First off, I want to make it very clear that everything I'm about to say is just my opinion. Feel free to disagree or disregard it if you wish. While I do have plenty of experience playing, and running, text-based RPGs on other forums and sites, I'm not going to pretend that I'm the world's foremost expert on the subject. I won't name names or point fingers, so please no one feel like I'm making a personal attack on them or their projects. I'm simply pointing out a recurring pattern that I think is becoming problematic.
Simply put: we have way too many roleplaying games.
In the past few weeks, we've had roughly a dozen different roleplaying games posted on this forum. Most of them have so few replies that you could count the responses on one hand. I've commented before that I don't think this forum has enough active users to contribute to these sorts of games, especially at this time of year, when so many people are busy with Christmas/Holiday commitments, but no one seems to have heeded my words. Confusingly, some users are even making multiple RPG topics in quick succession, instead of committing to properly running any of their games.
Now, while this is the 'roleplay and fanfiction' forum, and I can perfectly understand people wanting to get their ideas out there for everyone to see, we're getting to a point where there's so many abandoned RPG threads clogging up the first page that many of the short story and comic feedback topics here (most of which have more posts than all of the roleplay threads put together) are getting buried.
A good RPG needs a sizeable number of players, a well-planned plot and setting, and a GM who is capable of dedicating lots of time and effort to getting players interested, and encouraging activity in their game. Unfortunately, many of the games that have been posted in recent times are lacking these crucial features. With only a barebones setting, no complex plot, and minimal GM input, most of these games have sputtered out after only a few pages of activity, and many haven't even gotten started at all. In other words, we have too many games, and not nearly enough players to keep them all going.
To remedy this, I suggest that you adopt a strategy that is used on many other sites I've visited - create some kind of dedicated RPG planning/feedback topic, where people can post their ideas for games, discuss and comment, gauge how many players are interested, and perhaps vote on which games should get posted. Ultimately, though, this is just a suggestion. Take it or leave it, or come up with some ideas of your own. I'm just growing tired of seeing people's other topics getting buried and lost under piles of unplayed, underdeveloped RPGs.
