To Retire, or Not to Retire?

[Verilian]

Fear not, I am not talking about retiring as a storyteller. That's not gonna happen in the foreseeable future. I am talking about characters. It is always the worst feeling in the world when I come to the conclusion that it would be better to just retire a character than keep it. I feel like I have done it too much, but I also haven't had that many characters. But right now I've got one, maybe two, who I just don't want anymore. He has gone stale, has fallen so far from my original vision that I just don't want him anymore. I could save him, possibly, but I don't want to. Is it wrong of me to just get rid if the character? Am I just being lazy? As I said, I feel like I've retired a lot. Wing, Delphi, Liam, and another whom I can't even remember the name of anymore. Is four a lot? Would adding a fifth be bad? How many characters have other people retired? Is it as hard for you as it is for me? I just am wondering what other people think out there.. so if you don't mind, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[Gossamer]

Retiring Nya when Mike left was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Even if I wasn't playing her much it was comforting to know my cool Talderian Forest Cat was always there if I needed her.

[Growl]

I think it depends on the pc. I've retired a few- four total. The first two weren't so bad. The first being my original pc, who was just so dumb it was painful, the second an inarta who couldn't exactly just up and leave. And who couldn't really switch classes. It was kind of depressing. The third one in, my Chaktawe, was depressing though. I missed her the moment I retired her. Eyktol wasn't the happening place it is now though, and people just poofed. No one to thread with and I abandon pcs. Her and a Kelvic... I was really, really in the mood to figure out how to write them, but it just isn't me. So, I guess what I'm saying is, no it's not a bad thing. Yes it can be sad, but as long as you don't kill them off, you can always make them come back in the future. <3 Growl

[Alnair]

I feel like that as well, I have already retired my Drykas and now I have a Kelvic I'm considering retiring, I can't seem to connect with her anymore, and my Kelvic isn't very well planned either I admit, and to keep writing them would feel stiff and non rewarding, yet I don't like giving up on my PC's. If I'm to keep my Vantha I need to evolve her personality a lot if I want to keep her active. But generally I don't think it's so bad retiring your PC's, it may be hard with some but I for one have a habit of rushing in to things and thinking later and then I realise the character isn't so well planned and I think it's better to retire a PC's than to keep writing when it doesn't feel right.

[Verilian]

I am trying to re-inspired myself for the specific character I was thinking about, but the other one is still in question. We'll see what happens.

[Cheshire]

I completely get where you are with this V. I've retired my fair share of PCs. Five if I am not mistaken. Most of them were impulse characters. I was new and wanted to try all the different races. Some of them, two in particular were hard to retire though. Kita, my very first character, was the hardest. She was a lot like me and I really did like her. Sadly, she was riddled with noobish errors in her creation. Her backstory was set in Avanthal and when I finally get Avanthal up, her backstory didn't make sense anymore. The other one that was hard to drop was Kellan. I REALLY liked him but for some reason, I just did not want to play him anymore. It was like he wasn't telling me what was in his head. I felt like I was forcing everything and it was not fair to the other people I was writing with. So in conclusion, I get what you mean. Some characters have connections to other characters and that makes it even harder. I know that aspect has stopped me from retiring a character I was not feeling anymore.

[Mazirion]

I'm in the same situation with my first character (this one) who turned out to be a flop that I feel no empathy for. How would one go about retiring a character?

[Growl]

PM one of the founders, and they can do it for you.

[Mazirion]

Thankee kindly, now I'll get off your topic.