The more I've experienced with regards to RPGs and member activity, the more I am convinced that a lot of what determines how proactive your members are is the environment they enter into.
Do you find yourself roleplaying, and worse, hauling the plotline, for all or almost all of the threads in your game? Does everything just stop as soon as you walk away?
If that is the case, your game is not a healthy one. Nor is your lifestyle, if you're unable to leave your game for even a single day without it collapsing.
I think a mistake that many admins make {myself included many times in the past} is to try and do everything for a new member at the outset. I don't mean it's a bad thing to answer their questions or help them find a roleplaying partner, or roleplay with them. I mean that when you take up a thread with them right away and provide all or almost all of that thread's plot, you're setting that member on autopilot, making them a follower rather than encouraging them to be creative and proactive.
Now, this could be fine if you have the time and the muse to keep up such a plot. I run one of my plots long term this way. I probably provide 99% of the push. But it's a rather slow running plot, people come and go in it, and it's not the only thing going on in my game by a long stretch. You're not going to be able to keep that up in your whole game, and the game itself needs proactive members in order to survive. Provide them tools and incentives for using their own creativity such as a brainstorming board, and ways for them to hook up with each other, like a board for finding a roleplaying partner or posting ads for one.
Here's hoping this solves what seems to be a very common problem in the roleplaying community!
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