Do people understand that rp's only become active if PEOPLE JOIN. Nobody seems to want to join an rp unless its active. Well, if nobody wants to join new rp's without any members, than they're never going to become active!! It's very agrivating and I just wanted to know if I'm the only one who is utterly confused by these people's lack of... well, lack of common sense.

I started a new RP a month or so ago, and I have one member. Now, I understand that it could just be that I did a crappy job of making a site: however, I don't think that that's always the case. I mean, some people probably didn't join my rp just because they didn't like it, and that's understandable, but I know that people pass up RP's just because they're not active. Has anyone else had this problem?

Did these people tell you their not joining for the specific reason that its not active? It might also be that there not familiar with whatever the topic is, or that they are looking for something that really catches their eyes. Most of the time, they are on many other sites and they dont want to join unless its something that really really attracts them.

I agree that this is very very frustrating! However, I also come from a job where sales are necessary, and I've learned that you'll get rejected 80 times out of 100, but you still have to ask every single person just to get those 20 yes's. The same is true of advertising. A lot of people will say "no way, this site's not active!" (because, in their defense, it's not, although they are obviously ignorant in their logic) but if you keep on pushing the advertising you will get enough members slowly but surely who are not only going to be active but who are also going to be way more loyal then those members who wouldn't give the site a chance would ever be.

Just keep trying, keep pushing even when it seems hopeless! I promise you will get your site off the ground in no time ^_^

It also might help that a part of your advertising explains that you are new and looking for founding members... people like active sites, yes, but people also LOVE the idea of being one of the originals!

I had this exact same problem with a great site I opened a few months back called 'Birdwing'. I got tons of people who would've loved the site, it was MR related and the people were fans. I was happy to have them!

But only one person who wasn't administrative joined. Then, they brought their friends who then began to shun the site because it 'didn't have enough members' and 'it only allowed canons'. Of course it only allowed canons at the beginning! If not, you'd have birdkids all over the place! -another peeve of mine-

I have the same problem. I've had like, one guest, and they gave me a suggestion for the site and disappeared. Now we have six members, two of which are active, and the rest are admins. Two of whom are on vacations. =P But it's pretty active, since the three of us are plotting and stuff.

It's annoying. I have my reasons for not joining sites, and few members isn't one of them.

Scarlett, the Law of Averages doesn't apply to advertising the same way it applies to sales. For one thing, you sell yourself in a face-to-face environment just as much as you sell your product. On the internet, you don't have that support.

That's why with advertising, you need a hook. You need to keep the user looking at your site for as long as you can, and you need to impart as much of the most vital information about your site in the shortest time possible. In sales, you can usually persuade someone to listen to you for just a bit longer, but an internet user has nothing stopping them from clicking the next link or closing the browser window.

And as someone who won't join a slow or unactive site, I have to say that yes, I am aware that RPs don't become active unless people join. But I don't want to waste my time on a site that isn't going to become active, or is going to shut down within a month because of a lack of activity.

I think Vanity got it right. Noone wants to be the first to stick their neck out when it comes to sites. Your best bet is just to show them that you have a whole lot invested in the site and hope that's enough to convince them.

I saw someone say that they are "going to wait around for activity to rise before joining" on a new RPG.