[quote]Maintaining a player base is a key to keeping a roleplay running for a long time. But sometimes as GMs or even as a fellow player, we struggle to do this. This issue of the People's Press I'd love to talk about both the why is this such a struggle for so many roleplays as well how do we resolve this. 

A strong foundation or core is the key to any structure. If you don't have a foundation, there's nothing to support anything you might add on top. Adding new players constantly isn't going to solve your issues if you can't keep a core group who drive the roleplay. So how do you reward those players for their commitment and consistency while keeping the RP open to any newcomers who might come your way?

Players like to feel valued and as a GM it's very important to communicate with your players. So many of us are guilty of relying on that little 'like' button far too often. I read your post, I pressed the 'like' and that's it! Well, what does that really tell anyone? By my own admission, far too often I used 'likes' as a way to track what I've actually read. I've yielded far more positive results from commenting on my players' posts than I ever have from leaving a reaction. [/quote]

A wonderful edition of RPGN, so thank you for that!

For the discussion at hand, keeping a roleplay alive and maintaining your playerbase. It’s a difficult one isn’t it? There are so many factors that determine the success of a roleplay. From the perspective of a GM, it starts with the initial idea we have. (All my amazing ideas come to me in the shower, anyone else?). So I’ve got my idea – and then I want to take it to the boards. It would be very easy for me to create the IC there and then, get some response, and dive right in! But that’s not the way.

Others have got it right. Plan plan plan, get a timeline mapped out. I personally love Google sheets! If anyone would like my RP template that I use in Google sheets, holler! Think of several events, how they tie together etc (this is relevant I promise). Having a good OOC thread is fundamental to attracting a good playerbase.

I’m a strong believer in by being authentic to yourself. By laying your expectations down, you’ll attract the right people from the get go. You want to get the quality players for your needs who will share your values when it comes to the RP – and having quality players is where it’s at! 

I also strongly believe in being the player you want to see. Being helpful and kind goes a long, long way. Usually when I join an RP, GM or not, I review character submissions and give my own feedback. This for a start gives me an incredible knowledge of the characters in the game. My mind will start buzzing about how my character might react to theirs. I once joined a roleplay and about 2 weeks after we’d started there was a fellow player who actually still didn’t know the name of my character which I remember being very disheartened by at the time. I make it a goal to know the characters in the roleplay I’m in. To read sheets, give feedback and compliments and shed praise. 

I try to do the same when new posts appear IC. Sometimes I’m too busy to do this, and I can’t do it absolutely every time – but it’s always lovely to give someone a genuinely kind word on something they’ve worked hard on. 1 million times out of 10 it’s going to make their day and encourage them to do more. 

As a GM, there are many things I’ve done to uplift the RP experience for the players in my group. I find a character wish survey to be really effective in getting players to think about their characters beyond the current plot. Are there any individual storylines they want to tell that they’ve been shy to ask? Any struggles they want to face? What kind of development would they like to see happen? When I get the surveys back, I can discuss with my GM partners and we can create things like subplots, specific NPC etc to make sure that everyone gets a chance to shine in the RP. We can then put these important wants of our players in the aforementioned timeline Google sheet so they’re not forgotten, and we can map out when things can happen with little overlap on other stories.

We have frequent character and plot discussion, after every GM move along I will tag each player with a collab concept idea so I’m always touching base with them. I touch base privately every now and then to make sure everyone is happy. 
Which brings me to Discord! Gosh what a tool?! Perfect for instantly messaging your players, sharing links, images, having VC, planning OOC events. An absolutely vital resource to keep an RP alive and your players engaged imo. 

I recently got to meet the wonderful [@Hank] irl and that was through a friendship that has come about through Discord, and our fabulous VotD roleplay!

Something else I’d like to touch on, for those of us out there who GM. It’s so important to take care of yourself too. Often times we spend a lot of our time engaging our players and helping them with their own characters and with our plots, that we stop to take a breath and help ourselves. It’s [i]okay[/i] to slow down, it’s okay to be vulnerable and share that you’re finding it hard, and you need to take a step back for a moment. When you have those moments of needing to re-evaluate your own direction and character related issues – [b]take the moment.[/b]. Don’t burn out trying to help everyone else. I’ve recently experienced this, shared my pains with the wonderful [@Dervish] and he was as understandable as I would have been had one of the players had the same feelings. 

Lastly, as a GM and a player – sometimes you have to take a step back and smell the roses! Look at the amazing RP you’ve made, the friendships that have come about from the RP you’re engaged in! Celebrate your success, pat each other on the back for the [i]amazing[/i] writing you’re doing together. 

Shout out to [@Dervish] and [@Leidenschaft] for being my favourite partners in GM crime, to [@Hank] for being my partner in all crimes to ever exist, and the fantastic playerbase of VotD who continue to surprise and amaze me on this crazy journey! 😊