ISRP has a unique capacity for inspiring its members to found their own communities. Per capita, ISRP has inspired far more spin-off sites than any other online community that I've visited. I've been thinking about this amoebic capacity for self-reproduction lately--Yes, I have been very bored.--and it inspired this thread.
Below I've included a dozen community sites--culled from my memory and my Internet Explorer favorites folder--that owe their origins to ISRP. Some are long deceased, some are in a state of transitional flux, and others remain quite active, but all were founded by ISRP members and (at least initially) drew their membership from ISRP. I've prevented the list (as well as I could) in chronological order by the date that the site was founded.
[Note: While there is certainly overlap between this archive and Gabriel's list of ISRP member websites, these threads have been created with different intents. The member website list is an opportunity for user's to advertise their personal projects, by request, whether or not they are directly related to ISRP. This thread is intended more as a history lesson and an exercise in nostalga, and is limited to communities that were born directly from ISRP.]
Icefall
Link:
http://s12.invisionfree.com/icefall13
Creator(s): Acaed, Bhryn Astairre
History: Judging by comments made by Acaed, Icefall was originally intended to be a creative writing community for ISRP members. However, as the site evolved it became more of a place for members to enjoy light-hearted socializing, swap movie/music/book recommendations, and discuss their personal lives. The site was moved multiple times, and the link above is from its most recent incarnation.
Status: Dormant. The newest Icefall boards are still online and available, but the most recent post is from nearly a year ago and is by a member lamenting the lack of new posts. The next newest post is from June 2006.
Unlikely Heroes
Link:
http://www.unlikely-heroes.com/
Creator(s): Jardel (aka Gabriel)
History: Unlikely Heroes began as the homepage for Jardel's ISRP-centric webcomic of the same name. After Wizards of the Coast dropped ISRP in the Summer of 2006, it also became the site's temporary home until it moved to Enworld. When not saving ISRP from annihilation, the forums mostly contained discussions of the comics and dialogues between several of ISRP's veteran members.
Status: Limbo. The comic has not been updated since May of 2007 and the forums are currently offline. Apparently the site is in a transitional state while its owner decides what direction he wishes to pursue for its future.
Murkwood
Link:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/Murkwood
Creator(s): Nenya (formerly Reesa)
History: Most of my memories of Murkwood are connected to a short-lived pirate storyline for ISRP that used the community as a staging area. I'm not sure if the forum was ever used for any other purpose. (In fact, I know very little about this site, but I found it hidden among my favorites and decided to include it.)
Status: Buried at sea. The last posts on the forum were made during March of 2004. The board doesn't seem to have outlasted the storyline.
Dykal
Link:
http://www.dykal.net/
Creator(s): Nugan, The Nefarious JFK (aka, Yanen, Crown of Rot and Disease, Biantium, etc.)
History: Dykal was initially founded to serve as a free speech role-playing community, or to offer a freeform chat site with a larger setting and a wider range of "adventuring" rooms, or as an attempt to break a record for fastest accumulation of totally superfluous spam posts outside of Gaia Online. [The latter was never my intent, but our members seemed to interpret our mission that way for our first two years or so of existence.] For various reasons too numerous and conflicted to discuss here, the site had a rocky relationship with ISRP during its early days, and was, in fact, in the "swear" filter on the old Wizards ISRP boards. However, after the departure of several, erm, "controversial" members from both sites, there have been few problems.
Status: Active. The ten most recently active threads, according to the site's homepage, are all from today or yesterday, and the most recent log thread from a chat role-playing session was posted this afternoon.
Adepts/TAPI
Link:
http://z6.invisionfree.com/tapi
Creator(s): Jeajea
History: TAPI was created in mid-2004, judging by the memberlist, to serve as a homebase for the Moonbeam Adepts. The site also contains off topic discussion forums, a forum for discussing ISRP storylines unrelated to the Adepts, and several in character role-playing forums.
Status: Alive. There have been posts in the Adept-centric forums as recently as late last month, as have several other forums on the site.
Veghinix
Link:
http://z4.invisionfree.com/Veghinix
Creator(s): Tharivious
History: Unlike most of the other sites listed, Veghinix was not intended to be a community site first and foremost, but rather as an archive for collecting and displaying the copious amounts of information that Tharivious had generated for his various homebrew role-playing settings (including the site's namesake). However, since the site has a community component, it seemed wrong to omit it.
Status: Difficult to judge. The most recent post is from this February. However, it's safe to say that Tharivious has done more work on his settings since then and that this content will be posted when it's done.
MageRune
Link:
http://www.magerune.tk/
Creator(s): Andion Isurand
History: The homepage of this site is primarily an archive of links to Dungeons and Dragons resources and information about several ISRP characters, mostly those played by Andion and Silver Shuland. The site's community follows a similar format, with discussion forums focused on D&D min/maxing and online role-playing. My knowledge of the actual relationship of this site to ISRP is limited, but most of MaRune's members seem be current or former ISRP regulars.
Status: Semi-active. There's are two posts by Andion in one of the Min/Maxing boards from February of this year and one by him in another forum from January, but activity from other members seems to have largely ceased in 2004.
Irideth
Link:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Irideth
Creator(s): Dragona
History: Irideth is home to Dragona's role-playing setting of the same name. It also served as the nerve center for the drow house Sril've Cress until recently and had an off-topic section for Icefall-esque chit chat and commiseration.
Status: Semi-active. Like MageRune, there have been posts from the admin this year, but use by other members seem limited. The most recent post by a non-admin is from October of last year.
The Den
Link:
http://thedenrp.doesntexist.com:8000/
Creator(s): Charm/Fatora
History: Like Dykal, the Den was designed to be a fully functional and independent role-playing chat site of its own, rather than a message board community for ISRP users. However, the site was founded by an ISRP member and drew most of its membership from ISRP, so its inclusion on this list seems reasonable. Unfortunately, the site is currently down, and I did not visit it regularly, so I can't provide much more information. If someone can provide a more complete blurb, please do.
Status: Temporarily offline. Technical problems have apparently forced The Den offline. However, I've been told that the problem is being repaired and the site is expected to return. When it does return, it should be active, since it has established a devoted membership.
Ascension
Link:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/Ascension/
Creator(s): Bhryn Astairre
History: Ascension could be described as a cross between IceFall and Veghinix, as it mixed the spam/chatter focus of the former with the homebrew setting tinkering of the latter. The site seems to have been founded after Bhryn had a falling out with Acaed and opted to create her own site, so in some ways this is a spin-off of a spin-off.
Status: On Hiatus. The most recent posts are from over a year ago. This doesn't mean that the board is dead, per se, particularly since Bhryn has, until recently, been offline for an extended period of time, but the board also is not currently active.
Meridia
Link:
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Meridia
Creator(s): Payton Bright, Sebastian Tamarlane
History: I have no idea. None whatsoever. I found this link in my favorites, and it seems like it
must be an ISRP spin-off community, but I remember none of the members and nothing about its purpose. Does anyone have any idea what this was?
Status: Non-starter. The site has five registered members and thirteen total posts, all from summer of 2006. Whatever it was, it never really gained momentum.
Plastered Pegasus
Link:
http://z15.invisionfree.com/PlasteredPegasus
Creator(s): Imreis, Ruthia
History: This is a fairly new community, having only began in November of last year. It seems to be a boards-based, primarily-for-fun role-playing site with a fairly large Out of Character discussion forum. Judging by its memberbase, Plastered Pegasus has connections to both ISRP and the Den.
Status: Active. The most recent post was made yesterday, and there are numerous posts from the last several weeks and months.
Did I miss any? I must have. Feel free to provide your own entries, which I'll add to the original list, or to correct any mistake I may have made.
(Also, props to Tharivious, who helped me to fill some of the gaps in my memory.)
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