Roleplay Retention -- Keeping it alive

[HeySeuss]

Since we have a lot of RP's that don't last, I'd love to hear some feedback on why RP's die and possible solutions to these problems. I don't see a similar topic on here, so I thought I'd broach it, since I definitely have a track record of dead RP's behind me. I've been trying to fix the situation.

I've learned that a 'three paragraph to keep it moving' minimum rule helps to reduce the pressure to post -- in advanced, at least, there's sometimes a worry that if you don't post a certain amount, posts are looked down upon. I feel differently, since the post that never comes is more lethal than a post that at least moves the plot somewhat forward.

[BrokenPromise]

People not posting in an RP is a symptom. If you want to get people to post, you need to look at the real problem, which is usually you or your players.

We're going to use 6 players for this next example. Their names are Ay, Bee, Sea, Dee, E, Ef And their Gm. They are all playing as pirates in a fantasy RP. The RP hasn't seen a single post in a full week, despite that being the posting requirement. The GM has to do some investigating to see what the hold up is.

-Ay recently joined the RP and made a single post with their pirate saying Ahoy to everyone, and is currently top deck. They don't know what to write next.

-Bee and Sea have been working on a collab for a few weeks, but the GM knows Sea is slow to post. Their characters are on an island.

-Dee's pirate asked E's pirate a question, but E hasn't been online for two weeks. Their characters are bottom deck.

-Ef is currently on an IRL cruise and won't be available to post for another week. Their character is on top deck.

In this example, people aren't posting due to a gridlock caused by momentary and possibly permanent player absences. So now that we have identified the problem, we can start to address it. We can tell player Ay that there are no active players on the top deck, or we could make an NPC pirate greet their character. Bee and Sea could be asked to post their collab as-is, or we can wait a bit longer if Bee reports that the collab is making progress. (I personally prefer to only collab with players when I can push out the collab quickly. But that is a topic for later.) E has likely encountered an emergency or has left the RP. Either way, they can't be counted on to post. We should ask Dee to disengage E's character or cause our own diversion to force a disengage, like a sudden cannonball or explosion that knocks out E's character. as for Ef, there really isn't much we can do about them. They will come back, or they will not.

That is one example of how RP death can be starved off. It's not always that easy though.

[Lady Absinthia]

Going to simply refer to my Gming 101 guide on reasons why they die and how to help keep that from happening - Gming 101

[HeySeuss]

Going to simply refer to my Gming 101 guide on reasons why they die and how to help keep that from happening - Gming 101

@Lady Amalthea

I'll check it out!

Edit: However, while there's a guide, I think that's an evolving conversation and wanted input on how people are trying to tackle the issue.

[Lady Absinthia]

@HeySeuss Saw the post before the edit - I wasn't trying to shut down a conversation by having people refer to a guide. I was simply placing it out there so I didn't have to repost the entire section of the guide since I am going to be ~running back and forth from the computer~ for the next several hours and wouldn't be able to sit down and type up a more full response for discussion is all.

[HeySeuss]

@HeySeuss Saw the post before the edit - I wasn't trying to shut down a conversation by having people refer to a guide. I was simply placing it out there so I didn't have to repost the entire section of the guide since I am going to be ~running back and forth from the computer~ for the next several hours and wouldn't be able to sit down and type up a more full response for discussion is all.

@Lady Amalthea

Hah! Ninja'd and not fast enough (on my end.) That response was badly done due to not reading carefully enough and I apologize for it.

The current response was a little more nuanced in response to my subsequent reading and a brief, 'shit, foot in mouth.'

[Dion]

@BrokenPromise I feel like that is a really apt description and cause analysis but I think it's also missing some more intricate points that as a GM are hard to work with. The starting point is doing what you did aka figure out who is doing what, and where, and how and so forth.

Analysing what is happening is a lot easier than actually talking to people and telling them that they need to do x or y in order to advance. And then there are the people who say 'I'll post!' 20x and then never post over the duration of a month. (BONUS POINTS: they're also 'that guy' who posts 2 weeks after the RP has officially died and then goes 'what the fuck!?!? Where is everyone!!!' in the OOC.)

So what that means to me is that a lot of the times, analysing it is like you said, only the first step.. the second and harder step is getting people to change their behaviour in order to advance the RP. Something I find really hard because, if I have to motivate people to post... then they're probably not _that_ interested in the RP to begin with. Is it worth continuing with people who don't care?

[amorphical]

"Everytime you drop a thread with out telling anyone, A (favorite animal) is sad.


(Me waiting for post))

[Burning Kitty]

I give one warning to everyone at 4 days after that they are banned and the thread dies or it lives.