Do you prefer to have a lot of RPers or a handful? What's your ideal range for a number of participants and why?
I think 5, 6, or 7 are relatively healthy numbers for me overall. Sometimes I do allow more (which I really shouldn’t) if my RP gets popular enough, but yeah.
Overall I think 6 is an ideal number because it’s a good number to keep track of everyone without it becoming overwhelming. Plus, in RPs, I think the relationships between the cast becomes healthier, more complexed, yet more developed. Well, that’s just from my experience, anyway.
Overall I think 6 is an ideal number because it’s a good number to keep track of everyone without it becoming overwhelming. Plus, in RPs, I think the relationships between the cast becomes healthier, more complexed, yet more developed. Well, that’s just from my experience, anyway.
5. Where one ideally is the GM (or 4 players + a GM playing other chars). With 5 players, you can communicate easily, get to know all chars well even if mostly OOC, and most posts IC will be relevant to you if the plot is relatively tight. 6 can work well too, but 4 people in total is starting to seem a bit small, since if one drops you're suddenly 3 and that feels a lot smaller than 4 somehow, from my experience.
8 players/characters or more is starting to get difficult for me to keep track of or feel invested in. I generally shy away from RPs that state that they are letting so many RPers in, unless I really want to play or have hopes that it can be fun and keep me interested anyways.
8 players/characters or more is starting to get difficult for me to keep track of or feel invested in. I generally shy away from RPs that state that they are letting so many RPers in, unless I really want to play or have hopes that it can be fun and keep me interested anyways.
For me, I prefer a close-knit cast so eight is generally the maximum for me. I think four or five would actually be the ideal for me but the issue of unreliable players or things coming up causing players to drop out (like what happened with my recent series of small journeys) makes me a bit hesitant.
The only issue with having a lot is more people to worry about and more people to wait on to continue the story.
Empoleon @ 5,050 | 
I've not RPed much but I prefer a short number of players, or at least a number of clusters of players. Not exactly cliques, just... units that can move plots together. How many? in the order of 10-12 not counting the GMS I think it's a good setup.
But I guess much depends on the structure of the RP. A tournament arc style RP is easier to accomodate for different numbers and structures of players than a seasonal-episodic RP.
The only issue with having a lot is more people to worry about and more people to wait on to continue the story.
That is one of the reasons behind me prefering player clusters, yeah. Others being the malady that is t i m e z o n e s that makes it difficult to coordinate people.But I guess much depends on the structure of the RP. A tournament arc style RP is easier to accomodate for different numbers and structures of players than a seasonal-episodic RP.
Venia Silente - Consulting Worldbuilder
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