For me, it depends on the character and the situation. If I'm leaving a game entirely, I'll usually write out my characters and how they end up; for instance, one of my characters in CoH retired from active duty to work at Portal, got married, had a couple of kids, but periodically "put on the suit" to fight great evil (and to show that she still had The Right Stuff). Death isn't the only or even often the right end for a character, but sometimes it has its place.
In a game that I'm still actively playing, I'll usually just set a character aside for a while instead of retiring them completely if they stop being interesting or fun to play. There's lots of ways to do that ICly, including "visiting your homeland/parents/extended family far away," "taking over the family business," "deep cover mission in the East," "got pregnant/got someone else pregnant," or even "just wanted to take a break" -- though that latter one is probably a bit of a stretch for most Eorzean adventurers, given the mindset it takes to actually become an adventurer in the first place. Of course, if you're not RPing as an adventurer, that issue goes away.
A break like this, where you make an alt your main for a while, can often inspire new ideas and break the grip of writer's block, I find.
In a game that I'm still actively playing, I'll usually just set a character aside for a while instead of retiring them completely if they stop being interesting or fun to play. There's lots of ways to do that ICly, including "visiting your homeland/parents/extended family far away," "taking over the family business," "deep cover mission in the East," "got pregnant/got someone else pregnant," or even "just wanted to take a break" -- though that latter one is probably a bit of a stretch for most Eorzean adventurers, given the mindset it takes to actually become an adventurer in the first place. Of course, if you're not RPing as an adventurer, that issue goes away.
A break like this, where you make an alt your main for a while, can often inspire new ideas and break the grip of writer's block, I find.
The Freelance Wizard
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
