I might be biased, but I still think the RP corner was busier and more vibrant back in 2008 when I first joined than it is now. That's not to say that the RP corner hasn't improved recently, it's certainly in a better state than it was at the end of 2009/most of last year. I think this 'Age of Silence' pretty much covers that period.
From what I remember of the RP corner a few years back, it was pretty much a flavour of the month type system. You'd get periods where 5 or 6 Mystery Dungeon RP's would crop up at the same time, followed by a series of adventure RP's. Oh, and not to forget the monthly attempt by someone to set up a pokemon school/academy RP which would invariably die before sign up were even filled :P