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road_ahead closed yesterday. :( For those of you, and I reckon there are quite a few, who weren't on my f-list when I was nattering about this every other day, RA is an Harry Potter RPG I helped start and run with Inell and Flora, that we were involved in for upwards of 20 months. It was time, I think. When you have a game that takes place post-war and is as focused on everyday life as RA was, the world's bound to reach a sort of equilibrium. Things were settled and activity from players (myself included) had slowed down quite a bit. Most games don't stay active for as long as we did, and it's been amazing -- bit of a rollercoaster at first, but eventually it settled down and became my happy place for a really long time. I met some awesome people and definitely grew as a writer. I'm going to miss the characters I wrote there, both the main ones and the NPCs, so much, and I'll miss reading everyone else's stories. And good lord, I'm going to miss writing Harry. I love that boy to a ridiculous degree.
That said, I think I'm done RPing for a good while. Which is a bigger deal for me than it sounds - I've been in fandom since 2006 and have been RPing in Potter fandom for almost the entire time. It's going to be weird not being in a game. But at the same time, it's become harder to split my time between all the things I want to do in fandom -- and in real life. I want to spend less time at my computer, but I also want to write more fic, make more art. I won't lie and say that new fandoms have nothing to do with it, but the truth is RP has been more of an effort for me since before I got into Merlin and SGA and Trek. RP is a huge time-suck; it eats your brain in the best possible way. But it's got to be fun. It's meant to be a diversion, something to escape to. And when it's a good experience, it's REALLY GOOD.
But when it's a bad experience (and if you have RPed for a long time, you've probably had these to some extent or other) there's nothing fannish I can think of that is less fun. I've made friends that I lost four months later. I've moderated player chats that have made my head hurt. I've been disillusioned by people, and maybe they've been disillusioned by me. I've shed tears and wasted a LOT of time on things that really aren't a big deal. I've learned that people are basically the same from one game to another, and that no game can escape wank completely -- and as such, I've learnt to be very, very zen about the whole thing.
Thing is,road_ahead was an AMAZING experience, on balance -- that's what I've loved about it; that's why I'll miss it, and that's why I'm so, so proud of the world we created together. I'll miss the folks who stuck with us from beginning to end (omg you guys, it's been a looong and bumpy ride). I'll miss those who've joined us along the way and those who've moved on since. And mostly, I hope I won't be missing ya'll too much anyway, because we've become more than co-writers and players -- we're friends, and I'll be in touch. ♥
You know where to find me on YM and gchat, or come poke me on Twitter if you can brave the zombie horde. *g*
Thanks, guys. <3
road_ahead closed yesterday. :( For those of you, and I reckon there are quite a few, who weren't on my f-list when I was nattering about this every other day, RA is an Harry Potter RPG I helped start and run with Inell and Flora, that we were involved in for upwards of 20 months. It was time, I think. When you have a game that takes place post-war and is as focused on everyday life as RA was, the world's bound to reach a sort of equilibrium. Things were settled and activity from players (myself included) had slowed down quite a bit. Most games don't stay active for as long as we did, and it's been amazing -- bit of a rollercoaster at first, but eventually it settled down and became my happy place for a really long time. I met some awesome people and definitely grew as a writer. I'm going to miss the characters I wrote there, both the main ones and the NPCs, so much, and I'll miss reading everyone else's stories. And good lord, I'm going to miss writing Harry. I love that boy to a ridiculous degree.That said, I think I'm done RPing for a good while. Which is a bigger deal for me than it sounds - I've been in fandom since 2006 and have been RPing in Potter fandom for almost the entire time. It's going to be weird not being in a game. But at the same time, it's become harder to split my time between all the things I want to do in fandom -- and in real life. I want to spend less time at my computer, but I also want to write more fic, make more art. I won't lie and say that new fandoms have nothing to do with it, but the truth is RP has been more of an effort for me since before I got into Merlin and SGA and Trek. RP is a huge time-suck; it eats your brain in the best possible way. But it's got to be fun. It's meant to be a diversion, something to escape to. And when it's a good experience, it's REALLY GOOD.
But when it's a bad experience (and if you have RPed for a long time, you've probably had these to some extent or other) there's nothing fannish I can think of that is less fun. I've made friends that I lost four months later. I've moderated player chats that have made my head hurt. I've been disillusioned by people, and maybe they've been disillusioned by me. I've shed tears and wasted a LOT of time on things that really aren't a big deal. I've learned that people are basically the same from one game to another, and that no game can escape wank completely -- and as such, I've learnt to be very, very zen about the whole thing.
Thing is,
road_ahead was an AMAZING experience, on balance -- that's what I've loved about it; that's why I'll miss it, and that's why I'm so, so proud of the world we created together. I'll miss the folks who stuck with us from beginning to end (omg you guys, it's been a looong and bumpy ride). I'll miss those who've joined us along the way and those who've moved on since. And mostly, I hope I won't be missing ya'll too much anyway, because we've become more than co-writers and players -- we're friends, and I'll be in touch. ♥ You know where to find me on YM and gchat, or come poke me on Twitter if you can brave the zombie horde. *g*
Thanks, guys. <3
