<Snipped quote by The Harbinger of Ferocity>
I generally agree; especially on the part where considerations of the universe created itself should be considered. I put a good amount of behind-the-scenes investment in it that isn't clear reading the IC or even OOC, so this one dropping would certainly be a blow.
I'm a little mixed on limiting it; on one hand, I like the idea of being open to new folks at any time, particularly since most of the original core group dropped out; and on the other hand, this roleplay did suffer from a little bit of confusion as to who was doing what, where. So, perhaps a compromise in creating a core group to start with, but allowing new players in if we can put a system in place to organize things?
There is no reason I can see that the lore and universe you created behind the scenes could not "play out" and let the consequences thereof, based on how things are generally going, regardless of it being a "win" or "loss" for the players, could not be used in the future events. After all, as I see it, the situation of this current roleplay being a "prologue" could provide massive reason for the events in the next iteration. That is my thinking, so it does not all go to waste, and a lot of "end-game" goals for bad guys still can be reworked and woven in again as continuity.
Whatever the outcome is, the new characters (or surviving ones if they age slowly such as an elf, or not at all as a demon), readily have some plot based motivation left. Even if the scenario as it is now in the current story is where the heroes "win" I highly doubt the demons won't just bide their time and attack a few hundred years later when their baneful enemies are long dead and the world mostly forgot of these events. If the players "lost", then there's no more reason you need. The world lost. Now the battle is uphill and more heroic because these could very well be the last heroes of the world.
It works in any configuration I can imagine, really - it all comes down to the lore, which does not seem to be the issue in the slightest; there's no lack of it.
Moving on, although it is nice to have the roleplay open all the time to get "new blood" there has to be a limit on how many players get involved, otherwise you encounter issues as we've seen here. Core, important, crucial characters (for the plot or backstories) up and vanish, leaving gaping holes in a myriad of things, plot included. So the sort of system where you have say, six or seven players, no more, and only replace them if one leaves is safer.
I am however, entirely against a reboot.
Why replay the same events as before? Not all of us, myself included, were present, but why? Of course the outcomes will be different, to some length, but there's too much invested. It feels like a betrayal in a way, as there were so many distinct elements that you're just trying to match or best them now.
