Failed Character Story Arcs - Dealing With Defeat

Amberlea

So this is an inevitable part of roleplay, sometimes you had some big plan you were working on for your character and things just didn't work out. Some examples that have happened to me while playing:

• RP a relationship, get engaged to a person, have to be gone for a week, come back to find your fiance suicided
  
• Decide you want to join an order, try to research it, do some RP... nothing happens. Maybe the god is inactive, or the order people just never noticed you, but you end up deciding that, for whatever reason, it just isn't going to happen
  
• Start RPing an arc your character is a part of with another character that was going to be a big life changing thing, but that player suddenly has to take an extended break. Arc doesn't make sense to do solo
  

I've used different ways to cope with this stuff in the past, ranging from ignoring that events happened in the first place (if others are unlikely to have noticed or cared), to occasionally mourning a dead fiance when asked about past relationships. How have you dealt with things that have gotten in the way of your RP, whether little bumps or showstopping impasses?

Jensen

Depends on the circumstances. Towards divine that have gone inactive I usually RP as inner hatred or spiteful that I'm being deemed insignificant or unworthy of notice. This is most true with Severn but more recently a thing with Chaky

For player stuff it's been a bit easier. I try to play Jensen as a stoic being and usually is emotionally devoid from player actions. Trager comes to mind with our failed dark apprentice arch where I RP'd being slightly disappointed but wholly unmoved by the loss.

Obyn

In regards to failed story arcs with a divine, if it failed because the character went inactive mid-arc or because they weren't active when the arc started, don't be afraid to try and hit them up when they become active again! A lot of times we just won't know what a previous incarnation of our character had in the works.

Areka

This happened with Areka and Damariel - a new face turned up and I shot them a message with a bit of a summary of the past relationship, the circumstances of Areka's leaving the order, and the bond and terminology used. New Dam has been really great in continuing it, which has really meant a lot both to Areka to not lose that bond, but also to me for maintaining a significant aspect of my character.

For the rest, it definitely depends on the arc/circumstances. Some of the examples listed I feel have much clearer avenues to pursue.

- Fiance suiciding? That's what roleplay is for, be it grief, anger, confusion, a lifelong vendetta against the selfish or developing a paranoid fear of other people disappearing, and so on.
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- Order RP in particular is something I wanted to touch on - often times I see people get really grumpy about 'not being noticed' when they do not really take the time to draw attention to themselves. Orders are a weird place and each are different - often times the God's the only one who can bring people into the Order itself, rather than just the congregation (by the God's own mandate, not necessarily by order priv). This means that it's up to the person to really do a lot of legwork, not just occasionally read things and throw a few emotes and hope it is enough. Ask questions, inspire debates, ask for work, propose work on your own to prove your devotion and understanding. If the god is MIA see if the Order would be willing to bring you in on a probationary status for the God to decide on when they return. If the god ISN'T MIA, shoot them messages - see what you can do and demonstrate your other abilities. Shoot them an OOC message of "Hey, I know you're probs super busy with projects, I'm really really stoked about the Order and wanted to make sure that these tasks didn't get lost! I'd love to RP, X Y and Z are things already happening."

- For Solo vs with player arcs - I suppose here it would depend. I've had a few smaller ones where someone had to disappear, so I altered it to involving an NPC (even if a vague nameless NPC) to at least be a filler, or interjected other tasks or research things to give the other person time. (Research, need a special item, need time to think, need a ritual to prepare yourself for Y and so on - or bring in another person to help with those aspects to keep you busy and engaged in the inbetween durations).

Not a lot of this I can comment on for Areka - my arcs tend to be small, and Areka is so introverted and thinks to such an extent that that alone can be sessions of self-RP, let alone with others. She's the sort to super draw into herself when facing a challenge (which both limits my RP with other people, but also gives an easy escape route when timing becomes difficult).

Amberlea

To be clear, I wasn't asking for advice so much as just being bored and curious about what other people do when life gives them lemons and then repeatedly stomps on them

The order thing I was talking about wasn't so much an order as it was a closed congregation. Sorry if I sometimes misuse the term sometimes. Not that the one I'm talking about is the only time I've run into something like that. I really like for things like that to develop organically, where my character demonstrates to people I know are parts of things her interest and willingness to commit to something without going up and just literally requesting entrance. I know sometimes those failures can be a result of my desiring of too much subtlety, but in other situations I know that some people from those groups are aware of both my OOC intentions and IC actions, and things still don't happen. Not that it's their fault. Sometimes we get busy and things just don't end up happening.

Teani

Back when Teani left Spinesreach, she went to live in the mountains for a while, making preparations and scouting Bloodloch, planning with charts and maps and testing/discarding different ideas on how best to assassinate Abhorash. I had a really good time with this RP and even went so far as to approach Enorian and the Ascendril quietly just to make sure Bloodloch wouldn't know and enemy her before she was done with her mission.

Before she managed to do anything with this, she was enemied. There was (of course) no RP surrounding the enemy status, as it was a blanket thing back then, and was even done by using questionable information as a basis. This pretty much ruined the entire arch I had built up for two weeks and made me grumble quite a lot. I decided to see if I could go about it in a different way.

Since there was little more she could do, being unable to enter Bloodloch and find her target (being too weak to get through the guards) she camped out near the entrance to Bloodloch, trying to catch word of Abhorash possibly leaving the caves. I tried sending an OOC message to Abhorash, explaining my idea to perhaps ambush him and, naturally, die a horrible and painful death because she would have nothing to put up against someone like that. However, I got no response there either. Once more it felt like I was hitting a dead end and aside from small comments here and there, I left it alone.

It's still there in my RP though and she's still contemplating this assassination, biding her time maybe? However, most of her initial anger towards the Primus has subsided and the urge to strike him isn't as strong as it was upon leaving her home city.

Zsadist

I know alot of you don't think I RP, when in actuality, I do RP alot, just on Z i haven't done much. Now, I have had many RP arcs get cut off because of different things. One of my biggest failures was in Imperian when my chosen god died, as I was in the middle of rising up as Champion for that specific god. I got over it by making my guy so dedicated to his fallen god that it bordered on obsession.

I think when it comes to failure, its just about how you can move your character forward. I know when Z lost the contest for OL, I made his RP arc focus abit more on trying to seem more.... approachable?? Not quite sure how thats working out for me, but we'll see what happens. However, on the flipside, sometimes when it comes to a failed RP arc, I just completely forget about it and move on.

Moirean

Sometimes I find a unique way to spin it like Moi casting a stasis enchant on her sons room when Bene stopped playing to basically pause that arc...and then rping around the consequences of that.

Mostly lately I just don't rp since my arcs have died off and instead focus my attention on other stuff like org management. I'm not saying that in a woe is me tone or anything either...I don't have much spare time atm so I can't even imagine where I'd fit in rp.

Haven

Shout and set things on fire are what I do.

Amberlea

I miss your anger @Haven

Rashar

It's still there. Bubbling. Festering. Ready to boil over and toss that lid noisily onto the stove with lots of loud clangs and bangs.

I thought I'd get a glimpse of it the other day, but Haven disappointed me. Sad face.

Xenia

This is an issue that I often struggle with, especially when the RP arc sort of requires my character to behave and conduct herself in a certain way. I haven't exactly figured out how to deal with that, but I tend towards an attitude of Xenia's life doesn't pause and if enough time and experiences push her in another direction, then I just gotta let this guide Xenia-- even if OOCly I feel otherwise.

Haven

Amberlea said:

I miss your anger @Haven

I miss it too sometimes!

Rashar said:

It's still there. Bubbling. Festering. Ready to boil over and toss that lid noisily onto the stove with lots of loud clangs and bangs. I thought I'd get a glimpse of it the other day, but Haven disappointed me. Sad face.

Haha, blame @Nola! We'll see how things turn up with the current arc in place. (Granted I have to actually log in and play...)

Ingram

Edit: lolquotegoodIcan

Yeah, try that sometime, jerk. Team Havgram has been on the bench too long.