Retconned Deaths & Ancient Characters

[Suno_Regin]

I think I've brought this up in the past, but for the sake of renewed discussion, I'd like to post about it again.

A lot of us have characters that have died. No, not just died, but permanently died. Over the course of PS's history, these characters' names have been lost and long forgotten; and also over the course of PS's history, the lore has changed traumatically for those of us that have stuck around long enough to see this happen. We have had to adapt to where the "old settings" never happened. Could we not, then, do the same as individuals?

I propose that, for those of us who have had characters that we loved from long ago, we bring these characters back into the new world of updated settings and backdrop--the new citizens/player characters of Yliakum. I've done this before in isolated ways, but never have I myself actually taken up playing a character from long ago; I've only had the idea mulling around in my head.

I think it would be neat to see those characters with unfinished plots, ideals, etc., or just those who were always fun to interact with, make a return. And these certainly don't have to be well-known characters, but just those whom we've been afraid of playing due to those "perma-dead" moments, either from our own actions or those of others. At this point in the game, the cause of death would simply never have happened; it's been a long time.

I don't know, though. How much interest is there in doing such a mass-revival?

[MishkaL1138]

I am afraid some characters will never be coming back... sadly due to RL issues 

[bilbous]

Isn't today groundhog day? Do you not wake up in the morning despite eating the polonium stew the night before? What matters it that the 16 tonne weight was dropped o n your head? Bring back Harvey Wallbanger so we can drink in his peppery goodness!

[Roled]

I think this is a great idea

And I for one, would be honored to meet some of those infamous and historical characters! This would enrich rp for everyone!

You old dead bies- come on down!
RR

[Rirenil Masdo]

I would rather we go the other route.  You just forgot who and what I and my characters were altogether.

[Candy]

While this would be neat - and do keep in mind this is coming from an altoholic who's got more character ideas than time to develop and play them - having a new character is also fun (well, aside from the low endurance and lack of Pterosaur fare) and possibly a younger/newer character would allow any oldbies who wish to return some slack so they can get caught up.

[Suno_Regin]

I would rather we go the other route.  You just forgot who and what I and my characters were altogether.

That too. Essentially, I would stick to who the character was before his death, but tiny details would probably be replaced and wiped from memory.

[zanzibar]

I think we run the risk of creating Mary-Sue and Marty-Stu characters. All stories and names are forgotten after enough time, and most dreams and desires go unfulfilled. Many plots and plans are never realized. It's just the way things are supposed to go naturally.

If you bring back a character from the distant past, will this character be considered old and frail? Or will the character be as young and skilled as ever? Will you demand OOC that everyone recognizes the importance and history of your character, or will you IC accept it if no one knows who you are and if they roll their eyes at your old stories and memories?

The last thing I'd throw in the mix is that creating new characters is fun. Roleplaying means developing a character, and much of that development happens early on. In planeshift, the settings say we start off as nobodies and then our characters grow in skill and fame. We give our characters some basic ingredients, but the develoment depends on the interactions and events that happen afterwards. If the game is about character development, then at a certain point an old character is "done". To keep things interesting people invent these life changing events, but then you're back at the Mary-Sue / Marty-Stu thing.

[Rigwyn]

If you have a permadead character, there may be a way to revive them if you can believable write a come-back that you feel comfortable with. This is done in stories all the time. People are thought to be dead, then we learn later on that what we were convinced of was not quite correct.

It doesn't necessarily require a gigantic ass-pull to make it happen, just ingenuity, creativity and willingness.

How about opening up a thread to toss around ideas for reviving hopelessly lost characters?

[bilbous]

Perma-death is a lie told by the gods so that you think that your suffering can finally end someday. It is all the more delicious to them when you discover to your dismay that it isn't true.

[Volki]

Why not play the old character? We have too few geezers.

If you want to bring a dead character back to life, you had better make a good case for why that character should be brought back to life. Make it essential to some plot. Other players should feel it is necessary. Don't half-ass something like that. And it's unlikely your character will return the same as before. Since, like, necromancy.

[bilbous]

Dakkru sent you back to spy on the BF?

[Rigwyn]

No, sometimes characters appear to die, but they don't. Depending on the circumstances, it may be possible say that something else happened without breaking the settings or doing things that you would feel uncomfortable with.

[Volki]

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