I am the harbinger of the death of roleplays.

i get that feeling sometimes too

DP comes to the rescue yet again with a wall of text!

But... Butt... Fighting Wizards and Demons alongside Dragons. It's supposed to be epic if we could just get there. The only problem is that we have a very hard time with the idea of 'momentum.'

We have momentum, it just operates on a pace much slower than is normal.

However, if this does tank, I want you all to know that I will do as many reboots as it takes. Even if we have to restart this thing a million times. And next time I reboot, I might not go this same direction.

It won't tank.

I won't let it.

I said that in the past, but this time I also have a firm control on how it progresses thanks to Vikki. Soon as we get off that boat action is going to happen, end of. I really don't think you should ever have to reboot a third time.

In fact, I might just take it back to the beginning and let it just be a 'magic school.'

This might actually make me leave.

There's incentive for you.

But... I, for one, thought that the action and adventure made us different from all the other cookie-cutter magic school RPs out there. :\

It does, that's the point. It's not Athalia without it. And if Athalia ceases to be Athalia, I won't cease to chase after Athalia so I'll leave to go find it.

I mean... How many people are genuinely enjoying the direction of the RP and how many just wished it would go back?

Well, I like all of it, so...I'm not the best person to ask.

Where did I go wrong?

Nope. Stop it. You didn't.

I know some say it was because of the 5 year time skip but I did that because I felt we were stuck and needed a way to get unstuck and so I thought it would do us some good, give us something to think about as far as our characters and give us a different sort of feel.

It did. Notice the new players? Notice that it's no longer totally dead and regularly active (albeit slowly)? It did exactly what it was designed to do.

However, if I was wrong...

Nope

And it really pains me to say this after all the work I put in, then I'll do what I have to to fix it.

NOPE.

Just... let me know. I was so happy to see so many veterans come back but with the amount of drops we've had, granted it's only been two in the last month, they were veterans which worries me greatly. The more veterans I lose, the more of the backbone of Athalia I lose.

You can never please everyone. As far as I know for most of the roleplay there was somebody dissatisfied in one way or another, and it was a different person each time. And you've done a pretty frickin' great job of making the most out of every situation and making as many people satisfied as possible.

Yeah ok, you're the GM and the creator. But that doesn't mean you bare all of the burdens of the roleplay - that every time something goes wrong it is your fault and only your fault. Believe me, as apologetic of a human being as I am, I understand all too well how hard it can be to grasp that, but there it is. Just as in a jazz band every member is responsible for the time and the swing (not just the drummer), every roleplayer is responsible for the success of the roleplay. Every one of us has always been 100% responsible.

What people who decry the reboot seem to forget is that the roleplay was completely dead before it. I don't know how many times this needs to be said before people will start getting it. The reboot was required for the roleplay to continue existing. Yes a five year timeskip is not ideal for character development, but look what we have now. The roleplay feels new and fresh again while still being familiar, and we have plenty of new blood to inject even more life into it.

Because without ALL of you, Athalia is nothing but an idea in my head.

Some of us will always carry the candle.

The skip was so that character could develop at least a bit. But maybe that was a bad choice on my part.

Nope.

It may not have been the most elegant choice, but it was the necessary one.

Please, please don't give up on me before we even get to do the cool thing with the dragons.. .-.

I mean... Fucking dragons. Taking siege... over a city. .-.

To put it mildly, I've been diligently preventing my severe hype for the siege from exploding over the pad.

Truthfully Rose i don't think the premise is necessarily the problem

You are correct.

I think what made Athalia so much fun in the beginning is that we all liked each other a worked together and we all genuinely enjoyed everything we were doing. and it seems every time we reboot we mesh just a little less and everyone seems to have just a little less motivation.

To be completely honest, the family has always been a bit dysfunctional, but we've always made it work.

Motivation, on the other hand, is really what has leeched the momentum from this roleplay for nearly its entire existence.

We all have busy lives, I get it. I'm one of the worst offenders in that regard. And we all have other hobbies and moods where we just don't feel like posting. I get those as much as anyone else, and roleplays are supposed to be fun, so I don't post when I get them. But the infrequency at which a post is mode becomes a serious problem for months at a time during every season. I've always maintained that all of our problems would be solved if we never abandoned the minimum posts per week rule, but alas.

I'm honestly not sure what you could do about that.

Not much to do that Rose hasn't already done. In fairness to Rose and Athalia, it seems to be a Guild-wide epidemic these days that people just don't post and roleplays die because of it. In my almost two years of roleplaying (not that long) I've never completed a roleplay, or even come close. Every single one I've ever been in died (no matter who the GM was). It's not just an Athalia problem. But it IS a problem that should be addressed to ensure a roleplay's survival. Rose has already addressed it to the best of her abilities...the rest is up to us.

maybe bringing us back to the beginning again would help, though I'd hate to lose all the progress my characters have made.

Again, I would leave immediately if this happened. And I've long said that I'll be the last person to ever leave. So...yeah. I would consider all of the hours I spent wasted and all of my characters murdered.

I am the harbinger of the death of roleplays.

It kind of feels like we all are sometimes.

What I think about this is that well... its true motivation has been low and I did notice something just as mall thing but I guess because the veterans we had a past together, we got our ideas together and work together as well but with the reboot things like a sudden story well for I didn't know of since i was gone for a while in the pad. It brought up lots of new blood, interest in this story but guessing it was a sudden story change that most of us not able to participate in if you know what I mean. I am sorry if I am not explaining this well.

I will be honest, with this new story, dragons which I live it just...doesn't affect me much as before, i don't know what to feel for it, dragon taking siege sounds cool but again...I don't feel for it. I been trying to stay here hopefully to get that feeling i had before relived but it not happening, I am still hopeful but...a week time of thinking will really help me decided to go or not. the five year skip really I doing that it would affect me this bad, I am stuck, literally stuck with no idea how to work in this. Everything seemed in place already and I am clueless with it.

This is my point of view so you can totally discard anything I have said so ya...this just an opinion of mine. Sorry...

We're gonna let this live.

We're not going to start another one again.

Just.

Let.

THIS.

LIVE.

DP comes to the rescue yet again with a wall of text!

<Snip>

Indeed you have. I need a 'content chuckle' emoji. Anyway...

I certainly cannot lose my biggest supporter and probably one of the biggest backbones to the RP next to myself and NK. Though, NK did give me a scare when this started up.

Now, my post... I want to say it was probably just made because I was feeling a little sorry for myself. And I forgot that I'm not really alone in this and that DP is helping me set the pace to keep things moving. And I can agree that motivation is always our downfall in any RP on this site. People tend to lose interest so quickly. They join an RP and then within a week of actually being in the IC, decide to move on for whatever reason. I've even seen GMs do this, which pisses me off to no end but I can't do anything because I've done that too. But... Like I said, I will never abandon Athalia. I have had too many good memories and I've built up too much to let it drift away because people lose interest/motivation.

...

My puppy just walked by with a nasty looking bag in her mouth... -sigh-

And to DP's reaction to the 'reset,' That's exactly why I did the timeskip, for those of you that are wondering. Because otherwise I may have had to do a complete reset of the RP. I mean, 5 years is a bit much, but it allowed us to reach a point in which something other than pointless shenanigans happened. All the RPers needed to do was decide how that time affected their character. With age did they mature at all? Did they grow more powerful? Did they learn something about themselves? 5 years is a long time and plenty of time for someone to discover something about themselves that they didn't realize before.

Now, if we can get to the battle/war with Marcus, I actually have interesting plot bunnies to spring on everyone and it will probably affect all of the characters. I've explained them on the pad before, so some know it. And I'll gladly explain it again on the pad if someone wants to know and the pad allows me to... Still haven't tested that today.

Today, I will be writing my Response Paper, reading my textbook, and hopefully making a post for Maria. Let me get this straight, Ziv, Artav, Ryuu, and Al are all in their own 'houses', with the exception of Al who has visited Ziv. Which, btw, guys.... Our characters aren't supposed to have houses in Oasari. They're just making camp there for a few years to collect themselves. I mean, the building was just built but that doesn't mean the towns people allowed our characters to build/buy houses of their own. It also kills the idea of 'character comradere' I.E., Characters feeling close to one another. If they live in the same area, then they tend to grow closer together. It's why Carmen and Lily live in an apartment complex which is where everyone else was supposed to live as well but I don't think anyone set up shop there other than me and DP in proxy. So... :| I guess if you can give me a good reason why they'd have they're own house, but for the most part they should all live in an apartment with a roommate set up sort of thing, especially the new characters.

o-o;

Ye.

>.>

I luh you guys. <3

I didnt know that, see I didnt understand the story part but that is my fault for it probably...most likely.

Plus its not a house...more of a dinky shack...ya.... he cant live in multiple floors since well...wheel chair

Also one thing... I think why veterans well some lost interest is becuase at first it was an open free idea, any ideas could be built and we can play along together but here it like new plot! Kinda sudden and not sure about, its a bit suddenreally.

its hard to develop with five years becuase... I didnt know how to handle it, Like...relly no clue and I actually wnat to scrap ziv beucase his development sucked like sucked alot. I might scratch everyoneand just start new or leave I am sorry but ya. I am not a good thinker of this and with this plot, the attack five years... I got nothing for it, I feel like any part I play for this its not revelant anymore so that why I am feel fine to leave.

This is my opinion once again you can ignore it.

I didnt know that, see I didnt understand the story part but that is my fault for it probably...most likely.

Plus its not a house...more of a dinky shack...ya.... he cant live in multiple floors since well...wheel chair

Also one thing... I think why veterans well some lost interest is becuase at first it was an open free idea, any ideas could be built and we can play along together but here it like new plot! Kinda sudden and not sure about, its a bit suddenreally.

its hard to develop with five years becuase... I didnt know how to handle it, Like...relly no clue and I actually wnat to scrap ziv beucase his development sucked like sucked alot. I might scratch everyoneand just start new or leave I am sorry but ya. I am not a good thinker of this and with this plot, the attack five years... I got nothing for it, I feel like any part I play for this its not revelant anymore so that why I am feel fine to leave.

This is my opinion once again you can ignore it.

1) Stop telling people to ignore you. I won't ignore you. If I ever ignore anyone, I probably don't mean to. You are free to decide whatever you'd like. But I will tell you that I've lost too many veterans already and it will make me very, very sad to see you leave. I hate that you constantly hound yourself. Stand up, chin up and... take action for yourself, I guess? I'm not going to ignore you, I don't think you're a minority in this RP. I have a hard enough time excepting that I can't please everyone.

2) Ziv can live on the first floor. No stairs. You don't have to be unnecessarily mean to your characters. Besides, Maria would have never let him live in a run down shack by himself as he is. Hell, she'd probably let him stay in his place and build magical wheelchair ramps for him.

3) This is still an open and free idea. Characters can be as inventive as they'd like with in reason and plots can be built by RPers. But anytime we tried to implement them, people didn't care for them. So, I took action and started one. We were never even able to get through the first Fate arc to get to do Faith's plot arc with Crash. I am all for other RPs suggesting plot arcs that have to do with their character. I'm pretty sure Carmen has an arc that may happen in the future. And I know exactly where Lily's arc is taking her. If you want to scrap Ziv and start new, I'm not going to stop you. If you want to leave, I also won't stop you. In the end, it's your choice. But, I'll say the same that I always do when good people leave my Roleplay. You are always welcome back. ALWAYS. No questions asked.

4) I really should do this Response Paper. It was due Saturday... >.>

Artav doesn't like being with others most of the time and is currently neutral, so she lives in seclusion somewhere.

I am yet to decide where she will reside, but it's probably on the coasts of the Lavanyan homeland and near Oasarian seaspace, or very close to Oasarian borders if they have territory in the continental mainland. Forget that I said that Artav's house was near the inn where most of the characters are currently at, unless it's true.

Also, her ability to create nuclear-scale destructive spells (not like she can use them anyway, but someone else or a group effort probably can) will perhaps be of use to either side, provided they are able to persuade her. I'm making her a morally flexible character of whom either side will seek after, either for getting her books or blocking their enemies' access to them. Her location is to give both the heroes and the villains equal opportunities to grab her, so first come, first serve.

1) Stop telling people to ignore you. I won't ignore you. If I ever ignore anyone, I probably don't mean to. You are free to decide whatever you'd like. But I will tell you that I've lost too many veterans already and it will make me very, very sad to see you leave. I hate that you constantly hound yourself. Stand up, chin up and... take action for yourself, I guess? I'm not going to ignore you, I don't think you're a minority in this RP. I have a hard enough time excepting that I can't please everyone.

2) Ziv can live on the first floor. No stairs. You don't have to be unnecessarily mean to your characters. Besides, Maria would have never let him live in a run down shack by himself as he is. Hell, she'd probably let him stay in his place and build magical wheelchair ramps for him.

3) This is still an open and free idea. Characters can be as inventive as they'd like with in reason and plots can be built by RPers. But anytime we tried to implement them, people didn't care for them. So, I took action and started one. We were never even able to get through the first Fate arc to get to do Faith's plot arc with Crash. I am all for other RPs suggesting plot arcs that have to do with their character. I'm pretty sure Carmen has an arc that may happen in the future. And I know exactly where Lily's arc is taking her. If you want to scrap Ziv and start new, I'm not going to stop you. If you want to leave, I also won't stop you. In the end, it's your choice. But, I'll say the same that I always do when good people leave my Roleplay. You are always welcome back. ALWAYS. No questions asked.

4) I really should do this Response Paper. It was due Saturday... >.>

1.) Its a habit realy, most of the time I dont well...uuhh.... taken seriously and usually is there for the laughs so I expect for anything serious I try...I get ignored by it, its a habit really but hey I am joke of a person, laughing and doing random crap for people to look at me and think I am serious at all. I do have a habit of being the background character...in real life and rp life so I am used to being ignored anyway.

2.) Again habit, I like being mean to my characters without knowing what am I doing.wh...ziv rather live alone...he is in a dark place at the moemnt and really doesnt to be around others... hence why he is hard to post...

3.) Well then Idk... I just well...dont...well...no offense like the idea, I
t sounded cool at start but... now I guess it doesnt really, I guess I am more for the slice of life type and school type of rpers so thats why I really don't like the idea of taking siege againt evil even if that I love to do that it just.. perk me up. Thats why a week to think about it would help me to really see if I am for this am not.

That is all again and once again you can nit say anything about it...its a habit.

so many people to respond too (I really wish I didn't have a 8 hour work day that starts at 8 am so I could have actively participated in this conversation).

here we go, Al's gonna add her own wall of text to this page -cracks knuckles and starts typing-

[insert quote of Dp's entire wall of text here]

I completely agree with Dp's wall of text. I also might leave if we restarted, and I know I'm not the most active player but I'd like to think I would be missed if I left (I have low self-esteem though so I always kind of think that I won't be, and I kinda fade into the background like Destiny was saying, but I don't know).

I love this RP so much, it's stuck with me for so long and the characters are so close to my heart (it honestly killed me to have to kill Oona, but I had no idea what to do with her and she'd been left in the dust a long time ago, and I'll miss her)
And it would kill me to have to make all new characters since I can't return my characters to their previous innocence, it just wouldn't work, they've changed too much.

I don't want this rp to die and I think we can keep it going, even if it's at a limp till we can build up some momentum again.

Originally I got lost in the story because I'm so busy (and the previous 8-10 hour work day I mentioned) but I certainly like the idea, once we can get the plot really moving. I'm personally pretty excited about the dragons and can't wait.

I luh you guys. <3

I luh you too ;)

1) Stop telling people to ignore you.

^

that's all for my wall of text (sorry about that)

I just want to repeat, I love this RP and it would kill me if it died.
And being someone with depression, I hope you can understand how important it is that this makes me happy.

It's why Carmen and Lily live in an apartment complex which is where everyone else was supposed to live as well but I don't think anyone set up shop there other than me and DP in proxy.

Ye.

And Carmen does have her own place, but that's because she does actually live there. It's her home town, where she lived before the Academy - hence why everyone's there now (she offered). She's living with Lily because...because. :D

I'm pretty sure Carmen has an arc that may happen in the future.

Ye.

She sort of has two, actually. The journey to hell to get her trumpet back, and the other one (La boheme) which is more of an operatic group arc with an emphasis on Carmen getting dying and being brought back to life. Both could conceivably be combined into one, but then it would be like crashing La boheme into The Damnnation of Faust or something. #opera

And we've gotta do the Fate time travel one.

Also one thing... I think why veterans well some lost interest is becuase at first it was an open free idea, any ideas could be built and we can play along together but here it like new plot! Kinda sudden and not sure about, its a bit suddenreally.

Well, it was and it wasn't. Initially we just kind of chatted at the Academy, but very early on Rose and NK were forming plot ideas to guide the roleplay. Even in these large-scale arcs, though, it's still pretty free. I agree that this current incarnation is a bit less free than before, but that's because now we're getting into the heat of a war and the thick of a big plot, and the characters need some IC direction. One of my two rare characters (the other being the still as yet unintroduced Kali Rana...I guess the Empress counts too) is there explicitly for that purpose.

I guess I am more for the slice of life type and school type of rpers so thats why I really don't like the idea of taking siege againt evil even if that I love to do that it just.. perk me up. Thats why a week to think about it would help me to really see if I am for this am not.

I mean if you think about it, it's likely that after Marcus gets defeated it'll move back more to the old format. Surface evil gets got, underworld evil's still hangin', and Maria makes a new school or something and we get a platform to start launching character arcs from. Of course, a lot of the old students wouldn't be students anymore (Carmen would scoff at the concept), but other than that... -shrugs- So I would say don't leave, at the most take a hiatus until the pendulum swings back to the format you like.

I am yet to decide where she will reside, but it's probably on the coasts of the Lavanyan homeland and near Oasarian seaspace, or very close to Oasarian borders if they have territory in the continental mainland. Forget that I said that Artav's house was near the inn where most of the characters are currently at, unless it's true.

Oasari doesn't have any holdings on the mainland, just the northeastern archipelagic landmass.

Artav could very well be right there, provided she got that figured out with Carmen prior to everything. She could also be anywhere in Oasari by the same virtue.

I also might leave if we restarted, and I know I'm not the most active player but I'd like to think I would be missed if I left (I have low self-esteem though so I always kind of think that I won't be, and I kinda fade into the background like Destiny was saying, but I don't know).

You would be, of course.

Just like any member of this roleplay. When someone leaves, they get missed hard. Doesn't matter who.

--

Random sidenote: a Latin jazz album out of San Francisco just got released that I play on! So if you uh, want to listen to it, here you go.

Well still got time to think about and with how I feel...its more on the side on going... I mean I would be visiting but not much as being part of this anymore.

That format will be like...years probably so it just better if I go then take a long hiatus.....they might not be difference to the both of them but if it does go back to the slice of life format I won't feel for it... its a thing hard to explain but ya....

Its been fun but things change for better or worst or anything opinion change and its fen if I leave I didn't have much of an impact already to cause any problems so so ya... (So casual about it)

Well still got time to think about and with how I feel...its more on the side on going... I mean I would be visiting but not much as being part of this anymore.

That format will be like...years probably so it just better if I go then take a long hiatus.....they might not be difference to the both of them but if it does go back to the slice of life format I won't feel for it... its a thing hard to explain but ya....

Its been fun but things change for better or worst or anything opinion change and its fen if I leave I didn't have much of an impact already to cause any problems so so ya... (So casual about it)

Things change! It's all cool. As Rose said, we'll always welcome you back with open arms.

ya they do...

I am going to set off and try again and somehting I though I suck as (Gming)

Got to thank this group though to let me uh what you say...explore more and such.

I hope that was okay for Zivon. What I'm imagining is that Marcus took him somewhere so at least he's not gone from the world and can return should you want him to. OR, he can die in Marcus' hands. That's all up to you, Dest.

@Destinyfailhorror17

@Destinyfailhorror17

You're experiencing what I first experienced when I heard of this reboot's premise. The only reason why I got motivation to stay is because of chukklehed, DP, and a tinge of Theobromine (+ Faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)'s reappearance. Shoutouts to @chukklehed @Driving Park @Theobromine @FaithsRose

See, Athalia DID go through a sudden and massive genre change with Legends of Lavanya, and while the particular movement has its benefits, it also has its glaring consequences. The genre change is both a benefit and consequence because while it brings in new people, it's also very, very detached from Athalia's origin. At this point, I find it very understandable that you're having second thoughts in continuing, considering how I myself know what you're feeling. Basically, the reason why you joined the roleplay is gone, so it's obvious that you may find it restricted, or almost forced.

If you wish to do so, you may leave (for a while or any amount of given time, honestly). I'm not saying it's great for you to leave, but honestly, if you really know that you're no longer interested in something, then leaving for your own sake is almost always the best option for your state of mind. You can also stay while giving yourself a nice, long break, but in the end, it's all up on you in that part.

---

Also, I'm still alive, I'm just trying to find where dafaq my Kyle Belle CS went to.

I hope that was okay for Zivon. What I'm imagining is that Marcus took him somewhere so at least he's not gone from the world and can return should you want him to. OR, he can die in Marcus' hands. That's all up to you, Dest.

@Destinyfailhorror17

oh okay thanks... I guess...ya...thanks.... -not sure really- ...not surer what to do really

You're experiencing what I first experienced when I heard of this reboot's premise. The only reason why I got motivation to stay is because of chukklehed, DP, and a tinge of Theobromine (+ Faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)'s reappearance. Shoutouts to @chukklehed @Driving Park @Theobromine @FaithsRose

See, Athalia DID go through a sudden and massive genre change with Legends of Lavanya, and while the particular movement has its benefits, it also has its glaring consequences. The genre change is both a benefit and consequence because while it brings in new people, it's also very, very detached from Athalia's origin. At this point, I find it very understandable that you're having second thoughts in continuing, considering how I myself know what you're feeling. Basically, the reason why you joined the roleplay is gone, so it's obvious that you may find it restricted, or almost forced.

If you wish to do so, you may leave (for a while or any amount of given time, honestly). I'm not saying it's great for you to leave, but honestly, if you really know that you're no longer interested in something, then leaving for your own sake is almost always the best option for your state of mind. You can also stay while giving yourself a nice, long break, but in the end, it's all up on you in that part.

---

Also, I'm still alive, I'm just trying to find where dafaq my Kyle Belle CS went to.

....ya that sums it up pretty well really.

@NarayanK

Maria sort of just pushed him through and left. She's not with him anymore. He's currently waiting at the docks for the group to arrive. Lol. He could have landed in the water for all Maria knows.

@NarayanK

Maria sort of just pushed him through and left. She's not with him anymore. He's currently waiting at the docks for the group to arrive. Lol. He could have landed in the water for all Maria knows.

let me fix that soon

EDIT: done