Hello, everyone!

All new here and I'm afraid I'm going to start off with a rant. Unlike me to do something like this, but I have to let out my frustration. However, I'm also going to be looking for any role-players, so please, do read on.

My problem is that I'm an avid role-player. Have been free-form (no number crunching, stats, etc.) role-playing on forums and via instant messaging programs for more than 10 years now and I still crave for more. I love stretching my imagination and letting myself immerse in fantastic worlds, whether they're futuristic or fantasy-based and get absolutely giddy with excitement as my characters grow and development shows.

Now here's my problem - it seems I am a bit overzealous and over-energetic as I always seem to be the last person to abandon an RP. This sucks, especially when I am playing with people who really know the 'trade' and am thus having lots of fun with them. The latest blow came in the form of an excellent role-player ditching on me for unclear reasons. You'll probably say I'm being unfair to my co-players, nasty to them, but this is simply not the case. I usually like playing characters that are not very good in combat or similar (admittedly, I do have one character I am very fond of which you could consider as an unfair one, since he's a dragon, but I always make sure there's a very good reason for that and the background of the story), so this must not really be the case. English is not my native language, but as you can probably deduce from this post, I'm not what you could call grammatically challenged.

So what am I doing wrong? Why do I always stumble over players that seem to lose their interest after a couple of weeks (if I'm lucky it's months)? This especially hurts in cases where I think up a huge plot to guide the co-player's character through for an exciting story and they ditch on me (which happened lately and sparked me to write this post).

I've been looking for hours through the net to find a haven where one can find other avid role-players and this forum is the closest I could find. So here is my plea: is there anyone here that's interested in free-form, character-development-oriented, play-by-post (or instant messaging), story-driven role-play on an intermediate to advanced level?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm really frustrated.

Hello Spherical!
Hopefully the groups you gamed with were on the same page as you. Did you talk about expectations before starting?
The bit where you talk about having a plot etc. made me think that perhaps the other players were looking for more of a "sandbox" game and did not like the meta-plot?

And to be honest you may think something is kick ass while others find it to be,well,just ass.Once again communication is key to success.

It is awesome to be passionate about something but this could also put some folk off especialy if you start to dominate the game albeit with good intentions. A "mature" (not age) player understands group dynamic and allows space for others to shine and even makes strides in the game to facilitate this.

Life being what it is perhaps they had some other things come up that got them away from gaming? A myriad of explanations present themselves.

Anywho...I am more than happy to do a PbP or Chat game as I am sure many others here at RPGsite are. Have you taken a look at the PbP forum here?
cheers!

Hi, Skofflox, and thanks for your reply!

I agree with everything you say, but without trying to brag or sound haughty, I do watch out for all of those things. I hate it when there's a lack of communication and thus like to keep in instant messaging touch while RPing at all times, discussing the RP as it goes on if need be. I also understand the need for all of the players' characters to shine every now and then and I specifically create situations (as a GM or simply via the actions of my own characters) where their strengths come into play, making them the only viable solution to the problem.

I've thought about my stories being boring to people, but I don't know. I don't think I'm a bad storyteller (I'm very critical of myself usually) and the other players would probably leave sooner than in a few weeks/months if that were the case.

And, indeed, I've taken a glance at the role-plays over here, but it just so happens I've never played on a free-for-all forum and prefer forums that have a specific theme going or simply take it all into a private instant messaging session.

Was a little disgruntled and sleepy yesterday when I wrote this, so I forgot to state a few things: I can't seem to run out of energy very quickly and when a story pulls me (this happened when others created their worlds and stories as well), I'm really the last man standing, if I can use the battered expression. It's extremely annoying when you've created and nurtured a character that has had extensive personal development and you've come to immensely enjoy playing it, then players bail on you.

Also, I've never really played any play-by-post/instant messaging games that use any kind of combat system (except the Fallout SPECIAL system and that was with me cousin) and the whole prospect of joining a group of experienced adventurers to whom I'd only be a dead weight with my lack of knowledge is daunting. Of course, there's the option of reading the 3.5/4/whatever books but there's just so much one is lost as to where to start without a guiding hand. I've entertained the thought of doing it, but then I've seen people post their character sheets that might as well have been written in Chinese. I'm no stranger to number crunching, but it just seems D&D systems have a whole repertoire of different modules, add-ons, expansions, custom content and whatnot that seems to elude me.

So, all in all, I'm still more comfortable with the focus being on the story and character development than combat.

I thank you for your offer and have to admit I'm tempted by it, since I'm practically starving for some good RPs. Please PM me with what your idea was.