This is not an advocacy of rushing anything, this is a matter of fact that even for a play by post tabletop, we are far behind the curve in story, mechanical progression and activity. I am understanding people have lives, that isn't my complaint, it is that with the way things have been, others have been forced to wait four, five, [i]six[/i] or so days for [i]one[/i] post, only to turn around and wait another four or so days for another and so on until their own turn.

That is beyond excuse. It does not take roughly two weeks to make any major plot advancement. No less, this synergizes poorly with the circumstances.

Yes, we are vastly outnumbered and lacking in preparation. It is a 1st level adventure and I would wager they wrote it that way on purpose to put us out of our league so we have a story arc. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is the fact we have [i]virtually nothing to show for it[/i] that irritates me. We have, as I said before and will again, run into the Hollywood problem where we wedged a bunch of character elements and individual plot development into a small span of time.

Torus has been cleansed of his malady, Orchid fought a dragon, Kyra has saved her mentor and her temple, and Parum has confronted her optimism with realism. I leave myself out simply for the sake of saying that my opinion on it is biased and given my stand point, you can gather I view it as much too fast for him as well.

Some of this can be seen as revealing information and insight about them, whereas others are the sort you go and say, "That [i]already[/i] happened for this character? At 1st level? What?" For some that might be fine, that isn't mine to judge, but that is a huge amount of ground covered all the same.

To change topics and points, I realize and state that I am aware there are different rates of posting. But again I say, is no one bothered we are [i]still[/i] in Greenest doing the [i]exact[/i] same thing we were doing a year ago? The biggest upset was the dragon, which I am thankful for in the meta because it shook things up. We [i]needed[/i] something to change the story because it was, and is now back to, "Beat up bandits who give us nothing."

Is it fun? Of course. I enjoy writing combat. But I can say for myself that nothing has become dynamic about that. We are still out of spells, wandering through the woods and street, fighting enemies who have no plot relevance. People make fun of "mooks" in fantasy stories for that very reason, which I understand, but what changes is where they are and why they are. This scenario? This conflict?

It does not take a year to resolve. There is no explanation for it that would be or will be suitable. I will hear out those claims day and night, but I will not agree to them.

In rebuttal to character death, that is all fine and well that you see it that way, but some of us don't want their time wasted. I have been in this topic as with some of you for the entire year. Is it really unreasonable to say, "I have invested [i]a lot[/i] of time and effort in this roleplay. If my character dies now at this point, I basically wasted a year of my life on a character in this topic."

Is everyone else affected? Maybe, maybe not. As you admitted they are all none too invested in each other. That comes with time, experience and progression. But it only solidifies the point of why that is such a problem and a danger. I will freely admit I would and will walk out on this game if I die, not because I "lost", but because I have only so many slots for topics on the Guild and only so much patience for my time to be spent. I know some enjoy writing for the sake of doing so, but I am here to tell a story; losing that and the stakes in it is losing everything I worked for.

I could care less about the argument of the "game stopping as a whole" because there have been plenty of times this thread has ground to a near halt. Fortunately, we have a Dungeon Master who doesn't just up and disappear, which I would say is a rare saving grace on the Guild. No less, that isn't my point or appeal, which I will state again is that if I invest time and effort into a character, spend a year of my time writing for them and advocating their angle, I am going to be pretty damn annoyed to have them die to luck of the draw because we aren't even close to the level to [i]do[/i] anything about it. 

No less, wedging in new characters feels akin to that; wedged and forced. I was so astonished and pleased to find someone actually staying when we added Torus that he became my favorite character because of it. Not that I think anyone else's character is bad, but because of the timing he appeared, followed by Kyra who managed well too. Introductions of new characters is so bad in most cases, or short lived, you see it as a Dungeons and Dragons meme on the internet.

To close, one might ask about my solution if I have so many problems, to which I will answer with this.

First, get rid of milestone and go direct to experience based. We level up when we get the points to do so. No waiting, no delaying, no hemming and hawing. It is done. If you don't update your character sheet by the next combat or check you need to make, then that is unfortunate for you; you are where you are if and when that happens.

Second, a post timeframe needs to be enforced. If you cannot post in the limit, say so in the out-of-character section with what you want or would do. We go from there. If need be, ask the Dungeon Master to please assume your role and treat you as a non-player character until you return. Or even let someone else in the party take your turn or post for you; I am truly indifferent to either, all I care about is the results of not being delayed again. Stay out long enough and you get removed from the game for inactivity.

Third, if you aren't active in the out-of-character, you aren't active in the game either. Try to pre-plan, or at least plan or discuss actions. When all of us are waiting on one or two opinions over and over again, it gets old.