Foxypaws 44 Share Posted February 15, 2019 It can be a bit difficult to write around an absent character (namely one with a user that's been deleted or has disappeared from activity) that's heavily involved in group threads and plots. You don't want to write for their player, but there's got to be some explanation for them suddenly dropping out of the action!! Especially if you're hoping that they'll return. I've seen a few creative ways of doing this, but it obviously creates a bump. Most of the time sites play it off that the character simply disappeared, which I honestly believe is the easiest but gets a little stale when it happens over and over. One user just joined my site and asked me if I would kill their character if they were banned, because it's happened to them before! How do you manage writing around inactive characters, especially ones that would otherwise be mentioned or would take an active part in the group? 1 COME VISIT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie 198 Share Posted February 15, 2019 How I handle these things depends on the forum's setting. On one forum, portals randomly opened up and let other characters into the world- so it was assumed that some people left just as suddenly as they had arrived in that way. Because plenty of characters showed up that way, it meant that none of them thought it was strange for them to leave that way. It didn't get stale for them- if anything it was just sad, and maybe a little frightening. Because after all, the same thing could happen to them! On other forums, the worlds were large enough that it was conceivable that these people were just never seen again by the characters on the forum. If the size of the world made it implausible that they just disappeared, the environment made it likely that they'd been killed the elements or other terrible things, like demons that fell out of the big gaping hole in the sky. It's always inconvenient when someone with important characters leaves and plot holes need to be closed up, but I try to use it as opportunities for people to get more involved in the RP and let them explore new aspects of their characters. If a leader disappears, there might be search parties that need to get sent out, it might lead to a power grab, etc., etc. 1 1 WANTED: flamboyantly rich & famous family members, workers for a creepy foundation, & an AI handler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazetatsu 263 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I will never kill characters off if people leave. either I will A. assume they've faded into the background npc style. the world is full of minor characters and npcs, so its easy for a character to become one of the crowd. B. take temporary charge of a character to write them out of a thread. The goal here is to finish the plot while creating a reasonable reason why the character disappeared. C. turn the disappearance into a plot, including icly searching for the character, or other sorts of drama and conflict. when I leave sites I often create a closing thread to avoid just this. I'll explain where the characters went or why they fell out. 1 2 My Characters can be Found on Toyhouse Of Being Human, Modern Small Town Supernatural rp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elena 546 Share Posted February 16, 2019 (edited) I do explain their absence in a way that makes sense in the story: a reassignment, an illness/ wound, being in prison or in hiding, receiving a special mission and having to leave, etc. Sometimes I do as @Kazetatsusays, and it gets into new plots. Sometimes, the characters aren't even absent. They are around, until the moment when a reassignment or something else would make sense for them to go. The sailing master obeys the captain's order, even if the captain's writer hadn't been around for months. During sailing time, the captain needs to be at his post, doing his duty. Therefore, it is assumed he is doing it. After 6+ months, if I received a reply that the writer won't return, some characters might be heroically killed in a battle and fondly remembered. It is a gesture of respect both for the characters themselves and for the story continuity. Sometimes, after 1-2 years, a writer returns. If he wants to join with the same character, it is all right, provided he makes a story what the character did while presumed dead (if this was what happened), or what he did in the meanwhile anyway. Edited February 16, 2019 by Elena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothic 307 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Depends on the character. If it is a group thread, the character will be NPCed until it is over and then hopefully an explanation will be made. If it is a canon or a wanted character, I will usually ask the creator of it and see what they would have to happen. Mostly characters will be written out of the story through demotion, and on occasion, death. If a player wants to write their character out of the story. That is fine by me, so long as it doesn't break the site canon. On a medieval fantasy game I had years ago. The world was pretty random so a character disappearing for xyz and then returning many years later made sense for that setting. The site was more freeform in way. Basically, so long as they explained their absence, it was okay. 1 Active, fun, established 2008! Come join us. Aeterna Roma Sites I am on; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huskerdust 625 Share Posted February 16, 2019 I just write around it. Although I've stopped making random want ads for people I don't know if the character is going to make or break MY character. In the past, I did this and when the player left, I had the character die and it left my character a shattered emo mess that I didn't even want to write anymore. I mean, if that was the plot from the start, cool. But when it warps a character beyond recognition and into something you never intended to play, that sucks. But it was my own fault for choosing to kill the character. (And yes, I was given permission by that player to kill his character--I don't normally do that.) Normally, I just write around characters like others have said, and they become less important/NPCs that are just mentioned from time to time. 2 Reality is an illusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophetess 137 Share Posted February 16, 2019 It depends on the character. If it's a wanted that's been adopted, I usually will just put up the original ad for the character (I give a lot of leeway with my adoptables). If it's a main character, then I find a way to write around it or a possible way to shape it into the story if I can. I will not kill another person's character for leaving. I consider that disrespecting their hard work on the character and that's petty of me to do (my opinion). If it's just a regular member, it usually finds it's way into obscurity with a generic reason. For me, that's the best way to handle those kinds of things. As a member, I'll write around those things in group threads. In single threads, I'll just write myself out or let it die. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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