A couple of months back, I announced that I was sharpening my scythe to start tying up loose ends with absentee characters.

I’ve implemented a couple of these and reached the conclusion that it’s just not worth the effort or frustration.

Ostensibly, the goal is to let lapsed players know that their characters are important to the ongoing story of OtherSpace and I’d rather not lose them in the shuffle. It’s supposed to motivate them to get back in the mix.

But, simply put, it didn’t work, it probably won’t work in the future, and maybe it’s just not meant to work at all.

People come and go. That’s life on a MUSH. We can’t drag them back, kicking and screaming. We can only do what we can to keep entertaining the folks who choose to stick with it. Admittedly, it’s probably not a fun prospect for those who remain to embark on plots that drive home the fact that these characters aren’t around anymore, whether it’s a fruitless rescue mission or a forced funeral.

So, we’ll let them go. Sometimes they come back, which is great. Sometimes they don’t, and that’s okay too. We’ll do what we can to keep reaching new storytellers to share in the adventure.