Lasting RP threads?

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Any thoughts on what it takes to make a RP thread that seems to last longer then a couple of months? This forum is dead right now and it always saddens me when this forum isn't semi-active.

I'm not actually trying to start up a thread myself, but am more interested in getting an idea from the community on how to build good RPs for the future that have some actual staying power.

 

I sometimes seem to have the same problem, people just won't stay. I've noticed that when it gets duller, people have a bad habit of delaying their turns, and sometimes not writing at all.
"Dull" doesn't mean everything without any real action, but rather those points where turns get really short and nobody seems to be able to get the thing going.
Generally, to avoid that, someone should try and do something. Speak to the other characters even when it isn't all that important, do something that catches attention, all that kind of stuff.
And of course, the one running the plot (if there is a plot) should never dally too long. Some time might be fine, for example when the characters rest, but not when they have nothing to do and are clueless.

And about the plot itself, it is generally best not to have insanely detailed plan about it when you're starting the game. People might very well start feeling that their actions have no effect at all if the one GMing is determined to pull it all off. Railroading, if you will. And that means it might lose its attractiveness quickly.
A general idea about the whole thing, the events that get the ball rolling and what will aproximately happen allow much more breathing space for those that don't want to follow the plot all too strictly (of course they should follow it more or less, otherwise it might get really bad))

Just my two cents. I hope it was worth something for someone.

 

Right on, Goli. That's pretty much what happened to the Morrowind RP, as well as Rashemen (without Scot's guiding hand it gradually fell apart). The same thing goes for the two RPs that I started. I thought theme without thinking of an overarching plot, and they died quick deaths.

But who can find the balance? Build too tight a story and you strangle your players; build too loose a story and you bore them. And the thin strip of land between...I don't think I could walk that line. I can help come up with ideas, but I'm too much of a perfectionist to properly administrate.

 

Indeed, Felinoid, it's a problem GMs of all sorts have always struggled with.
In this aspect, it is very different from storytelling. For if you tell a story, you can think up a plot and follow it completely, without any problems at all. Not so much in RP, where there are lots of people, each one possibly with their own plans or, at least, opinions.
I guess it's impossible to walk the line perfectly, at best one can waddle along it, sometimes faltering and being forced to place a leg on one side or the other.

Won't stop us from trying, though

 

err...thats partly my fault. It didn't have a very structured storyline.

 

I suspect getting imput from the players one what to do in non-plot essential areas, such as side quests might help. It seems like a lot of the old massive 1000+ post RPs had a lot of differing RPers working on it.

I know it just feels odd to not operate as a true DM and not have everything unfold as a surprise (or at least kind of a surprise).

I wonder however how much trying to operate as a DM is a problem. I notice that what makes for a fun pnp game when I DM is very different from what makes a fun RP thread. Namely in an RP thread I can't focus too much on character development because there isn't the dynamic that there is between me and my friends when we would play (it's entertaining for us to have to PCs get in an argument in the middle of the street after a bitting remark an elf rouge made over a lady another PC fancied).

 

Morrowind is my fault since I started the RP thread. Real Life just got too hectic. I would like to get back to it. There is a loose plot for Morrowind and Fel and I have discussed it in FAI a little.

Rashemen lasted a looonngg time due to the participation of the players. When Scot wasn't able to continue it the rest of us pitched in and IMO did a good job. But there comes a time to end a game and for me it was time for Nakia to retire.

A forum RP is only as good as the players.

Summer time is also a slow time for RPing since people are busy with real life activities.