On burning through characters.

[askaran]

Hey y'all I've been playing this game for almost twenty-years, and I've definitely noticed that sometimes, especially after a long-lived or loved character dies I go through this phase where I just burn through characters. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what you do to get over it. Usually I take a break and try to cool down, but other times I just have the itch to play Arm so I keep crankin' out characters, hoping one sticks.

[WarriorPoet]

I discard characters like beer cans. I love creating them and have every intention of changing the world but the reality of play just doesn't pan out into what I want. So I play balls-out and recre. Over and over until I find one that fits like it should, that comes alive for me.

I think I am at 230ish characters over 20 years. I am sorry for the workload I have put on staff but hey, it works out. Thanks for putting up with my shit, up there. And thanks for playing along when everything is vibing like it should.

[askaran]

Glad I'm not the only one, I'm near 350 now after following pretty much the same philosophy.

[triste]

I burn through characters sometimes for similar reasons (death of a long lived character as mentioned). What saved me from quitting during a phase like this was opting into a tribal family rolecall someone posted (sleepyhead, phenomenal player and character). This helped me feel more connected and committed to the game and I am still thankful to sleepyhead for posting that rolecall. Maybe posting a similar rolecall yourself will [1] allow you to build a concept you are interested in, and can have a leadership role in, in advance and [2] allow you to feel connected and committed. This might help stop the burn through.

[Filthy_Grey_Rat]

Personally, I'm the exact same way. I'd rather everyone do it, rather than a player wandering ooc, bored, and waiting for a perfect char. Gimme your brain fodder, I relish new boots.

[zealus]

Hey y'all I've been playing this game for almost twenty-years, and I've definitely noticed that sometimes, especially after a long-lived or loved character dies I go through this phase where I just burn through characters. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what you do to get over it. Usually I take a break and try to cool down, but other times I just have the itch to play Arm so I keep crankin' out characters, hoping one sticks.

10 years on and off.
Maybe... 2-3 long lived PCs.
No shame in dying often, it's how the game works. Dying quickly =/= not being attached. It sometimes just happens.

[Lotion]

I find that for my characters that really stick usually I put a bit if extra work in for them
1) I make up three quirks that will usually be relevant. A weird laugh, their favorite spice, etc.
2) I write an important facts bio. This is basically a "how to play" guide for the character. Often I will have about seven or so facial expressions to make while talking or emoting and write them in this bio alongside what sort of emotional tonality they imply.

Here's the first one I wrote. It was for my fourth overall and second most long lived character.

Awentawa loves sweets and always tries to carry a few around with her at all times.

Awentawa thinks sirihish isn't a very good language for singing and will refuse to sing in it, preferring Bendune. Even if nobody can understand the words they should still be able to appreciate the beauty.

Awentawa is not interested in kanking. She tried it once but they just made a mess and smelled funny afterwards without having much fun. Cuddling and kissing are still nice though.

Awentawa is VERY vulnerable to teasing and their face will always light up bright red and she will fall for it and maybe even cry!

Awentawa is naive.

Usually they start a lot smaller. Here's all I have for a dwarf that died very quickly:

Kasi does not communicate well with humans and will often just reply to their questions with a simple Yes/No even if there's more that should be said. The more Kasi tries to explain to a human the less the human understands them.

The stuff off legend

Pewpu does not feel shame.

Pewpu has terrible incontinence and will poop his pants at the most inopportune moments.

Pewpu suffers from dementia.

Pewpu does not remember how he was burned

One really fun thing is trying to have consistent linguistic roleplay. Something as small as never using contractions, only speaking in he passive voice, or starting every sentence with the same few phrases will make your tribal seem a lot more foreign to people who the city people she may occasionally deal with.

[Aruven]

The burn is real.

[Cowboy]

I have gone through a lot characters during my play time.  I seem to have better luck when I try to wait 5 to 7 days before a start a new character, particularly, after the death of one that has been long lived. But like others have said, sometimes I just have to jump back in within an hour or two (atleast submit an apllication).  I try to keep 8 or 10 characters, ready to go, at all times.  Half are general characters meant to be low level background characters or characters that develop, in some unkown direction, according to their early experiences IC.  The other half are characters that I have a special direction I want to pursue IC.   D-elves, magick users and soldiers are the most prevalent on that list.  Some of the background chatacters have turned out to be long lived and great fun to play.  Not every character starts out with a detailed plan.  I like creating the apps for all of the characters regardless of their depth or direction.

[Dar]

I generally have a rule. All people in Zalanthas are conditioned to be survivors, so they would never do a thing that is clearly suicidal without a good reason.

Having said that. I also allow them to be stupid. The burrrn is real. I'm somewhere between 105-115 characters right now, I think.

[Bogre]

The longer I've played, the more I stretch out between characters. Sometimes I'll make someone just to desert around a little bit before launching into the next one, but more and more I find myself pouring a lot of design time in. I used to just slam concepts like mad.

[Barsook]

I feel better too on how many characters I burn through either from dying or role hopping. And it seems always after a long lived one, which I only really have 2 of that's more than a half of a real life year (~5 IC years).

[najdorf]

Don't fool yourselves.  It's just a suicide-chain until you roll some sweet stats.

[Brokkr]

I thought this thread was going to be about Krathi.

[Armaddict]

I always had a high character count.  Until the last few years I was playing, I rarely lived that long (there were exceptions).  That was when the risk aversion meta kicked in.  Keep doing it, you're having more fun that way.

[xoobie]

After losing my first really played character, (though certainly not exactly long lived) I'm feeling super apathetic towards any of my ideas at the moment, and simpering around the "I won't enjoy it like that again" type mindset. I did make a new one instantly but really not feeling it, so I have a feeling I may be doing the same till something feels right.

It makes me feel super guilty that staff then have to process all those apps for no reason, so I was persevering but.. mllmlphh.

[Tranquil]

Whenever I lose a long-lived character, I usually take a few characters that each don't live very long due to lack of interest or what have you, before I finally latch onto a character that I really enjoy and can make long-lived like the last.

I guess my only piece of advice would be to make character concepts whilst playing your good characters, and to write them down somewhere so you can come back to them when they're dead or gone and see if any of them still excite you to play.

[X-D]

I tend to have a hard time burning through PCs, Almost every "throw away" I have made has ended up living WAY WAY past what was expected....Including current. I think I have something like 53 PCs on a more then 25 year old account.

[Jarvis]

Yep, happens to me aswell. Sometimes after a character I REALLY like and is long lived, I'll spend as much as six months or more just making dudes that live a couple IRL days or get stored. I have a lot of characters.

[williamson]

I tend to have a hard time burning through PCs, Almost every "throw away" I have made has ended up living WAY WAY past what was expected....Including current. I think I have something like 53 PCs on a more then 25 year old account.

Same for me. Since the account system was started in 1997, I've played 36 characters of which 4 stored.

[Harmless]

I stick with a role whenever possible if there are ongoing commitments of some kind with potential for growth. Things get less interesting but once I invest in a character enough that the tale feels "real," I honor the reality by trying to play it to a natural ending whenever possible.

Despite this My store rate is still nearly 5-10%. Some roles last about a full RL year or more. Total PCs about 70ish I think over about 15 years.