Fresh Blood
by Karrin Jackson
August 11, 2003
[i]Sometimes I sit around and reminisce over characters past, their stories, and how insanely long I’ve been at this seemingly pointless hobby. I mean seriously, those are years of my life I’ll never get back, where I could’ve been doing something productive, like, uh… watching television. Anyway, the point is, when you’ve been at the game for months, then years, what happens to your characters and their stories? Has anyone ever actually concluded a character’s story? Or do we play them until the game collapses, then either transfer or try something new?
I started MU*ing in 1993. I haven’t kept a single character for the duration. I think the longest I’ve had a character is five years. I finally retired him after realizing the only way to keep him playable was to take on a bunch of IC responsibility which also equated to a bunch of OOC responsibility, and let’s face it, I log in to play. This is why I take low-level PCs who tend to be screw-ups. Avoiding responsibility is, for me, as much a part of the hobby as telling a good story. I’m a hobbyist shirker. I’d go pro, but I just don’t have that kind of dedication.
The purpose of this month’s article is twofold. I want to discuss concluding a character’s story, while taking a look at the idea of on-going stories vs. the little-used notion of a story’s pre-determined limited lifespan. Since I can only really speak for myself and my own experiences here, I welcome feedback in the forum. I’m curious about how others view the longevity of their characters.
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Continue the Article HERE.
