Discussion RP Threads have an expiration date? Do they?

[Grrwunhoooll Agaburry]

Been around for while and this is one area I have never really questioned or pondered about. And we have all seen it before. Some RP threads last longer than others, some Threads are left behind and never touched again. Sometimes its slow and sometimes its fast. RP Threads "die out" But why?

Do RP threads have an expiration date for you? How do you know when a thread is "Done" or is it never done because you come back to participate in it some time later? How old does a thread typically get before you lose interest or abandon it? Do you or would you ever come back to RP thread that has not been touched for "some time"?

 

[Bernard]

Bro this is difficult. Threads are at the same time scenes and places to creatively hang out with good friends, given the right conditions.

Most of the time I try to actively pursue an end to the scene, though. This usually takes the form of fulfilling whatever story beat I had cooked up before heading into the thread. After that beat's hit, the thread is donezo and it's time to roll the curtain.

 

[Kyric]

It's done when I link the outro to an episode of the Clone Wars, usually.

EDIT: Serious answer.

I only track threads I complete. I only continue threads seriously with writers who are interested in collaboratively plotting the story. I'm less play-focused nowadays. If a thread is never completed, it's nonexistent in my mind until other writers mention it. At which point I keep all mentions to it broad until I can determine how it was completed.

I'll finish any story someone wants to write out if I enjoyed their prose.

 

[Valery Noble]

From my experience, these are a few bullet point "Rules of thumb" that apply to me and what I've seen:

• (Major) Faction threads last about 2-3 weeks. After this, most people are eager for something new that pushes the story further or into a new direction. An exception can be social threads because people split off into smaller groups and it essentially turns into a lot of private threads together in one big thread. Big invasions/annihilations are an exception too.
• Public threads are as strong as the weakest link. Some writers are more consistent than others, which is fine, but if you have a public thread with a lot of writers who take very long to post, it all adds up. The posting order will quickly take over a week and from my experience, people move on after a round or two. Especially if they have other stories that are faster and just as exciting.
• Private threads can last very long, but only if both writers are posting at a consistent pace that they both like.

A natural end for me is when I feel like the thread has covered the story beats me and the other writer wanted to hit. I manage to finish a lot of my threads, but I do lose interest in some. Usually if it's too slow-moving or if there has been a very long time between posts, and I've completely lost the vibe and mindset of the scene.

 

[Rik Perris]

^All of the above

It's pretty uncommon that people will pick up a thread back up after a while. I've seen it happen, but then, that's typically only been with people I've written with for a very, very long time, in my experience, and the thread in question is incredibly important to the overall story of both characters involved. This only applies to private threads, of course.

If it's just fluff? Meh.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

I think it just depends on the thread honestly. If it’s something really interesting and it moves quickly it’s easier to keep the vibe but if you get a lot of 14 paragraph posts with background information sometimes it’s daunting to open so you keep putting it off and it stalls. Or if you get someone who you have to keep reminding to post eventually you stop because you don’t want to nag and they clearly aren’t into it.

The bigger threads get more hype and might last longer where smaller ones can be hit or miss. Each time I’ve tried an open thread with my one character it’s died because I don’t think it’s a good fit for her to do those types so people lose interest. So that probably plays a part too.

 

[Pal Veda]

I agree with most of what has been said above. I find that a lot of threads without a clear goal/mission kind of fizzle out when one or more of the writers gets distracted with IRL issues. People develop tight time constraints IRL and give priority to threads that are more important for the writer and character. Private threads with few (or two) writers can move along slowly and pick up/drop off as the writers are available to continue the story. But public threads with more going on can become daunting and if someone misses a few days of posting, they may have to make the hard choice of just abandoning it for fear of never catching up.

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Depends on the type of thread. If it’s a group larger than 3 writers then it’s hard to keep activity going, so expiration date.

Obviously faction threads last a certain amount of time before they move on to the next thing.

Private threads can last years as long as you keep posting. I’ve written with only a few supreme chads that could maintain a thread for that long.

 

[Kei Amadis]

Nope. I've replied and received replies to threads years old. I enjoy and am grateful for the posts I get, even if the writer barely gets time for the hobby.

The only thing I can mention is that stepping into the former voice or version of the character can be challenging, but that can be fun, too.

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

All the above. I personally want to reach a resolution to all of my threads, so my desire is that whoever I’m writing with will continue to post until that happens.

Granted, I know life happens and stuff may need to be put on pause.

Ultimately, if the other writer isn’t able to finish it, I rather be told and then come up with how the ending to the thread will be resolved.

It’s one of the frustrating things I find in junction dominion threads. A majority seem to tend to quit posting for something else and there doesn’t seem to be any resolution.

 

[TheReal_McChicken]

I've had many threads over the years that never "finish" in a concrete way. They fade out with people's schedules or the passing of the hype train to new things. It happens, I've come to expect it. I have been both the person who gets hung out to dry and the person leaving them there. Its no ones fault really.

I've gotta agree with what folks like Valery Noble and Eloise Dinn are saying, its super dependent on the type of thread. In the cases though where threads I would have liked to bring to their logical end don't quite reach it, I'm never one, like Kyric has said, to discount them entirely, especially if there was some good development for my characters in whatever amount of story was written. That being said, I do also fall into that issue of having to sometimes be deliberately vague in referencing past events when there's gaps.

Overall, I just subscribe to the idea that every character (and their writers) will see, be affected, and remember plotlines a little different than every one else they write alongside. One thread that never properly finished might have been really influential to one character, but a footnote to another. The timeline is constantly shifting, unaligned, out of balance, however you wanna say it. We all try our best to finish stories, but sometimes the story of our own lives means we've gotta let the OCs hang there a bit.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Just depends for me.

Private threads? Typically I'm in communication with the writer and I'll want to finish it or at least come to some resolution,even if it takes months and we have to slow down for various reasons. Public? If it dies, it dies. I'm much like Kyric , if the thread dies or doesn't get far, no longer exists in my character timeline.

I don't mind waiting between replies or if the thread takes awhile to finish, however, I'm also a person who typically won't go pestering for a reply. Just the OOC mindset of if the thread is important to both characters I expect the writer to remember to see it through.

 

[Onrai]

They do, IMO, but it depends on the thread in question. Typically you sort of "feel" when things are coming to an end and wrap the story up. Sometimes interest might just die out overall. Other times circumstances happen. I guess "yes, but" is probably the closest answer I can give.