(08-14-2016, 07:26 AM)Dante Abigor Wrote: TL;DR: The roleplay activity on the server tends to fluctuate with the age of the last major patch, and if activity seems low, you will likely have to be more proactive and poke people more than having them walk up to you.

Ive been playing this game since 1.0 launched, and honestly it seems to be more of a cycle to how Rp progresses per update, rather than an absence of it. Its a rough summary, but this is generally how Ive seen it go each major update:

• People join/return/get otherwise back into Rp after an update. Maybe some story stuff happened, or maybe some sweet gear dropped. Whatever the reason people want to either try some new Rp ideas, write around the most recent story content in Rp, or join a neat plot.
  
  A large portion of these people quickly get absorbed into FCs and group up with each other, or eventually lose interest rather quickly and either go back to the game, get into something else in another game, or otherwise get bored/busy with RL stuff.
  
  Despite how that might sound this is usually when most of the open walk up Rps happen because the most people are on and a huge amount of people want to get their characters out there. Its like FC happy hour, but for like....weeks instead of actual hours.
  
  
  
• After the buzz dies down a bit thats when the clique Rp starts to rise up a bit. People have already found their Rp groups and friends and generally stay within those groups unless they are running a public event. Around this time I feel is the hardest to find open Rp because There honestly isnt much going on. Even most of the people I have personally seen active around this time openly are a part of a plot of some sort. (Not saying that means they cant be open to Rps but generally its my opinion it can make them harder to approach for newer characters or Rpers, as most of the characters part of a plot want to interact with specific types of characters to advance said plot.)
  
  
• And then there is the third phase where either a new update is coming soon or is otherwise around the corner, and hype for it is rising. Around this time plots are usually wrapping up somewhat or becoming more open, new plots are starting, and you have a mix of people leaving and joining the game. This "phase" tends to be the most ooc in my opinion because usually around now people are either grinding or trying to finish story content to get ready for the next batch of SE content.
  
  This is also however the time when Rpers tend to start putting themselves back out there before the explosion of people being active after the update. I find this time a pretty decent way to run into new friends and people, but as people tend to be less proactive about finding friends at this point it would likely mean that you yourself would have to be more proactive in making those connections (Much to to the disadvantage of character types that prefer to be approached.)
  
  

There are obviously exceptions to the bullets above, and in all of those times you can find Rpers and Rp, I just personally believe that it is easier during the first and third phases. It will also help you immensely if you get a hold of a Rp calendar of some sort, as Im pretty sure there is one (Or several) on this site. If you are looking for strictly random/walk ups however, I think it would be good to get a feel of how Rp is generally moving around the circle. Also kind of related is where you find it. The Quicksand isnt the only place people openly Rp, its just generally the most well known. As of the time of this posting I believe we are inbetween the second and third phase of the Rps activity. I hope this helped a little.

(09-13-2016, 02:12 PM)Steel Wolf Wrote: It's not dead. Just insular. If you don't have an "in", good luck.

(09-13-2016, 03:28 PM)Martiallais Wrote:

(09-13-2016, 02:12 PM)Steel Wolf Wrote: It's not dead. Just insular. If you don't have an "in", good luck.

I'd disagree with that considering the number of looking for RP posts here and on tumblr along with all the events going on. Much like Syranelle pointed out, it's a matter of finding the RP you're looking for or (and so many people forget about this part or just don't want to do it, tbh) if you can't find it -create- it.

(09-13-2016, 03:57 PM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote:

(09-13-2016, 03:28 PM)Martiallais Wrote:

(09-13-2016, 02:12 PM)Steel Wolf Wrote: It's not dead. Just insular. If you don't have an "in", good luck.

I'd disagree with that considering the number of looking for RP posts here and on tumblr along with all the events going on. Much like Syranelle pointed out, it's a matter of finding the RP you're looking for or (and so many people forget about this part or just don't want to do it, tbh) if you can't find it -create- it.

But that brings up something else.

Lots of people are -looking- for RP. ...but like the many past threads, how many are creating it? Or creating RP that others are also looking for?

It's the wallflower argument, effectively. If everyone waits for someone else to initiate contact, then nothing will happen and people will keep waiting.

• Find a RP FC that you like and actually does RP things and events and stuff, that way you will find a place in overarching stories, make long lasting IC relationships and RP shenanigans; 
  
• Find good RP Linkshells that provide the hooks you are looking for. RP LSes are less effective since the core of RP always happens in your FC, but they provide a good complementary experience or even alternative, but they tend to suffer a bit more from lulls since they are less close knit than FCs (due to obvious proximity/gameplay reasons).
  
• Find connections, like by asking here on the RPC. It can work relatively well, but by asking for connections you have to go reach out to the people that offered. The onus is on you. Don't expect them to constantly check ingame if you are online to add you and offer RP, it happens rarely. If it's you offering to someone asking for connections on the other hand, yeah... but sometimes they just still don't contact you, so your choice. Anyway, it works well for short term improsived RP things, or just one-time RP. It works a lot less often for long term RP, because most of the players will just either vanish quickly at some point for various reasons (not finding their thing in the game, being bored, or else), or they might also not provide the RP you are looking for, or just not have the same RP views, which is fine. The main issue you will run into is that most people will just add you but actually never offer any RP and you will constantly have to reach out to them all the time to do something, which is super not cool I find (and makes ou wonder if they really like the RP you provide). Anyway, the few players that you will find here that will become long term friends are to be cherished.
  
• Go to big RP events. Can't speak much about that as I haven't really done it. It can be intimidating for a lot of reasons, is usually full of people and scrolling walls of RP text, hard to insert yourself among all those groups of people already RPing with their friends, etc.
  
• Do walk-up RP, in the Quicksand or anywhere else. Probably going to get fast food RP with random people with random views on RP and things, and be half of the time or more, just ignored.