To be completely honest, I roleplay in personal and/or private maps. Either ones that I have made, or the abandoned ones from way back. It is simply because we (my group) have more of a connection with each other and there isn't any confusion with missing a message or two. Of course, we could roleplay within the group chat in public maps, but that's no fun since you can't see your character's mouth move. Sometimes, we may venture out into the public maps, perhaps to mingle senselessly as we do, but we seclude OOC to public maps only (or, in a party chat or if there isn't a whole lot of members on in the group itself). It may just be me and my freaky organization rules, or whatever, but I do as I do.
I am one for imagination, yes. I've experienced the pure imagination within public maps, then and now. I suppose that is what other roleplayers do with those areas, but I prefer to be located in a place that explains the surroundings more. Mayhaps I will stroll about the public maps and spit a few lines here and there on a loner/idle/personal character, but I prefer to be in the world of an imagination with interaction.
As for the
lack of roleplayers, there could be many aspects that have been said before me. Time, the amount of groups and their patrons that are online, whether or not they are mapless, and of course the group members' moods. As I said before, an entire group does and will not roleplay 24/7. There may be those few that want to finish a part of a story line or polish an idea off, but there is down time within a group. To have a group is to have friends, and friends cannot be serious all the time. It's just not human nature.
Well, there goes my tidbits. I hope I didn't ramble too much, that seems to be a habit of mine.
Cheers!