@Fallen<br/>Darius wants to fool around with Chun and Kumiko.  I don't expect Chun to dominate Kumiko.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Vin, you in particular appear to have a need to get your characters involved everywhere. Maybe you could back out of a couple of things and let other players have scenes.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>@Haibane<br/>Ouch.  It's not so much that I want to involve my characters everywhere.  I could RP my characters with helvorn's characters and ignore everyone.  But this was a party, so aren't the characters supposed to interact?<br/><br/>I just don't want characters sitting around doing nothing, particularly characters who just joined the game.<br/><br/>Chun was ignored for almost a week after her great monster post http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=147311.msg7178057#msg7178057 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=147311.msg7178057#msg7178057)<br/><br/>I had multiple posts after it that didn't involve her at all.<br/><br/>You asked for somebody to engage her:  http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141836.msg7199409#msg7199409 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141836.msg7199409#msg7199409)<br/><br/>I engaged her.<br/><br/>Nonami was frequently mentioned but rarely interacted with, and MCsc was looking for something to do:  http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141836.msg7209182#msg7209182 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141836.msg7209182#msg7209182)<br/><br/>He said summoner expressed interest.  No word from summoner.  No suggestions from anyone else except Chun owning Nonami.<br/><br/>To get Mati in the mix, I suggested him hooking up with Paulette.  Now he and Paulette are having a scene without involving Okello directly.<br/><br/>So which one should I back out of first?  Should Darius and Kumiko abandon Chun?  Should Darius ignore Nonami?  Should Okello, who is without Paulette for a bit, leave Kaelyn and Tillie?  Should Constant and Karin still make an arrival?  Tell me which scene(s) to back out of.<br/><br/>I don't think the problem is me or other frequent posters.  If anything, after a couple of weeks of no posts on The Galaxy, the new players, helvorn and me got the game going again.<br/><br/>The real problem is how we deal with players who don't post for extended periods.  How long are we supposed to wait?<br/><br/>If players are active, they should be rewarded with letting them play, not punished with waiting.<br/><br/>If players are inactive, they should not be allowed to hold up the game and their characters should be temporarily NPC'ed (which I did before my absence http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141836.msg7032893#msg7032893 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141836.msg7032893#msg7032893) ).<br/><br/>I'm all for players having autonomy over the characters, but not at the expense of the other players waiting for them.<br/><br/>Absences, both announced and unannounced, are a reality in group games.  I think that if a certain number of days go by without a post from a character, then that character's actions (or inaction) should be assumed and the character should be NPC'ed (or PC'ed OOC - see below).<br/><br/>If a player doesn't respond for a while, they don't have to respond to every single thing that has happened since their last post, just a few recent things.<br/><br/>Players can put one-line summaries at the ends of their IC posts so entire posts don't have to be read or re-read.<br/><br/>Players who don't have time to write proper posts can just put what they would like to happen in OOC (such as Reia's interaction of Kaelyn with Okello).  This is what I meant by PC'ed OOC.<br/><br/>If there's confusion, the GM can write a post redefining the action.  Nothing fancy.  Just a list will do:<br/><br/>Mati and Paulette are performing.<br/>Marie-Clare takes a seat on Annabel.<br/>Okello is flirting with Kaelyn, who has Tillie at her feet.<br/>Darius and Kumiko are flirting with Chun and Nonami, who is being watched by Rosalie and Callie..<br/>Rayn is making a deal for Veronica with Linda and Natalya.<br/>Valentina is looking for a way for Darya to please her.<br/><br/>If all else fails, "fuck it, let's just carry on" works for me.<br/>