Before I give my thoughts, I will preface this by saying that I have closed several characters during my time here, and hope to wrap up stories for long-term shelved characters as well.
I find immense satisfaction in seeing stories through to the end. If I start watching a film or tv programme, I usually have to watch it to the end to see that conclusion. I feel uncomfortable when I have to leave a story unfinished for whatever reason. So, when I conclude a character’s story, not only do I enjoy seeing how it may affect other characters, but it also helps me to focus on other or new characters.
I’ve had characters go out in various ways, big and small, noble and cowardly. It gives me a chance to think about the story as a whole and that brings me a lot of happiness as a very ‘tidy’ person. I also love to see action and failure to act bring about consequences.
I will admit, perhaps selfishly, that there are times when I see characters about and wonder what else they will contribute to the narrative, or whether they have ‘run their course’. Oftentimes I am corrected by actions they take, and I feel quite bashful about it! I know that sometimes the sudden unexplained disappearance of characters that stories are developing with can make it difficult for the story to flow naturally (and I say this while painfully aware of my reduced activity at the moment). It can be jarring and in the short term, difficult for the story to continue if characters vanish for the fear of their story being ended. Again, as a matter of personal preference, I relish conflict-heavy stories. I don’t necessarily mean CvC or PvP in that, but if everything is going wonderfully for a character, while a nice change of pace for me, it can be dull to play for extended periods. I am not saying I need death and explosions everywhere, but having difficulties, trials and gnawing questions to answer make a character much more interesting to play, in my mind.
Ultimately, I do see an appeal to sweetening the deal for those folks who decide to round off their chapter in the server’s story, but I know it’s not practical and is counter to the philosophy of everyone starting from scratch every time. Where you usually have a blank sheet, you’ve suddenly added a bit of outline or framework that other people don’t have or can access. I know for a fact that several of our great community members would use these perks as part of their storytelling playstyle, merely as another string to their bow. It could also leave a question mark , fairly or not, over the heads of players who genuinely enjoy completing stories, and might have people questioning their motives or crying favouritism.
For these reasons, I think the system should stay as it is. As we have seen just today, closures are received positively by the community and give people a chance to reflect on the stories that were told together.
Hopefully we will share many more