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SouffleGirl123■What are great ways to keep players engaged both IC and OOC?
■Should the character submission be the only factor in accepting players?
■How do you deal with the players who have seemingly disappeared from the RP?
■In the same vein, how do you effectively prevent the above from hindering your other players?
■What is the most graceful way to end your RP due to inactivity or (*gasp!*) your own loss of interest/time?
I've GM RPs a few time before and have a terrible track record for things going wrong, so I can speak very well on the problems that I've faced, rather than ways to remedy them.
In your first point you speak of ways to engage the players. As a GM I can think of a really interesting world and write up a first post, but I need to make sure that it's open enough for others to play along in. Treat people a little dumb and basically spell out where their character starts, (eg: "All the character stood outside the doorway", "a letter was sent inviting them to this place") that kinda stuff. One RP in particular that I started had a very interesting opening with a good setting and a plot that started up, but because I never positioned the players, I ended up with a couple that said, "Where do I start?". I could see where they could have started, but they themselves didn't know. So help them out and simplify it sometimes.
Once you got the ball rolling you need to build the world up but prevent it from staying linear. Never lock the person into doing a certain action because they will NEVER make the same choice as what you thought. Want them to enter a door? No, they'll go through the window. No window? They'll choose the chimney. That kinda thing. Instead guide them and hint that you may want them to enter the room. As the GM you have the option to play outside the character and narrate the world, and this is a GM's greatest ability. They can speak on behalf for everyone else. I can't go into too much more because I honestly don't have the experience. I've only gotten a few RPs into the midgame so I can't tell what is really needed to progress beyond that.
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Character sheets... Oh my I have seen some shockers. Spelling errors, terrible grammar and structuring, blocks of dribble that is boring to read, over detailed to the point of people describing details like the thickness of eyebrows or that their spell takes 2.5 seconds to cast when the sun and moon align but 3 seconds during low tide and 4 seconds during high tide. So many Character sheets and yet they should only be used as a guide.
I speak of guide because some people are simply only good at writing character sheets. They can create a design, backstory with depth and detail, amazing weapon designs with unique skills... and yet when they narrate their character it feels like you're talking to an Ent from LOTR (Reference to how they had a long, boring meeting about whether Hobbits were ok before they had a meeting about the War, ie not getting to the point exactly like I just showed then!) Go through, spy on their works, see what they are like as a person and writer before you say yes.
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Players who disappear and the flow on effect
This will depend on WHEN it occurs. If people leave early on it can have a drastic impact on the story especially when you are introducing characters and spent time directing someone who just left. In saying that it can be a help as it can help focus on who's interested. My best bet is to give a time limit, chase up the person "once", then write them out and announce that they are no longer in the story. Be quick with your choice after the given time and follow up with a post because having someone leave can create a nervous atmosphere and you need to crush that by proving that THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
Now a graceful way to end your RP would be to message the people in post and tell them that you will be ending this to inactivity. Sadly I've done the opposite to this before and just stopped posting, but that was after I had basically every issue above in one go, so I was more fed up than anything else.
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The biggest thing I can say is be active, post regularly, post when you say you will post (not forget and come back 4 days later with a post) and ask questions to your players. See how they are feeling and what concerns they have but try to avoid long conversations in the OOC before concluding an issue. Basically show that you have a question, get a response and act on it effectively. If things do fall apart, don't be too concerned. Some RPs don't work with certain groups and repeating the RP in a few months time can have much different results.
