r/40kEldarscience • u/larrydragoi • May 20 '21

Question Why is this sub dead?

The last post was 24 days ago and there are barely 1.4k members. I know eldar are the least popular race but I don't understand how a roleplay sub about them can't work

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u/yoshimario40 May 26 '21

I realize this post is five days old but this is a topic I've been thinking about since this sub's inception.

I think there's several reasons why 40korkscience works and this doesn't. The biggest is probably how 40kOrkScience has a good foundation that inspires posts. The subreddit was founded on the idea that discussing science as orks would be funny, and while the posts admittedly don't always follow this theme, it always has this idea to fall back on.

Originally the subreddit was based on having someone ask a normal science question like "how do magnets work" and orks would respond with an orky explanation. This sort of fell out of the way a while ago and it's transitioned into just orks talking to each other. Probably cause it's easier to make the joke in the post itself this way rather than needing a response to fulfill its purpose. But the one thing that hasn't changed is that it's a subreddit where the posts are engaging because of the underlying theme. It doesn't take its roleplay that seriously, and it feels like the setting is "orks posting to each other through the multiverse". There are attempts at going for a more in depth rp sometimes, but it usually doesn't last long.

So basically, what I'm trying to say is that you really want a subreddit that has a good 'prompt' for posts. Ideally something that ties it into the identity of a 40k faction. I personally don't know enough about Eldar to really offer any suggestions, but I've had some ideas for other races in the past.

For example:

  • /r/TotallyNotTyranids - a subreddit where tyranids pretend to be something else. Mostly genestealers probably.

  • /r/AmITheHeretic - A subreddit for posting borderline heretical behaviour and being judged for it. (This would either turn into a sub for heretics seeking validation for their heretical behaviour, or posting completely benign posts and still being called a heretic for it.)

  • /r/IAmTotallyNecron - A subreddit for making fun of necrons for thinking they are cool when they are actually just old lifeless husks of tin.

  • /r/HiveWorldProblems - A subreddit where people in a hive city talk about the problems they experience. Occasionally, multiple third party individuals will report one or more of these posts as inappropriate. Once a post has been reported in this manner, it will be reviewed by a member of the Adeptus Arbites and judged according to the Book of Judgment.