So, would it be entirely wrong of me to say that your primary motivation for Gren is writing out combative technology and armaments and their usage?

Because while that's a perfectly fair attraction (it's RWBY after all), I think if that's ALL that's there, it's just a limitation on your skills that you don't have any need for. If all your character is to you is their gear and fighting skills...

You could explore a lot more with him, you know? You can keep the upgrades as an eventual goal ([s]Shoutouts to my girl Gigi[/s]), but in the meantime, why not try and look at other sides of him? There's gotta be more than just that. The love of food, for instance? You could take that and the passion for cooking somewhere, and even if it's not too far, it could easily open up doors to other, more engaging stuff. Feasts are gatherings, maybe put one on and try to invite his friends and get some solid interaction down? Those sorts of situations oftentimes go a long way towards building connections and friendships between characters and, oftentimes, players. I first met Krayzikk waaaaaay back when some seven-odd years ago, when his character and mine both ended up being on the run from the same group and had to gut it out together, simply because my character was walking down the same alleyway.

Terrible example, but I hope the point's still there. You can take some small quirk or facet of your lad and use it to [i]go places[/i], even if they aren't the main point of why you wanted to play them.

Hypocritical though it is coming from me ("write more araragi, write more araragi, write more araragi"), I'd call exploring those other things a good start towards motivation. It's why I'm such a contest-whore, I get to look at different angles of Luke than the main game normally allows. It freshens up my takes on him, rounds him out and gives some supplemental info when I can sneak it in, and really helps me delve into how everything all connects back into [i]who[/i] he is.

Whenever one of those character-driven prompts comes up, maybe give it a shot. Someone's bound to run another contest eventually, assuming this game's a fighter and comes back from these maybe-death throes.