The resultant fallout of this one individual's lack leaves two, three, maybe four or more other souls waiting, often because said character was essential to the plot or was being engaged with in some way.
Granted, a Game Master can always move the matter along and players themselves should have said power if several days pass, but it begins an insidious corruption in most every thread it touches. As one fades, so often too does a second, then a third, until at most a smattering of players and or the thread's owner might remain, mind you that is being terribly optimistic. This matter cuts deep into the marrow of a writer's morale and often leads to them simply eschewing another character or concept, finding it difficult to continue if they so desire any longer. Problematic enough is it to retain the attention of those today, as our medium is particularly archaic by internet standards, even more troubling is the effort of retention when players disappear without actual consequence.
I take issue with this. It's a complete slippery slope argument.
I don't think that, in good faith, you can say that one player leaving without notice is the direct cause of others leaving without notice too. Those who do find a direct reason in that I, again, denounce as people who weren't really interested in your creative product to begin with. A bad GM that can't keep the attention of his players isn't to blame on one guy getting the memo sooner than the rest. Even then, when half your cast leaves but some still stay, what of those few that were still committed enough? To still stick around and actually form a cohesive group? If you're down from eight to four, but those four *really* want to make it work, is it not in your best interest to keep it going despite that?
I don't think I've ever said it outright, but I will now: Most RPs die because their GM failed, not because the GM's players did. Either the GM was uninteresting, a complete flake himself or got so upset about some who left that they decided to axe it and didn't want to continue anymore. As far as I see it, a game can succeed even if it's just you and one other guy. All parties involved need to be interested; those who choose not to involve themselves any longer, and those who were not involved to begin with, don't qualify for this.
That's not to say there isn't anything the players can do. I'm in an RP where I've basically decided to carry the load for those that can't, the Danganronpa one I'm in. It failed once due to half the cast leaving, we rebooted with a more stable group, then someone else had to take a long hiatus because of real-life issues, after which they vanished off the site. That left us with three characters that needed to be accounted for, so I just suggested to... redistribute them. Share the burden on those still remaining. Me, one other player and the GM took a character each. This worked and the RP still continues a healthy lifespan.
Ghosters wouldn't do this. Ghosters aren't worth your time. Find the people that are worth your time. An RP is never going to run perfectly from start to finish, so instead of complaining about those who set you back a light amount, make up for the setback by working with your players to rise above it.
What I'm trying to say is...
Git gud.
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