And now to throw in my 2 cents....
I think there are a number of factors adversely affecting this RPG. Put simply, they are:
1. Lack of interest in Demogame Proper.
2. Lack of interesting storylines.
3. Overly complicated rule system.
4. We are not in the Golden Age of RPGing.
5. Disappearance of old-timers, veterans, and hard-line Shaitanists.
Expanding on #4: I was not in the last RPG from the beginning. I joined late, but became an active participant. Why didn't I join from the beginning? The era! If you look at most RPG games on the internet, they take place in some sort of easy realistic or fantasy world modelled largely around the European Middle Ages. That is the Golden Age of the RPG game. In the last game, the early Middle Ages (the age of Chivalry, the age of men-at-arms and wandering travelers) was when we had our best plots, our longest and best stories, the most fun. In the Ancient Age there just isn't all that much to do, and in the more modern ages (from mid-industrial to end-game Modern) things are too complex, too modern to roleplay in a fun way. Once the automobile, the tank, the airplane, and other modern vessels are introduced, the days of wandering men on horseback are over, and with it the most fun aspect of the game. The only successful storylines in the Industrial Age last game involved an artistic revolution put down by paratroopers, and the end of the world! Sad, isn't it? I feel that is largely contributing to this game's failrue. We are taking our sweet time in an age that isn't RPG-friendly. There are hardly any Noble houses, there is certainly no infighting, and our characters just aren't well-developed yet.
All I am saying in this long-winded, incoherent rant that I am writing after being home an hour from a 12-hour flight from Hawaii is that we need to give the RPG a chance to mature. We must adress the issues, and see what happens. Don't kill it before we've seen its full potential, folks.
But there is one thing I didn't like about the old rules and should be changed if we do bring them back...The stock exchange. I don't think a certain number of people should be able to become rich off certain stocks while new people to the game struggle to start. That was (I think) the one bad thing about the old rules.
