Why aren't people RPing?

[Coal]

So I'm making this thread to try and get some reasoning from everyone on why people aren't RPing. Figured I'd ask, since others tend to be in the know, as to why people aren't RPing much anymore.

The second part of this thread is to hopefully figure out something to do about it. This is, after all, and RP site and I would like to find a way to bring back the joy. So with the complaints that y'all might have or might have heard, bring in some suggestions too. Let's try and make it fun again.

[Tetsu]

These are just my thoughts, so no real facts backing them...so please take what I say with a grain of salt.

That being said, here is what I think on the subject.

I think there are 3 key reasons that we are seeing a big decline in actual RP on the site. These key reasons are as follows, the inconsistency of players & GMS, the deterrence of new members by the seemingly complicated system , and the staleness of old RPs from Senior players who want a fresh story arc or character to play.

I think one of the biggest problems for RP, especially on a forum medium, is how difficult it is to keep up with each other. A lot of the senior members have known each other for years, but we all understand that everyone on the other side of the keyboard has a life. We all do our best to work together to bring a story to fruition and to bring it to completion; however, we often find ourselves losing key players or even the Game Master along the way, which stalls out players for up a year or even 2 at times (See the Tailed Beasts thread if you want a great example). This puts players in a state of apathy, where any interaction they make that will require some investment will put them out of commission (and will drain their creative motivation) for a LONG time. This deters major RP arcs and pretty much joining any event, unless of course they attempt to join an event and it never starts because the organizer suddenly becomes busy or dip entirely without warning. We've all been that person at one point or another, myself included, but it really does make wanting to have Major RPs difficult.

Personally, I feel that having at least 2 (or a team of) Staff and GMs working together on a project would be beneficial. They could cover for the other, help keep story progression moving, and generally provide a better experience for the players. The problem in this approach lies in the lack of the aforementioned staff and GMs that are active enough to take on this type of endeavor. Hopefully, as we move towards the future, we can see a greater cooperation of staff in the story building department. Lots of staff have seemingly grown busy or distant, and it would be nice to see them return with some story contributions. Loki is a great example of a Staff member who has always had their hand in the story cookie jar, but at the same time, these staff members need to be able to enjoy themselves and not be the sole managers of the story development of the site. There is not one clear solution for this problem; however, it seems more and more prevalent now that I've returned to see what is happening.

Another inhibitor that I've noticed is that lots of characters are training; however, very few characters are interacting. Part of the reason for this is as stated above. Players don't want to bog down their threads with RPs that will ultimately fizzle out. I, among many others, find that this problem is solved most easily through consistency (Which is really hard to establish). In addition, many players my find themselves feeling overwhelmed and unable to figure out what to do next. One of the BIGEST advantages NFRP has is it's HUGE HUGE HUGE Lexicon of techniques and systems that have been refined over the years.

NFRP has a strong base of administrators and Staff that are both knowledgeable and mature. I've seen very few situations that Staff had not been able to resolve peacefully. The problem lies in the complicated nature of all these systems and the learning curve that needs to take place to learn how to play. Many young members might find doing this difficult (Simply for lack of attention span, or for lack of understanding where to look). I believe that Heero has made it as stream line as possible to understand all these rules, so I don't think it's much of a problem for someone who is use to doing a little reading or for someone who had played any RPG ever. This is not a problem for any senior member.

For senior members, the biggest problem seems to lie in growing bored or apathetic towards RP. As we grow older, we desire more complicated and robust content. At first, we want our character to amass power, but what does that even mean. I saw lots characters have extremely enjoyable arcs that have grown to great power early on in my NFRP career, Like Solus or that darn Vampire Draven, or any other cool character that has come to pass. Yet, recently, it seems like no one wants to develop their character as they grow. This, in part, ties in with problem one.

We need to start coordinating with our Staff, Kage, and other members, to create a target trajectory for our characters, to find people who are willing to be antagonists and play the role of the villain, and to really encourage the involvement of new members into the grander plots. We as a story writing community have grown a bit apathetic; however, I see that there is still life here. Coal has returned to staff, which is a good step in the right direction. We need to become about story writing again, and not just about amassing powerful characters. We should strive to develop 3 dimensional characters and force them to feel the emotions that we personally would rather avoid. Pain, loss, grief, and regret are all strong emotions that can really help make an RP much more enjoyable to be a part of. The Joy, Relief, and excitement come from overcoming the problems and overcoming the defeats to truly give closure to our favorite characters so that we can move on to our next project peacefully.

These are all just some wild thoughts I had on the subject, some of it is nonsense, some of it might be legit.

Please feel free to let me know what you think as well, and thanks to Coal for putting the spot light on this subject,

Let's get out there and make great stories together!
~Tetsu~

[Coal]

Fantastic insight Tetsu, I couldn't agree more with what you've said.

Purpose and Role Play. These two things are major MAJOR for Roleplay. A lot of people seem to have lost their drive due to a lack of purpose and role play opportunities, along with a lot of non-permanent situations. Nothing ever seems to really stick. I am picking up what you're putting down.

A good move to help that is exactly what you said, doubling down on GM/Staff run events by having multiple Staff/GMs run the Events. Less chance of burn out, less chance of fizzle. I like this solution! Better incentives would go a long way as well. While we all want our characters to grow and evolve, people also love stuff. Everyone loves a good collection of stuff. Useful stuff. Sure, we could give mundane items and Ryo, but that isn't the stuff that cuts it when the only good stuff is crafted stuff, but the only way to craft stuff is to have someone make it. That's a tedious process for certain. Any and all ideas are welcome for overcoming that obstacle!

Training is another problem, because it is a muse drainer, and there's no way around that. Few people enjoy typing up a story of themselves slapping a tree or always knowing they're going to win because they control the complete outcome as they do with training. Sure, it's more fun to train with someone, but there is a distinct lack of people wanting to do that for the very reasons you mentioned above. How do we circumvent this problem? What could make RP more rewarding and training not quite so...mandatory feeling?

As for coordinating with the Kage, I completely agree with that, but I think the Kage need to take a more active role in their Shinobi as well. Claws of the Tundra is taking a definite step in the right direction with his/her involvement of the Shinobi in the village plot, building it around them, and molding the world with their choices as well as his/her own. He/She has also taken in a lot of the history of the village and added it to the story as well, creating a rich and vibrant world. I encourage Kage to be more like that as well, but I understand that some of your Shinobi just might not be about that life. You're also their absolute command. I think a good idea would be making teams instead of allowing them to make themselves temporarily. Just push your little shinobi birds off the proverbial branch and hope they start flying. Send them out on missions that would suit their skill sets, get them out there and RPing, and for god's sake GM those missions so they have some interaction. Even the lame missions, just be part of what they're doing or get a GM/Staff to help you out.

Something I've noticed about the Villains is that there is a distinct lack of them. There's nothing for a villain to really do except look longingly at village gates or young Shinobi training in the field. Include those villains, Kages, if you're cold then they're cold, let 'em in. Coordinate with these villains and your shinobi, make missions involving them, call a staff member to moderate the conflict, and let them have some fun fighting and winning, losing, dying, whatever y'all decide before you begin these missions. Non-ninja need something to do as well and sure, they have some leniency to make missions and such, but feel free to include them if possible as well. Working together will make a better story and as it has been pointed out multiple times, the story is ours to make.

KEEP THOSE THOUGHTS COMING! We need to work together to build it back up! We can do this!

Thank you Tetsu for the comments as well! Very much appreciated and extremely insightful!

[Claws of the Tundra]

Quickie Note: *First of all, thank you Tetsu for sharing your opinion. Secondly thank you Coal for setting up the discussion; and giving me the privilege of being tagged in a discussion about RP as a good example. I'm beyond humbled and flattered.

---

Introduction to a Discussion

by, Kahimi the Roleplayer

Okay,

Admittedly I had noticed this thread the very moment it was made, and kept myself from posting because I wanted to see what others said first. Mainly to wage and understand the different opinions. Although also because I'd say my feedback, (while overly analytical and yet blunt) is probably a little skewed. And by skewed I mean, it's biased towards how I view enjoying roleplay as a whole. (Which I suppose is natural anyway so fight me.)

Still, with just the three posts, and two different voices in this thread so far, I feel compelled to post my own blarf of words on here and blab about how I feel on the subject.

(Both with a short version immediately below in a quote box. And then the normal wall of text version right after; in a separate post. *I promise I'll try to make this one short-ish and easy to understand.)

TL;DR: The Title

-My thoughts can be summarized from this complicated idea:

Forum Roleplay regardless of the setting is a revolving cycle, where people expect one thing and get either surprised or disappointed by another.

Which overall comes in its varying phases. These phases depicting the level of member activity. All of which is depending on the overall collective interest of what is being roleplayed at the time and why.

Mainly because a roleplay that goes entirely according to plan, is secretly the one people get tired of the most.

And once a roleplayer gets tired and burnt the first few times. They become hella jaded and hesitant the following times after unless something fresh and new comes to light.

(Even if that thing is what everyone else around them had already done years ago or even sooner. Timing is everything.)

Right now NFRP is just recovering and needing a few more kicks of interest, and maybe a small influx of new members.

[Claws of the Tundra]

Introduction into a Discussion: The Question, The Answer, and The Suggestion

By: Kahimi the Roleplayer

---

*DISCLAIMER: This post is not being prevented from being long or weighty in discussion topics. If you don't mind a lot of reading and critical thinking then continue. If you do, (or don't have the time or energy right now) please read my reply above this one instead. Please and thank you <3

The Question:

Why aren't people roleplaying? Either at the moment or not as much as they used to? What happened to the drive and why?

(My) Answer:

If you asked me this two years ago, I would have told you:

"I am just not in the mood to put a lot of energy in it right now. I really want to. I have all the plans and all the interest. But creatively I don't have the energy to see it through."

That is because, at the time, I was still a Kage. (So I had a fixed purpose and job to do.) Still on the same mission to provide the player-driven roleplay world, that Coal had previously mentioned. And still in it for the enjoyment of making a good story people can look back on and maybe talk about in the future.

First understand since day one that has been my main roleplay purpose on the site. I'm a story driven type of roleplayer at heart. So I naturally gravitate towards multi-layered projects that takes a few different things to fully finish in theory. Being on Staff, a GM, or a Kage on this site is how I keep myself anchored and invested passively. (Thus why I aimed for it so fast when I was a new blood. And grinded to gain GM.)

So asking me this same question now will only earn you a:

"I'm fine. Things are going well and I'm just waiting to post in my threads." (Hence why I hesitated to even post in this discussion because I am actually roleplaying, and enjoying it currently so I kind of don't count.)


Since I am not currently taking a break, feeling sluggish, or on a hiatus. I am technically not the target of this discussion at all. Not anymore. HOWEVER, With insight from both being there and seeing it happen among other players. Knowing what their reasoning is. Perhaps I can give an outsider view on the subject yeah?

*blublubblublu* -Wobbly transition sounds-

[Claws of the Tundra]

The Answer:

Okay,

So first off let me explain what I meant about roleplay being a cycle, and going through different phases. Let's crudely call this... "The Bomb of Activity". (Because art is an explosion )

---

The Bomb of Activity

- It's a simple play on cause and effect, but with nondiscriminatory & supplementary outside factors.

The Fuse:

Regardless of platform mass roleplay can begin at varying speeds, with varying levels of interest as long as a general idea has come forth to attract attention. Thus naturally people who haven't yet started a roleplay on said site will eventually fall into a place of their own depending on what they feel like doing most. Now on NFRP there are a few states of being at any given time, when the site's "fuse" is burning.

The Inactives
-The Deceased: Left the site/"Left" the site for now
-The Child: Waiting for someone else to start one for them.
-The Teen: Currently uninterested, but still around though.
-The Teen (Puberty): Currently overwhelmed, but hoping to recover soon.
-The Starving Artist: Burnt out already or becoming Burnt out
-The CIA: Preferring to do at least staff activities. But not interested in roleplaying.
-The Adult: Currently too busy with life/Not available for personal reasons

The Active-Inactives
-The Forecaster: Keeping up to date on roleplay progress for others, but not roleplaying themselves.
-The News Anchor: Taking apart in site activities (The Cbox mainly), but not necessarily roleplaying.
-The PvPer/"The Shango": Too busy waiting for their worthy opponent. (Or just waiting for an opponent in general.
-"The Loki/Snowflake": Too busy...with themselves. Or avoiding distractions.
-"The Usiel": Too busy running the site to roleplay.
-"The Tieren/Setsy": Too busy lurking to roleplay.
-"The Kahimi": Busy making plans, but not actually starting them yet when they say they are. Then disappearing when they do like a loser.

The Actives
- These people are the "fuse burners". They currently keep the activity on site upon the roleplay side of things. They are making the threads, "The Forecaster" is happily reading up on, or wanting to hear about in the CBOX. They are the players "The Child" is hoping will come to save them from boredom by pitching an idea their way.

Thus they are elapsing the time that the ever-lengthening or suddenly shortening fuse has before the eventual boom. Whether that boom is bad or good for someone depending on what state of being they are in while the fuse is burning, before eventual decay.

This will come in the form of:

-Events
-Multi-person Roleplay Threads (For fun, for improv or for plot)
-1 on 1 Roleplay Threads (for fun, for improv, or for plot)
-Training (To at least roleplay something and get a return in the investment or prepare for a greater goal)
-Missions (Hopefully with a purpose)
-Crafting Transactions (For those who desire material-type incentives to roleplay or feel like an accomplishment is achieved with their character.)

So with that said. What does this all lead to right? Well...its simple really. The climax of any given moment during each year of Site Wide activity on NFRP. (Which varies in perception from person to person obviously) Also known as:

---

The Explosion/The Bomb

The reason for this is because of two different types of outcomes.

The different states of being clashing together on site will either cause enough friction to make an explosion of new ideas and activity. (Which then chain reactions into another fresh fuse to continue burning towards new outcomes.)

OR.

It creates a void of disappointments that caves in on itself and drags people in as collateral damage. Thus creating a "bomb" in site activity which means things feel dead and slow. (Meaning the fuse went into a dud, and now a new one is needing to be made and lit if the site hopes to survive.)

Once this demolitionist's wet dream of a metaphor carries out as a dud/bomb. What is left is the inevitable:

---

The Recovery

With a now dead level of activity, people will begin taking breaks left and right or outright leaving the site. Those that stay will just cram themselves into the cbox to chat the days, or even months away until the site picks back up again.

NFRP as far as I can tell has gone through this cycle a couple of times throughout its lifetime. Sometimes even going through it during one year of its roleplay cycle. Since this isn't a new site anymore with the fresh craze Naruto fans flying in droves to roleplay their crappy Uchiha wannabes, or any other OC for that matter. The site has to rely on the members, & roleplay content to keep itself running. Regardless if new members catch on or not.

Veterans of the site KNOW this is hardly a Naruto Roleplay Site. It probably never was even back in its prime. BUT the themeing, the techniques, the locations. All of that is still crucial and used to this day. So how they translate and are used is still VERY important for people to individually feel like: Yes this is worth it.

---

TL;DR/ The Conclusion

And in my opinion. A lot of people (myself included) maybe five to three years ago were WAAAAY too focused on grinding out some form of material gain. All in the hopes of catching up to "the pros". Those that everyone talked about and assumably were doing it right, regardless of what "It" was.

The likes of Usiel, Loki, Coal, Snowflake, Cadoc, Isley, Shango, and so on. All of those names having varying levels of influence on the site as they all are usually known for something completely random and objectively sorta mundane.

Others "at their level" but not as known most likely just didn't give a damn, and focused on roleplaying more. They just so happened to be at that level of investment.

But still, that's not enough to deter the strong dopamine-induced craze for validation and temporary purpose. Which unfortunately most roleplayers fall victim to when they are new, or don't focus on just having fun/meaningful projects.

Because of that craze of wanting to catch up, people decided to forsake plot and substance roleplay. For the imaginary benefit of material gain and fame. Whether if that meant becoming a new PvP God, or some TP Legend. Fun and meaningful roleplay took harsh hits because of that phase in NFRP's fuse.

And that is JUST roleplay. We aren't even going into the hits that went towards events and missions.

So now even with the amazing site changes that makes such roleplay here currently easier. Training or otherwise, the site is recovering from a drought in plot, and the collective burnt out of ideas and interest.

This is ironic because the current form of NFRP's rules and setup is objectively THE Best it has ever been. Which is perfect for new members to come in, (and they are). But some Veteran members are skeptical, and or just kind of tired right now to help give it life.

That's my 2 cents. Hope you stayed until the end. It's okay if you didn't.

Love, Kahimi

[Coal]

I see your points Claws of the Tundra and I think they are very valid. Indeed we could simply be at a long lull waiting for the explosion in activity. Which could come any time now, if we are on such a timeline. I enjoyed the breakdowns as well, very well thought out. So I do have an all important question. How do you think we could replace the fuse?

So far a common denominator in this fraction of RP seems to be creativity or lack there of. But, how the heck do we bring back the creativity that once was a major staple in our site? More answers please! More QUESTIONS! Soon we will get to the core of the problem if we all keep putting our heads together and unlock the hidden potential of this site.

[Claws of the Tundra]

I had spent hours typing out a bunch of answers. I rather not make a wall of text again so I'm shortening it. I hope a few little answers explain my view well enough and covers enough bases:

Just Have Faith

SPOILER: Click to show

To replace what we have worn out, we honestly just need to stay our current path. I think we need to cash out on the idea of creating opportunities for meaningful and clear cut stories with a purpose.

Keep it Simple Stupid

SPOILER: Click to show

- Master Game 's casting call thread for low-level characters was a massive step in the right direction. I feel like a lot of people have spent too much time on their higher TP accounts and lost sight of much similar and easier to enjoy ideas. Ideas that using a low-level character forces you to be creative with. This is why those 8000 TP and below Character creations are doomed to fail half the time.

Link This thread is the most recent example of Lower Class character being able to create a fun little idea and just try to make it work. Those are the kind of threads new members will need to see, if we want them to stay. Let alone to easily get their feet wet and possibly find a place to start. As opposed to being tugged by the arm by some high ranker they can't connect with.

- And speaking of plot. Please everyone. Back up in the kage and village ninja that are currently active. ALL OF US have been talking behind the scenes and bouncing ideas around. We ARE working towards making something happen that will create conflict or opportunities for villages and their members to do stuff.

I for one know for a fact, yu has been busting his ass for the Rain Village on his own. And he hasn't had any help for far too long.

We have only just gotten started

SPOILER: Click to show

We also need to remember Arrival of the Avatars was the first actually official implication of a Site Wide storyline introduction. Now that is almost over there shouldn't be any excuses why people can't think of even more and actually work together to get it done. There is no excuse for that event having taken as long as it did because people forgot to work together.

It takes Two to Tango

SPOILER: Click to show

I'm sick and tired of the solo acts taking up space in a team based objective. Ya'll can be evil and work with the goodies. Ya'll can be neutral and find persona gain for yourself WITHOUT out right robbing everyone else. Ya'll can be good without stepping on the toes of those you NEED to create conflict for you to even react to in the first place.

And most importantly you can take a break from roleplay and focus on real life WITHOUT fucking everyone else over. Stop with the bullshit. Its not gonna help the site grow.

NFRP is New and Improved

SPOILER: Click to show

This is the best form of NFRP we could ever have. TP and Technique earning is simple. Character Creation is streamlined. Missions and Events have simple roadmap rules now. And 👺 Usiel has some energy to try his best to let us know when he is working on things and how its going.

This is the best time for advertising for New Members to help gain new ideas. Lets use it.

Please.

[Tetsu]

1/2

I really like some of what you're saying here Claws of the Tundra !

One of the elements that I think has sorely lacked in the past year (Or two even) has been the communication between players and the GM. All it takes to prevent a train crash in an event, because X party wants a break, is a message and finding (A A replacement GM/Player or (B figuring out an amiable way for your character to dip so that everyone isn't left hanging in limbo and the event can continue on. So many times (This most recent Avatars event is a great example of this) where a GM or Player dips without explanation and leaves everyone else hanging out for a week or two trying to decide if staying is worth it. We need to be better communicators, especially if you're a Game Master, Staff, or Kage. I am as guilty of this as they come, so I can say with full confidence that this doesn't just kill the other players motivation, but also makes it hard for you to feel like you can return without feeling somewhat guilty (Because you know full well you've created the train wreck and some people are understandably pissed XD).

SOOOOOO with that being said, I think it would be beneficial for us to try and find other mediums to communicate with each other. I know some people have used Discord, and that's been useful, but I remember in the hay day using Skype as well. Even if these other options were not used, to the very least it would be beneficial to have a group PM with all the participants in it to keep everything organized and to have an open line of communication with all the parties.

In addition to this, as a final thought on the matter of communication, it might be good practice to tag your other parties in the posts when it's their turn. It's not a sure fire way to get people to post, but some of us are just forgetful and miss that it's our turn from time to time (and the constant waiting because of the lack of communication makes us seniors more apathetic towards looking to see if it's our turn yet XD). Just some thoughts on that subject, with what Omni and Coal have said.

TL;DR

I agree that with your sentiments in "It takes two to tengo" and think that a little communication can go a long way. Also, a little GOOD momentum can go a long way in getting the ball rolling. So hopefully, as we move towards the winter time, we will be able to see more events and story lines popping up!

[Tetsu]

2/2

On a completely different subject, something I don't see much anymore is plot cooperation.

I remember a time where I would plan out with people to put the machinations of plot in motion, and everything was free from, but the key points had a little choreography to them. We would add a little drama to our fights (even though it's not at all efficient, for the purpose of winning, to do so,) and our Roleplays. Characters were allowed to develop, because even at "B" rank, where you're Death Enabled, there was room to bend the rules for the sake of story and fun.

I feel that lots of players don't cooperate anymore, like they use to. In the Low rank character thread, there was a character that had their hand stabbed (Or at least that's how it read to me) and after that they were stultified to the point that they didn't seem to be able to post. Sometimes, we assert our will on another character, and consequently prevent them from growing in the way that they'd like. This can be a big turn off for new players especially. If you're new to this type of RP, free ball pvp combat is going to be difficult.

We should be trying to tell a story with our RPs, not out doing each other by being able to flex on each other with our cool powers... Fights, Espionage, intrigue, all of this is a device to help tell the story that we want to tell with the other parties involved. Events are where you can flaunt your stuff WITH other players and show off your coolness on NPC targets.

Passive RP & Missions -> Build relationships and the world around your character. They will always have people they love, hate, and have bonds with. Build these through RPs to make the critical moments in events or PVP battles seem that much more intense.

~Tips | Examples~

Tetsu, a loving father, has a nice RP with his partner and their baby before going on an "S" rank event. He says things that make it clear that the event is dangerous and he could die. These build the tension for the ACTUAL ENCOUNTER. Think of how heartbreaking it is when he does die, or the relief of the character returning afterwards. These are the type of things we should see more of, building relationships and setting up emotional payoffs for later (This is just a writing tip TBH). This also allows you to show the aftermath of the situation, and the effects of that successful event or of their demise, and how it affects those they were bonded with.

Events -> Show how powerful you are and let you really CHALLENGE YOURSELF and CHALLENGE YOUR TEAMWORK SKILLS. They help develop plot that is driven by a GM. Missions can serve the same purpose.

~Tips | Examples~

Teamwork is key for these. I remember having the MOST fun when I got to do a cool team maneuvers in events. Think like how Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were respectively weak solo but were unstoppable together. That's how you should feel in an event ultimately. You DO NOT have to start as a good team, but the payoff comes when you learn to work together at the end to make it work out. Events are also great for character sacrifice. If you have a character who has played out their major goals, and you want to try something fresh (and don't want to scrap like a sad boi) then plan out a sacrifice. Build up the tension, have them make connections, show off how powerful you've become, and then sacrifice.

I think a great recent example of this from Naruto would be

SPOILER: Click to show

Asuma's *Spoiler for those who have not watched Shippuden or whatever*

Death. It was built up to nicely. He was a a father to be, he had done quite a bit, was built up and shown as pretty powerful and then he dies in the final confrontation. It was well built up and he got to display some of his cool skills before kicking it. (As a side note, showing the aftermath of this death was also a very strong writing move, I'd love to see something like this in RP!).

PVP -> Develops character and builds up tension between two characters. There should never be a 1 shot fight. Fights are the BIGGEST turn off for most people, because taking a blow seems almost like the end all sometimes. Like Omni said, we have the best system ever built. Take some damage, trade some blows, and maybe retreat or even consign to dying in a fashion that brings your character's story to a satisfying end (or to the very least use this death to create ripples with the characters that know your character.)

~Tips | Examples~

We shouldn't be afraid to lose our characters. We should only be afraid of losing them before we can make their death matter. Even when Hayate is killed before the Chunin Exams, it caused an aftermath and had lasting effects. Keep that in mind when doing PVP. Try to make a death, if it happens, matter. Don't be just a puddle of blood that everyone will forget, have a reason to be remembered and have an effect on the world (respective to that character). That's what makes a character, the PVP, and the outcome seem real. We should never leave a PVP feeling cheated or dissatisfied.

Just some thoughts and context, with what you all had said. Thanks for bringing this to the forefront you guys!

[Master Game]

Big thanks to Claws of the Tundra for highlighting my efforts to get the fuse lit with my campaign centred around low-level characters. I'm still heavily invested in it with the intention to see it through.
However that's the only thread i'm engaged in which is somewhat disappointing. I have couple other ideas but I'm not sure what else people want right now and so I focused on my own plot. I've made a few one-shot events before but now I'm looking work on plots with a deeper meaning

What was said about teams of GMs and staff members working together on the events makes a lot of sense but requires a great amount of communication and trust for the staff members involved for it go smoothly. I'm personally all for working on a new event or plot with another member of staff, I've definitely got the schedule for it.

The ultimate question that needs to be asked is what do people want? For the people that crave new roleplay, what are your ideas and dreams? Where do you want to take your character? How do you want to affect the world? The site index provides almost everything that could be used to make your dream a reality. As a GM personally I have about a whole collection of build ideas, pre-made npcs and monsters, unique weapons and items, and dungeon ideas stored away on my laptop just sitting there doing nothing. We already have the resources to create exciting new stories and adventures, but for us to get it right we need to know what people are leaning towards.

I'm a GM that hasn't GMed anything in months which is pitiful as I love what I do. For the people that aren't fighting bijuu and feel "left out", lets talk it out and exchange ideas. I seriously want to get back into GMing again and I have the schedule to do so.

I've made and GM'ed a whole dungeon epic for one person in the past but this time I'd rather work on something that affects a greater number of people and makes a bigger impact on the site.

[clear]

what

everyone who grew up watching naruto is like at minimum at uni/working full time and at maximum has fuckin KIDS and shit now

they are not going to want to learn all the systems and read all the indexes. the barrier to entry on most tabletop games is lower than it is for this one website.

you either have to wait literal YEARS or write a solitary novel to attain the level of character power most lasting members are walking around with. "you can train together!" that takes twice as long.

and so what if you do? what if you do attain the post-S-Class level of TP that the site has now been oriented around? what the fuck can you do? 

the in-character NFRP world is an absurdist void of loosely-strung-together moments of time and immaterial non-locations that are desperately prevented from ever being interrelated unless they eventuate in any real narratives of conflict that, god forbid, might require actual moderation; might require the endless outpouring of libraries of techniques to be examined or balanced.

instead you are left with these bombastic, borderline non-canon events that no IIC rule is ever respected for and so you get to actually post in them once every 3 fucking months.

nothing about the direction NFRP has been sailing in the last decade (longer) has been aimed towards satisfying the hobby that RP is, and in an almost traumatized way it has only strayed further and further from this reality. the systematic changes that have begun being implemented in recent years are so mild as to be laughable.

nobody is RPing because where RP means to form cohesive storylines, explore ideas with other writers and be rewarded for your contribution to a vibrant world, you are not meant to RP on NFRP.

award TP for simple character interaction threads when they are completed. this should and should always have been more lucrative than training.

stop making glutted technique libraries from the perspective of your post-endgame characters. trim as much back as you can.

halve the number of villages. it is not 2008 anymore.

work with the best storywriters still left on the site to form real identities for each village.

allow villages to be found by whomever tries.

ensure each village has its own ongoing and in time inter-village narrative that can be participated in by all.

advertise the site relentlessly anywhere it can be advertised.

if you really wanted to know why the site is unattractive to new players, you would do a hard reset on characters and see how it looks now when you have to start from 0. but you won't.

until radical actions such as these are taken you will always have a non-world that sits neglected below a chatbox.

[An'ei Sekitan]

I actually proposed the very system you suggested clear some years back, but it never took flight. Giving TP like a currency for completed RP threads and training threads being optional. It never really took flight. I do like your ideas, that last is very radical, but I am not opposed to it either. That could be an interesting take for sure, like a brand new RP pretty much. I also agree we may have far too many villages right now for the volume of players.

Your input is extremely valued and this thread was made for people like you, the passionate, and I appreciate you posting here. I appreciate each and every one of you posting here. I want more! Give me more opinions, more ideas! I'll bring the site back up to snuff one way or another if I can, but I'll need the help of each of you, from the radical to the mundane!

[Claws of the Tundra]

Alright, so this is a response to Kaizu's post. I'm only doing this to further the topic at hand while addressing some general peevs that I just can't ignore anymore.

Addressing Irk #1:

Kaizu: everyone who grew up watching naruto is like at minimum at uni/working full time and at maximum has fuckin KIDS and shit now



they are not going to want to learn all the systems and read all the indexes. the barrier to entry on most tabletop games is lower than it is for this one website.

SPOILER: Click to show

First off Mr. Kaizu the majority of veteran or regular members on this site that are still here, and trying to fathom how they wanna spend their time before their clock runs out. Are people in their 20s-30s. Some of which are in military service, running classes, or even managing businesses.

So I don't give a fuck if people find the system a little daunting at first because of their thin timeframes, because almost everyone where is fucking busy on the side dude. Its honestly not hard to come in spend thirty minutes or less and an Average rp post, to keep a thread going. And in my opinion, the changes are not fucking laughable...

I don't know what kind of stress and frustration you went through in of the years of being here trying to bring further ideas, but I sense a lot of spitefulness in the first half of your posts.

Like okay, fuck the idea of advertising then if it's that big of a shot in the foot. Regardless if we advertised to Anime fans let alone Naruto/Boruto fans.

Where in the hell did you get the idea that we are looking for people who grew up with Naruto? This site has hardly anything to do with that series beyond using its themes. And for one, that franchise and many more are STILL pulling in people who have never looked into it at least once.

Said people from: kids to full-on adults with full-time jobs. And a small minority of them could so happen to be interested in Roleplay. Thats literaly all that matters in the end. We want roleplayers and thats it.

Nobody is asking an adult to sell their damn kids on Ebay so they have time to make some worthless Training posts so they can finally get the 12,000+ TP character that they always wanted.

So I really don't see how that statement you made is anything other than a blatantly obvious strawman to use to further your prior points. And while I can completely understand them, and even semi agree or fully agree to the ideas you presented to a degree, it was still annoying to even read though.

Annoying in the sense that regardless of what its for. It kinda spits in the idea on why we are even talking about this shit... I get you have made threads like this for years and years. (I've read them numerous times and have also agreed with some of the points you made in those too.)

But I feel like by this point you are heavily jaded on anything that has to do with this place. And if that the case then I'm sorry you experience was so shit I suppose. But fuck it I guess. Whatever helps the idea of taking drastic measures to help the life of a fucking fifteen-year-old roleplay site, where people just wanna be able to not have to restart a project because Chad, Tyrone, and Karen forgot that they don't need 5000+ TP to play a character cohesively and immeserively.

Irk #2:

Kaizu: nobody is RPing because where RP means to form cohesive storylines, explore ideas with other writers and be rewarded for your contribution to a vibrant world, you are not meant to RP on NFRP.

SPOILER: Click to show

Okay so I'm just gonna be 100% blunt and honest and say I hate this quote. Saying people aren't meant to Rp on NFRP, just generally pissed me the fuck off. That's such a heavily pessimistic and borderline defeatist way of viewing the site's mechanics as a whole. I sincerely tried looking at that phrase with as many perspectives that my mind has, and it still sounds 100% backhanded and just plain rude.

Because if thats truly the case then what the fuck are we supposed to do then?! Like is there some sort of weird understanding of the site that you have, that I don't where people aren't comfortably capable or are somehow evilly kept away from just straight up Roleplaying regardless of what they have? Are S Class characters THAT oprresive?? Is the lack of streamlined world-building THAT pointless to make content for? I'd like to think its not even remotely half as fucked as it seems to be painted as.

In fact, last time I checked a lot of the stuff here is for subjective use during roleplay, and really only needs moderation when people can't figure out how to move forward beyond the honor system and T1. Or when two different techniques are clashing together and need further analysis so it doesn't disrupt rp flow.

You know...just like how the actually D&D game works. A game where a super genius with every spell in the world. Can STILL stumble on a plant or thralled, and get their intelligence tanked down into becoming a vegetable.

Sure normal D&D may not generally mandate people can't use spells or moves unless they have certain points put into them. But there ARE settings in place to do so if the DM & players want such things. Let alone there being systems to just cater towards spamming anything and everything because why not.

So again I just feel like I'm missing something to truly understand why you even brought that up. Perhaps it was that bad many years ago, but as far as I am concerned things have been getting removed and condensed more and more these days. Sure it's a little late, but I still would like to use that positively instead of calling it: laughable.

---

Now with my response to what irked me put away. I will apologize and do feel genuinely sorry if I was disrespectful, or just rude in any way. I just felt like half of what was presented was more so presented out of spite.

Now on to my response to the other parts.

- In terms of nothing sailing for a decade. I can't dispute this, nor do I feel like my opinion really matters. (I haven't been here nearly as long as some of the rest of you.)

- In terms of village shortening. I don't mind the idea. The majority of people here have come to terms with that possibility. And this is coming from someone who is the kage of an active village that was (and probably still is) on the chopping block for removal, and still agrees with you.

The thing is I'd rather this be done at least semi tastefully. Don't waste time with making an event for each removable, but at least add a site-wide lore-based reason why it happened so people can use it during rp. But if we are just gonna throw away threads then so be it.

- Rewarding TP for Roleplay. If it can be done in tandem with the training post system, and the way that TP and Technique costs work now? Then I suppose it could work. I'd argue this should be more so for missions than just borderline rp.

(I have played on sites that only use that system for experience points, and allow players to create their own moves. It's useable, but even that comes with its power creep no matter what. I have also been on sites where everyone only gets a certain amount of stat points to apply to the sections given.

Which have predetermined settings to what level of skill that stat allows a character to perform at. Which again will come with its own problems, so no matter what the solution for NFRP is subjective and I personally feel like we are already in a pretty good spot now.)

- The only other comment I have is that someone who a decked out character hard resetting to get the new player experience of Current Day NFRP is still not gonna get it. Because they aren't a new player anymore...

Thats like restarting in your highest level character in a MMORPG Video Game. After obtaining a fully leveled character over years of work and grinding on the rarest random rolled items for a god-rolled build. On an account that you had running damn near since day one. It is not the best feeling by far, but it sure as hell isn't just impossible to enjoy the process again.

Because as far as I know, any good RPG game has systems in place for new players to learn how the veterans managed to earn or being lucky enough be gifted what they have. And as far as I am concerned NFRP has that.

[clear]

you're a good kid LOL i say that with love

i feel like theres probably the same love i had for this place way back, in u RIGHT NOW so im not offended at all

i used to have that same optimism, but it's worth keeping in mind that if u have read some of the threads i've written, what's left of them is about 20% of all the times i have been shut down uwu

the overridding NFRP experience for a good chunk of us (almost all gone now) - and this is probably not a revelation to heero but if he reads this then hi daddy - is stretching the limits of what is acceptable without any kind of official sanction and hoping that the bossman doesn't notice so he won't tell you to stop

uwu uwu uwu

ur right, i don't keep up with nfrp's developments so much and most of the news i get about it is second hand. maybe it's broadly different now. i just hope you don't have to go through all the disappointment and frustration that i did.

i'm just a crotchety old woman at this point but that doesn't speak to how it is heartening for me to see threads like this still pop up so i wish yall the best

just... ough, temper thine hope

[Ace Detective Nara]

I just wanted to add something to this, Just my experience and opinions.

First and Foremost,

~Hai Kaizu, it's been ages since I've heard from you, so I hope you've been well!~

Back on track, I sympathize with that feeling of RP never happens here, especially back in the day. It was so hard to get everyone corralled and to have the events of whatever happened to be accepted as canon site wide. There were often those that transgressed on others, and multiple instances where feelings were hurt and stories abandoned.

I'm not innocent of being involved with this none sense either. As time went on, and up to now, I have seen some of the best story development taking place between new characters and old characters alike. The communication and desire to write a story TOGETHER is much higher than it was back when I first joined back in 2014 (Gosh it's been 7 years now X-X).

Loki, the addition of the witch lore, along with the EXCELLENT system changes and the creation of the Player's Handbook, I can say with full confidence that playing and writing on here is the best it's ever been, at least for me. Omni, Coal, and lots of others have been more than happy to work with me on developing characters (And if their presence in this thread wasn't obvious of their intentions) they are huge proponents to helping develop a cohesive story.

- I agree that locations and villages could be downsized. Some villages are nearly empty it seems. Having less villages would certainly give for more opportunities for players to be together...but at the same time diversity is fun and makes writing a lot more creative.

- I know you've been shafted by lots of the obstructions to RP that we've talked about in detail within this thread. It sucks that in the past those things happened; however I feel that there is a good core group of people wanting to help create a fun, cohesive, and enjoyable RP experience for everyone. Is the site there yet? probably not; however, of all the sites I've been on in the past for RP, this one has the most accessible rules, and has a great deal of content to enjoy,

NFRP might not be strong right this moment, but the potential is there. It is leaps and bounds from where it was when I first started.

Great to see you again, and thanks for adding to this conversation. Hopefully, with the guidance of Coal and the other interested parties, we can move towards creating really a really special RP experience here.

[kidan]

1) proboards is an outdated service host that caters mostly to children (who don't rp because it's a dying genre) when most roleplayers of the naruto community are reaching mid-twenties / thirties, or later. it's an old host, most people have moved on to jcink or now even set up their own private communities on discord - something that has replaced cbox. in point: nfrp isn't keeping up with the way the roleplay community is actually progressing.

2) of course there are some naruto roleplay sites that are consistently kicking with the same general graphic aesthetic since a decade ago, but those sites - as kaizu stated, advertise their asses off and have a proactive staff unraveling new content at each and every turn to keep the members invested. which isn't that hard, naruto sites are special and a commodity for many people, it's just all about appearance and easy to grasp information that doesn't require a multi-day thorough read with the only point of communication being through pm or cbox - when again, most communities have set up on discord and become closer in terms of friendship because of their close proximity and ease of access. friendships is how you retain members, if their friends leave then what point will people have to stay.

3) every story needs a villain, and if no one's willing to be the villain, things get too peaceful - which gradually grows into "stale". what's the point of gaining TP or new jutsu if there's no enemies to oppose? no villain that riles everyone's feathers and makes everyone want to unite together to stop them? coal should understand.

4) a lot of this seems like it'd be eased through closer communication. a better ease of access towards each other. more trust in the system. i don't pretend to know anything beyond what's been read and my own experiences, but nfrp will always have a plentiful amount of potential so long as the members are willing to work together to make that happen. it's just up to staff to figure out ways that brings current members and new members together without everything necessarily needing to be done on forum. at this time, nfrp acts similar to isolationist japan before perry arrived.

i spoke nonsense, but have a good day to everyone. please figure a solution. 💖

— shirō.

[Coal]

Everyone is producing excellent observations and feedback, I really appreciate that and hope we can get even more perspectives involved in this,as this is a community issue and requires a community solution! Come on everyone! It's an open table discussion that I'm going to take notes from and attempt to help in any way I can, but it is also for each of you to take away from as well and do your parts to help. Bring issues up, I encourage it! But also bring solutions that you think may help, because they just might!

[Tetsu]

These are thoughts I’ll need to edit later:

Expand existing geography & points of interest

Your limitation is your Imagination, feel comfortable with playing ordinary or diverse people and adding a twist (playing a farmer, archeologists, treasure hunter, fisherman, samurai, soldiers, priests,etc. make them interesting by putting them in adverse situations and force them to deal with it.

Building a plot with:

> an Introduction & background for the characters
> established “whys” for each character. (Why should we care, why is the plot important)
> a nice rising action (show off what each character can do and build up relationships and tensions.)
> a strong climax (Pay offs from the build up in rising action)
> save a little time and planning for a falling action (consequences of the plot, character development, etc. aka what changed?)
> make sure there is closure to this line of plot or make a good transition to the next one!

Making an initiative to have characters in proximity.

[hoshisame]

I am pretty sure I will repeat some of the things that have been said before. My apologies ahead of time but I just wanted to pitch in.

I want to start things off positive as I am just returning. I want to bring up a strong point of this website that could be used to solve this problem. Generally the people here are very welcoming and have a strong sense to help. This is the reason I joined 10 years ago, came back 5 years and came back now. I won't go in why I went inactive but as Tundra mentioned I fall in two inactive user categories for sure: child and adult. More on this later as this is the positive section!

The form of communication though is a bit dated. Something like a discord server can help bring this website together into a community. Which will elevate this strong side of this website as getting people in touch with each other makes it easier to help each other!

Another positive point, I have to actually admit the system is easier now. Though it does still need improvement. I still spend multiple days figuring everything out. Mostly because the indexes are massive which is both a blessing and a curse.

Last not least, the staff seems quite active and the game masters still seem very motivated! Good job to you all.

However there are still problems for sure. I tried to be positive but already slipped up a bit. The website and platform as a whole feels incredibly dated. The content might have evolved but the platform itself did not. It is only due to a theme change that it feels a little more manageable. Why am I bringing this up? More and easier communication is needed. On top of that the platform should be inviting. Your competition is quite tough and the system as a whole could sue more visual aid. To me personally it would make it easier to discuss some OOC stuff in a more casual way. (CBOX doesn't have history therefore sucks, private messages with multiple users is okay but what if you want to add someone new to the discussion you don't know you want added to the discussion? AKA strangers passing by)

Another probably way bigger problem, is the massive focus on training. It kills it entirely for me. I feel like there is no other way to gain TP besides training posts which I absolutely hate to do. I know you can gain some TP through missions and events but to say it makes sense or feels well explained is a far fetch. It needs a rework still after all these years.

This problem is further amplified by the fact I still have the sense you need a lot of TP, a lot of skills and a lot of techniques to do anything. Even with 2700 TP I feel like I cannot even make 25% of what I want. Partially because 1000-1500 TP is lost to general stuff and easily another 500-600 TP is lost to all these DCBAS skills or train x amount of times skills.

That problem however is even further amplified by the fact there is just so much. Variety is cool and amazing but it should feel more achievable. As right now it overwhelming and therefore you feel like you are not ready to interact with people. This discourages me a lot and makes me overthink a lot. Which is why I have trouble with RPing.

Last not least, in the past I tried to make small groups up to 4 times using cbox. I think my lack of posts tells you how they ended up. It does not feel easy to form groups to roleplay with. Which is because people don't seem to stay for long or stick to people in their timezones to rp with or get overwhelmed. Approaching the big guns leads back to the problem of not feeling good enough or not up to par.

Please take no offense as this turned out a bit rambly. I think a lot of good points and solutions have been brought up already and I hope this can help push towards the right solution. I personally think the training system should become secondary instead of primary. On top of that consolidate the villages to make it easier to find people to RP with. Also on top of that make communication easier. But this is just a general direction.