If I remember correctly, the Red Dragon Inn was founded in the year 2000, first as an Angelfire page with a hosted message board. I started the site as a way to indulge my D&D hobby, as I was working, going to night school, and had two kids at home... in short, I really didn't have time for tabletop gaming any more. Eventually, we obtained a domain name, and things took off from there.

I was so incredibly fortunate to attract a truly superb core group of amazing, creative gamers. These titans of fantasy helped to take my few pages of notebook scratchings to a real D&D campaign setting. We got together and told amazing stories of heroism and villainy, of joy and sadness, of seriousness and silliness and insanity of all stripes.

The names are nigh legend these days; Alacrity, Yanamari, Vanadia, Bromern Sal, Admiral, Raven, Ayrn, Mithrandir.

The site grew so quickly for a time, and this core group became our staff. Over the years, we grew and grew and grew. There was a time when every one of our forums - and most of the categories - saw at least a little activity every day. Chat was a huge deal; at any given time, you could count on there being at least a couple of rooms going. For a time, I truly believed that we would even elevate Audalis to having an actual published campaign setting book.

Then came the various crashes; we lost games and data, we lost members. I basically had to rewrite the entire site, and for some time, things were up and down. Eventually, though, we moved to some excellent hosting, and after a time, a new golden age of the Inn arose.

Posting reached an all time high. The chatrooms were busy again. New faces came, new pillars of our community arose. Names like Eol Fefalas, Tann Talas, Almerin, Grugg, Merideth.

Ah, the stories we have told over the years! Some of the ones I have personally been involved in that stick out in my mind include Meanwhile, A Separate Thread, Continuing Where we Last Left Off, Zombies in Chicago, Star Trek: Discovery, A Frozen Grave, Star Wars: the Tides of Fate.

I have been challenged as a Game Master, player, and writer. I have been privileged to participate in some superb games, and to tell some great stories... and better yet, I have met some wonderful people (beyond those pillars I have already mentioned). Ginafae, Ye Olde, Hammer, Gertie, George Worthington, Reralae, Scarab, Tiamat, Odyson, Pit F(r)iend, Lyshkala, Skari-dono, Jozan1, Gloern, Hansjorg, Celeste, Keeper of Dragons, and so many more (please forgive me for the many omissions I have obviously made). We forged a true community, we felt a kinship, we had something truly special here.

But it is far past time to face reality. The Inn is not what it once was. Most of those pillars of our community have long since passed on from being such. Life has pulled us all in different directions, and sadly, has seemingly pulled us all away from our shared home away from home.

I am chief among the offenders. I can blame legitimate causes such the birth of more children (and being involved in their various activities), various financial stresses and sideline employment, and some ongoing battles with depression. But I would be dishonest if I didn't admit that I have also simply sucked at time management and organization, and have allowed other interests to leach time that I would have once devoted to the Inn. I've had so many plans to add to and to improve on the website... but I have seldom followed through. I can no longer be counted on to even post regularly to a game, and that is just pitiful.

Indeed, it would seem that the curtain has fallen on the stage of the Inn, and there is little to do but admit that fact. One of the few active threads for the past few months has been Tann's weekly NFL pick 'em game, and that had it's last post some nine days ago... yet is still third in the list of recently updated topics. We have one truly active game left on the Inn. Even Alacrity - long the heart and soul that has kept the place running in my absence - has admitted that his life has changed, and that he is near the end of his own time as an online Game Master.

I would be lying if I didn't say that this makes me terribly sad. I truly love this site, this community. But now, we have a only nigh silent monument to what once was, and apparently will never be again.

I suppose that, for the foreseeable future, I will keep the website up as an archive, but it makes me sad to know that there really is no gaming going on anymore. I wish the best to all of you, and hope that you never truly abandon that sense of adventure, that creative spark... even if the Inn is no longer the place to share it.

Thank you to all of you who have contributed to the Inn for the fifteen plus years it has existed. For those I have gamed with, for those I have not, for those who post in other areas, for those who have lurked - thank you, one and all.

I have been on the Inn for several years and play in a few games including one of the longest running games; Trilogy War. You are right that there seems to be less interest than in the past. Few games are running and in the past year I think I have been in about that fizzled due to lack of interest. Maybe the Inn has seen it heyday come and go. Maybe people have lost their sense of imagination and prefer the newer online games that are full of action, require little thought and allow buying of items that make the game more a matter of how much you spend than how well you reason. I will be saddened if the Inn fades away.

The interest has indeed waned. I cannot point fingers without again pointing out my own shortcomings. If I was here more. If I improved the site more. If I promoted the site more.

I've had good intentions - I have long promised a sequel to Zombies in Chicago. I have tried - and failed - to start a couple of D&D games. Star Trek and Star Wars both call to me to run.

But who will play in these games? Can I be counted on to follow through? Who would want to play is such games?

I fear it has almost become a chicken and egg situation - we can't have good games without active players, but we can't have active players without good games.

I truly wish that it were not so, but it certainly feels as if the Inn is dead. Would a better message board interface, a new chat interface fix that?

I doubt it. The games and gamers are what is missing, and I just don't know how to fix that, especially since - again - so much fault lies with me.

Reading the thread title. i must admit i have mixed feelings, none of them very welcome.

i know the inn has been on a steady decline for the last couple of years.

And has seemed on life support for the last bit.

reading the thread title part of me feels sadly resigned to an impending fate.

the other is awash in nostalgic memories an half blind hope that the inn would always be their.

everyone's lives evolved an got so busy.

I've meet inmates an had adventures that let me grow as a writer an emotionally as a person.

I'm glad the inn was part of my story.

Their will always be a little hearth fire an a tankard of froth an slosh in my heart.

~ Astrid.

This is no real surprise to me. Olan is right, the activity on the Inn has been fading over time and players are not staying here. The inn has run for 20+ years and that is pretty good for the internet. When it started there was no facebook, no twitter, no instagram and your phones weren't the main way to access the web. But now they are all here and the inn really has not changed to fit the new world. To try an make it modern would require a lot of time and effort that I don't have and I do not think Olan or anyone else does.

I do not see the point of keeping it here as an archive. An archive can be put into a pdf form and placed in Google docs or Dropbox for any who want a copy really. Why pay the expense of maintaining the site?

Thank you all for the good run. I enjoyed the games we played and the time that was spent here.

Well never be it said I never fought for the Inn.

For a few weeks now I have thought about advertising the Inn on Facebook in the many D&D group chats. However I was worried that without looking like a staff member I'd be ignored. Just call it may paranoia I guess, however is there a way you make some new staff of the remaining active members combined with you and any old staff looking over us to keep it up and running?

Olan could you said me an email on how much the site costs so I could help pay for it?

I want to do whatever it takes to keep the inn up and running, growing, if I can and am allowed to. However your right my game has been the only one running steady but I think we can grow from that. There has been quite a few new members lately and if I can get DM's to come here from Facebook maybe we can get it going again.

And by archive, do you mean shut it down or will we still have access to it for the time. I ask this from a DM's point of concern as I want to keep Trilogy running.

Olan if you want to talk over some of my idea's feel free to email.

I have no intention of shutting the Inn down completely. I don't want to kill Trilogy. Even though the message boards are all but empty, we still get a couple thousand page loads every day, as people use the various generators and utilities on an ongoing basis.

Don't worry about costs. I have the Inn sharing a server that I use as a development platform for my sideline business; the only real expense these days is the yearly domain fee.

As for promoting the Inn? Please feel free. Facebook, reddit, whatever. I would love to see people actually coming here to game, to be a community again. But I'm afraid that the idea of an RPG website just doesn't hold the appeal that it once did.

Once again, so much of this is my fault. When I go dark, the Inn seems to struggle. I've never understood it; I'm just one guy... but apparently, the Inn's health is linked to my activity in some sort of silly Arthur/Britain parallel.

If I updated some things (forums, chat, look of the site), maybe it would help. Maybe. There are some broken areas that I haven't fixed; I'll fully admit that the hack a few months ago took a lot of the wind out of my sails.

But the thing is, I worry that people just don't care for forum games anymore. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I should get off my ass and actually run one of the games I've been talking about, maybe actually be present and such.

Maybe I'm just kidding myself.

Understand, I do NOT want the Inn to die. I'm simply acknowledging that, for all intents and purposes, it seems to already be there.

And like I said I'll start putting out feelers to all the AD&D or gaming sites I know on the web.

Just a few months ago we were deep into playing Grugg's game "Fortune's Favored" and I was hoping that we were going to have a nice and lengthy game. But some unfortunate events stopped that for now and things seemed to die down again for me around here. I would hate to see the inn closed up and I'm thinking as others have said, the advancement of other avenues to get a gaming fix seems to of evolved making PbP not as relevant.

Personally around my area game stores promoting DnD have really exploded, I'm thinking maybe more and more people are able to get their fantasy fix face to face while live games on sites such as Roll20 and other table top simulators make anyone looking for an online game able to do them live with maps, graphics, dice simulators, and other bells and whistles. Plus I feel more and more people today just don't have the patience for PbP games.

As long as the inn is up though, I'll visit daily (some times just creeping without logging in ) and peruse the sweet articles.

Life has been hectic for me the last little while. Still trying to get into a better routine, but I think coming back here and writing with my family will definitely help me get into the groove of life again. I posted on my facebook to try and encourage some friends to join up, and I will try to stay active. I have a lot on my plate, but really really miss gaming.

Well you know I'll always have a place for you in Trilogy when ever you have steady time to play.

I know I have been far from active, and a lot of the time, when I do get a game started and try to indulge my own needs for a game things happen, either in my own life or the lives of other players, that cause it to come to an abrupt halt. For a long time the Inn has been a safe haven for me, a home away from home. I've met so many amazing people I never would have had an opportunity to meet had I not found my way to the Inn. I lurk mostly now as my game fizzled last time, and I was just commenting the other day how dead it feels here, and I hate to see it this way.

I first found this site around 6 years ago when a group of us from a play-by-mail game (Now that is archaic!) were looking for a site that could host a D&D game. Someone found this site. That group died off, but I stayed at the Inn. I had a layoff of a few years because of my wife's illness, but when the chance arose a year ago, I immediately found my way back.

I love this site. I love the games. I love getting to write creatively in a way that no other game lets me do. I have enjoyed the people I have been able to share these games with. It is fantastic. I admit to frustration as games I have been invested in died off, but if this site goes away, I will be deeply saddened. For as long as the site remains up, I will continue to show up here and look for postings. If there are games that need active players, I will be one.

I will be active as long as the site is and if there is something else I can do, or a game that needs an active player, let me know. Smaller is not necessarily dead.

I will admit to being confused but what I think you are saying is it is pretty dead here at the inn but NOT that the inn is going to die by you pulling the plug? A re-vamp or reset of the inn is not on the schedule for the foreseeable future but you are still keeping the lights on and paying the cleaning staff.

Am I correct?

I read a bit more of the posts this time.

I don't think forum games are dead. Perhaps less popular than before as things evolve, but they have a charm of their own. Hell, as noted above, I'm involved in an active play-by-mail game. (Like galdiators? Check out a game called Duelmasters or Duel 2 -thus the D2 on the end of my name - it is still run by mail, but you can find it online.) The problem is that we have lost one group of players as their lives got busy and not replaced them with new ones. Notice that it has happened before - the original thread posting identified waves of "pillars of the community." I like Tann's idea of searching for new members.

If help is needed, let me know. I've never been a DM on this site, but I'd be willing to run a game if people would play in it. Staff? I know nothing about hosting website, but I'd do what I could. These days I might have more time than others do.