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A balance between both is fine, and can be worthwhile for any MUD. To a large degree, I think players really enjoy getting involved in Imm-driven RP because it makes them feel like the Immstaff is staying in-touch with what's going on. It makes them feel like the Imms are active and aware of what's going on.
And I think Imms enjoy getting involved in the RP as well because it keeps them active, helps spark things for players, etc.
Ultimately however, the responsibility for a MUD's success RP-wise comes down to the players. Even if an Imm starts a storyline going, or just switches into a mob to start chatting, it's the players that have to respond and keep the action moving. I don't mind as an RP Imm starting something off, kickstarting a storyline, or steering people into some roleplaying activity with each other, but since I (nor anyone else) can be around 24/7 and we can't sit there and hold players' hands to "motivate them" to RP, it's up to the players.
I do think in some cases as well, players will start RP storylines and eventually require the assistance of the Imms. In my case, that often means taking over a mob of some kind and roleplaying that mob, or setting up a scene for the player's storyline.
One thing that really bugs me is when you have a group of people sitting in a common area and they're not doing anything. This drives me crazy. I see that and I want to do *something* to get people going - and I understand, sometimes it's not easy to kickstart conversations, kickstart RP sessions, but again, it comes down to the players' willingness to get themselves involved.
I think things would tend to fall apart if players started to *rely* on the Immstaff to generate RP, motivate RP, keep RP moving along, etc. That's just lazy and means that when an Imm isn't around or able to help, nothing is getting done.
Pleos.
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