[quote=@Yevin]
[@Dread] The best one that lived for years that I was apart of was more communal than having 1 GM. While the GM held the mysteries and shit, the plot, world and characters were developed by everyone so everyone had "a say" in the RP. Funny thing is, it was only 3 of us because the original had like 15 players then boiled down and in the end there was the trio. Great fun. So maybe the size is a factor in the life of the RP. The only reason it died was because I left/stopped coming to RPG. Now that I'm back, the other two seem to have been gone for some time. I don't know if we'll ever bring it back to life. 
[/quote]

Yah, I suppose group size could def be a factor, but I really think it comes down to keeping the spirit of the RP alive through GM and player intervention, even during slow periods or borderline stagnation. Players are a fickle bunch for sure, and also there isn't much loyalty to a particular RP of it seems that the GM has gone missing or just disconnected. It's kind of like: "Well, why should I care if the originator doesn't?"

But, to be fair, my experience in RPing is table-top, which means people are physically there and the overall dynamics are different than virtual. And Guild is the first site I've joined for PbP, so my perspective is still coming from fresh eyes.

Although I think everyone can agree that the key RP killer is lack of steady participation. But how does one fix that in a virtual environment?