If you want RP, then just log in and do it. Ask people if they are interested and if so, when. It's that simple. If nobody is on when you are on, then it just won't work. Period.
Understand that when we had many role players on at the same time and the community's expectation was that RP was decentralized ( free form ), you could do things like eavesdrop, spy, mingle, and interact wherever you saw people playing. RP was a very social thing. You would try to sort of blend into what was already happening. This is not the environment that exists today, so these old ways no longer work.
While you cannot have the spontaneous type of RP that we had where there were many role players on at the same time, You CAN do quite a lot with a small group of 2 to 5 players. I have done quite a bit with just myself and one other player at times. To do that, I had to change the way we did things.
For small groups ( under 5 ), I would personally recommend one of the following:
A. Simple, plot-less social RP. ( ie. Bar RP )
B. Guided RP ( D&D style - one (or both) player(s) leads the other(s) through an adventure )
If both players are too passive to take the lead, then you are going to have to settle for plain social RP.
By take the lead, I mean providing some story or helping to create some real-time event or context to play against. This is not something that everyone enjoys doing.
Lastly, if you want things to "Happen" in the game, then someone needs to "Do" things, or "Make" things happen. Things don't just happen on their own. Those who are passive players might not understand how much work it takes to make things happen in the game.
Also - I'm not bashing passive players here. We all have different playing styles. Passive play is just one of them. The thing is, a room full of passive players who just want to follow someone else gets boring rather quickly.
