not to get caught up in the wonder of others. I see my own players and I'm just blown away by their skill. I think "I'M supposed to be GMing THEM?" It can be difficult to have confidence, but I can assure you, nine times out of ten, people are looking at you in wonder. People are good at finding the good in others. People are good at picking out little traits, tricks, skills, and attributes that are unique to each player and really enjoying them. It's why group roleplaying is so great. People get to see the good in others and help encourage that good (or those skills) to grow.

As for the issue of the muse, well, it's definitely a well known problem across the writing world. But there are steps both the player and the GM can take to encourage a more stimulating setting and plot for players to write about.
(Disclaimer: I only do group RP's, and I GM far more often than I join another person's RP. So, that's the perspective that pretty much all of this is coming from.)
This is very similar to my perspective, so thank you for sharing!
Keeping an RP well-maintained calls for good organizational and people skills.
I agree 100%. This can be tricky for players who want to GM but either A: aren't confident enough being in a leadership role or B: have the greatest ideas but can't find a clear and concise manner by which to deliver those ideas to players. It's a tough job!
dropouts are inevitable.
No truer words have been written. *nods nods* A major part of Roleplay continuity comes from the ability of the players, plot, and GM to bend instead of breaking. It's important to establish a method of player addition and removal that's viable in the IC and the OOC. This should definitely be a part of any GM's starting plan: how do we get past the player tide?
And while I guess most other options on this list certainly aren't helpful to have around, I was honestly kind of baffled to see "plot -- too stereotypical" featured here. Because when it comes to RP longevity, I think that's the opposite of a problem, really.
I'm definitely aware that some people love a good old fashioned "elves and dwarves and the end of the world" or "zombie apocalypse looming" roleplay. I mean, my main RP is a long running, stereotypical RP -- with a twist. I think what's important in regard to classic archetypes it that the GM have more than just "There are zombies." I have seen a lot of players grow tired of roleplays that are based on tried and true stories, but lack individuality or any form of a real plot. Have an academy roleplay is popular, but if we have one, why have two? Repetitive plots create competition, which can be a good thing, but if a player wants to harness that archetype, they're going to need to have individuality, creativity, and some sort of a captivating factor to encourage players to join and stick around beyond the first day of classes, flirting, and drama between two girls who like the same boy. I added the option because there can be too much of a good thing and I wanted to see if players were having an issue with repetitiveness in the forums. Clearly for you, it's not an issue, and that's great. You have a well rounded concept of how these archetypes can be used to our benefit and it's players like you that will continue stimulating this cherished section of the forums. After all, what can grow without roots?

Thank you VERY much for your lengthy response. You're very insightful and I can tell you've experienced a lot as a GM.
"No collaborations" is not a negative thing to me, it takes the fun/unexpected aspects out of roleplay when you collaborate "offline" with someone else on the next move.
Now, this is helpful because it's a different interpretation from what I had when I was writing it. To me, a collab is just writing back and forth between two players and the posting it all at once instead of back and forth IC. Collabs are private writing projects that may, or may not, be made public. They're usually concerning interactions between two or more characters during events that might not directly impact or pertain to the IC plot. Some people find these very helpful, they're fun, stimulating forms of writing to help with those IC lulls. Others find them harmful because players get caught up in the private RPing and forget about the IC, bringing it to a standstill.
 
People are good at finding the good in others.
Yeah, which is why I'm grateful I decided to try and become an active member of Iwaku, it's by far more welcoming to its members than most platforms I've sought to use and one of the few with staff that is actively seen throughout the forum. 8')
 
In a nutshell it falls down to lack of player community.

You can have the highest quality, most thought out and well written RP to ever exist. But if the players can't get along, it's going to have a timer until people leave to enjoy their hobby with those they have fun with.
Likewise, you can have the lowest quality, poorly thought out and horribly written RP to ever exist. But if the players just love being around one another and pulling shenanigans then you can still get a lot of moments from it.

This extends to all kinds of Roleplaying mind you, may it be Forums, Tabletop, LARP's etc. They all rely on a community and cooperation, you need people to get along for that to happen.

Too often I see people who just grab any random person they can for their game, and then once they have them they treat everyone else as their means to roleplay, not other individuals to roleplay with. And being completely blunt we roleplayers are not social people, these hobbies are designed to attract people who wish to escape day to day life, escape other people, and immerse themselves in a fantasy. But then takes same people, and makes the requirement that they experience it with others. Some people embrace this, and really grow as individuals as a result. Other's becomes pessimistic hermits, wanting people only for their content, as an NPC, as a requirement they just have to tolerate. Not a good thing to be doing in a social hobby, and honestly probably why hobbies like Video Gaming have grown so popular among everyday audiences, while Roleplaying is still very much seen as an outsiders hobby.

Like seriously. If you see a DM/GM making constant drama, or forbidding "Off Topic" OOC posts... RUN! By staying you're only throwing effort and time into an already failed RP. But if you see a GM/PC encourage players to get talk, socialise, interact, have the players be doing stuff outside of the RP so they become genuine friends? You've got a keeper.

Now, obviously there's other factors to an RP. But any other factor I can think of isn't a deal maker or breaker 100% of the time. It may not be important to some people, or be something small enough you can overcome it. But a lack of community is a death sentence for everyone, 100% of the time.
 
First mistake. You ask why they die. A truthful reply means looking at oneself critically and if we all did that we would not see the same mistakes repeatedly.

Ask why roleplays live.

Here's a pattern: people are socially involved and emotionally invested in the group as much as the roleplay.

Your roleplay itself can be trash, as long as people enjoy shooting that shit together. However, liking each other also transforms into writing for each other and setting things up, being more generous with compliments, chatting casually during downtime so the group feels alive even when the game is on a break. Etc. People liking each other makes a roleplay better.

A good GM helps, because sometimes push has to come to shove. People leave. People fight. GM's are good for this. While being a good storyteller helps, being a good host and fair authority a dozen times more.

There you go. There's a million things that help, but your group is always at the core of it. That's because roleplaying is based on interaction, people take satisfaction from working together or competing, but that's only fun if your team is fun. GM'ing is more about people management than story management, which I think Kaga already touched upon, but I am really putting here for emphasis because after years and years it's somehow still not universally known or understood.

EDIT:
In general the burden is and should be on the players, not so much the GM.
Should in theory, but in practice this simply doesn't work out. To keep moving, decisions need to be made. If someone drops from the face of the earth, everyone should move on but writing out someone's character is scary because what if they come back and feel offended? What if two players have a conflict where neither party wants to see the other's side? Or like, whenever there's a fight in general discussion, what do you think the community does? Try and diffuse it? Fuck no, report and wait for the staff to handle it. The self-policing we did have turned into a negative rating version of Salem because inclusion>justice.

A group has to be capable of policing itself before policing itself and the fact of the matter is, it's easier to find one good GM than 2-3 good players that can judge fairly AND motivate the rest of the players to also do this well. Especially from the get-go.
 
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Very interesting feedback from both of you, Kestrel and Gwazi! It's clear there are a diversity of opinions across the website about what a roleplay needs, what it is, and what makes or breaks it. This is a part of why I'm doing a poll, I want to see that diversity represented numerically so that I can start somewhere with helping roleplays to flourish. There are, of course, numerous methods of approaching this. As you pointed out, Kestrel, one could ask what makes a roleplay live. This can provide a wealth of useful information and I think it's a major question being asked across the board. Each of you will have your own answers and opinions that may or may not coincide with fellow players here on iwaku. Some believe the roleplay is first and foremost about the group, and there will be many who agree with this. After all, we call it a roleplay community, don't we? Others will argue that roleplaying is first and foremost about the story. Afterall, without stories, what have we but a social media website?

I think the important thing to consider is that Iwaku's motto is rooted in the middle ground of both these fundamental aspects of roleplaying: Don't Just Write Stories - Live them. Iwaku seems to be about our personal lives, our unique and individual backgrounds, personalities, and hearts, fueling the meshwork of creativity present in the forums. I think it's safe to say we don't have a roleplay site without the stories, but our stories are enriched and given life by our diverse collection of players.


Thank you both very much for your feedback!
 
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Results>opinions, though. People are free to think what they want to, but if you intend to tackle a problem you need to make a clear distinction between what people feel is happening and what is actually happening. People are typically bad at self-reflection because the ego is a tricky beast. Whether you intend to or not, your method alone creates a bias simply by focusing on negativity, the very nature of the poll externalises the cause of RP death, whereas it's never just someone else their responsibility because roleplaying is a team effort.

A good story helps, but that's like saying having good computers in the office help. You can work around equipment, you can't work around motivation. Teams are united by common goals and relations, be that on the work-floor, in sports or in roleplay. If you don't have those you don't have a functioning team, which, when nobody's getting paid for their frustration, becomes really hard to stick by.

I'm not even talking about a roleplay community, because a community is much more loosely tied together. It's too global. I'm talking about teams. Writing is the kind of expression that relies on individual expression. In a team you can clearly distinguish and point out those inputs, in a community we talking treble waters. John might be a fantastic player in your roleplay, but him being in your roleplay doesn't help out me and my roleplay just because he's on Iwaku. A community doesn't allow games to live, at best a good atmosphere in a community makes getting good teams together easier, but beyond that you're on your own.
 
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Some believe the roleplay is first and foremost about the group, and there will be many who agree with this.
This is precisely what I was trying to get at. Too many people focus on the RP itself to make it survive. Telling themselves that long enough post requirements, frequent enough posts, X sized groups of players will solve it. When really by obsessing over these they are ignoring what actually makes the RP work, the players putting the labour behind it. And honestly, I'd say why people do this really boils down to a few reasons.

1. It's an easy thing to address
It's easier to focus on artificial increases. More posts, longer posts, more members, all you need is to do is invest time (and spamming ads) to get it. That's relatively easy to accomplish, so it's easy to cling to the hope that doing so will fix it. But bonding with people? Being able to get along with them? Forming relationships? That's not so easy for people generally speaking, and speaking personally I've seen many people here on Iwaku voice their disliking of dealing with people, brag about how much they avoid social interaction to outright glorifying what can be best described as social phobia's. And I don't mean this as an attack towards anyone mind you, but there is no denying that roleplaying is a very social hobby that relies on people working together. Which can make it pretty hard to keep floating for someone who struggles with socialising.

2. No one wants to blame themselves
Often times being able to address that their RP is dying means taking a certain amount of self responsibility. If you're the GM, it's not being able to keep enough players involved, or at the very least encourage enough others to join. If you're the player, it often means being able to admit that maybe you're not a good fit with this group of players, rather than that it's everyone else whose the ass hole. And humans in general are not good with self criticism, it can be hard and painful to look into yourself and ask what you may of done to contribute to an RP's downfall. It's a lot easier to simply say "It's not me, it's them!", and then move on to make the same mistakes with another RP.

Note: This is also something that can be very easily seen in tabletop RPs, especially if you frequent forums focused around tabletop stories like Giant in the Playground. Countless horror stories pop up about "My party members are just murder hobos!", or "My Party takes everything to seriously!". But rarely do you see "I'm personally wish there could be more roleplaying" or "I wish we could take some more time to just kill stuff and be silly". Or a GM saying "My players are being uncooperative after all my hard work!" rather than "I'm not able to properly engage my players". Same things happen with forums, but tabletop cases help serve as quick and easy cases to identify and point out.

3. Simply Self-Conciousness
Your RP is your prized possession. It's what you've invested so much time and effort into. You become emotionally attached to it, so once you see dangers of it dying you're not going to simply lash out at everyone else, the next thing people are most likely to do is freak out that something in the RP is wrong. After all, it's the RP that's failing or clearly it's the RP itself that messed up somewhere? Not something else related to it, right? So people can very quickly be trying to tweak and change things in the RP itself desperate to appease people, while ignoring the actual problem, and often ever alienating those left because the RP has morphed into something different than what they signed up for.
I think the important thing to consider is that Iwaku's motto is rooted in the middle ground of both these fundamental aspects of roleplaying: Don't Just Write Stories - Live them.
Personally I see this motto more as an ideal to reach in an RP, as to how you engage and experience it, rather than advice on how to keep it alive. You can 'live' in an RP all you want, but if the place your living in has lousy room mates you're going to be looking for a place to move out to eventually.
 
It's easier to focus on artificial increases. More posts, longer posts, more members
This is a very important point I failed to mention. We like to see results and changing or upping an easily measured variable feels like changing something tangible. That's not to say these artificial increases aren't sometimes needed, but they're rarely addressing the underlying problem because the matter of fact is, as the group establishes people will start to adapt to the general pace and do what 1x1 calls 'mirroring' length automatically. Because, well, creating similarities is also a part of bonding. Just observe two best girlfriends somewhere at a café (and get a sketchbook and hipster glasses so you have an excuse when they inevitably notice) and watch how many gestures and expressions they mirror. This also happens with roleplaying, so once you get a group together, length and frequency are, nine outta ten times, created not by rules but by example.
 
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You can 'live' in an RP all you want, but if the place your living in has lousy room mates you're going to be looking for a place to move out to eventually.
Nice point.

I haven't had (on this site) the quantity of experience that most people have.

RP Died: One of the first RPs I joined here - which had specific requirements and lengthy discussions of said requirements between GM and players - died a few posts into the RP as the GM disappeared without notice and then reappeared some months later, but never contacted the players, to the best of my knowledge. I just happened to see a chat post announcing their return. I was pretty taken aback. Like wow, I was put through all that and then - nothing? I had put a lot of thought into creating my character and had to research a fandom that I previously knew nothing about. So I was rather shocked.

RP Died: Another RP had a very user-friendly GM who let us know when they had to disappear for awhile, announced when they returned, and pinged players when they hadn't posted for a while. I really appreciated that. What was also different here, was that I didn't (thankfully) have to learn a fandom, and I had two friends that coaxed me into playing (so, for once, I knew someone in the RP). However, players failed to post (even one of my friends just wasn't in the mood any more, apparently--though I tried to pull him back in) and eventually the GM decided to shut it down. The GM communicated with everyone, didn't play favorites, and I really liked them.

Neither of the above RPs had the kind of "player community" that some of you touch on. I'm happy just "doing story." There are people here that I like, but I never expected to hang out in an OOC thread with them, but rather to use other methods to chat. I'm not against it, of course, but it's just not something I had yet experienced. Until...

RP Died: Until .... my next RP, where it was a little intimidating, honestly, because I walked into a group of people that seemed quite close with each other - but I was a total stranger. So there were all these in-jokes and personal references being exchanged at a pretty fast clip in the OOC. As a fairly mature individual (no comments from the cheap seats, please - and yes, I have my eye upon YOU, hah), I could handle it.

Really, to my mind, there's only one way--just plunge right in, speak your mind (without rancor), offer your own brand of humor and just be yourself. And if you get frozen out or consistently ignored, then screw it. Go and catch the next swan boat and spare yourself the pick and shovel work.

It was okay for me; I grew rather fond of several of the players (although I've scarcely interacted with most of them since, kiss-kiss out there!) and had fun. However, another (new) player remarked at the end that it was uncomfortable for them and I quite understood and felt bad for them.

What I'm trying to illustrate here...is that though a peak experience for many people may be (in a Group RP) to have your friends hanging out with you, having fun in the OOC, that won't be much of a factor for new people, especially if they are shy (and I would expect them to be). XD So if you are soliciting players, you may want to be mindful of that. (See quote far above.)

I consider myself as still fairly new here and not having as much in common, culturally (raised by wolves, etc.), as most. So, armed with that knowledge, I definitely just look for a good (non fandom) story in a group RP that seems like it will have "legs", a plot that is personally interesting to me, a nice GM that seems reasonable and reliable and able to keep a steady hand on the reins, and people that aren't mean, that are decent writers, and are mature enough to post somewhat consistently.

I know - that's a lot!

Based on my experiences to date, in looking for an RP I will read screen after screen of OOC chat as well as the story premise, what is required from the players, etc. and IC postings. Before I even think about trying to sign up. If I see a player being rude to another player (player also equals GM) with no check - I move on. If I see it's mainly a social gathering in the OOC with very little IC, I move on. It doesn't mean I don't like you! But I'm really am there to RP.

(Have I written my own RP? Yes. But I'm currently not in a position to be able to consistently commit my time to it as a GM, due to IRL events. Until then, it stays in storage, knocking its head against the wall.)

None of this was written as a criticism of anyone here, but simply because it seems like you genuinely want to hear about our experiences.

P.S. I am not currently a cat, but in the interest of full disclosure (because you inquire), I was warned by an astrologer in India that I may be one in my next life if I don't shape up.
 
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(no comments from the cheap seats, please - and yes, I have my eye upon YOU, hah)
How about an expensive one?
Top-10-Most-Expensive-Chairs-In-The-World.jpg

What I'm trying to illustrate here...is that though a peak experience for many people may be (in a Group RP) to have your friends hanging out with you, having fun in the OOC, that won't be much of a factor for new people, especially if they are shy (and I would expect them to be). XD So if you are soliciting players, you may want to be mindful of that. (See quote far above.)
I'm not claiming you have to be friends with people in the group right from the start. But you should be working on having the players at least be friendly and familiar with one another. Enough so that they enjoy being with them as individuals rather than as means to an end. So new people joining is fine, just as long as you help them get involved and included.
 
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I'm not claiming you have to be friends with people in the group right from the start. But you should be working on having the players at least be friendly and familiar with one another. Enough so that they enjoy being with them as individuals rather than as means to an end. So new people joining is fine, just as long as you help them get involved and included.

Yep, I agree totally. However, paying attention to new people and including them is a social skill that not everyone automatically has. In fact, it's not that common as far as I can tell. (Most people can relate to this if they ever had to move to a new school or two or three.)

I DO understand. People get excited to be with their friends and get caught up with exchanging wisecracks and stories of shared past experiences. That's natural.
Not everyone has our fine gossamer touch with the social niceties, G. :balletdancer:
 
Yep, I agree totally. However, paying attention to new people and including them is a social skill that not everyone automatically has. In fact, it's not that common as far as I can tell. (Most people can relate to this if they ever had to move to a new school or two or three.)
There's actually a lot of threads in general dedicated to just this, creating general topics that everyone can weigh in on. Kitti and Greenie are making a lot of them right now. So if you ever need a point of reference, check those out. It's as much about including new people as giving them space to speak up.
 
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From what I've noticed in the past on other sites, the issue isn't down to any one of these options, really. The issue tends to rear its ugly head when people simply lose interest, whether it be player or GM. Now, you might be saying "but that's already on the list", and it is, but here's the thing--we don't look at why people drop or lose interest.

From my point of view, the biggest cause is that people have lives to live. Finals (whether college or high school), homework backlogs or work in general. Hell, even something completely out of the blue that demands a player or GM's constant attention. It could be used as an out from a group in flux or it could be a reason in itself, but it's always there. Post deadlines are cool, but they're not always easy to enforce for the GM or to adhere to for players. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, and sometimes having one just chases people away, as bittersweet as that is.

As a GM, you have to think of yourself as a community manager first and foremost, as without a cohesive community group supporting your work, everything falls apart. You have to be a miniature community figurehead.
 
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There's actually a lot of threads in general dedicated to just this, creating general topics that everyone can weigh in on. Kitti and Greenie are making a lot of them right now. So if you ever need a point of reference, check those out. It's as much about including new people as giving them space to speak up.

Thanks, Kestrel. I am indeed aware of the diligent and fine work of @Kitti and @Greenie and other staff in welcoming new people and helping them integrate into the community. And in no way sought to imply otherwise.

My response in this thread was strictly addressing the topic in this thread. That is, ONLY what may happen within any particular roleplay.

I just wanted to clarify that.

I am aware of the staff's dedication and would be horrified if my words were taken out of context so as to appear dismissive of their hard work.
 
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Thanks, Kestrel. I am indeed aware of the diligent and fine work of @Kitti and @Greenie and other staff in welcoming new people and helping them integrate into the community. And in no way sought to imply otherwise.
I didn't mean to imply you were dismissive. It was more like, you mentioned lots of people have difficulty with getting people involved, so I figured I'd reference the GD topics as a good example of how to get people involved.

I mean, I know I come across as a bit of a bitch from time to time, but I'm not that mean, haha.
 
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It's all good, thanks for doubling back. I appreciate that.

I always like to clarify where there is a chance of misunderstanding. Because next thing you know, there's a scuffle over a candy bar and people's dogs get insulted and oh such dreadful things... :dog:

Keeper of the Peace, that's mild-mannered me!