[Deja Vu]

I don't have many complex opinions about SL2's activity, only that I agree, for the most part, with what Fern said. But I wanted to give my two cents regardless.

First, I don't feel that the OOC corner is a problem on its own, more like symptom of what people would prefer to do. When someone walks into the arena, and they have an intent to join the OOC corner, they either do so or leave if no one is there. I'm guilty of this as well, which is partly why I feel comfortable sharing my insight.

I feel that if the OOC corner was prohibited in some fashion, the people there would rather find somewhere else to meet with builders, or just not log on. This is only what I would do, though. I may be wrong. I only frequent the OOC corner when I see someone I know and want to say 'hi', or when I want more opinions about a build. If the OOC corner was not there, Discord would be my go-to, not to settle down and RP.

But how do we solve that issue of low activity? Heck if I know, but right now I'm in an event group that holds such things weekly, and it's what keeps me going. I feel that if Fern's proposal to host more public events via Eventmins was followed, it'd create a much more lively environment. People like their characters having history and exploits. 

Furthermore, I don't think low activity in public spaces is also a problem on its own, more so a symptom again. A lot of the times when I hear that the place is populated, it's accompanied by comments of 'oh geez, so and so is here again and being cringe' or 'ah there's degeneracy in the square again'. I feel as though it's more so a quality issue over pure public population. And sadly, I can't think of a solution to make those people who would complain, myself included, more comfortable with engaging those environments. I feel pretty guilty for bringing up a problem with no solution, but that's the honest piece there.

Finally, I 100% agree with what Fern said about the community being mostly reactive. I've somewhat lost interest in public RP, but when I am there, I absolutely enjoy and find it much more rewarding to initiate conversations, happenings, and general activity. I used to be much more reaction based when it came to my RP, so much so I was obsessed with others. (Aeugh). I'm much more satisfied with being my own favorite player, and enjoying my characters and how they initiate talks. So I feel that if people were to simply understand that initiating RP, while much more exhausting in some situations, is actually very fun- then perhaps we would see a more proactive community. I think this can be done by trying to engage the less active people, but not so much so that they can rely on the other person to carry the talk. Egging them on to speak out, and RP in the RP game.

Thanks for reading, loves.