Most of my mudding has revolved around an RPG where (from my personal experience), roleplaying seems...optional rather than encouraged for the most part.  New players who come there seeking roleplay-intensive interaction are encouraged by fellow players but it seems extremely difficult to self-sustain an RP environment yourself if you're the sole contributer.   Occasionally I've noticed a domino effect of "this person is rp-ing so I will" but that doesn't seem to last long.  

For my part, it's possible that despite years of RP-ing with this specific MUD my PC experience has been limited enough to give a biased slant on the game type, (so pardon me if I've misinterpreted it) but I don't believe my summation to be that far off.  But finally, for my question:

If the administration doesn't support a  reward base for RP or acts as rp-enforcers, how then can one spur roleplay?  Any suggestions?