Forums » RP Discussion » How does one properly end a roleplay?

Majority of my roleplays end because either of us lose interest or real life gets in the way, so I haven't really given this much thought, but I've also had luck to meet some great players that I've had fun with for an extended period of time, and it makes me genuinely happy ❤

But that also makes me wonder when and how they're going to end, and if there is any ideal way to close a roleplay? What makes a satisfying end and gives closure, to you?


Bonus question: Have any of your roleplays ever had a (IC) bad ending? Why/why not?

In my case, it happens when our central conflict is resolved. We always start with a specific story in mind, and when the conflicts driving the story come to a close, we end the role play. Sure, sometimes we create opportunities for new conflicts, but we usualy tend to give them their own, fresh RPs if either of us feel like pursuing it further. This has lead us to building a great big mythos around my characters and my parter's! It's really satisfying when done right.

*raises hand* I am one of the people Connan does that with. It does, indeed, work fantastically. We've got some crazy complex stuff going on, and it's all been built up in nice, neat little pieces. Often, one immediately follows another, but the method also accommodates breaks well - leaving room to try something else (that could end up merged in if you guys want) or just setting the whole thing down to decompress and decide if you want to start up a sequel later on.

To answer the bonus question: yes. Because sometimes, that's just how it goes. And also, if you play it like chapters... you can have bad endings that aren't really endings. Just a bitter pause that leads into something else.

Somewhat like Connan and Nova, all of my RPs are "scheduled" to end. My partners and I talk endgame, even when we're talking how to start the RP. There's a goal to work towards. And along the way, new plots and ideas can spin off of what we originally planned.

Bonus: Kinda. In big open community RPs, my characters have been killed or brain damaged in such a way that made them functionally unplayable until someone else stepped in to "fix" the problem/

I've never scheduled a role play like that. I am cool with either winging it or trying to form a more solid plot, but honestly my roleplays end so much because of lost interest, ghosting or the other play going inactive that sometimes it's difficult for me to get that invested in it. I do try to keep up OOC communication as much as possible to try and keep things going and plan a bit so it doesn't turn out too messy.

I do have some consistent role play partners and I'd be happy to start a thread where we actually planned an ending but we already got some threads that I'm enjoying too much to stop anytime soon. I can think of some vague endings for them to end.

Out of the few roleplays that I have actually played all the way to finish, I would say that they were successful because character development took place. My character walked away without a lost limb and with a new experience I could add to her history, so I was happy with it.

Bonus: No, but I'd be fine with one as long as my character wasn't too worse for wear or could 'come back' somehow.

Some end successfully some fizzle out.

Thank you for all your thoughts on this subject! You all have valid points, and I'm happy to let you know I agree with most of them. I get stuck in old tracks pretty easily, and this will help me improve as a writer, and possibly change the outcome of any future roleplays I engage in.