[quote=@Darcs]
Has there ever even been a successful RP? Like ever?
[/quote]

Just a few that I know here. That makes the survival rate of RPs close to nil. To know what makes RPs successful, we need to know what would cause them to crash. The reason hy RPs have almost no chance to survive is because there are so, so many things that could go wrong. I'll list a few.

Literary
- RPs are unlike novels, which has a single author with a single vision. Go too far from this, and an RP dies due to lack of direction.
- There is no set goal but to have fun and tell a good campfire story.
- The internet happened, that's what. 12 year old kids have just as much power as a 24 year old. Anonymity. Anarchy. Anything goes. And all that nazi talk.
- RPs are far less prestigious forms of literature than novels. Novels get published, gets sold. The authors get a paycheck, recognition.

Personal
- Real life happens all the time.
- RPs require alot of dedication, almost as much as writing a novel. How many true writers there are in the world is pretty much how many true roleplayers there are in the world.
- RPs require people of mature and good character to be successful.
- Conflict happens all the time, to the best of us.

RP Specific
- The roleplay needs good direction and planning. Otherwise, it falls flat.
- It needs a good GM.
- It needs good members, so it's the above category multiplied by how many members there are.
- It needs good rules and people to follow them.

And I'm very sure all this is just the tip of an iceberg.