ZEJ in one picture

I do hate the grey as much as the next guy, but it does fall to each and every one of us as much as it does to the next guy/gal.

Yes, it's frustrating not seeing anything new. Yes, it sucks not having people post in your roleplay on command. So, what are you going to do? What can we do as a community to make posting feel like less of a chore, and more of a fun thing to do? How do we attract people back into RPing away from other pastimes?

There isn't an easy answer. In fact, there may not be an answer. But it does start with us - each and every one.

 

also scrubz using the dark red theme

for shaaaaame

 

I am more than happy to have an open discussion about this sort of thing~

There are a variety of factors as to "why people won't post." In fact, we've had a thread where people spilled the beans on what specifically draws them away from posting. Writer's block, the posting "requirements" that are sort of implicitly "demanded" of people, and distractions such as social media and video games stood to be popular answers.

Often times, people also are consumed by the volume of their commitments. In my opinion? The people of ZEJ make fantastic plots. A great number of which get my sandwich nab my interest when I'm perusing the goods in the Interest Checks section. But, like others around, I find myself biting off a bit more than I can chew. When you have a low density of active RPers, and a high density of posting commitments, you aren't going to be very motivated when every GM wants you to post right then and there. We're all anxious to have the plots progress to get to the juicy, meaty centre of the RP... but we all seem to shirk the commitments, since they feel like chores. It's tough to want to post for something when you are being badgered constantly for it, especially if you're trying to knock something out of the way.

So what do we do in response? Stop taking on more water. Stop joining things. The RP flow slows down to nary more than a trickle. Or maybe people just aren't interested in what is being served up. Regardless, things slow down. But without a flow of activity, we won't be doing much recruitment. So new blood is out of the question, since nobody likes to see things as barren as they are nowadays. Which means it's up to us to pull the weight as a community. At least for now. As ideal as 'once a week' sounds, we have made numerous 'verbal pacts' to post as often as that, and still people have found themselves at a loss of being able to post. No goals that have been set are being met.

One thing could be to reduce the burden of posting - to have a shorter-post, quicker-pace RP with no character sheets (until, perhaps, a certain point) so as to get things moving in a way
that, 1. circumvents the OoC hangup, and 2. includes people of all writing levels, so as not to discourage people from feeling like they need to write, publish, and distribute a novel before they can join in on the fun. A one-paragraph-per-post RP could do us some good.

Now, I also saw an interesting point in your post that I would like to more cleanly address.

In some ways, I've found that it is quite the opposite! There is a 'great divide' that comes into play on ZEJ, in my experience. Ever since our merge with Magnolia, there has been a very evident rift between the people who came from Magnolia (the fact that I keep having to refer to them as such in conversations is a testament to this), and those who frequent the #CoE IRC channel. Some members have gone so far as to voice that they are uncomfortable with RPing with a different group, and stick mainly to RPing with their home group. Others cite it as a lack of interest in what there has been put up in the Interest Checks. Regardless of what it may be, things like Galamion have been suitably left in limbo. It is an open world for anyone to tackle, full of untapped mythos and even unclaimed continents that nobody is taking advantage of.

All still, we see that there are people who are left uncomfortable in the community. They need to be integrated. We need something to bring us closer together - and that something cannot be a chat that people have to sit in for hours a day (sometimes with minimal activity even within itself) to glean any sort of bearing in both the community and our forums.

 

We've tried this before. Twice. you should be very familiar with the second one, Eebit.

People just don't want to/don't feel like doing it.

Make them want to.

Make them want to be a part of the community again.

* Gist disappears in the same way she came in.

 

Basically all of this. I'm happy to have people help develop Galamion more. We did help make the framework for it, but we specifically left a lot of vague things so it can be developed and fleshed out by the people.

Now, I have said time and time again that I am guilty of this lack of posting thing, in fact I think we all are. I am happy to help start up this sheetless, paragraph RP that's less of a chore to write. I don't usually like sitting down to write a super long post for things unless I have a lot to say. Fuck, I often post from my phone for certain things because I'll be at school, at work, out and about, and I can type pretty quickly, and that is a huge pain in the ass to write an amazing four page essay about a dog sniffing another dog's ass. And given the amazing writing skills you guys have, I never feel like I live up to the expectations people set. Also I am a lazy procrastinator and that is also a thing. Not denying that too.

A sort of roleplay a person can post from their phone for is an ideal kind of thing for me, and maybe can be helpful to accommodate busier schedules. If @Eebit wants to do it, I'll be happy to help figure that out.

 

We've had a couple people express interest in (Freeform) La Mort- The Island Called Death.

I kinda wanted it to be an exploration of the island and it's views. Ultimately getting a broader view on your origin place. If we took away the need for character sheets- it could become a role-play... "mechanic".

Your actions and words could reveal things about your surroundings and then the players too, I guess, since their personality or views won't be RIGHT THERE ON THE SHEET. It might just be me wanting to start my RP... But if you'd like, you can use La Mort for this. Or use the exploration idea or concept of it for your own thing, maybe representing it as a role-play where mystery is an element?

I think my suggestion is basically: (excluding the: We can totes start La Mort man) is that if you present the lack of  character sheets as not just "This'll let you start faster, guys" but make it seem like part of the story- ie. characters have amnesia, "they will develop opinions, or something as the RP goes on"- it'll seem more appealing...? Maybe... IDK, I kinda just went with whatever popped into my head for this post.

 

As much as I hate to say it, it's partially my fault for Requiem dying off; I tried to get Rawrnage and Frood to post in it, but Frood just kind of...didn't. Rawrnage had a lot of issues at the time, I know, but even I became unmotivated to deal with it. Then again, this roleplay never got very far in any setting or on any site I had it. I'm not entirely sure why.

This being said, I'd like to start roleplaying here again, but I haven't been hit by the creative spark lately, and haven't felt like making a roleplay. Problem is, I'm very...shall we say limited, on the types of roleplays I will enter.