Hello everyone, there's no easy way to say this, so I'll just be blunt. As of today, I'm sadly going to step down as the GM for this RP.

The reasons for this decision are numerous. Chief among them though is the very foundation and trigger for me creating this RP in the first place, namely to see how I felt about running my own RP again. Over the past year(s), I've attempted to start several RPs, that either didn't get out of the Interest Check-state, or that were cancelled/terminated before they could even begin. Often, the reason for this was due to some RL interference or hindrance at the time. But there've also been times where either the lack of interest from the community, or my own doubts in my capabilities of leading a group in asn RP have gotten the better of me.

Thus, in a sense, this roleplay was created partly as an experiment for myself. To see how I felt and thought about the prospect of being in charge and trying to provide players with an enjoyable experience. As you can probably tell from the fact that this post existing, I'm not happy with the results and performance. My own results and performance.

Having lead this RP for a while now, it's become quite clear to me that I, as a person, just don't have that certain something that one needs in order to drive and head an RP. Planning, foresight, the ability to compromise, leadership, and whatever else have you... I seem to fall short in these categories. Which, coupled with some other reasons, of a personal nature, I've come the conclusion that, well, I'm just not suited for being a GM.

Now, what does that mean for this RP? If this'd been me a few years ago, I would've just slapped a big ol' [RP DED!!!) tag on the title and told you all some humbug about time-restraints or some other hoo-haa. But, since there are people still checking this RP and soem of you seem to be enjoying yourselves, despite my ineptitude, I've decided to leave this RP in your hands. If you guys want to stay and keep going, that's fine and dandy. And , if you don't, well... I hope you all find new RPs that you casn enjoy and have fun in and enjoy.

If any of you want to be promoted to Co_GM status, to gain access to some minor admin-priveleges for this RP, feel free to shoot an @ me, send a PM or something, and I'll gladly set you up. If you want something edited, like in the first OOC post or in the Character Tab, like the NPCs and what not, also let me know, and I'll be happy to assist.

I Feel bad for dropping this so suddenly, especially to our newer players who just got off the waiting list, but I don't believe in forcing yourself to do something if you're not enjoying it. And I don't think it'd be a fun experience if I were to keep writing posts and handling things if I wasn't motivated or putting as much effort into it as I could/should. I apologize for this, but that's how the cookie crumbled. Or something along those lines.

Regardless of my own circumstance and feelings, I do really wish you all the ebst, and want to thank all of you for taking part in this RP. It's served as an important eye-opener and have finally allowed me to come to terms with a question that's been gnawing at me for a very long tume. I've also had fun watching the various characters and interaction.

Whatever you all decide to do from ehre on, I do wish you the best of luck and thank you once again.

Me resign as GM 'cuz I stinx and give RP to you's guys.

For what it's worth I felt like you were doing fine, the only thing I personally would've maybe tried to do more (and this has nothing to do with your method and everything to do with the fact I have Worldbuilding Disease) is point players in more concrete directions and give more OOC knowledge of what's available by using the Setting itself. For instance, a descriptive blurb of each Environment with a few lists of the basic monsters that might be encountered there, the basic resources that are there, and any potential challenges Players might face there---for instance, maybe the Swamp has a chance for something like: "You get mired in the mud, adding 1 hour to your travel time," which means Players might find themselves caught outside the village at night, or not being able to accomplish all their plans that day and having to adjust. You could still leave room for things to be discovered in the "deeper" areas of each biome, or just outright omit certain things from the list (complete with a ??? mark to whet the Player's appetite for curiosity).

Maybe also a list for the Village itself containing not only descriptive info, but how long certain tasks will take. The safer and more developed the Village became, the less upkeep might be needed---right now "House Repair" would take 3 or 4 hours to advance the house from "Ruined" to "Abandoned," and 2 or 3 more to advance it from "Abandoned" to "Fixer-Upper." So Players could structure their activities around what they want to accomplish, but once the Village itself is stable they're literally given more time to do other things, subtly pushing them towards unexplored regions of the map.

The flaw in that method is that it sometimes feels railroady or like it takes the "discovery" out of things, which for a Slice of Life, cozy farm RP like this one is vital. You're not aiming to push Players along with a plot, you want people to play out their roles and be chill, and that's fine too. Aiming for something free-form and relaxing can be better than something rigid and structured, it all just depends on Players and GMs and communication.

A piece of GMing advice that has helped me a great deal whenever I think "Okay, my Players are going to be in THIS Hub Area for a while, what do I need?" or "I want my Players to have reasons to leave the starting block and go Here, There, and Over Yonder; how do I motivate them?" is this:

"Every Scene/Session, give Players choices to: Go Cool Places; Talk to Interesting NPCs; Learn New Info; Fight something; and/or Get a Reward. All choices should achieve Plot Progress somehow!"

For a non-action based RP, you could replace "Fight Something" with "Complete a Challenge." Maybe you tell Players "A powerful storm is blowing in on the horizon! You have 1 hour to prepare!" and now Yingmei has to chase down all her chickens and Akitsugu has to help Darryl nail everybody's windows shut. You've actually already accomplished most of the stuff on the list, in my opinion---Cool Places, with Rewards in the form of Resources; Interesting NPCs, who can tell the Players New Info; and the Plot Progress in this context is the progression of the Village itself being rebuilt.

Don't be so hard on yourself, I enjoyed this RP a lot and didn't really think anything was going wrong at all. If you felt anxious or worried, or like people weren't being active enough, it's okay to communicate those things.

Don't be so hard on yourself, I enjoyed this RP a lot and didn't really think anything was going wrong at all. If you felt anxious or worried, or like people weren't being active enough, it's okay to communicate those things. Maybe consider a more structured approach next time that lays out more information for Players instead of trying to nudge them along with hints or relying on their own sense of discovery/exploration, but that also just might not be your preferred GM style.