A week since there has been a new post added?  Has the site been down except for when I look at it??

::chuckles: posts where?...  all mine  are lit up!

One week? <bragging>I have a few games that haven't posted in almost a month!</bragging>

Yeah, it happens. Real life and all. =)

Actually I agree with the OP. I remember being on here two to three years ago and this site was way more active. I used to have a hard time keeping up. Now Im in loads of games but still waiting around a lot - despite being quite busy IRL too.

I find real life has gotten more and more intense. My expenses have gone up, my paychecks have not. I've had to work more and more to keep up with the basics. Two years ago, I got to spend about 3-4 hours a week on the xbox, now, despite reducing expenses as much as possible, I haven't had time to do anything I can't do on my phone. The stress, and lack of stress-relieving activities, lack of food, and exhaustion have put me where I literally have trouble even focusing on tasks. I work 70-90 hours a week (up from about 60 per week 2 years ago), 2 cans of beans per day (down by half and dropped my supplmental greens), and the gap by which my expenses exceed my income has only grown. What's worse is that the only step I can take to further reduce my expenses is to become homeless.

The economic model is starting to hit a breaking point for society. The economy is relying more and more on the middle and upper classes at the moment, but as the lower classes continue to get squeezed harder, pressure will build until something breaks.

I even heard (unconfirmed just yet), that no one is even building homes for the market below 100k, yet there is no shortage of people who need cheap housing, including me and my family.


I doubt very much that people like me are rare. That likely has a serious impact on a website about nothing but entertainment.
This message was last edited by the user at 08:07, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

Wow. Im feeling the pinch too but my heart goes out to you. It seems things are pretty tough for you.

I live in the U.K. and struggling a bit with (self inflicted) debt. We're all a bit worried over here how Brexit will affect our economy.

yeah, along those  lines?  I retired from being a Letter Carrier,  as mentioned before  I didn't feel too  bad, out  retirement is  a Joke  I had  4 kids and   my Late wife was  Ill towards then end , so  couldn't put as much  in savings  ..needed 'real money' around)

 anyway..I see my Kids now struggling where they weren't a  couple years ago..Prices I took for granted in  the supermarket   have gone up.

 This  Site...the best PBP   site I have   ever  been on, in my   RP  Career. is  an escape/hobby..so?.. when I have down  time  , I check in.. I answer posts   as a player,when  I can do it per story… I answer all my Players posts as soon as I see them. I have a lot of  great players in my games.. and OOC  thread, we share  a lot... good  stuff, bad  stuff..Vents, questions?

  I think , when you get to the point of focusing on a  few games.. you become more involved..not  just with the story, but with your fellow players..and , in this day and  age. we kind o9f need that!

From my experience, I think it's just simple attrition and shame.  People get caught up in life, as we all do whether we like it or not, and can't get the time to post with any regularity.  Then they feel bad about abandoning their games and simply feel too embarrassed to come back.  I only say this cause I've had that exact scenario play out on here several times.  They even email me with apologies requesting back in, which I'm usually fine with, and they still disappear.

Who knows?  Perhaps it's the economy.  I know when I'm in a bad mood over something it's hard to sit and focus on a game.  Maybe it's just the natural ebb and flow of the site.  Like anything else, it has high points and low points, high traffic and low traffic.  Could be shifting demographics around players.  Hell, could even be social media taking the place of things like this.  I'm not speculating, but I've definitely seen a huge spike in 'fetish' based, free-form games (not on this site).

I think this sort of thing happens annually as the academic year winds down. There are festivities and exams and such to prepare for. A lot of Rpolers are students at various levels.

Well I have been here a long time (over 10 years on and off) through peaks and troughs but it is quieter here now. I've had a few issues too that I never had before here so something does feel very changed here to me.

I've even seen usernames in the chamber of lost souls that I never thought I'd see there, people who's behaviour didn't fit with them ending up there.

But maybe this is a bad phase that will pass. I certainly hope so anyway. I used to love this site so much.

You get phases with all types of things so (fingers crossed) that's all this will amount to.  I work in higher ed and a lot of people are panicked because enrollment numbers are down; not just here either but across the board at universities.  However, it's nothing new, it's called a trend (something our math department should be schooling people on).  We're simply going through a low point of enrollment, just the same as has occurred numerous times throughout history.  We're a public school, mind you.  We're not going away, it's a downward trend that will reverse in time.  Mayhaps this is simply a low trend that the site is having and it will spring back at some point down the line.

I've only been here a few years so I can't really comment on how it was, to be fair.

I've been here  a long  while, there are stil a few  folks here longer then me?..they had  somhtign  set up last year that  said  how long you were  here...

 anyway.. this  time of year, does  get thin.. I have   people in my, Most active, Game.  They have   Jobs that get more demanding in the spring -summer and early fall... and?  you have the  Kids  who  play  while they are  at college  and the lihe.

 The Ebb and flow is always there?  You just have to  hope   your  regulars  stay..and you get to  keep   half  your new folks!

Sorry, I didn't make it clear I meant posts in here, not in general.  Games ebb and flow, but this is by far the longest I've seen CC just sit here.

Oh, well that changes my whole response and thought process.

(clears throat)

I haven't a clue.

I don't really post much myself; nothing very interesting to say lol.

I sorta asked that in my first post?...but others  took the  reins and I rode  along!

In reply to Brianna (msg # 1):

It's been a slow year.

In reply to Brianna (msg # 13):

The chitter-chat has subsided quite a bit since I was more active here some years ago. Just getting older, just life. I'll socialize when I'm dead, I guess? :)

Its not just here. I've been on another roleplaying site for a while and that's dried up. But its worse in a way because on that one Ive posted ideas, got responses, replied to them and then... ...nothing. Starting to think ive got the virtual equivalent of B.O. :->

I also joined another site a few months ago and haven't got into any games on it whatsoever :/

My thinking is that PbP was always a substitute for face to face for most people, and better substitutes have began to form.

Compare it to the rise of Twitch and thus the decline of Youtube.

Back in the day you either ran PbP or you used IRC. But IRC was incredibly bare bones back then so you had to trust a lot of people not to fudge the dice. You also lacked maps and other tools people use a lot.

Whereas sites like RPOL made things super easy to use.

Now we have stuff like Roll20, Tabeltop simulator, and the like, that will essentially allow the GM to do whatever they need, so people who CAN post every day will tend towards those options.

The other thing is the sheer number of other sites to use, and the specialist sites that have developed. I remember this site featuring dozens of nWoD games, now their is just a hand full. This is due to both other sites that do similar things to RPOL appearing as well as websites that are just dedicated to nWoD RP.

I do think the audience has also gotten older....but I can't be sure. Given this site was big in the RP community in my Uni 10 years ago, you would think that would keep a steady stream of incoming people. But I don't know.

In reply to Kessa (msg # 17):

There are a LOT of ways to chat with others that didn't exist or were less know just a few years ago.

I think the true measure is the number of games being hosted. Something that is a little more unique here than random chat.

well? ( I had to recheck the mark)..according to  the number Skald put up for me.. I was  # 437  Oct 2005 ( even had the time..8:00pm!)

 anyway... I didn't run a game here until 2008.. I may have had  my first one  a bit early, but it crashed  and burned,,

 took me    a nit , getting frustrated  with 'butterfly'  GMs  who start  games.. shut them down and start another one..first thing I do is check mhow many games they have  running  and/or  deleted  before I will   RTJ.

 anyway..after   all that time, I didn't start posting in the  Forum  area   until a couple years ago...so?  from that..and  from only seeing a couple  peopel who were in..or  are in , my games  post here..I'd  say 90 % of the people  here only come here to play.. the  Site   forum is normally  the 'vets' who want to   keep track of what's going on..add our  2  cents..and maybe  give advice.

 as said  above, the site  hosts a lot of good  games.. just by seeing the  active  post counts.

………………….

 as a side bar to this... I tried to bring a couple guys into  this site, there were on  a now...dead site..they had a MAssive  game, with a few  DMs ..and a world that was really interesting.. One guy came here..started    another game( which I joined)..but he had to elave..never heard from him since  July...Nor is  he on the  'new site"... the other guy..started up on the other new site...I hate that site with a passion.. I go there to  see if/when a post goes up for my thread... then leave... Its slow..hard to navigate..butthey have a lot of names on thier lists... I also notice , a lot of thier games don't last long.. right now?  I have the Link for my gae there, and that's it...

…………………

so? yeah..there are other sites..other ways   to play..but in  my many...many..years of gaming..this is the Best site I ever joined...the ebb and flow , is what it is...

In reply to GreenTongue (msg # 20):

That's definitely true, but I think the chat in CC is what makes it feel more like an actual community. There were a number of folks from here that made the jump over the years to off-site friends for me and we still keep in touch through various means. Some I've even traveled and visited in person. At least one I've had a relationship with. So, while I'm not discounting that there are other ways people could be chatting and interacting, I guess my point is, it's just not the same. :)

This site always had the attrition effect, but recently things seem to have visibly slowed down... maybe there are just less active users than there used to be, unfortunately.

It's also summer - those who were in school are now out and may have different schedules or access, there may be more vacations and traveling going on in summer, people just might be outdoors more during summer and have less time to post.

Summer seems to have always had that effect. Over the years I've seen plenty of games go from multiple posts a day during the Not-Summer months go to barely a post a week during the summer - or more specifically, during any time that school is out. I'm sure the community forums are no different in that regard.

It's frustrating, if you're not one of the people that slows down during the season, but it will pass. :)

There is the big picture, and then there is the RPoL picture.

Yes it has, for the better and for the worse.

In my college years, tuition at our flagship state school was $270 per year. Room and board in a double dorm room was $412 per semester. But, then, I earned between $1.50 and $2.70 an hour.

Beginning salary for an engineer with a BS was $800 per month. There were places to rent for $100 per month. Computers used punched cards.

There were geeky Avalon Hill board games, but mainstream games were few- other than card games. Role playing hardly existed. People got together to talk and to do things in their downtime.

Now, with inflation, people earn more. But, the difference between real cost, and the cost of convenience, has multiplied. Starbuck lattes? Houses and cars? Gadgets and vacations? What you now get can cost a lot more.

Media is now everywhere, but it all consumes our time. People are more apart now, with their phones, social media, and electronic games. All of this costs a lot more too.

RPoL, and the like, costs time. However, many young players have short attention spans and viewpoints. The next game will be better, so why stick out the existing one? Composing at a keyboard, or even dictating it, takes too much time. It's even too much trouble to send a PM to the GM that you will be away, or have lost interest.

Much of our society has changed for the better in the last fifty years. But, in many ways, its demands, and choices, are now more difficult, whether in the big picture or in the small.

I like Avalon Him Games.. I still have   a lot of them..I sorta  lean towards thier  idea  of  game  mechanics, only making it  a bit simple



 as  far as the Topic. My very active game  slows  a bit in the summer, as I have folks  who have jobs that are more active  in the summer...there is an ebb and flow , but  Vid Games  talk most of the younger  folks  and they never get into Real  RP.

I think a lot of people of the younger variety started to move over to a more mid-to-fast paced Discord RPGs, with all of the bots and support for chat based games, it's becoming *slightly* easier, especially if someone isn't used to the slower PbP nature of a forum game.

Finding games these days is just as easy as it's always been, it's just a matter of looking and finding the right community. The great thing about a place like this is that you have this excellent wrapper around the games for everyone to come together through. Regardless of time or what's going on, it's nice knowing that there are people around to talk to, completely unrelated to the game you're in.

I think you definitely have a point about other platforms.  To me, having the ability to play  games like this, without an actual group, is already so amazing that I'm happy with the way things run here (might be an age thing).  Younger individuals are a bit more accustomed to speed and connectivity.  Having an app that's basically a slightly modified text messenger can be pretty handy.  You could run through a whole section of a scenario, complete with combat, in the middle of math class.

And then we wonder about falling education standards... <roll eyes>.

Now, with Coronavirus issues a bit all over the world, there should be more self quarantined people with time to (role)play, but... maybe the situation doesn't make people very (role)playful...

I was sort of wondering the same thing...  But it does seem that with all the quarantining going on, people might have other priorities that take precedence.  At least for the first bit.  I do think things will pick up as things drag on.

And don't forget, some are working double and triple time to pick up the slack with other workers call out to self quarantine.

In reply to Kessa (msg # 22):

Yes, not the same.

When you don't get a quick response back, it is easy to get distracted.
Many apps are designed to be addictive and cut into time that might have been used for other things.

Here there is an implied lack of urgency. You are not being "shunned" if someone doesn't respond in minutes.

  for my games, the flow   has  only slowed   a bit... I have some folks in england who have to work from home now, so finding time to hit the boards thinned out..a couple folks here in the US, have had  hours changed   or  are 'all hands on deck"

 for me?.. i have all the time in the world, just about, so i check in  very often.

Here are my thoughts


1) Medical personnel - I have a couple players who warned me that they are in medical fields and are working 60+ hours a week

2) Parents - schools are shut down and with kids seemingly finding new and novel ways to fight with one another I know my posting has been severely constrained by parenthood.

3) Stress & RL Priorities - People at risk, people who might not be able to afford a month or two of isolation, people with sick relatives, people without adequate supplies etc. have a LOT to worry about right now and it is very easy to let the stress take away from other parts of your life.

I thought I had a fever last night and was in a panic most of the night. Turns out the temperature outside just spiked and the house was just warm but the stress and anxiety meant I ended up with < 3 hours of sleep and now I am dragging like crazy trying to keep my games updated.

One game I'm in has slowed considerably...our GM is trying to handle a rather ambitious game (8-10 PCs, some with extensive supporting casts of NPCs, in 6-7 disparate plotlines that will, presumably, start to spin together into a single, unified storyline, if her past games are an example).  She had been doing a pretty consistent job of updating everyone's threads every day or two...

Now, she's got kids at home all day.  She has to either home-school them or coordinate their remote-learning activities.  She has restricted hours to run errands to keep the household together.  So, while she was doing a great job before the crisis, she's had a huge pile of stuff heaped on her plate.  She'll be back...but she's gotta have some time to settle into the new routine.

I'm at the opposite extreme.  Aside from having had one of my favorite hobbies (thrift-store shopping) severely curtailed, this hasn't much affected my life.  I work at an amusement park that is still in pre-season preparation mode, so my hours there haven't changed at all (actually had my busiest week I  months there, this week).  The movie theater where I work my second job hasn't had to shut down, as the clientele has helpfully cut their numbers to the point where we aren't creating much of a risk. I think we had 8 people come to our busiest movie last night, maybe less...and that was our busy night for the week).  So that hasn't changed any.  And I'm single, so no kids to worry about taking care of.  My availability for gaming hasn't really changed at all.

So, as is true with so many things in gaming, mileage varies from person to person.  Some have more time.  Some have less.  Some don't see any significant changes.  But, yes...with so many real-world concerns to juggle, if something has to be sacrificed, this is a likely place to start.  Nothing here is really urgent, and face-to-face relationships generally take priority (if you're going to keep them healthy, at least).  It would be a mistake to assume everybody's got extra time because the world's shuttering stores early and closing bars and telling people to stay home as much as possible.

This covid19 thing has folks scrambling, and while you might think they have more time, most have less, or they lost their internet connections they depended on with schools closing down along with businesses in many places. Once things begin to return to normal should pick up I hope.

In reply to GreenTongue (msg # 34):

True, but at the same time, I don't think that aside from the ghosting GM or Player, anyone in CC really minds waiting so much for a reply. ^_^ Quite a few of us have been around long enough to know folks drift off, get distracted... but often come back! Or, alternatively, threads are suddenly resurrected! ^_^

Additionally, I have to say, it's been very rare that I've seen any disrespectful or intentionally hurtful behavior around CC. Though, I do realize our mods are wonderful and nip a lot of things in the bud. By and large, folks are just very nice here and that does make for a comforting and supportive atmosphere that might very well be hard to find elsewhere.