In reply to Hunter (msg # 2029):

I've found it helps to watch a movie in the same genre or read such a book.
Get that, 'I would have done it like ..." going.

Hunter, we ALL lose the muse at times.  I agree with Green Tongue that watching a movie, cartoon, series or read about your characters iin boojs,etc.  just don’t beat yourself up about not having the interest.

Real life also has a lot to do with it bringing you down and sometimes we just have to let writing go if you aren’t in the right frame of mind.  But please realise we all get this way.  Sometimes you need to step away for a day or two.  Or more or even less.  There is absolutely nothing wring with that.  Go spend time with friends, family, or even alone.  I find going for walks or drives in the countryside or park help a lot too.  Take time always for you that is the most important thing is your own wellbeing.

If only I didn't have a need for attention. I can do things with the intent to share with others but things for myself just don't inspire.
I should be happy to play one of the many solo games but I just can't engage.
Having that feedback is just too critical. I can even trick myself with virtual NPCs in something like Minecraft for a while but, not too long.
Even a bad relationship is better than none. :(

Hello Rpol, it's been a long long time since I have posted here. But I don't know where else to vent about this.
One of my oldest and closest online friends passed away in the small hours of this (August 10 2022) morning.
She hasn't used this site in years but some of you may have played with or been in a game run by Cindy1. I actually found this site through her after she got frustrated with Y!groups being ridiculous and suggested we move our game here. Cindy was one of my oldest online friends, that game she created on Y!groups/Egroups way back in 2003 we had kept alive in some form for over 18 years, even starting a second generation with the descendants of the characters in the original game. We had become close friends over the years. A while back she got sick, not going to go into her medical history, but she let me know she'd give my contact info with her room mate in case anything happened. Cindy and I have been messaging each other back and forth on Gchat for years so when she got quiet and not responding a few weeks ago I got worried and actually googled for her obituary and was semi relieved to not find anything, her room mate messaged me a few days later to let me know that Cindy was in the hospital and in bad shape. Cindy was able to message me back herself and we were able to chat for a couple weeks- though she wasn't online much, but last Wednesday was my last message from her... and this evening I got another message from her room mate letting me know she had died.
We had never met in person, I realized that I had never even heard her voice (we're both kind of old school clinging to the ancient days of the internet before everyone had a webcam and mic) but in a lot of ways I was closer to her than a lot of people I know in real life. A dozen times today I've wanted to message her; "Lindsey Stirling and Amy Lee collaborated and it's amazing", "Look at this scene from this book, it reminded me when in our game when I had my character puke in front of everyone", "My cat has ignored me for weeks because it's been so damned hot but today he's all over my desk cuddling with me", "I think I lost my best friend and don't know who I can talk to now".

In reply to LazeyWinde (msg # 2033):

Sorry for your grief, LazyWinde.  I was in a TTRPG group that fell apart when one of the guys died.  Just couldn't continue the game without him.  I have a tribute I do for him on here with my characters.
Online friendships can be just as real and just as close as real world friendships, despite the distance and the lack of face-to-face conversation.

In reply to phoenix9lives (msg # 2034):

Thanks. The game had mostly been between just us for a while, more of a collaborative writing than a RPG, we had talked about turning it into a series of novels but never got far with it, she had not felt up to writing for close to a year. So it's pretty much over.

She is never truly gone until you forget.
With the written word, that can last as an echo for a long time.

I was in a game with her once. Heavenly Falls (she was the GM) but she left in 2017 and we never heard from her again. I'm sorry to hear this. :(

ARGH. Players that insist on starting a new PM thread for every question or discussion with the GM, instead of just posting things in their Access thread*. I get it, *YOU* don't have five thousand PMs that show up in your PM window, but your GM DOES. Don't contribute to thread bloat! Your GM literally gets every single PM that's ever been sent in the game slammed into their Private Messages window when they open it, and it's obnoxious when it's full of 50 threads (or more) that don't have more than 2-3 posts in each. Not to mention that it's easier to skim *ONE* thread of discussion to look for a topic, than have to sit and go 'okay, which thread was <X> discussion in?'.

/shakesfist

* - This goes for PMs between players, too, but for some reason they seem to be better about keeping all of their OOC discussions with each other confined to one thread, instead of starting a new one for each and every new topic of discussion.

For kindness' sake, folks, if you don't *NEED* to start a new PM thread - don't. (Yes, the GM *CAN* force-consolidate them, but that's a pain to have to do depending on how many/how long they are, and easier to just not need to do in the first place.)

In reply to LazeyWinde (msg # 2035):

You could always write the stories of your adventures together.  As a tribute,if you will.

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 2038):

I typically have two threads myself, but I've been known to have more on rare occasion.  The thread bloat is often because that's how the player organizes their thinking: each thread represents a different idea and/or situation.

In reply to GreenTongue (msg # 2036):

Yeah, I had archived most of our game posts.

In reply to Wynternight (msg # 2037):

Ah, Heavenly Falls. I just looked at it and started laughing. I forgot that I was co-GM there, and that I had the GM name of Balls, I think I couldn't think of a good GM name and was just like "Balls" so she was like "smh" and made it my name there lol. Cindy was Storyteller, and was the creator of that game. She had more to do with it than I did. It is kind of sad how the game fell apart. There was a  lot of stuff going on in 2017 for both of us.

Yeah. I don't feel up to really working on it today but I have started a composition book for character bios and outlining.

In reply to LazeyWinde (msg # 2043):

It's a start.  Besides, you still have to work out the ending for the characters.  Take your time.

So wait, am I the only person without a webcam and a mic?
This message was last updated by the user at 03:21, Fri 12 Aug 2022.

In reply to 1492 (msg # 2045):

I was about to say I'm without, but...my laptop has at least a web cam built in. Might be a mic I don't know about, too.

In reply to tmagann (msg # 2046):

Ha! I suppose my laptop may have both features as well. Thankfully I haven't found a need for them yet!

No webcam or mic here.

Always laugh when I get one of those emails telling me, "Hey, we hacked your computer and used your own webcam to film you while you watched Adult material.  Send us all your money, or we'll send the film to people you know."

In reply to bigbadron (msg # 2048):

Hence (one) reason you get a laptop without a camera.

In reply to 1492 (msg # 2047):

Nothing a piece of tape can't "fix" anyway.

In reply to Hunter (msg # 2049):

Is it possible to buy a laptop without a camera and mic?

Depends how you feel about warranties, software compatibility. If you built it yourself or had it custom built, obviously the camera is no more necessary to install than a mouse or trackpad, it can simply not be hooked up.

I don't think my desktop has any camera capability built in, doubt there is mic either.  I do have a tiny webcam w/mic on the top of my monitor, but it's only plugged in when I want to use it.

I use the  Cam/Mic  from my PS4,for my PC, when the grandkids  needed  it for  distance learning  during the pandemic...other  wise , it is disconnected