I don't see there having to be a hiatus, let alone an ending.<br/><br/>My impression has always been that Doomtown was intended to be more of a sandbox than an arc driven game; Ciosa and Sindra created a world for us and then allowed us to run free in it with only a little prodding and ya'ing and nay'ing to our ideas. I don't see how that has to change despite Ciosa unfortunately having less time on E/fortunately having a lot of work in real life.<br/><br/>The biggest issue in some ways is that Ciosa has done an excellent job playing a myriad of NPC's who have added colour to the world and interacted with a lot of players. My understanding is Sindra is going to take over the majority of them but I'm aware this could unfortunately lead to her being swamped with work to do. Removing, or at least dropping those NPCs to the background may be a challenge to begin with but looking at our characters, their intentions, agendas, histories and mindsets there are still stories to tell and fun to be had between them in non-plot critical scenes.<br/><br/>With Ciosa still able to give general updates/indications of what NPC's will do and Sindra able to handle some (and I'd be more than willing to take on some myself if needed) I think we're more than able to keep this game going while keeping the status-quo intact for two game-weeks worth of stories while Ciosa earns himself some dinero in real life  ;D. With an in-game reason for Nathan being out of action for a while (banged up in hospital/his room following his fall off the bridge?) he can be written into the background relatively easily.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>To give examples, here are a few plot bunnies that could be developed:<br/><br/>1) Walter's upcoming conversation with Max Baine is going to be about setting up a "Monster Hunting Squad". This could go one of two ways; if other characters are interested in joining it could be played straight as a group legitimately going after monsters. With the non-plot caveat they're unlikely to find any and will instead spend their time hunting down bears, wolves and general human miscreants who have done acts that others perceive to be the work of monsters.<br/><br/>The other option, if less player characters are interested in joining (and considering it's backed by Sweetrock that may not be a surprise) is to play it in a more sinister/antagonistic way, essentially a protection racket with Walter leading a band of rogues, ruffians and rapscallions in extorting and intimidating storekeepers, miners and anyone they can get their hands on or "the beastie will get them", which seems to me to be a pretty goof jump-off point for some conflict.<br/><br/>2) In the lore the Gomorran miner's guild is mentioned a few times and we're yet to see much of it in the game. When I wrote the lore for the Miner's Guild building itself I presented them as being almost as corrupt as Sweetrock in their own way. I think there's room for exploring what they would do (especially with Casino Morongo now being in the hands of Sweetrock) without any plot-critical developments.<br/><br/>3) There hasn't been much action in Soddom so far. Surely there must be something lurking in the tent city that could impact on our characters? On a lighter note, perhaps they are roped into playing/watching a baseball game?<br/><br/>4) This may fall into plot-critical status but Black Jack and his raiders have been quiet for a while. A raid on a Sweetrock convoy gives all our characters something to discuss and talk about.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Outside of that and something that has unfortunately become almost a millstone around our neck is the Event and where we go from here with it. And I think we<strong>really</strong>need to get it done.<br/><br/>From what I can see there are five key characters which Ciosa was (or was going to) playing (excluding the creature); Hunter, Bilton, the Bounty Hunter, the Priest and the Doctor. Because we roughly know what is going to happen I think we should be able to get around any issues there, at least with the Bounty Hunter, the Priest and the Doctor, which only really leaves Hunter and Bilton as characters who need real outside input. Assuming Sindra is willing to handle them and other players are willing to either write around the other NPCs or take them on themselves (all within Ciosa's guidelines on what is going to happen) I think we should be able to get through the event and put it to rest.