Yeah, well we don't allow that anymore.

After years of playing on roleplaying games, participating on forums, observing both from the outside, and helping administrate forum RPGs as well, I have come to recognise a pattern that almost all of them follow if they last a few months or more. It doesn't matter if they are beginner/all levels, advanced, small or large. It happens whether they are stably staffed or full of drama. It happens regardless of what genre they are.

They all grow stricter over time.

Now, this may sound like a generalisation, and I am sure there are games/forums that are outside of this "natural law." {This paragraph is a disclaimer, you might note.} I cannot recall one in my recent memory.

The typical RP forum will start off as a free and easy RP, with a basic set of rules. Soon after the game's inception, the rules will usually be adjusted. This is generally just because it was hard to foresee all issues before its start, and once it kicks into gear the staff can see what they feel needs tweaking. But once the game is stable and going several months, the rule accumulations don't stop.

They seem to come in the form of word minimums appearing, character applications rising in difficulty, format rules either appearing or increasing in number, even such things as profile format rules. There may also be character number limits, posting limits, limits on character traits/types/powers {game breaker powers--powers that if allowed would change the entire game dynamics--would obviously need limiting, but often the limits come down on something that was allowed for a long time} the list goes on.

Even when the game is dying and it is obvious that the overburdening rules are contributing to its demise, they are not usually removed or changed, or at least not significantly. There may even be additional rules created at this phase, like mandatory activity checks.

Why does this happen?

I'm still thinking on this, it'd be nice to know since it's a killer of so many games. But what I have observed is that whenever our own RPG lifts a rule or loosens it at all, even a little, there is often vehement protest from a small but vocal porportion of the member base.

My advice: if your game needs a boost, loosen that noose. It could very well be it is choking on its own limitations. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.