[OOC] GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

[Ramzam]

I had been meaning to post for awhile, but PSO2 happened. Either way, my rig's going to be tied down overnight, rendering animation for finals. I'll find time to post around then. Not like I have an excuse not to find time right now... :d

[HopelessIncubus]

ill get one up tommarow, stuffs been getting hectic lately. sorry.

[Silverwind Blade]

Hey everyone - sorry I haven't got a post up so far. Every time I've been free to do one, the Guild has been down, or I haven't had the motivation.
I'm going away to visit my folks for Christmas as of today, and I'll see if I have time to get one up while I'm away. If not, I'll try and get something up after Christmas when I'm back.

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season if I don't get a post up beforehand.

[Silverwind Blade]

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you enjoy the holiday season, and it's everything you want. Best wishes for the New year too.

[Ramzam]

Don't worry, I'm sure we all plan to get as far from drunk as possible.

[Esailia]

Nyaa~....*HIc!* Happy cshrrristmas....Drunk kitty is...drun...*Falls facefirst and starts purring in her sleep*

[Silverwind Blade]

I thing I've drunk more in the last four days than I have in the last four weeks. I love christmas, yiuse gaiz.

[MachineSoul]

I lov uiou guyts Oi rewaly dioo

[Cartwright]

Everyone's acting drunk.. And I'm just sitting here going 'I'm the designated driver'

[Shadowman215]

Well I'm glad I drank less than all of...Oh fuck it what am I saying I got fucking shitfaced xD. Though I recover quick so...Yeah :D

[Silverwind Blade]

I'll try and get a post up soon, now I'm back home - though I expect everyone will still be on holiday-schedule until after New Years, of course!
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas though :)

[Esailia]

In light of no post in the IC for three weeks, I'm going to step up and get a post up. Sorry Silver, but I feel this'll help others see this isn't dead yet.

[Silverwind Blade]

TBH, I've kind of lost interest in running the game, and in online roleplaying at the moment. GEARs has been up for a year, and in that time we've barely covered a third of one mission and I've constantly had to sit around twiddling my thumbs. Things seem to just slow down to a crawl constantly, and it just leaves me not caring about posting any more, or having any real drive to come up with a storyline.
I love the setting, and I have a good group of players, but I'm honestly just finding it such a chore to post anything or even check the site. Not to mention the constant up-and-down of the site itself just makes it incredibly irritating to try and actually get anything done. And on top of that there's the people constantly coming and going all the time - we get new players, or returning players, and they're super-excited, glad to be here, build characters and GEARs... and then they disappear. Which means I have no real reason to plot anything for them either, and just get worn out giving a shit.

There's also all the constant having to plan how everything will fit together now that there's different types of units in the squad. I should've just limited the group to GEARs as it was supposed to be in the first place, as it would've been far less of a headache for me, and been a lot simpler too. In fact, ideally, I would've made everyone pilot the same model of GEAR just with different weapon systems, and be part of the same unit. But that would probably be hugely unpopular too.

Really, I'm just kind of burned out on online RP, after the combination of everything. I get more reward from writing, as I don't have to worry about waiting for other people to pitch in, or not get 'distracted' by whatever new shiny has come up, or to have to chase people down to get them to post all the damn time. Not to mention I can make sure the story goes the way it's supposed to, and that it fits the idea of what's in my head.

Sorry if everyone's disappointed, but honestly, I think I'm just tired of flogging a dead horse at this point. GEARs was fun and all, but I've just had enough of trying to make it work. I know people really like the setting and the game, but I've tried to get it working four or five times now, and it always just ends up crashing due to inactivity and the pace turning to a sluggish crawl, or everyone disappearing. And I'm tired of hearing people say they love it, want it to go, want to see the plot develop and blahblahblah, and then just watching the same things happen over and over again. So it's dead this time, and probably staying dead.

[Esailia]

Welp. I'm glad we got that sorted then. No more suspense for anyone who was waiting patiently for you to post back. I know this sounds harsh, I just feel let down personally after literally getting a response from you in under 4 hours, after you didn't say anything for over a week. Which means you kept up with checking on it as best you can, or was just coincidence you decided to check after over a week.

I was holding off from joining other RPs because I didn't want to feel bogged down, and I was getting into my role here. I was finally interacting with other participants on the field! After coming to you with my idea 11 months ago. I'm sorry that people come and go. Perhaps instead of shutting the entire thing down you cut those that don't post in a certain timeframe and no longer accept anyone else? Just an idea. I hope you reconsider, but if you don't, I enjoyed my time, and I wish you the best, Silver.

[Silverwind Blade]

Sorry that you're disappointed, and fair enough that it sounds harsh. I didn't say anything for a while, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. The thought of actually having to put something up just seemed like a massive pain in the arse, rather than something I wanted to do anymore.

The fact you feel strongly about it does make me think it might be worth continuing, and reconsidering. But frankly, you're the only person who's even bothered to get a post up in a week or more to say anything actually related to the damn game. Which is also doubly surprising considering you're playing the non-GEAR pilot as well, in a game squarely focused on mecha, and one of the more recent people to join in. Obviously christmas and New Years have been and gone, but even so - I think, if I continue, it might be time to cut the chaff.

I think you're right: It's time the group got whittled way, way down to those who can actually be arsed to get their posts up in good time, and show some enthusiasm and enjoyment when they do, rather than bitching about it or moaning.
I'm not doing this as a job, I'm doing it for my own enjoyment, and I'm going to make it enjoyable one way or another, and I want people who are enthusiastic and enjoyable to play with. I like this setting, and I like this story. And I'd like to actually see it through for once as well. So maybe it'll carry on. But I'm likely to be a lot harsher, because I'm tired of feeling like I'm having to shove things into action each time, and watch the game become a fucking revolving door, and slow down to a crawl.

A post will be forthcoming. If people don't respond to it, or to this one, then they're getting kicked off. I've already kicked off anyone who hasn't posted for ages, or replied to messages I've sent previously as well.

[Cartwright]

Heya stuff happens. Even I take a few stops here and there... Bummed out though that I had to wait 2x the wait the others did since there wasn't much to work with XD Now that the RP is enabling me to continue and I am hearing this news is just.. Well that's where the bummed out part came in. I'll post ASAP, and stand by until the end!

You ever thought about maybe calling forth a co gm? So the co-gm can take some of the responsibility?

[MachineSoul]

I understand your wish to terminate this. If you consider that all of this was in vain, then go ahead, eliminate the thread. Bear in mind several things, though:

You have inspired quite an amount of people (complete strangers you have no clue how they look like in real life, nor really had the chance to have nice chat, or a beer with them) with your original setting and no doubt, the story would be even more impressive should it be played through 'till to the end. Even if those people left early on or without notice, you still left quite an imprint on them, since you managed to muster up a handful of players to join in and participate and help write your world. Each with their own vision, skill, experience and writing ability helped to form what GEAR is. Remember, you are working with people, individuals that have their own lives, their own perspectives, visions, ambitions and passions different from one to another, but share these three peculiar interests: roleplaying, anthropomorphic characters and fictive armed robots; of course it is hard to bring together people and keep them engaged in something that, whether you like it or not, may turn into something they didn't like anymore. I for one have considered leaving a few times during my stay, but I pulled through for the sake of the good feeling I would experience after I'd finish one of my gargantuan posts, read it through and see how people react to it and use it to shape their own actions and progress through the story. That is what I find most fascinating about roleplaying with a good group: the ability to adapt, change and write something that ties in together other people's texts while adding their own.

The guild has been extremely unstable during the holidays, people were absent through the holidays too. Everything has its dead times, nothing ever steamrolls without a few hiccups on the road. But, maybe, not everyone has been completely MIA. I've checked daily for any updates, anything new on the IC or OOC. I couldn't possibly reply at the time as I'd have nothing to complete at the moment since I've pretty much conditioned myself to react to both Esailia and HopelessIncubus; maybe there are other people around that check every now and then and I have to congratulate Esailia for being perseverant enough to write a post, even if it is three weeks after the last IC post. It is still a confirmation that someone is still interested and wishes to participate in your world. About the rest, I am not sure, but it is safe to assume that both me and Es are solidly standing our ground and wish to continue, if you also want that.

Think about yourself too. What is the real reason it became a chore? Is it just the external factors? Isn't it also something that comes from within? No, writer's block is not real, it is a myth, a prettier way to say "I'm bored", or "I'm thinking really hard, I may come up with something later". You've rebooted GEARs several times already, was it always the same fault? Were the people involved to blame, was it the hosting site? Like Es suggested, a change is needed to keep people engaged. For people like Es and myself, it is easy to stay connected since we pretty much chose rather weird characters and roles: Es controls not a singular character, but a fire team, which brings a very dynamic aspect on her side of things, while I chose to be a pilot corpsman, a hybrid unit that is constantly on the run to either take lives or save them. Giving everyone the same GEAR? Definitely not. Having a more restricted selection from which other players can choose their own model? Sounds like a better idea, as being too rigid will drive people away. As for those who write CSs and never show up, I recommend making a background check on those people before accepting them in the team, see if they're sudden leavers. At least, you are nice enough to announce the possibility of aborting this roleplay.

You could always write this story on your own, of course, but it is clear that sharing it with an interactive group of strangers sounds more appealing to you than to do everything solo. I am also considering to write a book of my own, yet, I share a bit of it with a good friend of mine to help me with playing as the protagonist of the story so he could give me the chance to learn how to write a character completely different from my style of writing; the process is extremely tedious, me and him both agree, but so far, we are very pleased with the results, even if it is still a very choppy, early draft.

In the end, it is completely up to you what you want to do with it. I don't talk much through the OOC as I always find myself placing stupid posts in the most awkward of times, trying to fit in other people's conversation or trying to keep up with an inside joke so hard that I murder it (the bad way), but I felt like I wanted to share my thoughts here in the open. They may be rambly and lack a logical structure, but English is not my first language and I am also already exhausted, two days into this week. I cared enough to participate, write in my free time and enjoy my stay here, even if I too brought some unpleasant moments for being too late with my posting schedule; with all that, I stood by and like I stated months ago, I will stand until this thread will reach its end. My post will be finished tomorrow night.

[Esailia]

Going to see if HopelessIncubus comes back in the next few days, if not, I'll post to push the people with me. On that thought, I won't be posting for a few days, so Aidan, Go crazy. Oh, also....tossed an extra paragraph onto my last post for you, Soul. =3

[HopelessIncubus]

ive been here as much as the guild would let me, ill see about a post up in the morning, its 1 am here.

[Esailia]

Good to hear! ^_^ Glad you're still with us