Reviving a Dead RPG

So your RPG is a ghost town.

I won't ream out the why and wherefores of how you might have arrived at this, except to say that the #1 most common reason is neglect. Where there's a will, there's a way, and where there's no will...

The good news is this still applies even if your game's deader than a doornail and flat as a pancake. Let's touch on a few tips to get the ball rolling again!

First, how dead is it? If people are no longer posting {Excluding advertisements} but they still log in occasionally, then it actually still has signs of life. If nobody's logged in for weeks {or months} and even the guest ads have stopped coming, then you have a game that's more than mostly dead, I'm afraid.

Regardless, it never hurts to send out an email to your members alerting them of the planned revival. But make sure there's something doing when they get there. Before you send out that email, post around. Don't just post a brainstorm thread. Post a couple of actual plots, using your charcters, either new or old--it doesn't matter, as long as the threads are new. Don't bother trying to revive old RP threads that never got finished. You want the game to appear fresh and new. So, start a few threads. Give them something to do once they get there.

The brainstorm thread and new plot announcements are also quite helpful, though. Make sure that whatever you've started back up, is joinable by anyone, new or old.

And, oh yeah. Get the ads started, and let your affiliates who've dropped you know that you're up and running once more. Most sites are glad to add a newly revived site back on their link exchange if they'd dropped it for inactivity. {I have such a policy myself.}

A new skin, while not necessary, can be helpful as well to give the appearance that you are definitely serious about your reboot.

If this article is sounding a lot like some of my others, that's because reviving a dead game is remarkably similar to starting a brand new game. With that in mind, take this article's advice to help you get your dead game rolling again, and browse my other entries for more advice on how to keep it alive once it's up and going!

No RPG is dead forever unless you want it to be.