[OOC] Scuttlebutt

[Birched]

Just saying that I am here! It's on my to do list! I see your posts!

[Birched]

Terribly late, but I posted. I also nudged Rosemary Red.

[Roekahs]

Popping in over here to say hi. How's everybody doing? I know there are a lot of busy people (myself included) so this isn't a poke to move the game so much as a poke to keep it not dead OOC strong!

[Birched]

Hey Roekahs! Happy and somewhat surprised to be able to say I'm doing pretty well, actually, despite everything! We'll see if I am still feeling like that after spending the next week or two doing accounting for RPGX and another business' taxes .

And I'm definitely on Team Not Dead for this game .

[Inem]

Things have been a little hectic and chaotic for me, between running Iron DM and the Covid situation being at least so far under the control that business travel is possible again to an extent, so I've started being on the road a little bit more.

And even if it wasn't meant as a prod to get the game moving again, I am happy to report that I am in fact not only on Team Not Dead for this game, but on Team Actually Getting Close to Being Able to Post Soon

[Rosemary Red]

Hello! I admit the ball was in my court for way too long there and apologize for my contribution to slowing this game to a snails crawl. I moved across the country about a month ago and let’s just say I have been spending as little time as I can doing anything that looks like typing to maximize exploration time…

Nevertheless I’m excited for where this game going and am on team Not Dead - will do my best to get a post up by mid-week!

[Roekahs]

I feel for ya, Rosemary! Did that particular dance a few times myself. Will never do it again if I can help it! New areas are super exciting, though!!

[Inem]

Originally Posted by Inem

[...]I am happy to report that I am in fact not only on Team Not Dead for this game, but on Team Actually Getting Close to Being Able to Post Soon

Ah, how to jinx yourself 101. It has been hectic and chaotic in the last month, with a bunch of things going on that were not on the agenda. But at least they are in the past, and barring not having any idea how work develops in terms of travel and covid (Germany is currently at an all time high of numbers, so that's...something), I should hopefully be able to post more regularly again. Also, Iron DM is close to being over, so that should also help.

I can really just echo what Rosemary said:

Originally Posted by Rosemary Red

Sorry for the (extensive) delay. Let's get the ball rolling again!

Which, by the way, the timing of your post is amazing. I finished my first write-up of my current post a little less than 12 hours ago, just after midnight. It took me significantly longer than initially planned because I decided to advance things more than I had originally expected for a variety of reasons. I realized a lot of the investigation for the Navigator would really be more of an Achilles thing than Moe, so I didn't want to draw that out, and if I was keeping both time-lines sort of synced up, if I only progressed things to the investigation, Jetsam and Hazy would really just be standing around observing a whole lot of nothing. Neither of those sides sounded particularly productive for encouraging us to get the ball rolling again, so I advanced things...which means quite significant happenings on both sides. I figured after 4 hours working on the post and it being after midnight, I should probably go ahead and reread it after a night of sleep to make sure I did the events in question justice. So I didn't post until now that I've had time to do so (after some slight modifications to account for your post, though since I already had the results of your rolls there were only slight adaptions necessary). So, amazing that after extensive delays from both of us, we finally post so close to each other, and you even hit the window between me finishing the draft of my post and me actually making the post.

In any case, like Rosemary said, let's get this ball rolling again!

[HotsuSama]

I don't know if it's uncouth of me to keep lurking in here from time to time, but I'm glad there's still life here as well.

[Inem]

My apologies for the delay. I had (and have) some stuff going on in real life. And to make things worse, at this point in the pandemic all the days are just starting to blend together and melt away. I'm not really sure where my last few months went. Anyway, I had a little bit of time before I'm out of town for a few days, and managed to squeeze a post in. It's comparatively short, but should help us move along to the point where the group can reunite, which I think should help get things moving. Hopefully you guys are still interested in continuing at this point!

Also, I will this time specifically not say anything about me being able to post more regularly again, as that just seems to jinx me...

[Inem]

Hello everyone! Wow, it's been even longer than I thought. Soooo, first off, my apologies for being absent for so long without a word, though I suppose I technically am still the last person who posted in this game's game thread. Secondly, I'm (mostly) fine, in case anyone was worried given my unannounced absence. Thirdly, and though it pains me to do it, I'm officially declaring this game over/on a long hiatus (maybe not super surprising at this point, but it still needs to be said officially). I guess it's up to you guys if you prefer to have it final or leave open the option for an eventual return without any guarantee whether that will happen. I'll explain in more detail, but I wanted to put that information up front rather than stringing you guys along with a paragraph first.

Basically, initially I was just very busy. Job searching at my level of qualification, while full time working in my current job, just eats up a lot of time. Then around March I got Covid and got hit hard, and while I fully recovered, I do occasionally wonder whether my energy levels are a little lower than they were pre-Covid. However, while the job search situation has not really changed, I have enough control of things that I have at least a decent amount of free time available again. So the excuse of not having the time for RPGX isn't really valid anymore. If I wanted to, I could find the time to post. It's just that...I don't want to. That's a very simplified way of putting it, and honestly, it has taken me a very long time to acknowledge and accept this about myself (especially given the years I have committed here and the relationships I've built with people on the site), but at the end of the day, I had to realize that this is the way it is for 2022 Inem: RPGX, or writing in general, is just not a sufficiently high priority for me. What I mean is that I would theoretically still enjoy doing it...if I just had more hours in the day. It sucks, which is also why it took me this long to come to this realization, but at this point in my life, there are just things I want to spend time on ahead of writing. I picked up new hobbies during the years of Covid isolation changing the way we live our lives, but those require time. I made new friends that I play online games with, and given that I spend 90% of my time in home office now, the more direct human interaction has been really nice. But that requires time. I also try to meet up with my real life friends more often, because again, I live alone and now work alone, and the occasional human interaction is nice even for me. But again, that requires more time. My life just changed quite a bit during Covid times, and with that, me and my priorities shifted. And like I said, maybe when I got Covid that also affected my energy levels, I'm not sure. I don't want to blame that, but I can't rule out that it is contributing.

So what does that mean at the end of the day? I still love what we have created here over a really long period of time. I still appreciate all of you. But right now, I just can't upkeep this game/any game on RPGX, because I'm not willing to make it a priority, and any attempt to maintain this game when writing isn't a priority would just be me stringing you guys along with the rare post and leave me feeling guilty. Maybe some day that changes again. If you guys are still around (or around again), then maybe we revisit this. Or I'll see you in a new game at that point, you'll always be welcome in any game I run. But there is also a small chance that day never comes. That writing or RPGX never become enough of a priority again that I feel like I can commit to anything. I doubt that will be the case, because in a sense, I already miss it. But I can't guarantee anything, because I just don't know how this will go.

Writing this post has been hard. In a sense, it feels like closing a door on something special. But I guess this is the final step in self-reflection and self-realization: It doesn't matter how much fun I have had over the years, how much it has meant to me, how many memories I've made, how many great people I've met and become friends with. Right now I'd be lying to myself if I tried to tell myself I'll spend less time on my other hobbies to make time for RPGX again. So for everyone's sake, this is a door that needs to be closed. For now. Maybe forever. Who knows? We will see. But for the foreseeable future, it needs to be closed. So this is me, closing the door. Walking away. It's been a tough realization. It's been a tough decision. But here we are.


What does this mean for the immediate future: Well, I'm not going to be on RPGX much, with the exception that I'm still going to run Iron DM, at least for this year (though in a reduced capacity compared to the past). It's a little short notice to dump that completely on someone, and I want to see it continue. Besides, it's a very limited time-frame, starting in a few weeks and running through the end of the year. In that time, you can probably still get a hold of me here. After that, who knows. I might still check in here every so often...or I might not. Even if I do, it might be months. If you do want to get a hold of me, Discord will be the much more reliable option. I think a bunch of you have my contact info there, if anyone else still wants it let me know. I'd be happy to here from you guys occasionally.

Other than that, I wish you all the best in your games, present and future! May the have better fates than mine now do (or have had in recent months). I'll always cherish the run we had, no matter what the future holds!

[Birched]

Thanks, Inem! I truly enjoyed the story and learning the system. I look forward to seeing you around in the community, engaging in the things that bring you the most personal satisfaction with the time that you have to spend here!

[Rosemary Red]

Inem, thanks for the honesty and the great game here that we had going I'll be totally honest, I also had very limited capacity for it and was trailing off on posting frequency. Best of luck with all your future endeavours, here and in your life. Know that you really do spin a fantastic story, and I really appreciate all the effort you put into engaging us and our characters with it!