From Literepetition

To our mind, there are two parts of involvement. Part one is getting others involved in your story and part two is getting involved in theirs.

[edit] Getting Others Involved in Your Story

1. Use PCs Instead of NPCs for Personal Plots

Essentially? Use the resources you have available already. For example, need a project partner? Ask to see if anyone has a PC taking said class or if they are willing to say they are. Similarly, you could recruit for campus organizations and involve others that way.

2. Offer Background Ties

If you have existing characters, why not ask new people to fill certain roles from your character's past? Need someone to be that annoying guy from Physics who had a crush but got hot after high school? Why not ask the new app? Similarly, they can be pen pals, internet chat buddies, or even in your WoW guild.

3. Take an Interest in Their Stories

It's easy to get caught up in the stories you want to tell and forget that everyone else has a story to tell as well. Offer to play NPCs for them. Just offer them suggestions and encouragement from an OOC perspective. Ask to get your PC involved in the storyline by offering to fill roles.

4. Talk to the Other Players

A really good way to find out what's going on with other people and their characters is simply to talk to them. This has two benefits. One, it gets other people involved. Two, it gets YOU involved. Really rewarding play can be found just by discovering that you have a similar story you'd like to tell to one that another player is telling or wants to tell. If you don't talk OOC, you'll never know it and miss out.

5. Most Important of All, Ask People to Play

That doesn't mean announcing glibly, 'I'm available.' It means actually taking a direct interest in a particular player and their characters and saying the magic words, 'Play with me.' Even better, you can suggest a point for interaction. You might say something like, 'Hey, I see that your PC is a basket weaving major, too. Wanna meet up at the basket supply shop for some fun RP?' It may seem small and simple, but some of the best things start that way. Just remember, it's a start, not a completed story.

[edit] Getting Involved in the Stories of Others

1. Keep Informed

Take an active interest in the stories being told on the game. Not just your own. Read logs. Read people's wiki entries. Watch the comm. Participate in the journals of other characters. Getting involved is often as simple as -involving yourself-. Does it require effort, yes. But it's worth it.

2. Keep Your Journal Active

If you post what you're doing to your journal, other people will know and be able to take an interest in your story. It's really just as easy as a quick post every week summing up what your character has been doing. This can discuss events from roleplayed scenes or even just things that you make up that made up the character's week. Perhaps they went for lunch and got mugged. Maybe they tripped on the stairs and wrenched their ankle. Maybe they found a fifty dollar bill. Maybe they want to discuss the nature of pop music. Anything is game. It doesn't have to be deep and meaningful and it doesn't have to relate to the 'major plot'. You are only limited by your imagination and willingness to use a little elbow grease.

3. Ask If You Can Get Involved

Don't be afraid to ask people if you can get involved in their stories. Don't be afraid to ask staff where you can help with game wide plots. Mostly, just don't be afraid to interact OOCly. Just like you need to take an interest in other people's stories to help them get involved, you also have to take an interest in their stories to stay involved yourself. Nothing makes someone want to help you with your story and make sure you're having fun like making it clear you want to help with their story and that you want them to have fun, too.

4. Play

This is both extremely, stupidly easy to say and yet much harder to actually do sometimes. But how can you stay involved, stay in touch with your PCs, and enjoy a roleplaying game if you never roleplay? Seriously, you have to put yourself out there. You can't always wait for the perfect opportunity. You can't always know exactly where things are going. Sometimes direction will come to you in the form of an IC comment by another character. Give other people a chance to lift your spirits and inspire you. Play with them. Sometimes, and most importantly, those you wouldn't normally pick as a foil. Often, it's just as simple as giving yourself something outside of your comfort zone to enjoy and change your reactions.