Problems with recruiting for games?

[Isadorabelle]

(I hope this is the right thread for this, it seemed like the most appropriate place!)

I've been a role player for probably about a decade now, maybe a little less. When I first started, I had the benefit of paying attention to others and learning for them. When I look back I've seen my ability grow from kind of pathetic one-liners to whole paragraphs of fleshed out posts with dialogue and description.

Now, I own and moderate my games (I'm such a stickler for organization. It's sad, really.) and I love it. I thrive on making and maintaining the wikis for my games, but I've noticed some problems.

Has anyone else had trouble recruiting? I see a lot of Star Trek advertisements and I know that my own aren't hugely successful through that. Has there really been that much of a decline in the last five or ten years? I know that there are some excellent fan fiction writers out there. I write and read on Ad Astra and some of it is just amazing, but why is there such a shortage of role players?

 

[CaptainStoner]

The genre itself has declined enormously since its height in the mid 80's, when D&D was practically mainstream. Even then play-by-mail games, which I guess are the equivalent of what you're talking about, were a small niche.
I think it may have always been a challenge to fill those kinds of games.

 

[Isadorabelle]

The genre itself has declined enormously since its height in the mid 80's, when D&D was practically mainstream. Even then play-by-mail games, which I guess are the equivalent of what you're talking about, were a small niche.
I think it may have always been a challenge to fill those kinds of games.

Hmm, maybe it just seemed bigger to me because I had been younger at the time. Haha, maybe it's just because I'm a writer now that I don't understand why more people don't enjoy it.

 

[daedalus5]

This forum hasn't been overwhelmed with enthusiasm for email sim type games over the past 10 years or so I've been here..... Lots of initial posts for recruitment though.

 

[Isadorabelle]

This forum hasn't been overwhelmed with enthusiasm for email sim type games over the past 10 years or so I've been here..... Lots of initial posts for recruitment though.

Hmm, that's kind of disappointing. Maybe it's just me but I would've thought it would be popular, at least with fan fiction writers. With my writing I've found it to be invaluable because I feel like it puts me in touch with the character really well.

It seems like a lot of forum-style posting is popular, or at least is advertised a lot. Is that the way to go these days?

 

[Isadorabelle]

This forum hasn't been overwhelmed with enthusiasm for email sim type games over the past 10 years or so I've been here..... Lots of initial posts for recruitment though.

Oh by the way, I forgot to mention this, but I love bookmooch too! I've gotten some great Star Trek books on there and have some listed.