Still floundering. [Try to avoid the runaround please]
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Play something else for a while. Never - ever- WL or give up on a character.
Just…I don't know. I myself go and play something else, as in a different game, rather than a different server (most of the server tend to be overly complicated or stupidly simple. And boring) Go play something new for a while. Or old even. Read a book. Read some fanfiction (keep the brain bleach handy...). Get some ideas of what you might like your character to do and then go do them and damn the torpedos!
I come back to Coa because things happen here. I tend to miss a lot thanks to my timezone, but the RP and friendly players (who don't mind the odd crazy moment or three) are at least in the top three of any server I've seen.
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WL a character is a very final solution that cannot be undone, and therefore cannot be remedied if you come to regret it. Take a break from Lisa. Just make a pointless true neutral mercenary tank who runs around helping newbies (hey, I do it all the time). Make a rogue/ranger with skill focus in hide and ms and explore the whole server. Take a break from the game altogether and spend time writing, I would love to read some stories and poems by you! I'll show you my writing if you show me yours! Hell, make a bard character who's a writer, for that matter! (reminds me, I have some stories that "Andrea" wrote that I need to get around to putting up on the board). But whatever you do, never, ever WL a character that has ever meant anything to you.
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I agree with the above people.
Make a very simple alt that doesn't focus on plotting.
For example, because my fivestars merchant was very plot and intrigue oriented, I made an alt that was a simple mercenary (with the twist of favoring unarmed combat AND twohanded swords).It was all fun and games, light rp in mids of questing and literally acting as a mercenary for a few plot quests, but never really getting into quests…
It was very lighthearted and fun, and I fully recommend it. Just don't kill Lisa off just because you now feel stuck - I've done that twice, and regretted it both times some time later.
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If your losing the motivation and "feel" to play a characater - because thats all it is really (Goals, things your character can do can always be made up if you think about it, as mentioned above), what I do is and this may sound weird:
Close my eyes, put on some good music and imagine my character like it was in a movie, and play through it like one - imagining epic battles and plots, for example I imagined my Tiefling walking down the streets of Arabel like a boss, people running and screaming in fear as he flicks his hands towards the sky, demons pouring through to invade - I imagined the battle and intensity of it and so forth.
I actually did this and got the idea from my imagination before I poured demons through (ALthough in the end they didn't come from the skies :evil: )
Okay, so that might be a weird suggestion - but my point and what captured me to COA in the first place was my imagination, something I could make come real in this game because you can do almost anything you want to imagine in the setting. I've always imagined myself as the character.
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I personally lean in the opposite direction to most the advice you have been given.
If you take a break from a character for a long while they will be somewhat irrelevant to the goings on of the server when you return, still giving you that floundering feeling.
If this becomes normal, if everyone refuses to let go of their characters until they personally think the characters story is done, the server will quickly become stagnant and boring.
You should ask yourself why it is that you are bored with the character, why you can't make things work and most importantly why you would want to keep playing a character you are no longer enjoying when you log in.
If the answers involve the words loot, levels, friendships or anything else involving the amount of time invested in a character it really is time to roll a new one.
White light, take a break, come back with something fresh.
I'm sure you have more than one story to tell.
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@Cunning:
I personally lean in the opposite direction to most the advice you have been given.
If you take a break from a character for a long while they will be somewhat irrelevant to the goings on of the server when you return, still giving you that floundering feeling.
I agree with this. Very rarely have I seen returning characters get into current events after a long brake with the same success as their previous appearance on the story of the server. Not that it cannot happen though. It is just rare.
(The above is a comment from someone who returns characters more than occasionally, its kinda like my thing…)
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I disagree about difficulty of getting back into things. If you take a long break, then getting into current things is no more difficult with a returning character than it is with a brand new one.
Definitely don't WL Lisa, though. I know the character is important to you so I'm certain you'll regret it if you do, so never burn your bridges (unless a few Legionaires are standing on the bridge, of course). Maybe Lisa feels at a loss for how best to pursue her Duty and needs to travel to a temple of Hoar to seek the advice of a cleric of her own Faith and to pray for guidance? Good IC reason to give for her being absent for a while, if that's what you need.
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Topic #183403479 will recieve Answer #183403479.
Every year people ask the same thing and they get the same answers. IMO, people need to take a step back from their characters lives. It's quite disturbing.
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i have some new rules i have been following for some time that have been making things fun for me
-try to focus your RP on new characters,specifically new players (sometimes you can have fun with veteran players with new characters, but many times they already have a vision and they are rushing through the lower levels to get to that goal and they do not have time, try to RP with those ones, but do not get in their way) and yes there are still new players showing up who are not grievers, as interest starts to wane in the game many other servers will start to pack it in, many of these veteran RPer but new to COA player will be looking for a home as they are addicted to the game. I have noticed now i am finding at least one of these every week or two as opposed to about one a month or two(new players for various reasons be it lost server or new to the game now it is available on the internet). This is a lot of fun especially when you run across a player who actually teaches you a few new RP tricks
-i have mentioned this before, set a baseline of supplies you need for specific tasks, be they as mundane as running to one of the outlying towns to going on a scripted quest, to even stumbling into a DM event, the baseline will change obviously, but use your time to build up the supplies, when you have finished that..seek out RP chances, surviving dangerous situation can be down to supplies, and one always feels a bit better if they cheat death. Once you have a baseline of supplies try to maintain it and try not to do specific scripted tasks you know your supplies are not quite up to TPK's are never fun
-make your own fun, this will force you to include others, and do not get disappointed if only one person shows up, then you have a individual audience and the RP can flow more quickly as there is a banter between only 2 (i had in the past got discouraged when only one would come to my sendings, but now i view it as a chance to focus my RP and learn from the one i am watching and interacting with)
-for me avoiding pvp situations is a given, i know the server is based around it, but i dislike it always have always will, i will try not to ooc stop players from doing it, though ic my character may try to stop someone from that path, but that is only rp. if you are in a not good frame of mind pvp can be the worst possible thing to run across
-making in game friends is a lot of fun, and i have told this story many times in the past to people via tells….in a form that is actually tantamount to bragging, sorry..and sorry for what will seem like bragging now, but the incident in question and the events leading to it were all fun and nobody died.
Before the civil war i would have rav always making friends with new characters, it did not matter if they were evil or good, i would send them to the appropriate personage to make their stay in arabel more productive, but among those new ones, i would always single out one for a "apprentice" and i would give them extra aid, in the form of supplies and in connections. one of these persons rose to prominence in a DM faction and during the civil war some areas were dangerous to be found in, even if you had no apparent affiliations. I wandered into a area where i knew my apprentice would be, and quickly found myself surrounded by ruffians who were asking their leader if they could kill me. when the leader walked up to rav and uttered something to the effect of "what is your bidding master" the room went silent...it was a event that was months in the making, but none the less was very satisfying, i gained no gold, no xp, but neither did i lose it to see fugue loading. Friends are important both ooc and ic in CoA, and they can mean the difference between having fun and not having fun...in another incident slightly more recent with rav i wandered into a place where ruffians gathered, but it was sort neutral ground so the only danger i faced was verbal initially, i went to talk to a very close friend of rav's only to interrupt a budding new evil doer who took offense and verbally let rav know and did it in a very threatening manner, he did not expect the rapid and violent response by the dear friend of rav's, he was forced to apologize after the smoke had cleared (i was not happy the situation degenerated into a potential pvp situation, but under the circumstances it was unavoidable, that is a price one has to pay when playing with fire so to speak) ..again friends make the difference.
also i have mentioned this before but if you personally do have some trouble..i can and am willing to help you in game to make your stay her more enjoyable, please shoot me tells and pms and i will do what ever it takes, i know i cannot be the do all or be all but..my little bit of help is offered, even if it is only a hug via a tell....
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You had goals that you were not getting the attention you needed to complete? Perhaps you need a character who has obtainable ones that gives you a sense of accomplishment. Secondly, I was feeling the same way as you when I left for awhile. Honestly, I decided that I wasn't ready to fully retire Landon so when given a DM event, I took the opportunity to RP in some elements that gave Landon a bit of a personality shift, making him a bit more interesting to play and giving him goals I actually care about instead of just political ones. IC for a character getting in your way can be changed, you just need to decide which way you actually want to go. 'Conquering the sever with your own perfect government' is a goal everyone has from time to time but it is too big and too broad for one PC to have and its too cliche at times. Think of things on a smaller scale to start with and work your way up to the big ones.
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@Cunning:
I personally lean in the opposite direction to most the advice you have been given.
If you take a break from a character for a long while they will be somewhat irrelevant to the goings on of the server when you return, still giving you that floundering feeling.
I agree with this. Very rarely have I seen returning characters get into current events after a long brake with the same success as their previous appearance on the story of the server. Not that it cannot happen though. It is just rare.
(The above is a comment from someone who returns characters more than occasionally, its kinda like my thing…)
Actually I beileve Kreswell did this but yeah thats the exception