[WaifuApple]

This is the part, now, where I bring my extended thoughts, supplemented by things I've heard from other people who may or may not have already made their own voices heard - not everyone is confident enough to speak up, and not everyone who has spoken up can be expected to be willing to express their opinions fully, lest it seem like they're trying to pick fights with people.

Something I must mention is that some people get the impression that a many within this thread are pointing at a problem and complaining about it... without taking steps to remedy it themselves. This is not something just Dev, just the Eventmins, or just current reactive people can solve. This is everyone's problem, and no single group can make it better. It's alright to list the problems we have in hopes they'll be solved - but if you're expecting for things to get any better if you just sit and leave it to others to make them, this discussion isn't going to get anyone anywhere. You've got to take what you've said, look inward and ask where it applies to you, and change. Everyone does. I do, too - and I have been trying very hard as of recently.

Many of you - I won't name names - rarely make an attempt to get out there unless you consider it important to you - which is a trap that is difficult for anyone to work with. Can't always pick and choose if you want things to feel alive. In recent days I've found a bit of public activity in places like Dormeho Square (not Obenque), which haven't been to me of bad quality. They've been enjoyable. At current there is a new popular game that will have stolen people's attention - but I can say that there's still public RP, and it's not dead. It's just that many of the people here... are people I haven't seen even bothering to engage with it.

Now, that might sound provocative to say - but keep in mind now that sugarcoating things is not going to get people anywhere. There are plenty of new players out there to interact with, if you're willing to look beyond just Cellsvich and the Arena - they're not the only hotspots anymore. I have been able to make friends with characters there, or at least get more association than a meeting and then never again... which I think is honestly really good.

It is one thing to be someone who is reactionary. Unlike other people I can't complain about that - I can still enjoy RP with such people, and can enjoy RP as one of such people, too. It is another thing to just not participate at all, like so many have resigned to doing. It's not going to improve things - it's not going to make them any better. A better environment is something we have to work for - and I've seen that not trying at all breeds a cycle of that same pessimism towards things that people don't break from.

We, as eventmins, cannot be a substitute for a flaw that is inherent in the community itself - giving you more to participate in publically, often in my experience has not led to people developing alongside one another - it's not exactly done much for the pre-existing state of different groups not mingling. People come, usually pair with those they associate with normally (unless they have the short end of the stick and have to fill in with the remains) and when all is said and done, they leave. Usually they don't interact with the people they met afterward. An event too big and your individuality is taken, too, and the impact is muted. That is a problem with public events without some kind of limiter - it's hard to make anyone feel special with such crowds.

That's combat / action events. Public SoL events, as I mentioned before... also divide into existing groups and it can be an uphill battle trying to get anyone to acknowledge you despite your best attempts because they're too busy having fun with their friends to pay you any proper attention. It's easy to get blanked. In that vein, what I'm trying to say is:

We can provide events to people - but the baton is on the wider community, including us, not just as eventmins, but players, to make the world more lively through more than just artificially injecting a threat into it. It will never be as satisfying as players making their own attempts at impact and pulling eventmins on board to realise them, because that feels more real. That feels much fresher. It's alright me throwing a storylines at you - an event at you. But storylines aren't based solely on their massive action scenes, and those big action scenes...

They're far from all that's missing.

Don't let other people not trying be an excuse for you to not try either. If you sit here talking about wallflowers and reactionary RPers... but don't even participate? Is that... any better?