Hey! Figured most people engaging the "community discussion" would be established members of the site, so here's a flaker/mainly-anonymous "newbie" adding her two cents. 

I've been roleplaying through sub-forums for over three years now, and I found RPG on a whim, looking for larger sites to dip into. I appreciated, and still [i]do[/i] appreciate, the sheer expanse of the site - or at least the [i]illusion[/i] of expansiveness; I've always gotten the impression you could post any roleplay up at any time of the year and it would still get a decent amount of interested players based on just how many potential players there were. That's the selling point of the site as a whole for me: the idea of jumping in when I'm bored, when roleplays elsewhere are grinding to a halt, to just throw character concepts to the wall and hope they stick.

I can't describe my engagement on RPG as lasting to any capacity. You look through my message history, it speaks for itself. My plan of approaching RPG has prevented me from dedicating to anything, but there also hasn't really been a "backbone" to my experience that holds my interest. 

Every roleplay can be a case-by-case basis in terms of personal investment, so, in my experience, I usually turn to the out-of-character community when the IC fails me. First time I joined the RPG Discord, I was bumped out by a wrestling discussion... in the wrong channel... by a mod. That sums up how included I feel in the site as a whole, really, haha. And unfortunately, the site from my distanced perspective has always had a dark undertone to it, from the fact that the most active roleplay discussion thread was for throwing shade (it was funny while it lasted, rest in peace) to the absence of the 'Matz' guy giving the impression of neglect (sorry if I don't have the whole picture there; I [i]can't,[/i] I don't know what the hell's going on here). I've stopped because I was anxious of getting pulled into drama, so I've settled on being a Ghost Mode spectator, rising from the dead once or twice a year to leave empty promises on some poor GM's casual anime RP. 

I'm glad a lot of you have someplace you can come to, though. Looks like I have to keep searching for my place! 

The [b]biggest reason[/b] I wanted to comment though was I think a newsletter like this is a step in the right direction in terms of community involvement. The best way to be inclusive is to be [i]informative/[/i] Let people who haven't found their niche yet or exist on the sidelines like I do know what's going on around the site. Also, spotlighting roleplays: that's something I'm wholly glad more of the roleplaying communities I know are doing. I'm used to only talking about projects or posts unless it's to ask for feedback. There's nothing that boosts my motivation as a GM and as a player than conversation about the game! I'm 100% in favor of bringing this back. Even if I might not be around for the next few editions, aha.

[s]666 days bby[/s]