Quickly Dead Role Plays/Fear of "Casual"

[Tabitha]

Okay. Is it just me, or is it that every role play I join gets started or I've joined in the midst and it just sort of...dies. I mean, I know people have lives outside of the forum and stuff but I recently came back onto the forums and just...yeah. I've joined seven role plays and one of them is even my own. Two of them haven't even been started and the last post was three days ago. One I posted last and it's been a day. Two of them it's been a few hours since someone has posted (I think that's okay). The last two are fine, having posted at least within the last hour, and one of them is even my own.

The other problem I have with this is that I even can see that the role players in some of these role plays are online, yet they don't post at all even if they haven't posted in quite a while. I may sound like a picky person, but I came back on recently (like I said before) and I'd like to get role playing!

Then again, maybe it's because I only like to role play in the "Free" category? I don't know. Advanced just terrifies me and I feel like I'd get kicked out of a "Causal" role play just because I don't have enough to say. I've even considered putting my recent roleplay (Wonder.) into the "Causal" but have been afraid of it just getting bumped down to "Free".

So, for both of these things, is it just me or does anyone else seem to have this problem?

[RBYDark]

As someone who posts in Casual largely:

A) A day between posts isn't anything to get worried over. Sometimes, it can be a week between posts. Slow and not ideal, but not dead. If the OOC is semi-active, though, it's usually not a problem.
B) Since I signed up, I've been in at minimum 17 group rps. They're all pretty much dead now. It's a problem with group, the GM can get bored or pulled away by life, and if one person leaves, it can halt an rp entirely even if they weren't the GM, depending on what their character was doing.
C) Depending on how long a post should be, they may not be online long enough to actually respond properly, or they may have more inspiration for another rp and focus their writing there.

So personally I don't think it's a problem with just 'Free'. That aside, the mods have confirmed that it's up to GM discretion as to where your rp is and if you want to take a stab in the Casual section for a more reliable group, go ahead.

[Ellri]

Casual ain't dangerous. In fact, advanced isn't dangerous nor should you be afraid of either of them. The mods don't move RPs about without good reason. That someone who is not the GM thinks it doesn't "fit" in a certain section is not a good reason.

People do not always take part in just one RP. That they are online but not posting in one thread typically means they're doing something else, like reading or posting somewhere else. In advanced, posts can go from many in a single hour to one in a month without the RP dying.

If it takes more than a week in a casual RP without any activity IC or OoC or on other channels without prior notice of why, then there might be cause for concern, but it doesn’t mean the RP must be dying.

The key difference between the sections is not merely post lengths. It is also the level of thought behind each post. Where a free post might just cover a minute or two IC (we're guessing a bit here, not playing in that section), an advanced RP post can frequently encompass several hours (or even more) of IC time.

Some advanced RPs actually spend more time planning things than they do posting. Its simply a different style.

If you want to feel more comfortable with writing more we would highly recommend simply reading an RP from one, or both, of the "higher" sections. That might also inspire you a little.

[ArenaSnow]

You could manage Casual just fine, it fits the name quite well. Honestly, a lot of the free roleplays really ought to be in casual; the one that you just sent me a PM about is currently casual in writing level (just based on the first two posts), so don't worry.

For threads where the GM says it is high casual or if you are looking at an advanced, try looking at the works of others and asking the GM via PM if your post length is ok, say, by means of sending an example of your work and asking them if it fits their expectations.

On the matter of easily dying roleplays...

Happens at all levels. It really takes a community of players that cares and has a bit of an investment already, interaction... a little community of those you can rely on to get a faster paced game and have it reliable.

Some of them just go horribly slow; sending a few pokes might help. Players (or god forbid the GM in the GM's own pretty much scripted storyline) can lose the "spark" of inspiration, and things fall apart. I have lost the spark before; one time the GM shut it down because nobody was really doing anything at all and the other I arranged my character's death because I lost inspiration in it.

[Impaqt]

A lot of these guys have given some good information on this subject, I think. I'll just say this: In an age where the smartphone exist, it is very possible for people to be online and yet busy. For example, I don't always get the time to post, but I try to check in daily for PMs and such, at least. Even often times while I'm at work in between jobs, cause my job involves a lot of traveling between places. Phones are great for keeping connected and socializing, but not so much for posting in a role play. And that's just one possible scenario. There really could be endless possibilities and scenarios that could involve a person being online and yet inactive. That's one thing I don't think you can really judge people on, based on the simple fact that you really just don't know. Specially, as I've previously stated, in this day and age where we as humans are so connected and yet disconnected.

[ArenaSnow]

A lot of these guys have given some good information on this subject, I think. I'll just say this: In an age where the smartphone exist, it is very possible for people to be online and yet busy. For example, I don't always get the time to post, but I try to check in daily for PMs and such, at least. Even often times while I'm at work in between jobs, cause my job involves a lot of traveling between places. Phones are great for keeping connected and socializing, but not so much for posting in a role play. And that's just one possible scenario. There really could be endless possibilities and scenarios that could involve a person being online and yet inactive. That's one thing I don't think you can really judge people on, based on the simple fact that you really just don't know. Specially, as I've previously stated, in this day and age where we as humans are so connected and yet disconnected.

@Impaqt

Although I don't have quite the situation you describe, I do have the habit of leaving RPG open in another tab while doing completely different things demanding my attention, so it is possible I can be "online", yet not, as you describe :)

[vancexentan]

Roleplays that tend to die out quickly are a major pain. It's either one of these problems in my opinion:

A. The GM didn't plan out things properly and thus players are confused.

B. The players lose interest or fail to perform properly causing alienation to other players.

C. The characters don't fit the style of the roleplay and it collapses due to the player characters unable to do things together properly.

D. Real life rears it's head and slaps you with it's back hand making players take longer to post and thus losing the spark.