Burn out.

[Weregortok]

It happens to us all at some point or other, so here's my particular situation this time:

I've been playing my PC for much longer than I am use too... like four or five times longer than I am use to.  I enjoy my character, the people she interacts with, the clan she's a part of and just about everything about her.

I am more than happy with what she has accomplished and the possibilities seem endless for things she could do in her future.  Although I know that her disappearance would in no way "harm" the people she's involved with, I feel like I would be cheating them if I stored.  For that and several other reasons, I have no intention of storing.

This is my biggest problem as I see it... she's a nice girl, maybe even too nice for her own good, and it seems that no one that she nor I have noticed have ever taken advantage of her nature or generosity.  Every ne likes her, or at least seems to, and she has no enemies--no conflict if you will.

It's not in her nature to stir things up, and even seeks in to resolve the conflict of others in any way she can.


HELP me, fellow players!!!
What should I do.

[Fathi]

If it's in your PC's nature/personality, stir up some shit. Start some fights. Piss people off. Mistake a templar's aide for a hooker. Accuse someone of being a mage. Make a big cultural/social faux pas.

... Or take a break for a couple weeks, come back, and it'll probably be less boring.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Be 'nice', for your own gain.

Sooner or later, they'll catch on, and then your days of being 'loved' will vaporize and amble their way out the door.

[Krishnamurti]

Nothing like a Skellebain trip to alter one's perspective.

[musashi]

Nothing like a Skellebain trip to alter one's perspective.

Yep.

[Xagon]

Her significant other died, a handwritten note clutched in his hands.

How's that for starting a plot?

[HTX]

Her significant other died, a handwritten note clutched in his hands.

How's that for starting a plot?

Usually that plot would get a kind of "meh" reaction from me... but considering literacy is illegal... that would be frickin' awesome beyond belief.

How would you get it started, though? Perhaps if the significant other was virtual, and you asked nicely for the staff members to load up a scroll... but I don't know if they ever grant such requests... or you could just keep it purely virtual till you get the literacy skill... *shrug* That might be unfair since you'll probably never get caught with the virtual scroll though.

[Zoltan]

I am more than happy with what she has accomplished and the possibilities seem endless for things she could do in her future.  Although I know that her disappearance would in no way "harm" the people she's involved with, I feel like I would be cheating them if I stored.  For that and several other reasons, I have no intention of storing.

I was in an extremely similar situation in regards to storing recently. I felt like I totally copped out, and my character was involved in so many fun things and with so many fun people, but I just couldn't handle the burn out. The character was too much and I had to Old Yeller it (even though I didn't have the guts to just plain ol' suicide it, and subsequently had the most terrible, arduous wait for a store EVAR). While it's nice to be considerate to your fellow players, don't get caught up playing something that isn't fun for you for their sakes. But, yeah, it seems you're set on not storing so...

I say do as others have said and take a little break. Even just a couple days would do it if you normally play daily. Stirring up shit can be fun, but if it doesn't make sense ICly, it can seem forced. Meh, I can't talk, because I'm the -king- of virtual events totally fucking over my characters  . Oh, I can say that strong opinions will polarize other people in their relations with your character. Even minor conflict like that can liven a character right up!

[Pale Horse]

One thing you'll notice as your character ages, both in IG time and RL time, is that more and more of the people she knows and interacts with, her friends/lovers/co-workers/bosses, will die.

Will.Die.

And die a lot.  They'll be the "last man standing" in a war they aren't even wielding a weapon in.  More and more, meeting new people will become dull and loose it's luster.  Being "nice" to Bynner #5 (as you'll come to think of them, after a while.  No reflection on them, it's just..you've been there, seen that) will become a chore.  You'll become jaded.  Those few that manage to stay alive alongside your PC will become more and more precious to them, even your enemies.  Keeping yourself sane will involve having long term goals, which, in the end, become almost their whole reason for living and continuing on.

When this sense of innue sets in..that's when the fun can start    Your PC is so jaded that most other PCs aren't really "people" anymore.  They're stepping stones, or a resource to mine until it inevitably dries up (i.e. dies).  Set them up to compete against one another to provide you with the best materials you need/want/need to get ahold of for your projects and goals.  Use 'em and loose 'em.  Those that you see staying alive, though, those are the ones to keep an eye on, either as a likely partnership or useful, long term resource to fleece, or as a potential threat or competishion to be eliminated.

The longer you're alive, the more and more PCs you meet, the more and more you will be seen as "tough" "strong" and one of the movers and shakers in the world, whatever you actually happen to be.  PCs will graviate to you, and you'll find yourself with more minions to command and get into trouble...

First, your tenement building...then the square it's in..after that, the street, then the next and the next, till you've got the city, then the area around it until it's time to conqure the world, MAUHAHAHAHAHaha!!

...Likely, though, before you get that far, some random, hungry NPC will wander over and decide you look good enough to chew on.  Mantis Head, Welcome to Armageddon!

If that happens, well...you were feeling burnt out, so time to move on to that new, shinny character you've been thinking up for a while.  Said character will then get to hear cool things said about your last character, which gives a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Everyone wins!

[Xagon]

Said character will then get to hear cool things said about your last character, which gives a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

This happened today. It made me happy in my pants. So happy, I literally squealed and clapped my hands.

[deviant storm]

Any and many of these above ideas are good.

Or you could have your character develop a debilitating injury/illness. Go blind. Or deaf. Go senile. Or there's always mental illnesses. However, if you really don't want your character to stir things up, the break is the best alternative.

[Marauder Moe]

First and foremost, yeah, take a break.  When you come back it'll be because you want to rather than because you feel obligated to.  Also, when you come back, there will likely be new PCs around to learn about and have some fun with.

Second, while it's not in your PC's nature to stir things up, that doesn't mean you as a player don't have the power to do so.  You have the power to make your character ill, make her crazy, kill her virtual family, have her be virtually mugged, stalked, molested, or harmed in just about any way.

Third, talk to your clan staff.  Tell them you're bored and getting tired of the role and would like it if perhaps they could help make things interesting again.  They may mess with your PC in some way, or they may simply animate a clan NPC to hand out some sort of interesting task for her to complete.

[jstorrie]

You could always go the other way and become too nice. Altruism and charity, taken to their high levels, become revolutionary and subversive positions in most Zalanthan societies...

[Weregortok]

You could always go the other way and become too nice. Altruism and charity, taken to their high levels, become revolutionary and subversive positions in most Zalanthan societies...

<3 jstorrie!!!!

And everyone else as well. Thanks for the advice.

[Lord of Charas]

You could always go the other way and become too nice. Altruism and charity, taken to their high levels, become revolutionary and subversive positions in most Zalanthan societies...

Hahaha. How true is this.

Taken to a whole new, fourth-dimension, altruism can be made to be
both revolutionary, subversive, exploitive and entirely enslaving.

It's all completely possible. All possible. If you know how to bring it to
this level -- that is . . . And if you do, then you should have no
problems doing all kinds of other evil things . . . Mark my words.