MIA Primes

[Tearen Wover]

So, sometimes due to life circumstances or loss of interest or burning out or whatever, writers stop posting as their characters, even if other people in the thread are still active.

Navigating this scenario is difficult because there are usually few IC ways to address the problem and progress the story.

But this is the Omniverse.

It's already been informally established that the Primes and Secondaries of writers who get banished or switch character explode into a white flash of Omnilium, similar to the fallout from a Prime's death.

Such an allegory for the discontinuation of a character does not apply to the topical scenario, because it can't be assumed that the character in question will never be played again. At the same time, not everyone is comfortable having the characters written for them.

Thus I propose we create an IC 'status' for MIA characters to make it easier to navigate these complexities. Here are a few options, but please propose your own if you like.


1. MIA Primes just explode - seems a tad unfair to just kill off a character who becomes deadweight, and there would probably need to be explicit rules as to how long the grace period is. Also, it hampers the ability of thosr writers to jump right back into the story.

2. MIA Primes Petrify - Either they turn into stone or go all spectral. This is essentially the most literal IC interpretation of a character being put on 'pause'. I like it, but it does have the drawback of the character having to be left behind.

3. The Tertiary - Tom's idea: the Primes are still technically active and are just assumed to be in the story. Probably the most conservative approach and definitely makes things easy on the AWOL writer. At the same time, I don't feel it fully addresses the problem.

4. The Phylactery - Similar to the Petrification approach, this would have the Prime enter a dormant, frozen state, but they would also somehow be able to travel with the group. I visualize this as, perhaps, the Prime turning into a small 'soul gem' of some kind that can be easily carried.


Any other ideas?

[Kakashi Hatake]

I think the main problem is that we don't always know that when someone's AWOL that they won't be back tomorrow or something (even if they've been gone for a while, I've seen stranger things happen). You'd kinda be writing yourself into a corner if you petrified someone and then they came right back. I've always seen it done Tom's way most of the time (like Harry showing up in Zack and Miranda's thread before going MIA). While I agree it doesn't really solve the problem, it seems like it's the easiest way to go about it. Maybe the first few posts after they go missing mentions them briefly and then after a while, the group is all "Where'd X go?"

I dunno. We could institute something like the phylactery or petrification, but I feel like it could lead to a lot of problems.

[Dark Link]

I think the easiest and simplest solution is to just write the character out of the story at the nearest convenient moment. That way, the character's 'exit' can be adapted to the needs of the story and also avoids any of the issues that killing or otherwise directly 'disposing' of the character would entail.

You say that not everyone is comfortable with having their character written for them, but frankly, that's the 'risk' you accept when you decide to roleplay with others. Not to mention that, with that person absent, the other participants kind of have to write for that person by necessity, if only to remove the character from the story. Since a member's absence inconveniences the person or people they are roleplaying with, I don't think it's unfair if others take control of the character briefly until they can safely remove them.

[Eon Saverem]

Idea:

Not my full intention to place more on the staff member's plates but if such an MIA occurs, possibly notify Omni or a staff member of MIA and duration of MIA, then they in turn chose to continue with this action.

Action being- Staff member writes out character, not in an explosive or stone way but in an individual way. "A giant flaming bird comes down a snatches the character" or "The ground seems to devour just that character" Then upon return (if ever to occur) the former MIA character can write himself back into the story.

Call it an "Omniccurrence" or something. Omni basically causes a random event to happen to the character. They are no longer a piece you have to Write and RP around but have been caught up in something Omni does for kicks.

Just a quick thought.

[Trixie]

I think the easiest and simplest solution is to just write the character out of the story at the nearest convenient moment. That way, the character's 'exit' can be adapted to the needs of the story and also avoids any of the issues that killing or otherwise directly 'disposing' of the character would entail.

You say that not everyone is comfortable with having their character written for them, but frankly, that's the 'risk' you accept when you decide to roleplay with others. Not to mention that, with that person absent, the other participants kind of have to write for that person by necessity, if only to remove the character from the story. Since a member's absence inconveniences the person or people they are roleplaying with, I don't think it's unfair if others take control of the character briefly until they can safely remove them.

This is pretty much it.

[Proto Man]

From an IC standpoint, there already is a canonical fate for 'abandoned' primes. What is that?

I dunno, go ask Omni.

From an OOC perspective... just write out the character (if a person vanishes, goes on leave, or changes characters). Also remember that if a character is changed from, you can assume that they are gone, for whatever reason, from the Omniverse. In some instances, people keep OCs as one of their Prime NPCs but canon primes should be considered gone in most situations (pending staff-approved exceptions).