i need y'all to be so for real right now.

thank you all for your input! i will be responding individually when i get a moment, but i do appreciate the input and the time you all took to answer me.

i have not joined any of the mentioned rps so im not sure what the theme/genre really was, but i was fortunate to be part of gilded, a royal au rp which i felt was one of the most active and greatest aus i have ever joined. it's really one of those rps that made my ideas flourish and develop really deep connections to the characters within and really able to put effort to the characters i build; so i think perhaps by giving some insight and observations on my experience with gilded could probably lure out some possible issues that why aus nowadays do not work.

1) active community contributing to the actual roleplay.
to be fair, we had a huge community in rpr but many users are here for, idk, really casual chats? i lost count on the non-aus i constantly see and in those rps, actual roleplays are really rare and the reasons why they are actually active is because of the active chatrooms. having a community base really dedicated to the idea and willing to make the rp work is really important and i think gilded was the best example for that. none of the people i can think of have no passion towards the world settings of the rp and they constantly have so many ideas for the character dynamics and the rp itself which triggers more ideas for others. when the community is small/inactive, most likely you will find people reluctant to share and they eventually lost interest because no one is actually contributing and writing.

2) simple, relatable and developable theme/genre
gilded is a modern royal au that based on four royal families fighting for the throne. the theme is pretty common but because of its simplicity, people can easily create a character to be part of the royal au, eg a royal princess or a royal guard, or someone loosely connected to the royal families. unique themes are great but when the genre is too unique, most likely people who are not familiar with the theme will have a hard time thinking of how to create a character and fit into the rp. not to mention gilded has a backbone going on: four royal families, the throne. I think this is crucial when you have a world connecting the characters altogether and some aus i saw are like oh mafia au but there's nothing else, like two rival mafia gangs and they just give it to you to create whatever characters. if you were to say there is a mafia war coming up and the admins are really doing smth to push the stories, aka having actual plots and have a huge scene to let the characters do whatever they want, but the war must go on and have to end a certain way, i believe ppl will find it interesting to work within that freedom given to them. some of the events i remembered while being in gilded was the grand gala where royal families meet and the king is supposed to announce the throne is up for grabs, and ppl are starting to seek alias with one another, so it's very interesting to see what people have planned for the events once given a start.

3) constant coordination by admins.
admins play a great role in coordinating and one of the great things gilded have done was to have a active admin team that keep things going even when people are busy. they keep track of stuff and during events, they give us deadlines and planned out plots that would happen during a certain event, eg the king announcing the throne, gunshot war etc. some characters would even volunteer to be main characters to push some of the plots forward, hence it gives the members a sense of responsibility to do something and it engages you to be part of the plot. if you dont have smth going on and leave it for the ppl to roleplay within themselves, it is all up to the ppl's activity to keep the roleplay going and things are not going to turn out so well when the admins are just there to chit chat and didnt plan out things for the rp.

rip me its 1am and i feel like im blattering random stuff but hopefully what i said makes abit of sense!

I'm picky and things either make my gremlin brain happy or they don't. No rhyme or reason.

Not me just casually reading responses cuz I’ve been wondering the same things as I work on my own revamps djdnndnd

hey there! i’ll say it off the bat, i join au’s mainly these days. however, supernatural, fantasy, and genres/themes similar to them aren’t my usual choices. occasionally some might interest me. for aus that have a heavier lore or niche, it has to be a topic i’m familiar or comfortable to write enough with. i don’t want to offend others or be constantly nitpicked later, especially with the latter by mega fans that are harping on the smallest of details. some places provide resources to understand the place and topic better, which has helped, but this shouldn't be a requirement for every au.

at the same time, i don't mind the work to understand a lore or topic. what would incentivize me to join unfamiliar places if i happen to have a relating plot or character that's driving my muse quite a bit, making me want to research the topic to have a better understanding. sometimes what might hold me back from joining lore heavy places is my time, muse, ability to respond, and life. while this seems off topic, but for private roleplays i'm open to a more themed thread, but that's probably because it's designed by my writing partner and me.

somewhat relates since some mentioned vibes. i’m guilty of this, but sometimes i join a place when i have a friend or know the writers there, especially if i'm on the fence about it. friends can recommend and tell a place's vibes (if it's cliquey, ooc chatrooms lean towards ooc rather than ic, plotting is actually done, etc). if i know/know of the writers, it indicates i might enjoy it, especially if some of the muns are past/current writing partners. however, this isn't my main priority with joining. i want to write, so i’ll join because i want to feed my muse. i feel like au writers typically prioritize writing over socialization.

it’s easier said than done, but please don't get too discouraged by this. au's have always had it tougher on this site. the fact you continue making them is great! despite the era of 200 roleplays opening a day, starting a place is difficult. especially since a ton of the users here are busier nowadays compared to years ago and we don't exactly get fresh blood coming in. the smaller tight knit communities are great too, they can be building blocks in generating new places or finding new writing partners. you’re doing a great job! the blog too, this is a topic that should be discussed more on the site.

I'll be honest none of those rps are my cup of tea. I'm mostly a rper and there either needs to be a lack of rps or a very interesting concept for me to join all orientations places. I remember I saw the grim reaper one and contemplated joining but then I wondered what kind of plots would come out of the lore. I could only think of permadeath of the humans or prohibited romance... It seemed a bit limiting so I didn't join

Hi hi, honestly for me personally at this time (when I say at this time I mean in the last few months or so) it's been an issue of not having all the free time I once had to like sit there and actually put all my efforts into creating a good muse for said roleplay- and the problem that follows with that is that when it's a really good concept/theme and the admin(s), you in this case has put all this time and effort into creating a really solid and attractive lore, stories, even skeletons that you do for your rps- I think to myself "I need like an equally good character backstory and personality because this place is so good" so I feel if I join and don't create something that's up to par with the rp quality and just like half it then its a disservice to the rp and the admin so I usually just refrain from joining because I don't want to have a blah and bland character that I can't fully portray well and then end up leaving a week after for being inactive or the lack of muse that tends to follow TT
your rps are always lovely and I lowkey keep eyeing rebirth because I found it really interesting I just haven't had the balls to fully commit and sit down to write something good and apply ashjsnskaa
( also galini and converse will forever be some of my favorite works you did )
and one last thing the user bellow me commented the vibe- though it doesn't happen to me personally as often there are times when the rp is exceptional but I myself feel a lil out of place anyway and that's just a me problem really not the rp or the other participants anyway sorry I rambled idk if this really helps ;u;

shoujosei 13 minutes ago Reply
ngl...personally for me it's how much I vibe with rpers and nothing to do with rp itself, if you want my input.

Agreed. Sometimes the roleplay idea is amazing but the cliques, the couples (not all) make it hard to rp. ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ I can send a bunch of dms to others to plot and sometimes they don't even reply and that gets annoying. So 80% of the time Ieave the roleplays.

ngl...personally for me it's how much I vibe with rpers and nothing to do with rp itself, if you want my input.