Don't take my advice or opinion very highly on the matter cause im nowhere near the amount of RP skill you have, but I find that RP's can fall into three different story line's.
Personal/Player Character plotline's
These are plot lines that the PC, you in other words, drive. You are the main character of it because its all about you're character.
The best way to optimize a personal RP is to find and establish well the past of the character as well as NPC's and PC's that have affected said past and use them to drive the plot forward. The most effective method Ive seen is conflict driven personal plot's, as in a big bad or group of big bads have appeared and the main character has to decide what to do and if he will fight them alone, with friends, with an organization or not at all.
Group Driven Plotlines
Similar to personal RP's but a group of characters will be considered main characters, with a larger amount of reactive characters on the side.
Generally, I haven't seen many examples of these so I will go with what I have. These tend to be done best when the main characters are already established and acquainted with each other. They will drive the main plot forward based on their experience and adventures and others who join later or those who are not main will almost always be a reactive character, unless they are a wolf in sheep's clothing or the big bad, then they will become a main character by default, or a antagonist character who drives the plot forward with evil shenanigans.
Minor Plots
These plots in comparison to Group and single person driven plots are different in terms of both mechanics and dynamics of the whole thing. They can be considered the comedic, random and light/soft hearted moments of any RP but are often very temporary or are something that is done on the side and may be picked up again at random interval points in the main or singular plots.
In this type of plot, most of the interactions are very friendly and comedic by nature and that everyone here serves the role of both the active and reactive character. The plot isnt so much serious story driven, but intended to take stress off the serious nature of the other RP's in general. These tend to be popular by nature but become stagnant and boring if over done.
I hope this helps.   ^_^
Personal/Player Character plotline's
These are plot lines that the PC, you in other words, drive. You are the main character of it because its all about you're character.
The best way to optimize a personal RP is to find and establish well the past of the character as well as NPC's and PC's that have affected said past and use them to drive the plot forward. The most effective method Ive seen is conflict driven personal plot's, as in a big bad or group of big bads have appeared and the main character has to decide what to do and if he will fight them alone, with friends, with an organization or not at all.
Group Driven Plotlines
Similar to personal RP's but a group of characters will be considered main characters, with a larger amount of reactive characters on the side.
Generally, I haven't seen many examples of these so I will go with what I have. These tend to be done best when the main characters are already established and acquainted with each other. They will drive the main plot forward based on their experience and adventures and others who join later or those who are not main will almost always be a reactive character, unless they are a wolf in sheep's clothing or the big bad, then they will become a main character by default, or a antagonist character who drives the plot forward with evil shenanigans.
Minor Plots
These plots in comparison to Group and single person driven plots are different in terms of both mechanics and dynamics of the whole thing. They can be considered the comedic, random and light/soft hearted moments of any RP but are often very temporary or are something that is done on the side and may be picked up again at random interval points in the main or singular plots.
In this type of plot, most of the interactions are very friendly and comedic by nature and that everyone here serves the role of both the active and reactive character. The plot isnt so much serious story driven, but intended to take stress off the serious nature of the other RP's in general. These tend to be popular by nature but become stagnant and boring if over done.
I hope this helps.   ^_^