real life
it gets ahead of me sometimes, I've also had issues with the last like 3 years being a case of "when it rains it pours" and it seems like I can't catch a break and if it's not me experiencing some kind of shit fest it's someone close to me which means I have to be available to take care of it still, which puts rp on the back burner. I try my best to still lurk around during these kinds of things and do at least something small every couple of days so I'm not completely gone but sometimes I just straight up do not have the mental energy to put a post together.

loss of interest
usually in my own character rather than setting. it's been my biggest struggle lately because I'm having a hard time creating/keeping characters that I actually enjoy writing instead of ones that seemed fun but I just stopped wanting to write after a couple weeks, actually this has been happening for a pretty long time. I've even made brand new characters galore and just.... bleh. Though this also happens if that character gets no attention or people tell me they want plots but then never reply to plotters or my attempts to get something going with them. It's kind of useless to keep them around at that point and I'll scrap them and sometimes just scrap the whole thing all together and leave.

Also socially lost interest because I put myself out there but didn't jive with the group so there's no real reason to stay. It happens.

real life life is seriously a pain. I'm currently studying at the moment and sometimes, I feel like replying to posts become more of a chore rather than a hobby to enjoy. I love writing but being at the end of life tusk really made me demotivated to post. Not only that, it becomes difficult to maintain when exam season comes up. I either take a break or just leave the site when I'm feeling overwhelmed by everything that happens in real life.

loss of interest If the site I joined fail to hold my interest, I will leave the site. Why would I need to stay when I become disinterest with all they offered? It's better if I let go of that site before I get attached to the characters I created.

procrastinate Yeah, I have a procrastination problem. I would always tell myself to post either today or tomorrow but never get around to do it because other matters take my attention. It is especially hard when there's a timed event.

lol I can't use "real life" as an excuse because I'd need to have a life first.

First and foremost, if/when I flake, I make it a necessity to tell the people I managed to drag into my little social circle and/or have plots with so they don't immediately assume it was something they did. It's never your fault and I love each and every one of you for having both the patience and courage to deal with me and my bs.

But really, work/obligation is probably the biggest for me. I take care of the elderly and that gets extremely overwhelming at times. It's both physically and mentally exhausting at times, bordering the emotional, as well. When all three states are affected, any ounce of creativity for me becomes null. However I will warn people if such becomes the case.

Another reason is the social sphere. I am extremely sensitive to social cues and can easily pinpoint if and when people are being left out of a conversation. That stuff sucks, and it sucks even more if the person has social anxiety to some degree. What it boils down to is that it only takes a quick few seconds to give a shoutout to someone who pops into the chat or acknowledge something they said. A public chat is not an A - B conversation. I make it a point to give someone a quick hello when they come around and do my best to get them in on a conversation, as well. People closer to me have commented that I have a certain knack of being able to control the flow of a conversation, so when I'm aware of it, I do my best to do something good for others. But if people are purposefully exiling someone from a conversation, then it's not okay. There's a difference between joking around, being genuinely unaware, and being downright awful.

This sort of ties in with the above paragraph, but staff also play a big role in the flow of a site, and if that flow is stagnant or warped, people will flock away. Allow me to be utterly frank with this statement: if you're a staff member, you have to have at least an ounce of social awareness for your site to run smoothly. If you aren't adept in social skills, then make sure to have someone a part of your staff team who is. Members like to engage with others, so when they're blown off in favor of others, it drives them away. It might just be me, but I can note when "preferred" members pop into a chat because it's easy to see the way staff engage with said member(s). And unfortunately people can only try so much before they start to think they're a nuisance to the site and flee.

Much like Mae said, depression plays a big role for me. There's some times I can go days or even weeks without talking to people, and then pop right back into the swing of things as though nothing ever happened. And this is totally my fault, I will acknowledge that. If I feel a spell coming on, I will warn people ahead of time that I talk to, but I try not to make it a big site thing mostly because I don't want it to look like I'm seeking attention. Attention is the last thing I want at those points lmao. But because of that, sometimes my stuff will get archived and I'm kind of like "well that's that, then."

Posting speed. Yeah, we've all been there, posted really quickly and waited impatiently for our partner to reply. I don't view myself as a quick poster in the slightest. Sometimes I have good days and will post a couple times, and then sometimes I won't post for a week or so. That's 9/10 a me thing. If I have issues with a post/gaining writing traction, I will tell my thread partner. However if I take a bit to post, this is not a cue to have you flooding my messages whether site or discord, asking me where my post for you is. I will shut that shit down real quick and will not hesitate to either exit the thread or request it be archived. It's one thing to give a little reminder, but to message me like an hour after you've posted is not okay. Patience is a virtue.

The biggest thing for me is the overall plot. If the site direction starts to become character-centric, as in the staff is using the site to make their character(s) the MVPs, then peace. *heelies out into the sunset with a 'rock on' hand gesture*

I'll eventually tack on more to this because there are plenty of things that go into this imo. lol no I won't, this'll sit here and collect dust and the occasional like that fuels my ego.

first thing to state is that rp is a hobby, and that my (your) personal happiness comes first before any other obligations like flaking or staying around or anything like that

that said

the number one reason i leave sites is other members. i would say that about 10% of sites i join, there is just someone(s) there determined to make other people unhappy, or someone i already have a Bad History with, and that'll turn me off to the site pretty quickly.

other lesser reasons are things like large staff but no staff work being done, plot based site with no plot action and maybe i just wanna go do something else with my life. 

a main reason for flaking is flakers.

seriously though, if enough people poof or leave it often leads to a domino effect that kills the site. when this happens i'm usually the idiot that stays and makes a series of last posts. like obviously we put our own enjoyment first, but i'm the first person to admit that when we dip, we let people down. there's no two ways about it. part of rp is accepting disappointment. like i have no problem with people who 100% won't rp with people who flaked on them in the past. it's unfair to expect them to.

side note, this realisation has made me appreciate the existence of cliques. of course they exist, they likely won't flake, or if they do, will let you know. most people are 100% chill with people dipping because of life. when its sudden, without warning, and they're active elsewhere - that's when people feel hurt.

if its not other people dipping though, staff engagement of a site is always key. if staff aren't posting or at least active, then that's a sign the place is going to go down, and not to get too invested. and while staff will have closer friends, staff aren't members and can't afford to prioritise certain groups of people, as it risks looking exclusionary, especially to newcomers. staff are like the members of a band, if they aren't playing the music nobody is going to listen.

life is a factor for everyone, though i'm hard-headed and will be posting right up until the literal shit hits the biggest fan. last time i flaked it was because of a cancer scare + manic episode. but the point does stand - most people dip preemptively because honestly that's the smartest thing to do for their health, and that comes before any plot/thread/post.