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An investigation
Topic Started: Jan 18 2005, 04:04 PM (358 Views)
kriegsmarine
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Role Play=Childish and boring. Waist of time.
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finch
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Put effort into your board. Make it look nice. Banner, buttons, the works.
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Trav-man
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That's Travtastic!
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I seem to remember another topic almost identical to this one from a few months back.
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AstronomyXtreme
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Obsessed
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I made tons of forums and none of them reached over 15 members. They're not RP either. I know how you feel
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AgnosticAngel
Caelestis
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Trav-man
Jan 18 2005, 03:16 PM
I seem to remember another topic almost identical to this one from a few months back.

I thought so too :/

Anyways if this is IF RPG forums(or almost any forum RPG with a few exceptions) then my answer is no. They typically are far from 'different' or unique or anything. There are tons of them and I agree they are usually boring. And I love RPGs, but forum RPGs (particularly free ones that don't stem off some major game, story, etc.) usually don't have the dedicated base they require to make them fun and interesting. Even the ones that gain a relatively substantial member base tend to have members who just aren't very creative or don't know much about RPG and it ends up just being people attacking each other with their wannabe-god-like weapons/fighting skills. For this reason I tend to stick to live-time text rpgs with real interaction and inforced in character rules, active staff and member base with a storyline that is intersting to me.
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Zania Jaarda
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Developous
Jan 18 2005, 03:04 PM
I am trying to determine why my roleplays are always inactive. Board after board, they all fail. And it's only making the situation WORSE. So, I will try to find out why, in questions.

Question 1 - Do they refuse just because it's different?

I am part of a large simming organization and happen to run two very successful sims, so I believe I do have some experience here in this matter.

A lot of the reason why a person refuses to join an RPG is due to two factors: genre, and marketing.

Genre

Let's face it - the entire RPG world is constantly evolving and changing, just like real life. Interests will come and go, depending on "what's hot" out there on TV, on the silver screen, etc.

Some may say that Star Trek is dying, but Stargate is red hot. Indeed, this trend seems to hold true as the organization I belong to has had several Star Trek games die off, but we've got an overflow of demand for Stargate and can't really create enough games with quality hosts to keep up with it.

Marketing

You have to get the word out somehow, and presentation is very key. Think of it like pitching a sale to a group of clients. Well designed websites, more so than forums, will really sell your concept and can help to give potential participants just enough information to entice them - some basic background on the RPG, a list of current participants, etc.

Find ways to advertise to other sources, which will allow you to make an announcement that you're recruiting for your RPG. There are plenty of places out there if you know what to search for. Also, try searching for newsgroups, Yahoo Groups, other forums, etc. which also deal the same genre - these can be more great places to advertise. Also, getting your site ranked high on the search engines can help to draw more traffic to the site, which can also lead to more participants.

If your sales pitch isn't such to gain a person's interest, or if the website isn't well designed, both factors can cause a potential participant to lose interest and decide not to join.


A few other things to keep in mind as to possible reasons why individuals refuse to join a game:

Participants

Too often, there are sims/RPGs out there that are advertised with only one participant - that being the host/GM. If you don't have the participants, then there won't be the interaction that a participant probably craves.

Activity

This one is huge! Since you're the one running the game, you've got to set the example as everyone will look up to you for direction. Consequently, if you're not active, then your participants generally won't be either.

If you have mailstrings, post at least every other day; on forums, post at least on a daily basis. If you include links to mailstrings and forums on your website and a person doesn't see much activity, they'll think that the RPG isn't active.

Complexity

Ever hear of the KISS method of doing things? Keep It Simple, Stupid! (No, that's not meant as a flame - I was just expanding on the acronym for those who aren't familiar with it.) If your rules are too restricting, or the background information on the sim overly detailed and too complex, you're going to find that some will rebel against this and leave.

These are just some ideas as to why individuals may refuse to join an RPG.
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Developous
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Quote:
 
Activity

This one is huge! Since you're the one running the game, you've got to set the example as everyone will look up to you for direction. Consequently, if you're not active, then your participants generally won't be either.

If you have mailstrings, post at least every other day; on forums, post at least on a daily basis. If you include links to mailstrings and forums on your website and a person doesn't see much activity, they'll think that the RPG isn't active.


*Starts grumbling* Thanks. This may be the #1 reason why my websites are dying. It's not that I am not active on it, it's that I have so many. Maybe reducing my load would help. But it's my nature to make the idea, hope to find someone to take charge, then abandon. I've been proven to be a terrible leader. but a great imagineer. So, this is problem #1.

Complexity may be #2. Ok, I will go thru my roleplays and decide TWO roleplays to keep, then.

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Scott T
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Joe10 for Admin.
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I want to get dressed up like an elf and wave my big sword around :|

When it comes to a post-based RPG in an IF forum, no. They are boring as hell and often elitist too.
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Developous
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I am not eletist. What gives you that notion? Thanks for pointing that out.
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Scott T
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Developous
Jan 22 2005, 10:01 PM
I am not eletist. What gives you that notion? Thanks for pointing that out.

Normally, in an RP community (and i've only ever been in two, and only active in one), it's usually full of people who have been RP'ing for a while, have their own RP stylez and such. So when a new poster comes in, wether or not they are all "My Technowizard from mars smites you all with his huge F-off flaming ball of destruction for 1,000,000 damage" or not, he gets chastised by the group for not roleplaying to the same style.

That is really for more established communities though.

Heres my opinion on your problem and how to solve it:

Problem:

RP's are boring as hell.

Solution:

Go buy a subscriptionless MMORPG like Guild Wars, start up your own guild and then you can RP all you want, have your own board and above all, HAVE FUN DOING IT :)
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