Have you ever finished a plotline?

[Arceus 1,082]

So I was sitting here futsing with something almost completely unrelated, because my brain is like that (lol), and I thought, "Wow, I've been role-playing for over ten years, and not once have I ever gotten through an entire plot-line. All of them have gotten dropped partway through."

 

And now I'm curious! How about you? Have you ever seen a plot-line to its real, complete ending? What'd you do afterwards? What plot was it?

If you haven't finished a plot-line on the site it was made on, why? Did you wrap it up behind the scenes anyway? Move it to a different site?

Does it matter to you if you did or didn't complete your plots? Share the deets! Deetdeet!

[Liannis 69]

Yes, and it's one of my favorites to this day. I've always been a crime drama fan, and I had a one-on-one where I played the FBI agent and her team, and he played the serial killer.  Murder, betrayal, revenge,  it had it all. The best part was, aside from questions like "Ok, so what will we find when we test x..", I had no idea how it was going to turn out and was completely blown away a couple of times by the twists. 

 

We even talked about turning it into a book for a while, but nothing came of it. Would have taken a lot of rewriting since some of my chars were based pretty obviously on fandom cs. 

[Rivfader 76]

Since I started forum roleplaying, nope. One x ones before that though, yes. But in the last five or so years of roleplaying on forums I've never finished a plotline. xD Most end up getting dropped partways through because my partner vanishes/leaves the site, the site dies, etc etc. .

 

I'd love to actually get to finish a plot because losing them constantly can eventually get frustrating, even though I do enjoy whatever myself and my partner managed to play out so far.

[Yume 99]

So like. thinking about it, really thinking about it, I've also never gotten through much of a plotline?

between dying sites and sporadic attention jumping minds I uh. I've never gotten through one. It just.... never happened. I've jumped forward in plotlines so they were no longer in effect, but I've never actually worked one to conclusion. It's a very strange thing to realize given I've been rping well over 10 years now too lol.

 

Finishing one would be nice eventually but as long as we're having fun that's what matters.

[Snickerdoodle 51]

Yes, technically. Just once. It was glorious. When the plot ended, we continued playing the involved characters as mostly secondary/tertiary characters to the main board plot, with maybe a small side-plot here and there to themselves. Most of my plots now never end because we don't plan an ending. We just keep making additions and extending the plot as we go along. I got tired of having big plans then everything falls through because a board dies. I've tried doing one-on-one afterward to get a sense of completion, but that's rarely worked out, either.

 

The one that got finished was a huuuuge plot, involving a ton of characters that were mostly all played by different people. It was so epic, or I thought so, at least. Kind of a Cain & Abel, Romeo & Juliet mashup. Warring families that discovered they're actually descended from two brothers that had a major falling out over differing ideologies. This was Potterverse, so it was a blood purity thing. In the middle of it all, before finding out the truth, a man and woman from each family ended up in love and what not. They discovered her brother was actually HIS brother, too... the son of his father and her mother. It was a whole bunch of crazy twists and turns. The way they discovered they were distant, distant, distant cousins was through a failed unbreakable vow... the man swore never to harm anyone in her family, but didn't die when he eventually did, because it wound up being a sort of conundrum that broke the magic. That part was kinda iffy and kinda bent canon, but it was fun nonetheless. xD

 

I've started just concentrating on smaller goals. Little milestones instead of enormous plots because I've been disappointed so many times in the past. We've still got plots, but it's more like "either this, this, or this will be the outcome, depending on how these little things play out", instead of "Ok, so, this is how it's going to end, we need to do this, this, and this to get there". Somehow, that little bit of uncertainty with the plot makes me feel less let down if/when a board fizzles out.

[Dragon 673]

I've finished a few over my rping career. Most of those were back when I was first starting on Neopets with their open RP boards and the... what'd they call them... Guilds? And we finished plot lines frequently on the very first forum RP that my group first started together after Neopets was bought out and turned into controlling jackasses about content. 

 

Then there was a very, very long probably ten year or more stretch where pretty much nothing got seen all the way through whether because the member vanished or the site died. During that point I did get so frustrated that I mostly quit RP for a few years. When I came back onto the scene I joined one site that I was on for about 5 years, and I think in that span successfully completed one plot arc - though not the entire one itself as the site died before the next major arc could get anywhere. 

 

After that I learned to focus more on action and movement rather than length - writing only what's necessary to advance threads forward. 

 

But off the top of my head these are the favorite plots I've gotten through: 

 

A roleplay based on Neil Shusterman's Unwind novels. In short it takes place in a futuristic, high tech United States where a civil war erupted over abortion and bodily autonomy. In the end the war was resolved by outlawing prenatal abortion, but legalizing a procedure called "Unwinding" as a form of 'retroactive' abortion - justified that it wasn't technically abortion because 99.98% of the body remained perfectly alive, just not in one piece any longer. The dissected body parts were used for organ transplants, replacement of limbs/parts lost in accidents/war/etc, or purchased cosmetically by those wealthy enough to do so - so if they wanted blue eyes instead of brown they'd just buy a new pair that they liked. Parents could sign over their children to be unwound from the ages of 13-18, and they'd be sent to a Harvest Camp to have the procedure completed. Obviously some kids would catch wind of this and run - called Kicking AWOL. 

 

My plot in the verse was about two kids who went AWOL and partnered up after getting each other out of a tight spot while running. My character Breydon was a talented football player but from a rough home situation, and after getting into a fist fight with his abusive step father the guy convinced his mother to sign him over to a Harvest Camp to collect the monetary reward. The other character was an extremely intelligent prodigy sort of girl who eventually turned out to be an undercover agent sent out to trap and recover AWOLs. Eventually she got Breydon captured, though by then she regretted the decision having developed feelings for him. She helped free him from the Harvest Camp, which they partially destroyed in the process and went back on the run. 

 

They teamed up with two other AWOLs after this. After several more harrowing experiences they eventually reached a safe haven. The plot ultimately resolved with Shay, Keith and Max serving the mandatory jail time after they turned 18 and could no longer be unwound. When they earned their freedom they went back underground and began working for the resistance. Keith and Max married shortly after. Breydon never forgave Shay for her betrayal, despite the subsequent rescue, and enlisted in the military to avoid jail time. 

 

Unfortunately the 2.0 plot we began, picking up 10 years after the close of those events, eventually stalled out and was never completed. 

 

Much more recently I wrapped up a plot that was pretty much Romeo and Juliet with Werewolves. Two members from violently feuding families, Seth and Alice, got involved despite both being betrothed to other people. At first they just tried to keep their affair a secret as their respective weddings approached, but in the end they ran off and eloped. After, they fled to Mexico for about six months before Alice was captured by the mercs her family hired. She was brought back to town and Seth followed. He rescued her successfully only to be apprehended by his own family. Alice was killed by his Aunt, and when ordered to prove his loyalty to the family by killing her older brother Seth allowed him to break free, wrestle the gun away and shoot him. The plot ended with the brother also killing the aunt before recovering his sister's body and taking her home to be buried. 

 

I've got a few other good ones that were completed, also, but this is already a text wall so I'll stop here lol

[Huskerdust 625]

I’ve finished several over the years. My old writing partner and I would shoot through plot lines like crazy. My brothers and I actually wrapped up 4 games completely (but that was in very small groups, like it was the three of us plus three or four other people, depending on the game.) back then, it was more about getting things done with the people you knew more so than making everything accessible to everyone. 

 

These days, my current writing partner and I have completed many plot lines. On the site we’re on now, we’ve already hopped through a few arcs for characters but not full plot lines (yet). My sister and I have also completed arcs but not full plots. I find it’s a bit harder with some people than with others but my intentions are usually to fulfill the story. 

 

As for when im on other sites, if it was my partner and myself we will finish the story elsewhere. Otherwise I generally start fresh with new people. 

[Kazetatsu 263]

Yes several times, but I consider them more like episodes or seasons than something so complete that it can't be added to.  Sometimes an element of the story can last for several plots while other stories come and go.  A character self-realization arc could last 10 threads while in the mean time they complete 3 smaller adventure plots for example within those same threads.

[Stat 60]

How about you? Have you ever seen a plot-line to its real, complete ending? What'd you do afterwards?

I finish plot-lines pretty often. Like @Kazetatsuthough, I see rp plot lines more like seasons in a tv show, and, like the contemporary entertainment industry, I often keep going for long after things should have come to a natural end.  What to do afterwards is the trick question for me, as I'm often too attached to characters to accept things have run its course and put characters and stories on the shelf as finished things. Instead, I've got the habit of trying to poke life back into resolved characters until I no longer see any joy in them, and finally let them have their stories finished.

 

If you haven't finished a plot-line on the site it was made on, why? Did you wrap it up behind the scenes anyway? Move it to a different site?

When plot-lines go unfinished I usually let them die. When a partner leaves or a site dies, I just don't manage to get the inspiration or willingness to wrap it up by myself. Everything I write is always so intertwined with the site I'm on that I'm not even capable of reusing characters in different sites, so when a plot-line doesn't work out it doesn't work out!

 

Does it matter to you if you did or didn't complete your plots?

I... really don't know! I love the feeling of accomplishment I get from completing plots, and since I'm not really a planner when it comes to roleplaying, completing them is the only way I have to know how they end. But I'm also really bad at accepting they're done, and usually don't know what to do afterwards. So I guess I love finishing small plots that bring forth more plots, but I'm always kind of helpless when I finish a very big, overarching plot, that would be the clear ending if I was writing a movie or a book instead of Prison Break-Back-In season 11.

[Elena 546]

Have you ever seen a plot-line to its real, complete ending?

 

Yes, most plots have been written to the end. We have even closed sites with their story ended and wrapped up nicely.

 

Does it matter to you if you did or didn't complete your plots?

 

Yes, it matters a lot. I always finish what I am starting. I wonder why so few people here say they have finished plots. 

 

According to our January statistics, for Before the Mast 1719 we wrote 18,251 posts in 705 threads, out of which 31 (i.e. 4.4%) abandoned threads. For Before the Mast 1720, until 1-st of January 2019 we have written over 11,700 posts in 552 threads, out of which 532 completed, 3 ongoing and only 17 (3.1 %) archived threads. In preparation for the site's closure, there are only three threads waiting to be finished there, when the writers will have time. Since we have started writing on Caribbean Dawn, one year ago, our new, freshly opened site numbers already over 1650 posts in 103 threads, out of which 77 completed, 24 ongoing and 2 archived (2%). Overall, in eight years and a half of writing actively, we have written over 31,600 posts in 1,360 threads, out of which 1,283 completed, 27 ongoing and 50 (3.7%) archived . We do finish the stories we start, unless exceptional circumstances!

 

If you haven't finished a plot-line on the site it was made on, why?

 

There had been a few unfortunate exceptions, due to sites dying before. But even in that case, if I was interested in the plot, it was carried out elsewhere, either on another site, or in a story I was writing alone.

 

There had been only one case, lately, that I have left a site without ending the plots... but I couldn't anymore. I felt too overwhelmed due to real life events, on the verge of a breakdown I couldn't afford. I really needed to go. Who knows, a version of some of the plots might end in a novel.

 

Did you wrap it up behind the scenes anyway? 

 

Some plots had to be wrapped up behind the scenes, in the absence of an important character. But even then, it was shown clearly what happened, either in subsequent threads, or in journals or newspaper articles, so the plot went to its final. I count them as properly finished.

 

I didn't reply on what to do afterwards, because I am not sure I have understood well the question. Usually, passing to the next plot. Or to the next site, as a sequel, after properly finishing the story on the previous one, if speaking about my sites. Before the Mast 1719 finished with the New Year Ball, where an assassination happened (as well as hidden peace negotiations and some other adventures.) It just turned up to be the wrong man killed, behind the mask... Before the Mast 1720, with a doomsday battle in which 5 ships were sunk. Then, Caribbean Dawn focused on the survivors and the mourners.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Elena
typo

[Somniac 207]

I've finished plenty of threads, plenty of arcs, and even a few characters, but I definitely approach things more as a 'seasonal' writer than, say, a 'novel' writer.

 

There's usually always more that can happen.

[VVitch 8]

 

I have finished a few plots but I also have characters that are old whose adventures sometimes 'stall'. They may sit on a shelf for a while collecting dust but I know what they are up to and what they were doing in that down time. I tend to be the type of writer where I need to be in the mood and with the right inspiration to play certain characters/genres so I struggle with just showing up each day and writing for the sake of writing/roleplaying.

 

However, I help my partner run a room in another genre and we have kept a single story line arc going for the past 6 years, akin to what others describe here as seasonal or television story lines, where after one chapter closes another begins in a spin off from the main plot. It helps that there are main antagonists that are much more powerful than our little band of townspeople but because of our isolated geographical location it means we are not easy pickings to be taken out in one attack. So instead of withstanding full on confrontations we deal with a lot of political intrigues and other escalations that have a Cold War feel to them. In that regard our room is totally the George RR Martin of roleplay lol we may never ever finish this story line!

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by VVitch

[Morrigan 1,826]

Do you include completing an arc and starting a new one but not really "ending" anything? What I mean is I believe I've completed hundreds of plots but the story didn't stop. In a way I went from one chapter to the next or one book to the next depending. If that's what you mean I will post @Arceus

[Poe 18]

Like Morrigan, I have had smaller plot points that I have hit with my characters that just keep rolling. I like all of my characters to have multiple plots going from friendships, to romance, to those awesome antagonistic plot lines. I love a little bit of everything and the more drama and angst I can sprinkle in there the better.

 

As for a big plot line, no I haven't completely any of them, because I never really want them to end once they've gone on for awhile. I am hoping to actually end a few plot lines this year though because one of my RP resolutions is to kill off more characters (morbid I know). So, I am looking forward to seeing a few characters through until the bitter end, but I think I'll always have a few who are never really done with their massive list of plots.

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Poe

[StormWolfe 557]

On 1/12/2019 at 3:41 PM, Arceus said:

And now I'm curious! How about you? Have you ever seen a plot-line to its real, complete ending? What'd you do afterwards? What plot was it?

If you haven't finished a plot-line on the site it was made on, why? Did you wrap it up behind the scenes anyway? Move it to a different site?

Does it matter to you if you did or didn't complete your plots? Share the deets! Deetdeet!

1. We usually finish one entire story + our individual plots at my sites. Some do get held over for the next episode and becomes the backstory. We write in a TV series format (seasons, episodes, etc.).
2. On a couple of occasions, the story bogged down so much, we wrote a storyteller ending to it and moved on to the next main plot.
3. It does matter to me when the stories get shelved or at left unfinished. I like closure! Also, I am a very linear thinker so it makes it hard for me to move my characters on if I don't have an ending to the last whatever-story they were in. The completely fluid timelines throws me for a loop.