Some words of advice about generating RP, from a decade or so ago. Still applicable, in most cases!
You should never have an excuse to complain that there’s nothing to do. As long as there are two people online within reasonably close IC distance of each other (and, of course, an IC excuse to get together), there are many things to do even without an admin running a planned or story arc activity:
1) Hang out in a tavern. Study other people. Talk to them.
2) Take some friends to dinner at a nice restaurant.
3) Get into philosophical debates with your IC friends.
4) Practice on the flight simulators.
5) Throw a general, for no reason besides having one party.
6) Throw a birthday party.
7) Throw an engagement party.
8) Throw a baby shower.
9) Throw a bachelor party.
10) Host a wedding.
11) Play a game of cards.
12) Spar with a friend in the fitness center.
13) Soldiers of any stripe: Run routine training exercises and patrols. Conduct intelligence recon and mapping missions of known space. Embark on espionage missions. Senior officers are primarily responsible for RP action aboard their vessels and bases. Make things happen!
14) Doctors: Conduct blood drives. Run physical checkups. Discover an illness and treat it. Anything short of a terminal disease – with the consent of a fellow player – should be allowable without admin assistance.
15) Patients: Get visitors. Endure physical therapy. Deal with the ramifications of your injuries/illness/etc.
16) Priests: Visit the sick, wounded and dying in a medical bay. Hear confessions. Counsel the troubled.
17) Engineers: Run diagnostics – and find things wrong! Short of a ship-destructing incident, the sky should be the limit for this one. Show folks why your kind are known as miracle workers.
18) Cops: Solve crimes. Maybe RP a rash of petty thefts in Sanctuary’s commercial quarter, for example, and get to work cleaning up the crime. Even work on solving serial killings (so long as the victims are NPCs, not PCs, you should be able to do this without intervention from the admins).
19) Commanding officers: Meet with your personnel. Get status reports. Hear what they’re up to.
20) Merchants: Get out and promote your business. Have special open houses. Seek lucrative commercial contracts with high-paying clientele.
21) Mystics: Conduct a meeting of the Order of Mystics Vision Council. Roam about, spouting vague philosophical musings. Annoy the general populace with same.
22) Guardian Fleet: Deal with the occasional rebellious Specialist who has to be put down like a dog. Find a bomb on the ship and disarm it. Investigate sabotage. Report to your senior officer. Take shore leave on some new, exotic planet – if you can stomach the aliens – or go visit one of the cities on Earth or Mars.
23) Politicians: Visit constituents. Make speeches. Draft legislation. Arrange interplanetary diplomatic meetings. Take a vacation. Get implicated in a scandal.
24) Troubleshooters/Information Dealers: Snoop around. Keep yourself within earshot of action, gather information, then find the most interested party and sell the information to them.
25) Archaeologists: Visit various planets. Give talks on the art and science of archaeology. Sit in bars and tell tales of your misadventures.
26) Journalists: Find interesting people to write about. Interview them. Hang out in taverns and other public spots, listening for gossip. Get to know people who can provide information about newsworthy activities.
27) Private investigators: Sit in taverns, telling stories about your most memorable cases. Use that to help drum up business for yourself.
28) Thespians: Put on a show! Seek out journalists to give you free advertising in the press. Find financial backers. Sign autographs.
29) Lawyers: Keep an eye on the news for potential civil and criminal litigation. Solicit clients.
30) Barkeeps: Run game shows, contests, etc. Hold Invertebrates’ Night! Do something to make your tavern The Place to Be.
31) Bounty Hunters: Get to know folks in popular hangouts – those can provide lasting business contacts. Tell stories to others about your adventures.
32) Pirates: Make deals with Lunites for trade route data. Patrol and explore. Attempt to spy on communications of various territories.
33) Navigators: Take ships out for test runs, calibrate the astrogator, ensure that planets and bases are all where they should be.