Will They Ever Learn- Running a RP is Not Easy!

[Silvertide]

This is one of the top things I can't stand. And that is those naive people who start role plays and fail right off the bat. They put so much effort into their RP, their website, their map, and then they start advertising and don't get any members. And when they do no one shows up the next day. And you know what? The person who owns the RP looses hope and ditches all their hard work and the RP itself. It may seem fun and exciting at first but let me tell you, it is not. Some people don't understand how much effort it really takes and how much time and work goes into running a RP. They don't understand everything that needs to be understood. Countless people join their RPs that soon disappear the next day. Countless hours of creativity and work are wasted. When will everyone realize how to make a successful RP? Why do people get the urge to make RPs after RPing for a while and then rush into it without thinking? I can't stand it. I just want to slap some sense into them. It isn't that easy. It takes time. It is hard. Even when you are RPing you still don't have it easy. You need to plan ahead and make sure everything is prepared. I can only prey that these RP starters are enlightened!

[WhiteLightHeart]

-snuggles- Frustrated Tidey is frustrated, nu? o:

I understand where you're coming from, though, dearie.
While I think we've all run into our lively-one-day-dead-the-next RPs, I do understand where you're coming from when you say that it really does take a lot of persistence for an RP to maintain its activity over a period of time.

While you can advertise for hours on end, trying to get as many members in a bulk load as you can, this hours-long venture may often leave what members you can scrape together yawning and wondering when they'll actually be able to RP.
This said, I think it is helpful when RP leaders try advertising for shorter periods of time, gathering a little handful of members, then going ahead and RPing (this way the new members can not only get a taste of your RP, but also get what they came for! [Roleplaying, hurr]). And, of course, doing this daily, or every few days.
It certainly can take a lot of effort on the RP leader's part, but doing this over time can result in an effective strategy for regaining members, and also fostering a group of active and familiar members that may even come online on a daily basis.

[Silvertide]

Yeah, that's how it works. I just don't like it when people go off, wanting to make a RP and getting all excited, thinking it is going to be really fun, when in the end there is much more to it. Rushing into things without knowing what you're facing isn't a good idea, before I started my RP I did a lot of research actuall, hurr.

[Lady_Alizarin]

This is why I never go through so much trouble over one RP that I make. I agree that it is hard to maintain a roleplay, especially when your members become inactive after one day. When I made the roleplay for PapyrusClan, some people suggested that I make a website for the clan. Seriously? What do I need a website for if people are just going to come, roleplay, and not return the next day? Just because I made the RP it doesn't mean it needs all the unecessary bells and whistles. I don't need a map for it. I don't need a website for it. I don't need to make presets for it either (unless I am willing to keep the character). It will go inactive one of these days, and all that work I did for it would have been in vain.

Not only that, it's hard to keep up with everyone in your group. There are those who join and just mess things up; attention seekers, drama starters, those who disobey the group rules, etc. They often times contribute to the reasons why the good members don't want to come back. I've had to deal with that many times. I lost some very good roleplayers in the process all thanks to these trolls.
So I see where you're coming from here, Silvertide. Even the most succesfful of roleplays don't last long. The longest they could last is possibly a few weeks to a month... and then you'll never hear from it again.

[Wizardmymom]

You would be amazed, Lady Alizarin.
I was in a WC RP for about 2 years, from my first literate days until the beginning of this summer.
It was great, really.
Everyone was active for the first, I dunno, 5-6 months?
Then, the map maker decided to make a new map, and hand the old one over to trolls, so we couldn't RP in it.
We lost a lot of members then because they thought,
"Oh, ya know, we CAN'T RP, so OBVIOUSLY everyone is gonna stay!"

They tried their best to keep long-time members, but fails.

Anyways, back to the topic.


I normally make a web site using webs, because it's fast and easy, and if an RP gets tossed, I don't care because I don't spend much time on the sites.
Maps, I make for RPs even if I know they won't work, because It's fun to make maps XD
A lot of people join RPs because their 'Mapped and sited!' because that means... What?
The RP has a site, kewl, whatevs. That doesn't mean its active.
If anything, it means its NOW active because they have to update news on the SITE and not in game.
People spend too much time on RPs, just to never get members or go unactive within the next week or so.
Like my Medicatus RP.
I know it's NEVER gonna get members, NEVER gonna do much interest.
I mean oh my gosh it's not even a real species, not even a popular one. It's made up.
I know A LOT of people who do these types of RPs for their friends, because they think its gonna be cool.

Anyways, this is 76% off topic, so... -Poof-

[Tenturo]

I wouldn't make a website for a roleplay.  If the roleplay was going to be text going into a book, then yeah, it might be on the website, but other than that, no.  I don't put much work into my RPs.  I am extremely creative... it's a lot easier for me.  If you are really creative and love to read/write, you'll have a good knack for roleplaying.  Occassionally, though, an RP might die out a bit because of a personal problem from a member, but in all of my RPs, they just keep on at it, and I just ask for a recap.  Owning an RP to me.. Is like being a mother.  You have your little floofballs joining you in your never ending RP.  As a mother, you have to make sure they don't get disappointed and run away, or bored, and they must be protected from the evil trolls CX

[DrLecter]

Ahhhh I can seriously identify with this.

If I'm going to make a roleplay, it has to be creative. There needs to be a plot, a backstory, it needs to be different and interesting.

I recently came up with a great plot for a roleplay, and I got really excited over it. So I started the rp and gained an adequate amount of members at first. But the next day, half of those people went inactive. I tried for the next several days to get more people to join, but I did not succeed. I wondered why people wouldn't join the rp, even with the murder mystery plot?
I guess no one cares enough?

But it was frustrating; I had put so much thought into it, and it just bombed.

So I don't believe I'll be making any more rps after the past failures.

[longjump]

I tend to get very excited over my RP ideas, make websites, make a map, and then advertise. Sadly, most of my ideas are OUT THERE species like meerkats and such which aren't exactly popular, and like said before half of people joining just go inactive

[Silvertide]

Oye! My RP has been active for eight months and before I started the RP I spent three months preparing for it. That makes me believe that putting in a lot effort actually amounts up to something. Why have a map? Because the story needs the map.
If you fail then try again another time. Before I succeeded at all with this RP I failed three times beforehand in other RPs.
I'm just telling people to prepare because they always run into it, thinking it is fun and cool, but let me repeat, it isn't.Though I agree with the mother thing. I feel like the mother of my RP. You have to do exactly what Woofkita said.