[quote=Aeonumbra]I took about two looks at Iwaku, first of all. I hate the layout. So the guild has a bit of simplicity about it right now, so what. Does it work? Yea, so why are you complaining? "because it's not perfect all the time, and I don't have all the options I want, and, and, and" ... Neither does my local grocery store, do I still shop there? Yea. I agree with divinity, if you find something cool and shiny show people. But don't tell them that their light is dying just because you found a different one. Iwaku, from what I glanced at, has something about trophy points and ratings, and seriously, if that's what it takes for someone's spirit of roleplay to be nurtured, competitive point systems, I find that kind of ridiculous.

Roleplaying is a great hobby of mine, I have the passion for writing but not the attention span to write a novel. Novels are lonely, and self-criticism often bums me out to the point of not writing at all. But coming to the guild, and being a GM myself, as well as a player, is about the only commitment I've had when it comes to writing (Free of will, of course). This place is like a home to me, full of strange and awkward people. So it takes a little longer to start up a new roleplay, so there's not as many new ones floating around anymore. 

I myself have been busy, and haven't been very active for a couple of months. Life will do that when you have a death in the family, when you put in time and effort on a new love interest, when you try to get your life back on track. Some leave, but some do not forget, and some come back. I am one of the people that will never leave. I'm sure there are plenty like me. As long as we gather and form the light, more will come. The guild is not "dying" and I feel it will only die if it goes offline, if it goes dark. I honestly hate all other roleplay sites, because I'm so used to the guild.

Mahz has a life too. Personally, I've never even talked to Mahz, but I have seen some things he posts. Everybody has a life, roleplay is our passion, the guild is his. If he doesn't have time for it, if he doesn't have the money for it, even if it has been a year. You never know what it's like in someone else's shoes. The guild functions, it works, and that's good enough. You don't have the right to demand, or expect, anymore than you have. You are not entitled to anything but your opinion, so if you feel the guild is dying then leave. I would much rather have a smaller number of more committed players, than a high number of Houdini's (those who vanish). 

Honestly. The guild will never "die" because I will never leave. I can roleplay here, and that's good enough for me.
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[quote=Masaki Haruna]
We have lives.
[/quote]

[quote=Prince]This isn't a problem. It's a topic. I'm on both RPGuild, Iwaku and other sites. A lot of this post has become RPGuild vs Iwaku, someone attacking the validity of stats (stats that I have for the past seven months, thus I know the trends of the site), and an overall emphasis on activity vs. community. I'll address all of it.

[indent]First, RPGuild is a living community. It might be hurting, it might be shrinking, but saying that its dying is false. I know firsthand the stubborn roleplayers here that will stay true to the Guild and stay true to Mahz through anything. The Guild will not die until Mahz allows it to and he will have a legion of loyal community members until that day.

Second, one cannot say Iwaku is the new RPGuild. The original and most fundamental aspect of the RPGuild was that it was the reliable rock of a site for all roleplayers. It may have stopped being that since Guildfall, but it hasn't let us down since. It is here for us. So is Iwaku, but Iwaku is not nor will ever be what RPGuild was. RPGuild was alive through so many eras ans convergences of other communities, including the ones I came from, that a site like Iwaku - even if it becomes something great - can never be what the RPGuild was. The thing is, the RPGuild can't ever be that again, either.

Third, I have 7 montths worth of almost-daily stats, but I don't feel the need to tell a single soul here about them or my readings. Just know this: the Guild is stable. It may not be 'healthy', but it's definitely stable. 

Lastly, activity is only one aspect of a community. The RPGuild has its own community, but lemme tell you what. There are parts of this community I abso-fucking-lutely hate, but I'm still here. There are vehemently ignorant individuals, there are those only concerned with their own well-being, there are those that refuse to accept responsibility or conditions for their position. This community has a LOT of immature people within it. Those are the faults of this community. There will be faults within ANY community. Despite those faults, I'm still here in three roleplays - two of which are growing larger and have sprouted out of nowhere. Two of which were founded on my prospect of a "Community-created" roleplay. This community is what it is, for better or worse, and those that want to ignore its downsides and dark parts can remain ignorant all they want, but you can't have the solid dedication of the Guild without it. The activity of this site, comparably, is weak. It's a fact. These are things everyone just has to get used to and move on with. If you don't like them, leave. If you can't stand to leave, get over it. If you're brand new here, then I'll tell you firsthand Iwaku has just as many community issues as the Guild. Differences don't determine superiority when such is a matter of opinion.[/indent]

All in all, I think both sides of this argument are wrong. No one wants to accept the faults that exist universally and apparently no one wants to accept that superiority-of-site is an opinion. You can present whatever criteria you use to make the decision, but to someone else it might be irrelevant. This isn't an objective case.
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[quote=Yoshua171]
Ah, but ThatOneGuy, the thing is that Drakel, Prince, ravenDivinity, and Aeonumbra are right in this matter.

We're in the dark, sure, but as Prince said the Guild is in a stable condition. Yeah, if there's another Guildfall it'd be even more crushing than the first one, but some of us will never leave. I am one of those individuals. I was with the Guild for most of my 5 years RPing, and unless the site goes down permanently or essentially everyone I RP with (or at least those who make/enjoy the RPs that I enjoy) disappear, I sure as all hell ain't going nowhere.

I mean, when Guildfall happened myself and several others already had a healthy RP and its community going. The Guild was down for a few weeks, and when it came back up, so did our RP. We stayed in contact and the moment the Guild was back and we got our posts back (which we did because we backed it up and everyone was determined to finish it) it came back. We finished that Season/Arc of the RP and guess what. The next season/Arc/RP is up now and it's healthy and it's going to stay that way.

As long as there are several RPs in each section that are healthily running and the site remains up, even if it is finnicky, there will be (as several have said) a dedicated community of RPers who won't be going anywhere.

Oh yeah, and a pretty website does not immediately mean you have a good community. Iwaku is pretty, but it's shallow and you don't pick a shallow woman to be your life partner, you pick the interesting reliable and trustworthy one. The people who leave are those who don't seem to get that.

Oh and people have offered to donate money, Mahz has refused their assistance and stubbornly trudged on. So it's not the memberst hat is the issue. We just all need to be able to have one solid sit down with our amazing admin, (because he is amazing, deal with that) and figure out what we're gonna do. However, there's one thing about this, we can wait. The site will be fine for awhile. Move on.

Hell, I know some who left and came back because they realized that even with its bad formatting and bare bones state, the Guild was still a better community. So yeah. Everything has flaws, learn to deal with them, or leave.

We get it, there are issues and most of us who've been here more than a few days know that. Get over it man.

Your argument, while valid, is a weak one.

Oh, by the way, I tried Iwaku for a few weeks (didn't even have to leave the Guild, I was on both, imagine that) and I discovered something. Starting a new RP over there without first spending dedicated time to the IRC chat, basically means your RP will fail, nine times out of ten. The types of RPs, the variety, and some other core things that Guildgoers love, are simply not there.

Sorry bro, you just got stomped, for the fifth time.

Know when to give up and go home.

Ciao~
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Pretty much everything above. Mahz has a life. He works likely hellish hours trying to scrounge enough money to simply pay the site's bills not to mention his own. Do [i]not[/i] blame this on him when he's trying. He can't be everywhere at once, get over it. Or, would you rather he run himself even more into the ground and lose his health to make you happy? God damn.