When Roleplayers Quit

[Morreion]

All the World's a Stage: When roleplayers quit (WoW Insider)

The loss of a character doesn't immediately have to be a loss. With some planning and some creative thinking, the loss of a character can actually be a bigger boost to roleplay than if that character had actually stuck around. Not only is your character grieving or reacting to that loss, but also everyone else in that missing character's social circle is going through the exact same thing. This gives all these former friends and loved ones of that missing character a perfect opportunity to get to know each other better, because now they've got a common thread to work with and talk about.

By creating a reasonable story for a missing character's exit, you're essentially putting a great big "The End" on that character's story. If handled correctly, you've also made contingencies for that character's eventual return, if it happens. Whether the player returns to the game, or whether they remain out there in real life handling those real-life things, at least your character's future can start from that endpoint and continue on from there -- and that's a gigantic relief.


I've noticed that RP seems to be more extemporaneous these days, without a long-running overarching plot or consistent characters. Perhaps this is the consequences of games being more ephemeral- people don't put roots down like they used to.

[sinaedh]

I tend to like non-scripted stories for the most part.

But having said that...
Sinaedh was married 3 times in total. The first ended when her husband's player decided to quit playing. That was the closest I've come to scripting something for her. She want sort of crazy, didn't accept what others told her about him, and ran off to Midgard to look for him (she actually existed in Odin's for about 4 weeks amazingly enough). When she returned (her guildmates rescued her), she'd been captured by a Midgard lord, been through a lot, and I'm slowly writing (though I haven't much lately) her story about that time.

The second husband also decided not to keep playing. This time, Sinaedh searched, but she didn't go as wacky (and didn't run off to Midgard). In the search she met who would become her third husband. I've written some of that story as well...

When he decided to stop, I'd pretty much had it with TOA and NF, so I didn't really play Sinaedh (except to keep her guild alive for whatever wacky reason) at all. So that whole chapter for her is in limbo. She doesn't know he's gone, I guess. Or maybe he isn't...

I think the plot or no plot is more of a playstyle than related to community, although certainly its easier to have plotted roleplay if there IS community. Without a strong community you'd essentially be playing with yourself and possibly NPCs.

For myself, I prefer to simply react to what's going on in the game. I don't like to think of a plot and convince others to go along with it, though my guild did go along admirably with Sinaedh's bout with insanity and her travails in Midgard.

[Morreion]

You stuck it out in ToA and NF a lot longer than most though!

There's been some tavern RP in Rift, but its just a few minutes of banter really- that's the consequences of not being in an RP guild, where I'm sure there are still plots and such going on. It's sort of hard to get into these guilds from the outside, things are pretty insular from what I've seen lately...

[Loendal]

It's actually been insular since DAOC. As the years went by, the public roleplay dissolved and it got locked inside guild chat and alliance lines; which would pretty much exclude anyone new from coming into the mix.

Did/does the fault lie in the lack of roleplayers or simply the lack of roleplay online anymore? Roleplayers are actively and openly mocked these days, is it little wonder as to why they've been forced to / prefer to hide inside their walls?

[Morreion]

Aye, it's a complicated situation. I hope those RP guilds that RP in /guild keep in mind that public RP can add new blood, which is needed.