I'm can't be entirely sure, but I think it's because the roleplays currently aren't properly balancing the detail of the plot (on a scale from one paragraph of very very vague explanation to a very detailed plan of everything that will and can happen) with the quality of the RPers characters/writing quality (which again has a massive range.) And then on top of that you've got to find a sweet spot in the level of literacy that's reasonable for everyone (like in exam season - some people don't have time to be churning out 2k posts every few days as much as they'd like to; there's other real life things which of course take precedence) with progression of plot and just general interest. As you've all sort of said, there's quite a few ideas that have been massively overdone which has made them way more dull then they were before.

I've got a few roleplays hidden that are half written out, with ideas that I haven't really seen around (unless they're in the 100+ pages of sign ups, which I'm not going to go search though) But for me it's a case of figuring out when I'm free enough to actually start something up. With mine, I've planned to have a basic plot, but leave a wider range of options for smaller plot points that the RPers can lead into. And then I'm trying to figure out a way for people (and their characters) to more easily leave the RP without their absence leaving a massive void and ultimately killing off the RP. Perhaps the roleplays should take theirselves a little less seriously - obviously there is nothing wrong in a ton of worldbuilding and plotting, but a bit more freedom might do them some good?

I think a good writer can make any dull plot interesting, and on that note any "bad" writer can become a good writer with time and practice :)

Also @Spell (or any other longtime roleplayers) what years would you consider the good days? I'm curious :>

And forgive me for waffling on. I really really enjoy to RP, but sometimes it feels like there's nothing that massively catches my eye, like you said with originality.

Attention! This requires lots of reading.

Sorry, I didn't intend to write a documentary, I just find this an interesting thing to discuss.

I've been wishing to make my dinosaur RP, but I've just been lacking motivation to write everything down that I must to even post the thing out for others to sign up for, and I fear that if mine does become good, then someone else is just gonna copy it and say "it's their own unique RP" and then that one will take off even more than mine did.

So I do understand what Salt Shaker means, and I do feel the same way sometimes. The only RPs I really ever sign up for anymore is Imperial Sand's RPs, because they do an awesome job keeping it unique.

I think most RPs either greatly lack literacy, or expect you to write a whole page-long post. And maybe most of the reason why lots of RPs die, is because everyone gets bored of writing an infinite series of one-liners or 2,000+ words every three days to keep up with RPs. I think the reason why Fangoffire's awesome Strive to Survive is really keeping up and alive, is because no one has to make 2,000+ word posts, but no one can make less than 150 words. It keeps others wanting to keep RPing it, because they don't need to spend 2 hours of their day, writing a post for an online wolf game when they could spend much more time doing other stuff.

Also another reason is because lots of players will just disappear the moment there isn't at least one post a day. I don't know if this is entirely true or not, but in my past RPs, this is definitely how it felt. Don't leave a RP the moment someone doesn't make a post at least once a day. Seriously. Remember that others have their own life outside of WP. Not like me saying this would help at all, since in every RP it at least says that once in the rules, and no one listens.

Now back to the literacy, I do think that literate RPs could live for a long time, and keep going for a long time, if they weren't as demanding. Like Spellbound seems to do a great job at ensuring that no one only posts once a month, but also giving others some time to do their posts, without having to spend hours just writing one post so they don't get kicked out.

Another thing is, I think the RP hosts don't enforce their posting rules enough. I've vanished from some RPs for weeks, and never once got PMs from the RP host, and when I return, they don't even question where I'd went for so long. Now I'm not saying to send someone a PM the moment they've taken a day over the limit to post, but just don't completely ignore the fact that they disappeared, since others will probably be waiting on their posts.

I agree with Moose on the talk about writing quality. I think writing quality does greatly impact the success of a RP. If someone writes too little, everyone is just gonna try and find a different RP with more literacy, and if there is too much, no one is gonna want to read all of it.

This may be edited later.