Is forum Roleplaying beginning to slow down?

[Chuuya]

Topic says all.

I'm curious to hear what others think regarding this matter. For clarification, I'm not accusing any specific website of slowing down, stagnating, or dying. I do feel like, however, I clearly remember times when Roleplaying on forums across the internet was a bit more active. I'm not sure where the shift has gone, but is there anyone else who feels that Roleplaying on forums is becoming less and less popular as time progresses? If so, do you have any theories as to why this is? My best guess is Discord, personally, as I've seen plenty of dice games, for example, switch over to it. My other guess is that many active Roleplayers usually become busy with life which is doubly true nowadays considering the state of the world. It's hard to say for certain, however, and if this actually a trend or just the perspective of one person.

Even still, I'm curious where others lie on this matter. Anyone out there have any thoughts on this?

[SleepingSilence]

Knowing most will likely feign to disagree. I'll give you an honest answer, so you don't feel crazy.

Yes, yes it has. The site has most certainly dwindled from years prior due to an incredibly toxic group of individuals that were left completely unchecked and unstopped until most the players I RP'd with stopped entirely.

But recently? Eh, group roleplays from my knowledge have been pretty limited to certain circles and ongoing affair for a while now on this site. (For instance, well over half of the current front pages of casual and advanced have RP's at least several months old.)

And 1x1's, which I'm sure differ for everybody, have been a little shakier in terms of people ghosting this year for me. Just compared to the last one. But perhaps you could chalk it up to the year being a bit depressing.

(But I don't know if the discord's moderation has improved. Nor do I remember how many members were on previous years compared to this one. But the '100' I see on average, does sound a bit low.)

[AlteredTundra]

I don't think forum roleplaying is dying down or anything close to it. If anything, the time people can devote to it is dropping, but that's probably because they're becoming less available. Regardless, I think the hobby itself remains alive.

[Chuuya]

I don't think forum roleplaying is dying down or anything close to it. If anything, the time people can devote to it is dropping, but that's probably because they're becoming less available. Regardless, I think the hobby itself remains alive.

@metanoia

This is partially the conclusion that I've come to as well. I feel like 1x1, Casual, and Advanced are active for the most part with Roleplays that have been ongoing for months or even years. I've noticed that some categories are a little less active than others, however, with Arena coming to mind. I figured that maybe combat Roleplay has begun to die down a little itself, but I've been dipping over to Iwaku and RPNation on the side with both appearing to be a bit on the slow side as well (especially Iwaku). It were these observations that got me thinking about this topic because I don't necessarily think that it's a Guild-related issue at all. Now I'm just not sure at all and I was wondering if anyone else had their own theories on it.

[POOHEAD189]

but that's probably because they're becoming less available.

@metanoia

They are but I don't know how. They're stuck in their homes, and less people have children and jobs. There's gotta be some X factor. Probably stress

[Chuuya]

They are but I don't know how. They're stuck in their homes, and less people have children and jobs. There's gotta be some X factor. Probably stress

@POOHEAD189

I don't know if this is true for the other Roleplaying websites that I've been on, but I've met quite a few people on here that work retail which has been especially stressful lately. I could imagine that is probably a contributing factor. Maybe anxiety and depression too from isolation. I know that I'm definitely feeling the effects of that one personally.

[mickilennial]

Is forum Roleplaying beginning to slow down?

I started role-playing on forums in 2001. I was doing it in other mediums as early as 1998.

The answer to your question is… kind of.

Forums were the new way to communicate after usergroups mostly fell out of fashion. In the era we used AOL and MSN Messenger adjacent to our interests on message boards. It was fresh. It was the golden standard and it remained as such for a good amount of time. I wouldn’t say it’s beginning to slow down. It’s been slowed down as other mediums have taken the attention of younger role-players and aspiring fiction writers. Sites like RPGateway try to aspire as the middle ground from traditional forums and the new social media ways of experimenting have come to the hobby. Chat RP hubs like PJJ and mIRC have mostly switched over to Skype and Discord platforms and we are in this sort of transitional era where forum role-playing is still trying to reinvigorate itself. The golden era of forum role-playing was probably 1998-2014, at least by my eyes and tons of forum rp-sites are still trying to figure out the future of their communities or to keep soldiering on until everyone is done with the hobby.

Mahz doesn’t advertise role-playerguild through topsites or any sort of alternative marketing that I am aware of. Maybe that is a factor? Hard to say.

but is there anyone else who feels that Roleplaying on forums is becoming less and less popular as time progresses? If so, do you have any theories as to why this is? My best guess is Discord, personally, as I've seen plenty of dice games, for example, switch over to it.

I don’t think it has to do with discord or skype or whatever.

As I said above, chat RPing has always been around. Most people who prefer forum role-playing don’t tend to vibe with chat RPing due to the different format.

It probably has more to do with the hobbies and interests of creative members of the current generation. I was in elementary school when I happened upon fanfiction, role-playing forums, and interactive fiction sites. I always enjoyed writing stories so I jumped in to try to take my creative energies and use them collaboratively. My first forum was similar to our ‘Free’ section.

We have to ask ourselves where the young fanfic writers are and if they are on another medium (tumblr? Google doc-based communities?).

[Venus]

<Snipped quote by metanoia>
They are but I don't know how. They're stuck in their homes, and less people have children and jobs. There's gotta be some X factor. Probably stress

@POOHEAD189

The ones I know have stated the whole quarantine thing really messed up their schedules and stuff, and being mandated to be cooped up has negatively impacted their inspiration (which honestly surprised me seeing as how so many of them are introverts in the first place lol).

As for the main topic I'm, I'm of the belief that it has definitely slowed down. I joined the guild when I was in college with plenty of free time, little responsibilities and tons of inspiration. Now I've got a full time job, a home to keep up with and dwindling time to spare. I know a lot of my writing group is on the same boat, and some of the good writers I knew that have moved on from the site have done so for similar issues. It sucks, but there isn't really much one can do other than take what one can get.

[mickilennial]

Ultimately, hobbies ebb and flow—--online is no exception. Even before COVID hit critical mass forum rping has been in a sore spot. I don’t think it’ll fall completely out of favor because aspiring fiction writers and fanfiction authors who want something a little more collaborative prefer long-form over small-form (chat RPing, messenger RPing, etc.).

[Andreyich]

Burnout from RPs constantly dying makes people reluctant to start and join them, simple as. Why put the effort in making an entire world or person if you'll only get to do a post or two worth of stuff with them.

[stone]

I haven't been RPing as long as others in this thread (less than 5 years), so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

I personally think Discord RPing is taking some of the userbase from Forum RPs. I've met a fair amount of Discord RPers who used to do forum but moved to Discord. I don't think it's "killing" forum RP or anything like that, but that's definitely one possible cause for some of the users leaving.

I also think that, in general, forum formats are losing users due to being forums. I think it's happening to almost every single forum (whether it's an RP forum, smashboards, serenesforest, whatever). It might just be due to how the internet is moving towards a more "commercial" service, where popular sites are owned and controlled by companies. Most forums are independent or user-run, and I think it's harder for them to keep up with the natural decline in any given userbase due to having less backing from a financial and commercial standpoint.

[rebornfan320]

Burnout from RPs constantly dying makes people reluctant to start and join them, simple as. Why put the effort in making an entire world or person if you'll only get to do a post or two worth of stuff with them.

@Andreyich

Well said and I agree on it wholeheartedly. Burnout, frustration etc. from RP's not even getting off the ground while piling on your point I will say the lack of interest and or feedback from people would make them hesitant to start one let alone joining them because the effort to make a world or a person is a lot more than we give credit or attention to.

[AlteredTundra]

<Snipped quote by metanoia>
They are but I don't know how. They're stuck in their homes, and less people have children and jobs. There's gotta be some X factor. Probably stress

@POOHEAD189

I'm of the belief that without their routines, the productivity of people has gone down. It might be weird to say, but when we were all able to do our usual thing actually gave us more inspiration than not. Nowadays, while inspiration is still there, the amount isn't anywhere near what it was pre-covid.

[Jabberwocky]

Roleplaying may slow down. It'll dip and surge, come and go. There are lots of factors involved like the time of year or world events (like the pandemic). But it'll never actually die because it's always changing - evolving. Silly as it may sound, it's a very fluid art form practiced on a wide variety of platforms. While it may seem to some to be slowing down, in other areas to other people it may be growing in popularity.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

Beyond a doubt, having been in forum roleplaying and roleplaying of some variety for decades, the medium has slowed down increasingly. While I too agree with the sentiment it will never truly die, it will likely never be as populous and widespread as it once was or even nearly as intense as it had been. It is more than just say, the issues of community or other, and rather it is just an overall trend. People have become more flighty, less committed, less active, and that is not just here in the medium but as a whole. A lot of tremendous work goes to waste as a result, as does massive opportunity such as the nature of so many being at home with virtually endless time to be creative and productive with their own visions and ideas, but that is the nature of the beast.

It is my expectation it will slow more and more, becoming increasingly a bygone relic, and that interest will only continue to expand elsewhere especially with Discord. As while instant messenger services have existed for the topic for some time, none really have the ubiquitous quality Discord does and the amount of options plus overlap of interest it provides. A forum tends to be far more limited, more specific, less convenient, and many of those are negatives held against it now with the way the approach has changed. Collaborative editing sites as well which act in real-time and have near universal availability, too, being another example.

[Mao Mao]

I kind of want to know how Discord RPing works. Isn't there like a post limit? So, would it be similar to Habbo Hotel roleplay rooms (one-lines and/or one-sentences)?

[Andreyich]

I kind of want to know how Discord RPing works. Isn't there like a post limit? So, would it be similar to Habbo Hotel roleplay rooms (one-lines and/or one-sentences)?

@Mao Mao

Yes it's generally just one liners, although sometimes people will just split up their paragraph into smaller pieces so they can send it without the app getting upset

[mickilennial]

I kind of want to know how Discord RPing works. Isn't there like a post limit? So, would it be similar to Habbo Hotel roleplay rooms (one-lines and/or one-sentences)?

@Mao Mao

The same as any messenger service-based RP. There are people who keep it short like a chatroom typically is but there are those of us who write casual length responses through it.



It varies depending on writer.

[Ammokkx]

Beyond a doubt, having been in forum roleplaying and roleplaying of some variety for decades, the medium has slowed down increasingly. While I too agree with the sentiment it will never truly die, it will likely never be as populous and widespread as it once was or even nearly as intense as it had been. It is more than just say, the issues of community or other, and rather it is just an overall trend. People have become more flighty, less committed, less active, and that is not just here in the medium but as a whole. A lot of tremendous work goes to waste as a result, as does massive opportunity such as the nature of so many being at home with virtually endless time to be creative and productive with their own visions and ideas, but that is the nature of the beast.

@The Harbinger of Ferocity

Horse. Shit.

No, the reason forum RPing is slowing down has nothing to do with the crowd. It has to do with the evolving nature of our communication medium, and the rapid expanse of the internet. Forums were once the primo way to communicate with others. Now you have blogging sites, Reddit, fuck, people even RP in facebook comments. People aren't RPing any less than before, they're just doing it in other places and in other ways.

And for this notion that people have somehow become more flighty, lazy, and non-committal... have you ever roleplayed with anyone? I got ghosted on Roblox when I was 8, dropped like a brick on Tumblr when I was 13-14, RPs died left and right on TVtropes right before I came to this site, and over here? Here's one of my first roleplays on RPG. This is on-par with the level of a dead RP created two months ago.

People aren't changing. The medium is.