Dark Jack

The Prophecy

See, I get the sentiment, Legion, I really do... and I really don't want to say what I'm about to say because I know it's going to come off very harsh, but for the sake of the RP I feel that by now, with how things have been going, I have to toughen up a bit. Let's look at the probability of your statement of not getting time off to write for the RP from a mathematical standpoint.

Let's presume that the length of a post is 2000 words. This is in the high end and well above average for most players, but for the sake of the argument let's just presume that your next post would have been longer than average.

Next is typing speed in words per minute. An average person typically writes at around forty words per minute, but that's just typing. Then you have to think about what you write, possibly do some research here and there and read and reread passages of previous posts, which all take up time. On the other hand, much of the thinking is done passively while doing other things, so it doesn't necessarily take up a lot of writing-time. For the argument's sake let's say you use half the time you work on your post actually typing, and say that your real typing speed would be around 20 words per minute.

2000 / 20 = 100 minutes for a post. Because I've thought ahead, I'll just go ahead and convert that to 100 * 60 = 6000 seconds.

Now, for simplicity's sake let's say that it has been exactly half a year since your turn came up in the RP. That's 6 * 30 = 180 days (would actually be 183 because the number of days in a month is stupid, but I'll disregard that for now).

6000 / 180 = 33.3333 seconds per day. Let's round that up to 40, because why not, it's a prettier number, makes room for unexpected circumstances and doesn't really change my point.

Now obviously no one is going to spend forty seconds a day writing something, but are you telling me that you don't even have - on average - forty seconds of free time a day? I can't say that isn't the case, but shit, that's seriously unhealthy if it is. It's harsh, I know, but I hope you realize just how improbable it seems to me that you've actually been that busy... and if you have, you have bigger problems than me moaning about posts.
Now for the big question, though: do you see anything in your future that promises to change this? Because unless your circumstances change so that I can expect you to be more active than... well, that, I can't really justify letting you set the pace.

The Prophecy

In case it wasn't clear from my previous post I don't want to do this, but I just realized that we can't just keep hoping that "soon" will finally come. I don't simply erase characters from existence, either, even if they are written out of the story; every character abandoned by its player is still around in one way or another (though some more intact than others... a certain character abandoned mid-fight, for instance, is less than recognizable at this point), nor would I simply cast any characters purged during this attempt at reviving the RP into the abyss. I might not elaborate on what happens to them, but they still exist.

And yeah, sounds like a plan.

As for the Zerul City-group, you can do that if you prefer, yoshua, as long as it gets things moving. I will have to introduce one of my characters regardless, I feel, but I suppose it doesn't have to happen as the first thing of the day. It'd be no trouble, either; I have (and have had for a long time) a couple of characters standing by in Zerul City that'd have been potential recruits for the party once they got there anyway, one of which unsurprisingly is the previously-acquainted-with-I'on Thomas Remdal. Who could conveniently point the three of them in the right direction to continue the other groups' quest, if such became necessary.

The Prophecy

@Shienvien@yoshua171@cthulu@Legion X51@Mercinus3@Rhaevnn Xeno@Ashgan

Last night, when I was once again lying sleepless in bed, I found my mind wandering as it is wont to do, and my thoughts - as is often the case - turned to The Prophecy. I pondered the various plans I have for the future of the RP, the characters and creatures yet undiscovered or barely elaborated on yet, I lamented the fact that it seemed like none of it would get to see the light of day... and suddenly, I had an epiphany. The kind of ground-shattering realization that ensured I got no rest that night, and which has stayed on my mind all day until now, when I finally have the time to sit down and share this monumental discovery.

I am the fucking GM.

Rudimentary, I know, yet something I conveniently allowed myself to reduce to insignificance. I knew I was the GM, obviously, but last night it dawned upon me that I'm the freaking GM of The Prophecy, who's run the damn show for years.
I allowed myself to be placated and pacified by the fact that other players have been here since the beginning, that characters have grown and lived, that people have gotten invested in them and that their stories all matter. I persistently told myself that everyone involved in this RP have lives of their own, and that I needed to respect that and make room for them regardless; that even if I could kick a player or a character, it was worth a great deal of distress to avoid doing so.

Allowed. Told. Needed. Could. Was. Past tense.

Obviously people have their own lives, can be busy, can be delayed... But when damn near half a year goes by, there's no excuse short of death or total incapacitation. I have been content for way too long to just sit on my hands and wait, telling myself that there's nothing I can do, that the players aren't posting and that I can't run the RP without the players. I have been stuck thinking that "we agreed", "I promised" and "the plan is".
Fuck that. The RP resumes at any cost.

We have heard nothing from Nessa for ages, so I can only presume that she has truly made her departure from the RP. Since it appears to be extremely difficult to permit Aemoten to meet the Zerul City-group, that's no longer in the cards. Plans: gone. It pains me, but Aemoten and Thaler are out of the picture. Outta here.
No one has posted anything in the scene with Jaelnec's group, either. Either this changes immediately, or drastic measures are taken in hand with them, too; depending on player attendance, total removal of those characters - including Jaelnec and Olan - are options not beyond considering.
I haven't heard from Ashgan in forever. If he doesn't show up now, Jillian and Gerald's story is at its end as well. If he's here, the show must go on, and it's time to introduce his second character.
In case you lost count, that's three of my own best and most precious characters that I'm currently dangling off the edge of a cliff, willing to sacrifice all of them for the RP.

Finally, there's the Zerul City-group. Rhaevnn, Merc and yoshua, who have exhibited the patience of saints. I hope you are all ready, and that you have a preference in terms of what your characters will do next, because it's time to get things moving. I can make stuff happen early next morning, letting the future come knocking on I'on's door, or I can let your characters reassemble first.

If anyone takes issue with any of this, let me remind you that I am the fucking GM, and that this story will continue. I'll gather an entire new cast of players if I have to, but so help me, I won't let this RP die.

It's a new day, and a new year on the horizon. Time to get shit done.

The Prophecy

I'm here, I'm just... out of things to say. Don't know what to do. At this point it feels like I'd pretty much have to purge the majority of the player characters to give the RP a chance to move forward, and... I guess I'm still hesitant to do that. Particularly since one of the characters that'd be purged is the exact one I'm currently depending on to reactive the Zerul City-group...

I guess I'm just tired of trying again and again to get things moving.

The Prophecy

Well then, let's hear what people would prefer, @Rhaevnn Xeno, @Mercinus3 and @yoshua171 specifically, since you are the ones that would be immediately affected by the decision: do you want to continue your characters' story imminently, freeing them from their reliance on encountering Aemoten's group but potentially (not assuredly) missing this particular opportunity to join them, or would you rather continue waiting?

I agree with Shien that skipping to next week is quite a stretch; I needn't remind you that I keep track of what goes on everywhere IC, not just in the immediate vicinity of the characters, and would have to pretty much simulate an entire week's worth of events everywhere... and then retroactively change all of those events as the characters still in the past do whatever they end up doing. Even without something as jarring as the future-occupying characters being in a place that turns out to be destroyed by present-occupying characters, circumstances can change in a lot of ways. I'd really prefer that all characters stay relatively close to occupying the same time so I won't have to deal with paradoxes and the like. Still, considering how exhausted the characters are, it'd probably skip at least to the next morning. Where to go from there, well... that'd be up to the characters.

The Prophecy

Let's not fall back into silence just yet, but please let's be constructive. Right now, what is actually stalling progress?

The Prophecy

I can only imagine how thin your patience must have worn by now, Merc, and I'm aware that you and the others have been waiting for far too long, many times as long as I had hoped it would take and even longer than I ever had the imagination to fear it would be; as I just said in my previous post that is one of the reasons that I really can't keep just silently accepting the absence of posts. I haven't heard anything about anyone reacting to anything I've done in such a way, which honestly doesn't do them any favors in my eyes and display a complete lack of willingness to communicate and work towards the good of the RP and its players. That kind of behavior makes me think that such a person was incompatible with the way I run things. Those kinds of issues don't go away on their own, usually... it takes talking to solve them.
(That last part obviously wasn't meant for you, Merc, but for the as of yet anonymous player you mentioned.)

And the thing is, while I would prefer to be the agreeable and understanding GM that endeavors to accommodate everyone, there has to be a point where I say "enough". I am prepared to write out characters if that is what it takes, even if doing so ends up seriously affecting a lot of other characters and players, but I would prefer not to do that and find a different solution instead and wanted to give the people we're waiting for a chance to help finding a solution.

I don't know why people would prefer to try to sabotage the RP rather than talk through what is wrong, but I imagine part of it might come from the fact that people more and more go to Shien with their thoughts and concerns instead of me, making her the one people work with constructively and me the "bad guy" that keep complaining about everything. Now, I'm fine with people going to Shien for most part - she knows a lot about the TP-universe and I have nothing but trust and respect for her - but completely shutting me out just isn't going to work.

So yeah... Here I am, trying one more time to find a way to move forward cooperatively and figure out what the problems causing people to post so very slowly are. And yes, if we can't find the tools to constructively improve the situation, I'm prepared to break out a bulldozer and force things along if needed.

The Prophecy

I keep thinking that there should be no point in me even saying anything, that bringing attention to the fact that it's gotten to the point where there's an uncomfortably long wait between posts, particularly with people being on standby waiting. I keep thinking that I've pointed it out so many times in the past that surely you must know how I feel about it... We even made a big deal out of it a while back when the rules changed to guidelines and such.

But here I am despite myself, remarking upon the complete lack of activity, even the basic communication I pleaded for back then. So, time for me to ask: am I supposed to do something? Are you truly in such a lack of time, or do you simply require me to hound you for every single post? Something else? What do I need to do in this situation, people?

The Prophecy

*cough*

The Prophecy

Duchy of Pelgaid, secluded pond

When Jillian spoke it was her manners that alerted Gerald to her less-than-optimal condition first, even before his mind had the time to fully comprehend the words that had been directed at him. “Gerald”? “Be a dear”? Hearing Jillian speak to him like that, particularly after the way last night had ended, felt so out of place that his instincts immediately registered that something was wrong. Even Crone seemed to notice her fellow witch’s distress as she looked up from what she was doing, her expression one of annoyance in contrast to the warlock’s own of concern.
Water, he thought, looking around only for a couple of seconds before he realized that the most suitable container at hand to hold liquid was his own tea-mug, which he swiftly produced from his robe as he turned to the pond, only to pause once more. The pond... not only had it just last night both served as their visual medium to channel a demon lord and as Jillian’s bath-water, but it was also host to a number of plants and animals and was given an unappetizing greenish tint by algae; he was pretty sure that it would be far from a perfect source of drinking water. As he stood there staring at the pond it felt as though every detail of it grew sharper and more vivid to his eyes, his focus shifting from a late swarm of mosquitoes dancing over the surface in preparation of laying the last eggs of the year – eggs that would soon add to the doubtlessly already present population of larvae – , to a toad hiding among a patch of reeds, to some nondescript piece of floating object resting virtually motionlessly in the water near the opposite shore. What was beneath the surface? Gerald’s stomach churned in protest to the very thought of drinking anything that came out of there.
Yet he had to draw water from there if he was to grant Jillian’s request; there was no longer time to sleep and recuperate, no more room to waste energy conjuring water through magic. So with a disgusted grimace and the taste of bile in his throat, Gerald went and quickly dipped his mug in the water, trying his very hardest not to imagine what else he was collecting along with it.

“Renold,” he called with a significantly greater amount of desperation in his voice than the situation realistically called for, “please start a fire, quickly, so I can boil this.”
It took a moment before the dragon stirred, yawned so deeply that it beached the floating object Gerald had noticed earlier, and then infuriatingly appeared to almost fall back asleep before the necromancer went up to the giant reptile and delivered a feeble but earnest kick to one of his haunches.
“Renold! Fire! Now!”
“Ugh,” the Elder Green groaned as his brilliant eyes opened with all the hardship of heavy gates that had remained shut and untouched for decades, to the point of Gerald almost imagined hearing an actual creaking sound with the action. “What?”
“Start a fire! I need to boil this water and I can’t spare the energy to do it with magic!”
“Huh... Little one, did you actually wake me up to serve the role as tinderbox? No respect for the elderly these days.” He produced a sound not unlike a cough, spewing a quick a gout of flame from his jaws that managed to reignite the remains of their campfire from the night. “You know, breathing fire is not something we can do indefinitely either... We get hungry faster the more we do it. I remember one time...”
“Whatever,” Gerald grumbled, having already moved to the fire and set the mug atop a stone amidst the flames.

While all of that happened, however, Crone had retrieved her inventory from the ground and gone to Jillian’s side, looking at her with her ancient gaze as she knelt beside her.
“Have you succumbed to illness?” she asked with a remarkable lack of concern in her voice. “Has fever taken you? You appear to perspire.”