Discussion: When is it enough?
#1
How do you know when it is time to drop a character? How long do you keep trying? What do you try first? Share your experiences! I think this could be helpful to some people, at least, even if it doesn't benefit much, since it's just a discussion, but I've been thinking about this for a while now.

I've been having a very hard time this year... obviously. I've been a pretty inconsistent, terrible RPer. However, I've been trying to get back into it. I'm not hanging out with the same people, I've started ignoring the court letters (man, you guys have like... 6 written reports. I shouldn't have to come in and do another just because HE skipped his court date), and I'm working on focusing my life on things that make ME happy, along with school obviously.

I've hit a snag, though. No matter how hard I try, I find it so difficult to write for Princess and Artemis, and it's been going on for a very long time now... Actually, it extends to Vigi, too, but right now, I'm mostly focusing on Princess. She is extremely difficult to write for and I think that by 'maturing' her (mate, children, etc) I've sort of... boxed myself in with her.

My biggest problem with dropping her and/or Artemis? I don't want to. That's it. I don't want to drop either of them, but I feel like trying to play them is hindering my writing ability. It's harder, too, because I have two characters I really want to play and I have a ton of ideas for them, they just exist there and desperately want to be written. I don't want to write them in Lasky or anything yet because they'll just... Take over my writing muse and it'll be even harder. On top of that, Princess will have to be dropped or NPCed for me to pick up one of those two characters, because she's in CdM.

So I'm feeling stuck and don't know what to do, so I thought that reading others' views might make it easier. I know some people cycle through characters pretty quickly and others, like me, never drop them... I'll have been a member for 3 years this upcoming May, and Princess was my first character here (so I especially don't want to drop her) and I've only dropped 1 character that wasn't a temp (poor dead Nala :c), and even then, I couldn't bring myself to kill Lolita lol.
#2
I didn't originally want to drop Dawali, though I've been tired of him for the entirety of 2011. I don't know why, but my activity dwindled to the absolute minimum, and all my threads were AniWaya-related. Eventually, he became the killer of my muse, but at the same time I loved him to pieces and didn't want to drop him.

However I can say that after I did drop him, I've felt much better, and have more energy to put into 'Souls, regardless of how little or much time I have, in reality, to put into 'Souls. My advice is to drop them if you feel they are eating at your muse, or if your muse has had enough.

I played Vesle, Emwe and Dawali at the same time. First Vesle suffered, then I dropped Emwe, too. And eventually I came to realize that it was perhaps Dawali who was causing it for me. Perhaps for you, you could taste the situation a bit by NPC'ing one of them for a month and see how far that gets you?
#3
I'm in a similar place with my muse for Pearl and Rory. I have no muse for them and yet lots for Ayasha and have a few ideas that I'm playing with for another character. But I don't know if I should drop those two or stick it out with them. I feel bad for wanting to drop them but they are eating a bit away from my Ayasha muse. so I shall stalk this thread and steal all the ideas for my use as well.
#4
I find if a character's losing muse I go through their personality. I was really stuck, and it was bugging me because the story was such a great idea. I really loved the way it was going, but the main character was refusing to budge, and if I did force him to make a move, it seemed rather stiff and mechanical. I ended up going back to his motives in life, and when I did that the character sprang to life.

However, this took a few months. I'd suggest letting the characters take a break while you figure out what you're doing with them or your characters really will turn into robots just doing what you want them to instead of what they would do as a character.
#5
Having played over 9000 characters, I can tell you "shelving" them can help. Ezekiel and Enkiel were both put aside for others for a time, and when I felt ready for them I brought them back.

Likewise, sometimes characters do need to "stop". I loved (and still love) writing for Gabriel, but his time and purpose in Souls had passed. So maybe try taking a pause and seeing if you want to kill/remove or whatever before doing it.
#6
I had this issue on another site I was at... I had a couple of characters that had been carried over from older games, and eventually I had to pick and choose which ones I wanted to keep because I didn't have the time for all of them. Naturally I picked the two that I had the least muse for, but I ended on an optimistic note. As long as you don't kill a character for good, you can always bring them back. What I did for my characters was say that they went on a journey -- and whenever I missed them, I could have them come back with new experiences and new small changes to their personality as a result of what they went through. That way, they came back "fresh" but were still the same character. I didn't want to drop them, either -- it was just a necessity for me to bring in a new character I had muse for and to deal with school at the time. However, it made me feel better to know that I could bring them back if I wanted to. :3

That's my two cents... I agree with what the others suggested, such as NPCing them and seeing what it's like before dropping them completely. Sometimes clinging to something that won't work out only makes you suffer... In bringing in new characters, you might feel a new spark and feel better about everything as a whole?

And Terra's suggestion is good, too -- going back to their personality and motives. How did they used to be? What little details can you bring back out to get them going again? Sometimes, when we've had a character for a long time and forgot something or got used to a new, blander personality, we forgot what made those characters really tick in the beginning. Bring in a new, intense situation that is interesting enough to write about and will carry the characters, or perhaps dig up a past secret or fear that they have to confront again.

I might add more if I think about anything, but I'll be stalking this thread too. Big Grin
#7
I never ever thought I'd drop Saxif, I <3 her and she holds traits that are similar to my own and some that I wish to possess. I didn't want to drop her at all but after 3 months of trying to cheer her up, find things that would possibly help her grow I couldn't take her seeing so sad. The depression hit too close to home and started to kill all my focus with my other characters. I thought for a while oh no... I'm gonna lose souls' cause I didn't want to come on anymore, didn't want to read threads or even attempt to respond anymore. Finally I took a long hard look at what things would be like if I dropped Saxif... even then I couldn't see any change of my feelings. But I decided to do it anyway... sadly I left a lot of threads unfinished and feel super guilty for that but if hadn't dropped Saxif when I did I would have considered quitting souls all together. Dropping Saxif has allowed me to really develop my other characters to a point where Light is nothing but a ball of muse for me and Xyza is finally on a path to healing her condition which was my main goal with her. I see long futures with them and because they don't resemble me they won't have a chance to fall into a similar depression Saxif had gone through. I hope to bring her back with a new hope on the world and return her back to the strong character I loved her as... but until then I am lovin my decision and am lovin souls once more.
#8
By giving Princess a mate and a family, you might have removed her conflicts. She doesn't have anything to strive for anymore, she doesn't have motivation anymore -- if her "endgame" was to end up with kids and a family, you've satisfied it wonderfully! Unfortunately, that leaves her with little muse. D:

The same thing happened to Kae, essentially. I love her and still do, and will play her again someday in the distant future, but last April, I couldn't even finish off her threads. o_o She had served her last as an Inferni leader, and she was now intended to just basically sit there and be old. Not extremely interesting as far as plotting and such goes, you know? XD

NPCing a character a while or dropping them or making them leave... meh. It isn't saying good-bye! You can always pick them back later, and I think it's a great idea to engage in these breaks with some characters. It just happens sometimes where they need a break from you and you need a break from them -- hopefully, in the interim time, you can figure out new motivations for your characters and it'll make them easier to play? c:

I think you are hurting yourself if you cling to characters. I would either throw them a curveball and try to bring about new motivation, or shelve them for a little while and see if that helps you out. c:
#9
[html] I gotta agree with what everyone's basically said already - NPC 'er!



Really, that's one of my favorite things about 'Souls, even though I haven't had to use it yet. When I lose muse for characters, I lose it fast, and hard - and I always tend to be super attached, so I don't want to let them go. With Princess, if you let her NPC for a bit, or perhaps leave 'Souls entirely and have some new adventures (that you can cook up at a later date!), you might be ready to write for her again in the future. Or maybe you're not. Who knows? But you've got the flexibility with no longer having to worry about her. It's genius, man.



Plus, then you have the flexibility to have new characters that you're more interested in. It's not a crime to no longer like your old charries. Sometimes, that's just what happens.



Anyway, that's my two cents. Do whatever's best for you, dear.

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#10
Don't really have anything to contribute to the discussion, but I'd be up for figuring out a reason for Haven and Princess to head off somewhere together seeing as I have no immediate plans to pick him back up again :o


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