Forums » RP Discussion » When You Have To Leave a RP...

Especially when it's unfinished for various reasons, don't you kinda have this feeling of what could've been? Or feel really bad for doing so? Let me elaborate:

I've been on this site for a very long while, and I've noticed a bit of a pattern with me. Get a RP in, everything goes great! The characters mesh well, the OOC is nice, and it goes on for a while. Then it kinda stagnates a bit, but that's understandable: I'm busy, they're busy, it's no big deal, just let each other know what's up, and we'll get back into the swing of things soon, right?

...Then there's those few, few RPs that go completely inactive. I ask what's up, and they don't reply. It's been months, around 4 or more. I've either seen them on the site a few times asking for more RP, or they've just dropped from the face of the earth. The RPs are taking up space. I'm losing interest in continuing, and/or I don't even remember where I was going with it in the first place. I know I should just get rid of it and move on, but...

It's a scary thought, isn't it? Like, what if they come back? What if they get mad that I left? And the fact that I have to pull my characters from a story I've grown attached to is also kinda painful in its own way. Like, what would've happened if I was allowed to continue? The question of what could've been will always be there, you know?

To me, I know I have to let them go eventually, but... The thought is still unnerving and terrifying, no matter how justified it is. I'm also afraid of backlash, so there's that too. (It's honestly enough to give myself anxiety over doing what I know needs to be done sooner or later.) I know this has probably happened with a few people as well, so... How do you cope with that? What are everyone's thoughts on this?

Well, hey. At least you can say it's not your fault that the RP got abandoned when you were the last person to post! If you posted, and they don't respond back, that's on them. Not you.

Me? Well, I've never genuinely abandoned an RP before, nor do I want to, (aside from group RPs I didn't actually have much input in, so there was no harm done anyway.) but usually when it happens I just roll with it. I usually just don't say anything and let my post sit there, metaphorically saying "Hey, I was the last person to post, and you didn't post back, now you gotta live with this guilt staring back at you for a while whenever you open your inbox."

Heheheh...

I haven't left a roleplay in over two years now, I think... or at least not intentionally! Usually, if someone goes silent on the other end, I leave the RP open in case they come back. And if I don't respond for a while, it's either because I'm honestly busy or I've hit a big writer's block and need to listen to my entire playlist for inspiration.

The best way to deal with leaving an RP is to be kind. Explain why you may be absent for a while (in my case, if I'm planning on being gone for over a week) and apologize. Respect can go a long way!

As for others leaving your RP, the best you can probably do is move on. Keep roleplaying with others and/or find some other projects. There's a lot of creative things you can do in the meantime! For instance, I make awful builds on minecraft.

That's the thing: I haven't left a RP in years myself, if ever, and if it comes down to it, I usually am sugar-sweet kind when it comes to me leaving for the short/long-term and letting other people know. Whether it's the fact that I'm not feeling a RP, life has me too busy to respond to anyone, or even a bout of depression, I always have to let people know, or at least try to~!

But when it comes to, let's say, six months to a year or more without a reply whatsoever from my partner? I'll admit that I have most likely forgotten where I was going with it in the long run, especially if the beginning was vague and open-ended. So all I can do is send a message saying that I've lost my ideas (or sadly my interest), but I'd be more than happy to welcome them back with open arms and start over whenever the chance arises.

But if they don't respond to that after a few more months, then what can I do? It doesn't feel quite right to just have it sitting there as a reminder of something amazing probably lost, you know? Especially when you look in and learn that they ended up deleting their character without a word, or worse, their account.

That's all anyone can do, and is the best route to take. RP isn't the only thing on my list of course. Artwork, occasional writing, more world building for an extensive brain child of a project I've had for a couple of years now, brainstorming with my friends, etc.... Even if one RP falls apart, I do have others to fall back on or, something else to do as a creative brain teaser.

I know. My inspiration for something comes and goes with time, but I'm usually pretty predictable about it. Since I derive a lot of influence from music, but sometimes from other things, I tend to hear the same songs in my playlist that made me think of an idea before. If that idea was never fully explored, then it's the only thing I think of when I hear the song(s) that inspired it. I also tend to write a lot of the ideas down with broad strokes, so I can decide whether to use them in RPs or stories later. Some ideas are just more wonderful when others help me develop them!

Anywho, to make a long story short, I just tend to come full circle and become inspired with the same ideas later. It's sad when one person stops writing back, but I've been happy to explore different ways a single idea can come out! Case in point, I may roleplay the same character in two different 1x1s in the same setting, maybe even with the same starting plot. It's really fun and can keep me interested in the idea much longer! Exploring different possibilities keeps it fresh.

But when I stop roleplaying an idea for a long time, and my inspiration disappears initially, it can be heartbreaking. There were three lovely writers I worked together with for years on a single idea, but they each disappeared shortly after a significant event that could've heralded a series of new ideas and possibilities (as in our characters were married). Now when I want to work on it again with somebody new, we understandably have to start from scratch. Then I just get worried they'll disappear right when another big event happens in our RP. Still, I keep trying. Who knows?

Maybe one day my ideas will get a happy ending.

That's actually halfway how I work when it comes to ideas that were never really used. I tend to mark the basics down for later use and have them as a general outline for when I look for new RPs. Other than that, I wish my inspiration was predictable, but like my character "muses," it comes and goes. I am training myself to just start writing/drawing whenever I open the laptop every day (no matter how frustrating it is: some practice is better than no practice.)

Ironically people disappear before any big event really starts between us, you know? We're just getting the hang of each other, the deeper plot is just beginning, and then before we get to the real meat... Poof. It's no big deal, really. It does make me wary that new people will disappear before we get to the big parts, but reaching out is better than sitting there waiting for someone to approach.

You and me both. Here's to hoping that all of our RP ideas (or most of them) reach a satisfying ending.

Thank you! It's really reassuring to know I'm not the only one who wonders about this sort of thing. ^^