How many SRPs actually come to a finish

[VickyCummings]

What I mean that is what is about the percentage of RPs around here that come to some sort of conclusive ending that everyone involved or maybe just the author wants or has planned out when starting a thread. Then on the other hand whats about the percentage of RPs that don't end cause they've been abondoned? Just curious to see what people might think may be higher.

 

[Demos Straxus]

In my entire time on here I've only been able to end one rpg that I started, and that was a two person one. Its just about impossible to finish a multi party. General pattern is that the people go off, have sex, and then wander off. Just how SRP goes I think.

 

[VickyCummings]

good point Demos. So what do others think. Are one on one's easier to finish than group rps? I want to hear the voice of the SRPers out there.

 

[Red_Power_borg]

well holidays and payin for net access are other reasons

 

[VickyCummings]

good point as well borg. Another I will add is sometimes real life throws things at people forcing them to quit or postpone rps they were in.

 

[MaiusImperium]

I've never seen a multi-party SRP finished, ever. I haven't finished any of my SRPs on here, though I honestly see a successful conclusion to a couple of mine in the near future, but they are both threads where only two PCs are involved.

 

[Otto26]

Most of the scenarios are poorly designed and don't allow for an ending. They are campaigns rather than scenarios. This doesn't make some of them any less entertaining, of course. If you want a scenario that's going to end then you need to have a fairly specific goal defined upfront. Please note I'm throwing stones at my glass house; I'm in at least two open-ended threads and the others could easily go on for as long as the players like.

 

[Red_Power_borg]

basicly it just Life that at time gets in the way

 

[Wolk]

Almost never.

Look at it this way, an SRP is a general setup, not a particular story. You can keep it going for as long as you have the desire. So if you still want to play, why end it? And if you don't want to play anymore, what's the point of doing another post to bring it to a finish?

Although I've known people who want to bring their SRPs to a formal close. I don't. IMO, there is no harm in leaving it open. Maybe sometime in the future I'd like to pick it up again.

 

[cats]

Okay I like the notion of campaigns because that is the way it really is.

However I would guess 5% SRP of threads end at an ending, or reach the original planed cimax. Of that 5% I would guess 90% are one person deals, would go higher but even one multi person thread would probably be more then 2% of 5%.

On the ORP forum, where threads tend to be slieghtly more stable. I know of three threads that reached endings and went beyond. One of which was a two person opertaion, another was three writers, and the last was five or six.

Another way to look at the threads is as a TV series, and each ending is the end of a seson not the series.

 

[Katamari Roller]

The importance of ending an RP depends on how you see the RPs. If you see them as "games", or "stories meant to have an end", then it is very important for them to achieve a proper end. If you look at them as chances to pit your characters against others in social terms (interaction in any way), then it is not the end that matters, it is the journey itself.

Me, I prefer the former but am content with the latter.

 

[landiek]

I have been in several SRP's and only three have sucessfully closed

 

[dragonrazor]

most of mine, people seem to forget about midway through x.x

 

[shexay_xx]

sorry !
:S
have you posted on the broke down in a blizzard one?
xxx

 

[shexay_xx]

lmao just looked and your not even in that one with me!
lol sorry!
xxxxx

 

[dragonrazor]

i'm not in that one, i don't think

 

[dragonrazor]

oh SHEXAY...clear your inbox and sentbox <<

 

[chris2c4u]

Yes, there's no set way of doing any SRP and whatever works for you is fine.

I know I write a lot with a particular writing partner and we like planning stories and looking to complete them, so we have quite a few that have finished and those that run are definitely story driven towards a definite end.

For those interested in completing stories, we actually came up with an idea for pairs of writers of a SRP in four posts total! Have a look here if you'd like to have a go:

"OOC Looking for America."​

 

[Steiner]

I've been here since Mountains were small and I have to say that VERY few group SRP's come to a graceful end. Group SRP's are, IMHO, far harder to coordinate. There's always ONE participant having a crisis of some kind or dropping out.

On the other hand I've been in about four or five SRP's with a single other writer that have reached a natural end succesfully. I'm also writing three SRP's at the moment that I feel I can actually affect meta-plot.

However, I have to say that crisis and disaster affects Duet SRP's too.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Sometimes writers in threads just get lost creativity wise (a sure sign that it should finish) though sometimes it just takes a bit of brainstorming to continue if all parties are interested.

Sometimes there are just too many ideas and too little time but I found a way around that with a particular writer. The thread is called The Tabard Chronicles and each story is a total of ten posts long (each of us contributing five to the story). Using the names of drinks as the running theme, we have managed to write several different genres and bring them all to an end. (We've even spun off a couple into side story threads which have ended as well.)

One-on-ones are easier to finish if it's what you like and just as easy to let sit and pick up again when the writer who may have disappeared for various reasons returns from their hiatus. I have a few that have been running for a year or better.

My opinion: try a quickie thread, grab a new writer and see where it goes. Most importantly, do what pleases you as a writer best and if finishing a story is something you'd like to do, then discuss it with your co-writer and do it!!

 

[landiek]

Maid is right.. it does take a lot of creativity to make a sucessful story last for a long time.

I have always found inspire in other writers

Maid, BlackBart, PhoenixPrime01,KittyKatEater, and Patty ( sorry can't recall her Lit nick) are prime examples of writers that have sparkled to outshine a lot of stories I have read in the years I have been involved with writing.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

I've been fortunate to be involved in 2 group SRP's. One with caela, only_more_so, poohlive, and myself called Curse of the Travelors and then Off Course with Tesranc, caela, myself, screech, Maz and Tabasco. This thread finished and then we started another with a three of the characters landing on a planet and opened it for more players.

I have had 1 one on one finish with Blue Dolphin: Elizabeth's Education in Erotica.

They can be done, but it takes a willingness on all parts. Real life and interests are the key factors no matter what SRP is being played, group or one/one.