I have three total 1x1's going on. Two of which is going great and the other one is just going slow, but good. I've had three other 1x1 start and just end suddenly. One seemed to fizzle out for no reason and the other two got about 4 posts in and I never heard back from my partner.
Has anyone else had this happen? I don't think it's me because my other 1x1's are going good, but I could be wrong. Is there a good way to tell if you're going to click with someone on a 1x1 early on or is it just a wait and see thing?

I think it's just a trial and error kind of thing. Usually I can tell if I'm going to click with someone during the plotting stage. If they're giving me feedback, contributing their own ideas and are genuinely excited to start the RP, then there's really nothing to worry about. If it's the opposite with someone then I tend not to bother because it will just die anyway and I don't want to waste my time.

On the other hand, those partners who stopped replying could have good reasons. Maybe RL got in the way, or they're just forgetful. Have you messaged them? Communication is key.

From my experiences, you either click with your 1x1 partner or you don't. Like mmidnight stated, it's a trial-and-error kind of thing. If you click, then that's wonderful. If you don't, then you two politely agree to move along. I have been lucky to find partners that I've clicked with instantly. It also helps if you're friends with your partner beforehand so that they two of you just can play off of the wonderful energy between the two of you. Or maybe your creativity just clicks with one another.

People in general tend to be click or don't click, but that only get's magnified on sites like the Guild.

You can normally tell really early if you two will get along or not, if not the RP isn't going to last long.

It's also in the nature of RP's to randomly die, this can happen for a number of reasons. Such as lack of interest, people don't click, RL caught up, forgetful etc. I'd contact the other person first and see what's up. Either they don't answer and you can consider the RP dead, or they do answer and you either know why it ended or can get it going again.

I've had big problems with rp's dying too!! And I must admit I've been the cause of the dead silence once or twice, and it's always when I've been too timid to go up to partners and just tell them everything I don't like about how their concept's turning out, or lack thereof. As I get older, I don't do that anymore -- I just muster up the willpower to tell people why I'm not liking an RP and then try to end it politely, and even then I don't know if that's the right thing to do, because it's not like your partner has asked for your criticism at that stage, even if it might not be personal criticism =/ (thoughts?) Anyway, my point is, maybe it's worthwhile to lay out beforehand (maybe in your search bulletins) whether or not you mind a bit of constructive criticism and whether your partner should be able to tolerate criticism: then you can have a proper conversation about the rp without having to worry about coming across as elitist and mean.

That said, I don't think 'people ending rp's' is always a result of some flaw or deficiency on anyone's part. Like, even a really hardcore rp-er doesn't RP 100% of the time cos answering messages on the internet is usually the least of someone's priorities when they're stressed out or in a crisis... so you might click wonderfully with someone, and have the rp still end for no reason. =(

Valeria said
I've had big problems with rp's dying too!! And I must admit I've been the cause of the dead silence once or twice, and it's always when I've been too timid to go up to partners and just tell them everything I don't like about how their concept's turning out, or lack thereof. As I get older, I don't do that anymore -- I just muster up the willpower to tell people why I'm not liking an RP and then try to end it politely, and even then I don't know if that's the right thing to do, because it's not like your partner has asked for your criticism at that stage, even if it might not be personal criticism =/ (thoughts?) Anyway, my point is, maybe it's worthwhile to lay out beforehand (maybe in your search bulletins) whether or not you mind a bit of constructive criticism and whether your partner should be able to tolerate criticism: then you can have a proper conversation about the rp without having to worry about coming across as elitist and mean. That said, I don't think 'people ending rp's' is always a result of some flaw or deficiency on anyone's part. Like, even a really hardcore rp-er doesn't RP 100% of the time cos answering messages on the internet is usually the least of someone's priorities when they're stressed out or in a crisis... so you might click wonderfully with someone, and have the rp still end for no reason. =(

Roleplaying with partners depends on communication and honesty, especially in a 1x1 kind of game where it's just two of you building a story. Never be afraid to bring something up if you aren't sure, because your partner may not know that it's coming across poorly. You can't fix things if people don't know it's broken, know what I mean? Most people are pretty open to constructive criticism and suggestions, especially if you're polite and you have a good relationship with that person. Sometimes, games just don't work out, and that's okay; we all run into partners that just don't click with us, it doesn't mean either person's bad or not trying, just means the chemistry isn't quite right.

Also, if somebody disappears for a while, don't assume the game's dead (unless they're quite active elsewhere), it probably just means something came up. It pays to be patient with people, trust me!