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[IronyOwl]

A lot of those spoilers look like things that could be stored in a post and edited when necessary. Or yes, kept offline entirely.

[SomeStupidGuy]

So, I came up with some sort of rtd concept-y thing and wrote out a crummy second-person-style-intro-thing to get an idea of how to write this thing. I may not follow through with this, and if I do, it's not likely to be soon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You’re breathless as you - as well as a handful of others - slip into the darkened warehouse reserved for special meetings of the Ministry of Menace. And you’ve got fine reason to be, with the suspicions that have arisen as regarding the meeting’s topic. You settle into one of many empty chairs arranged in a radius around a stiff looking figure in a business suit. It can’t be ignored that the Ministry’s numbers have been dwindling in recent days, as shown by the low population of the room, adding up to a mere six villains, counting yourself and the individual at the room’s center. Before you can ruminate on why this may be, the gaunt man in the suit clears his throat and begins speaking in a cold, almost monotone voice, tinged with the remnants of an english accent.

“I believe that’s everyone... If there’s anyone missing, well, I certainly don’t give a damn. If they can’t be arsed to come to an emergency meeting on time, then they fully deserve to miss out. At any rate, onto business...”

He takes swift, purposeful strides across the room, handing out hefty newspapers which he produces from seemingly nowhere in particular. As he hand you a copy, you recognize it as the evening addition of the city’s heavily biased and poorly written local gazette. Your eyes drift over the cover story, despite having read it over a handful of times before coming here.

“POSSIBLE SUPER-HOMICIDE?!

This morning, residents of our fine city awoke to an awe-inspiring burst of light emerging from the roof of an office building belonging to Postremo Industries. Our reporters have uncovered evidence through a mixture of police hassling and journalistic machismo that suggests that the source of this brutal show of power is the most deadly, yet seemingly heroic, vigilante in our city, the Nuklean(well-known by readers of our periodical to secretly be a socialist monster eroding away the american ideals of this country). Of course, as there is no doubt that such force can’t have been unleashed for no reason, we believe the target of this aggression to be the supervillain dubbed by the police(who are immensely lacking in creativity, might I say) as the Mechanist-”

The well-dressed man clears his throat again, distracting you from the article.

“In spite of that rag’s distinct lack of journalistic integrity, its claims are true. The leader of our little... club has come to a most untimely demise. I’m sure you all are fully aware of what this me-”

One of your compatriots(someone you can’t quite recall the name of, actually. From the looks of his costume, he’s supposed to be moth-themed or somesuch) raises an objection that was troubling your mind as well.

“But er, sir! Aren’t you uh... him?”

The well-dressed man smiles widely, baring his oddly silvery looking teeth. He walks over to the mothguy(maybe his name was Shade-fly? Definitely something dumb like that), planting his hand firmly on the weirdly fluffy looking shoulder of his costume.

“No, no. I am not. I’m simply the fallback system. And what a finely programmed fallback I am.”

He chuckles, his hand glowing with a pale blue light, which before long spreads across Shade-fly(?)’s body in a cascade of sparks.

“Poor, poor...” He pauses, unsure. He leans down, examining a name-tag pinned to the newly made corpse. “Ah, right... Nightning-bug. But one cannot disrespect your betters like that...”
“Anyways, as my creator has escaped the mortal coil, one of you will need to take up his responsibilities as the Nuklean’s arch-rival. And before any of you ask, I can’t do it. I have duties to perform that are far more important...

And do try to be civilized while you decide who will be my master’s successor. Hm... I believe that covers everything. A more descriptive explanation of this contest’s rules along with a complimentary tote-bag can be found beneath your seats. Note that this building will be destroyed momentarily, so you all should be leaving soon.”

You collect the leaflet(and the fairly nice fabric-y bag) from under your seat and start on your way out as the warehouse loudly begins to burst into flames.

Let it never be said that the Mechanist lacked style. Even if that style is patently ridiculous.

Just wanted to see if you folks thought the idea has potential to be amusing/entertaining. Or if you guys think that my writing's terrible or something like that(I mean, looking at it, it does seem kinda bad). :v
I'll probably end up changing certain aspects of the intro and such, but eh, this is more or less an accurate description of the concept as it exists in my head.

[Tiruin]

RUN IT. :I

[TamerVirus]

So fellas, what is the prime suspect in killing the most games? Lack of GM interest? Lack of player interest? Or something else entirely?

[Tiruin]

So fellas, what is the prime suspect in killing the most games? Lack of GM interest? Lack of player interest? Or something else entirely?

1. GM burnout/interest/lostness.
2. Players somehow all dropping out maybe (1%)
3.
...
Generally #1.

[Elephant Parade]

So fellas, what is the prime suspect in killing the most games? Lack of GM interest? Lack of player interest? Or something else entirely?

I dunno about everyone else, but I tend to slow down on updates until I eventually just stop. I'd say lack of GM interest, probably.

[SomeStupidGuy]

In my experience, I gotta agree with the others that GMs losing interest tends to be among the main reasons.

[IronyOwl]

Obviously lack of GM interest is the primary killer, since as long as the GM is willing to update, the game can be said to be alive in some fashion. Trouble is, GM interest is a very complicated thing; notably, player interest is a very strong component. Everyone hates killing a well-loved game, while nobody's fond of running a game nobody likes.

Other than that, there's a few common issues I'm aware of.

Momentum is pretty important, I've noticed- most obviously, hiatuses usually turn into deaths, while frequent updates tend to be fairly self-sustaining unless they're too ambitious. Players slacking off can sometimes kill a game, oddly enough, though this probably dips into lack of player interest.

Complexity is a very well-known one. The harder the game is to run, the more motivation the GM needs to do it. On the other hand, very simple games tend to be poor at grabbing the interest of those involved; minimalist stuff tends to die off pretty quickly.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, unless you want to count "the GM gets an idea for a different game" as distinct from lack of GM interest or momentum.

[Samarkand]

Definitely COD on any report will be loss of GM interest, but I agree with Irony that GM interest is a complex beast. The more important question is what factors impact GM interest.

As for game complexity, there's a balance there. Simple games the GM will lose interest in because they are too simple to maintain interest; everybody wants to run a game that has some form of novel system that elegantly handles a bunch of different scenarios. On the other hand, too much complexity makes it impossible for the GM to maintain the game. It seems that the best systems are novel in some way without being bulky.

Another aspect is the goal of the GM. If the goal is to simply watch the players respond to situations and each other it can be easy for the GM to maintain interest. If they are trying to expound upon lore it can be easy to do a huge amount of writing at first and then lose interest. And if they're doing it because of a goofy quote its almost certain to die quickly.

Player interest, as Irony noted, definitely plays in hugely to GM interest. Slow posting of actions slows updates and causes the game to lose substantial momentum. Also, for me, feedback from players makes me feel like they are interested in the game continuing, so I like posting polls so I can feel like people are engaged.

Those are my thoughts, and an example of perhaps the number 1 reason GMs lose interest: they write too much on something people only need to read a sentence or two on.

[Tiruin]

Obviously lack of GM interest is the primary killer, since as long as the GM is willing to update, the game can be said to be alive in some fashion. Trouble is, GM interest is a very complicated thing; notably, player interest is a very strong component. Everyone hates killing a well-loved game, while nobody's fond of running a game nobody likes.

Definitely COD on any report will be loss of GM interest, but I agree with Irony that GM interest is a complex beast. The more important question is what factors impact GM interest.

True on all accounts.

Like for example, if you wish to master your own game and have fun with it, you must master yourself before you can give fun to others.
One of the prime GM fears I see (and...primarily my fear) is that fear of players losing interest. How, you ask? The answer is subjective and given to the thoughts in the wind. Fears stop games. Among other factors, feedback also helps reinforce and sway the GM and the general idea of the game and how its being played.

So:
> Fear
> Lacking feedback
> Confidence
^{In which I still fear feedback :v}

[mastahcheese]

Obviously lack of GM interest is the primary killer, since as long as the GM is willing to update, the game can be said to be alive in some fashion. Trouble is, GM interest is a very complicated thing; notably, player interest is a very strong component. Everyone hates killing a well-loved game, while nobody's fond of running a game nobody likes.

Definitely COD on any report will be loss of GM interest, but I agree with Irony that GM interest is a complex beast. The more important question is what factors impact GM interest.

True on all accounts.

Like for example, if you wish to master your own game and have fun with it, you must master yourself before you can give fun to others.
One of the prime GM fears I see (and...primarily my fear) is that fear of players losing interest. How, you ask? The answer is subjective and given to the thoughts in the wind. Fears stop games. Among other factors, feedback also helps reinforce and sway the GM and the general idea of the game and how its being played.

So:
> Fear
> Lacking feedback
> Confidence
^{In which I still fear feedback :v}

^ALL OF THIS^

Golly, I've dropped way too many games.
^{I feel so bad.}

[Tiruin]

You put them on hiatus. Not dropped them.

[mastahcheese]

You put them on hiatus. Not dropped them.

No, I've dropped a lot of games.
Even if you aren't counting the infinite hiatus ones.

[Yoink]

I can relate.
It's gotten to the point that I don't really make RTDs any more, since my track record is so depressing.

[Parsely]

I hate that word. Hiatus. It sounds weird.