I hate to say it...

[Tlstiffl]

But am I the only one who feels like this site is slowly dying? Other than a couple 1x1 RPs I've got going, it just seems so hard to get any new ones going, or to keep new ones alive (which could be a me problem). Even the interest checks seem very barren and not updated that often. I remember when I first joined, your IC would barely last on the first page for more than a day.

Is written RP dying in general? Or are people really just shifting to other mediums like discord and what not. I know I'm on the older-ish side of things, so maybe it's old fashion of me to want to stick to one site.

Does anyone else feel this way or just me?

[Songster Gecko]

Yeah, I remember when this site was far more active. Still, it's not entirely dead yet; you've still got some RPs going on here and there, and this is place still works well even if finding a partner for an off-site RP.

Discord and other apps are probably taking the spotlight away from RPG. Can't be helped, I guess. It's more convenient for rapid-fire stuff.

[POOHEAD189]

No, we've gotten 50 new members the last like 3 days. Maybe it's just where you're looking?

[AlteredTundra]

I don't think it is. At least, as far as fast-paced roleplays go. Those who are of the old ways that like to write lengthy posts (or just write it in a space on a website vs on an app), they are still around. Granted, they are busy and sometimes they aren't able to write as often as they used to, but they are very much around.

Poo might be right about not looking in the right spot, though.

[BrokenPromise]

The cycle of life:

The holidays (or any slow period) rolls around. > Someone makes a post about the site being dead. > The site continues to live. > Repeat!

It looks like you're in the 1x1 sector, @Tlstiffl. People are probably too busy gearing up for the holidays to participate in that type of RPing. I started a group RP about 2 months ago and have been able to retain almost all of my players, but it's clear that the end of the school year, turkey day, and upcoming holidays have put a strain on their time to RP. This is going to be the first week I need to delay my GM post because half of the players have yet to contribute. But they are all on discord and very much still interested in playing. Though when you're looking for new interest it can feel like things are drying up this time of year

[Tlstiffl]

So essentially it seems the style of RP I enjoy most is dying. Ok, well guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. 🤷‍♀️

[Ammokkx]

So essentially it seems the style of RP I enjoy most is dying. Ok, well guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. 🤷‍♀️

@Tlstiffl

I don't think this is the conclusion you should be taking away from these answers.

We're in a busy time of the year, coupled with it generally being less popular than before, but it's by no means dead. I've been both in far smaller and far bigger RP communities than this, and even with about 1/50 the amount of people that are on this site, I've seen RP communities be active for years.

The thing is, on a mega board like this where anyone can start anything, you're bound to get a wildly different range of likes and interests. I, personally, am just about the resident Card Game Nerd™ on this website, and believe you me, I've had more than my fair share of trouble finding people to RP card games with ever since I joined.

RP isn't dying and it's not going to die. It'll get smaller and slow down, but there's always new young people getting into the hobby too. I know for a fact I RP less not because of the site's fault, but because I just... RP less in general. I have no drive to join 6 things at once anymore, and I also don't check the interest boards daily like I used to. Gotta understand that existing members are graying too, and either become more busy in life or move on to other things.

[Tlstiffl]

I do want to point out, I've been feeling this way for quite some time. I am very much aware that this time of year is crazy hectic to for everyone, myself included. And I never fault a partner for having a busy life off this site. I always say real life comes first. My point I'm trying to make is that I guess the style I enjoy RPing most isn't what is "in" right now, and that's fine. I am just am old millennial stuck in their ways.

Oh and to add on to that. The point that younger generations are discovering written RP is amazing, but as an adult, it doesn't feel ethical to RP with people under a certain age (regardless if the material is adult themed or not) so I do realize that probably limits my options as well.

[RickyG85]

It could be worse; have you seen the rp scene on Reddit?

It's a disgusting mess.

You can't "bump", so if people don't see your posting immediately, it is quickly buried under people re-posting the same listings, simply to keep it near the top. It's not divided by categories or anything that might make it easier for players to find what they like, you just have lean into the "doom scrolling".

To me, this place seems as active as ever, I'm just... Not seeing a lot that grabs my interest anymore. I try to start things, still, but nothing seems to go anywhere. the last group rp I got off the ground only just got off the ground, and nothing else. some of the best rp's I've had, in the last year or two, now that I think about it, have been 1X1's, likely because it makes it easier to avoid the typical "9 people show interest, 5 actually submit characters, and if you're lucky only 1 ghosts shortly after starting, leaving the whole thing dead in the water" problem.

Yeah, this format used to be much better. I also used to have better ideas, and more patience with players, so, make of that what you will.

[BrokenPromise]

Mmmmm, something else you may not be aware of is the growing skill ceiling of the community. People genuinely don't want to join RPs that are ill formed or from less ambitious writers. I mean, your checks where you want to play a shy guy to someone's buff dude or experament with female/female stories get the point across but aren't exactly ringing endorsements for your writing ability. Compare that to this check or even this check where the prospective partners have a better idea of what they want and put effort into their checks. With stuff like this, you're going to have to try a little harder to stand out and get attention. But it doesn't have to be a competition. if what you want is simple and you don't want to make a good check for it, why not join someone else?

[Venus]

In my personal experience, besides everything else listed, another obstacle is that although there are quite a few writers I feel would match the genre and story type I like to partake in when I'm looking for a 1x1, the gender we prefer to play is non-negotiable (aka I'm boring trash who sticks to exclusively playing females in slice of life, hetero pairings, and that's exactly what everyone else wants to play as well). That alone makes the chances of finding a potential partner like 90% slimmer, but what else can you do? 😂

[Tlstiffl]

@BrokenPromise...Ok first off, I have a multitude of interest checks, many that include far more information... Feel free to scroll back through all my posts if you want. I would spend time trying to make them look nice, but I would get the same feedback/response as I do now. So I started to just do a basic interest check to just put my ideas out there and not waste my time. I do not appreciate you pointing a finger at me and essentially saying it's my fault. Yes, I am being somewhat pessimistic, but I didn't call out anyone for any specific reason, and everyone else who has responded has just made comments about the issue in general and not called me out for something specific I did.

I have messaged MANY people to see if they would want to be my partner for 1x1 based off their IC. And trust me, I've had some amazing 1x1 RPs on this site, some that lasted for months and had well over 100 replies. I have partners who tell me my writing is great. I also have partners who've ghosted me. Not everyone meshes and that's fine. I literally never delete a single PM, so I know exactly how many RPs I've been in. So it's definitely not on me for lack of trying.

I think @BenG85 said if best- the site is active, but it seems there is a lack of new content. And I know I'm a hypocrite since I prefer to do a lot of the same thing, but I have been doing my best to branch out and try new things.

Perhaps my wording in my initial post wasn't the best, but I still stand by my point that written RP is shifting and that's fine, so I guess I'll just have to accept that perhaps my time is coming to end, at least until I find somewhere where my style is the preferred way.

[Dinh AaronMk]

If you could help an old beggar out and post in Nations that'll be great, thanks

[BrokenPromise]

Don't think my post was worded like a personal attack. It was advice at best. But We can keep things general.

I've been participating in despair-educing paranormal modern fantasy RPs for the past 4 years. As niche as that may sound I made another one and I got twice as many players as I was expecting and feel truly blessed. Come to think of it, any time I want to start an RP I always have plenty of players who join it. I also have a few friends who I'd love to play with, but their RPs are filled with players and I'd be put on a waiting list just to get in. I can't really find any evidence from my own personal experience that points to a shift in the forum, RPing, or anything of the sort. Sure, some of my friends have left, interests change, life happens, but I always keep an eye out for more to fill in their ranks. I think that is how it goes with most people.

[New Beginnings]

I'm going to throw my hat in the ring and say that having a mobile platform might help with numbers as so many people are using mobile apps to role play. It'd be difficult but might attract a bunch of people who are seeking an easy to use mobile app that has am established user base and system. For those who are using this site for the first time the whole thing can look a bit daunting. Not only that but out of the bunch if new people who joined how many are still active users afterwards? We might be gaining a bunch of new users but are we also keeping them? It's hard to say as I don't know.

I think everyone has valid points and maybe we're just all seeing this now. Just years of these small things building up like this. That's just me and my thoughts though.

[Carlyle]

@Tlstiffl I've noticed a lull of activity for most of this year, but I wouldn't necessarily say the guild is dying. It's mainly because the main, more "hyperactive" core is getting older and doesn't have much time on their hands these days. Coupled with the fact that people are gravitating towards places like Discord (looking at you, RPGO, with all your shitposting) for RP and stuff, the guild probably seems a little empty, like how RPG OOCs are almost exclusively on Discord nowadays.

@POOHEAD189 Eh, not really. I regularly check the new members list and we typically have a small trickle of new members joining the site. Most tend to post a few times and disappear or not post at all on the site and disappear. That "big surge" of members you're talking about is largely a group of people that came to the guild together for their RP. Otherwise, it's a rarity to see large numbers like that join in one day/over the course of a few days.

@New Beginnings That would require Mahz (or maybe even Legend, as they're the two mods with coding exp off the top of my head) to work on coding a mobile app for the guild. Personally, I have my doubts that something like that would ever be made since the Guild isn't particularly known for getting new features or updates.

Though I also don't think we really need an app in the first place. Maybe a more mobile-friendly version of the site? Sure. App? Nah. The Guild's already pretty simplistic and easy to understand vs. other sites like RPN, Iwaku, etc.

[ERode]

Would be nice if this was in RP Discussion instead heh.

At least from my experience (largely in casual and largely in groups), the Guild is ridiculously active for a site that has such a small userbase. RPNation has a whole ass 300+ users online at one time and doesn't feel nearly so active as the Guild, while Iwaku feels like goddamn molasses, tragically. Activity in general has been segmenting though. You have Discord RPs pulling people's attention away (though those are sorta a clusterfuck to navigate), you have dedicated forum sites for single RPs (though Terrasphere's the only one that I thought was cool), but more importantly, you have tabletop RPGs that have exploded into popularity and pulled away people who aren't as into (or just don't have time for) writing posts with little return (think how long it takes for one 'action' to be responded to in written format), when they can run through a whole adventure in three or four hours of a DnD session. Roll20 and Discord both make TTRPG much easier to get into, leaving a smaller portion of people willing to put up with the more gradual, methodical work of written RP.

That's a lot of words spent on saying that, due to there being many more options for getting your roleplaying fix these days, you have less people concentrating or being super active in a single area. So it's definitely a medium thing, less of a 'your hobby is totally dying' thing, imo.

Oh yeah, and on Broken's point, people are 100% expecting more and more outta aesthetics and graphics. It's little wonder that all of the Discord RPs I've hopped into and out of featured grossly gorgeous and convoluted character sheets.

[BangoSkank]

The site is in decline, yes, but so is the hobby in general.

Part of it is the Official Discord with its innumerable issues and the general movement of RPing toward Discord rather than forums. Part of it is the season. Part of it is an aging base. Part of it is just the hobby itself aging. This is still, for my money, the best site for the hobby.

With that in mind here's my cheap plug for a guide I wrote. Well, a guide I compiled with advice from a ton of users here, including BrokenPromise, Kuro, Ammokkx and ERode

Cheap Plug - particularly the "Can't Find a Partner" section
roleplayerguild.com/topics/184596-rpi…

In short though my advice would be to join one or two of the group RPs. You may not be a huge fan of group RPs but just because you are in a group RP doesn't mean you have to split your interactions equally between every participant. It would be wise to try to a little bit at least to sort of flex or stretch your writing muscles, but it's pretty normal for people and characters to form little cliques.

Writing with a group, and writing in general, gives you a chance to interact with others and see whose writing style you like and whose writing style you don't like, as well as further develop your own writing style and display it for others. Essentially building a reputation as a writer with certain strengths and certain weaknesses.

There are enough writers here with enough talent that with a little work you can likely find your niche.

[BrokenPromise]

Mmmmm, forgot Bango made that topic for a second. I remember everyone coming together for that thing, and it's just as true today as it was then.

[Dion]

But am I the only one who feels like this site is slowly dying?

@Tlstiffl

No, lol. It's been dying for the last x amount of years, though. This site is always slowly dying. It's been dying ever since Guildfall.

Is written RP dying in general? Or are people really just shifting to other mediums like discord and what not. I know I'm on the older-ish side of things, so maybe it's old fashion of me to want to stick to one site.

I do GTA RP now. I have a blast. It's nowhere near as deep as written RP, though.