What to do when you don't feel like playing some chars?

[SekoETC]

I was looking at my character list and there are 5 characters that I don't really feel like playing, yet it would be unfair towards others to kill them off. One of them is in a situation where no one would probably care if he died, but he has probably the most potential to do something to change his life. The area has interesting resources but not very many people, and his life has been an uphill climb due to spawning with bad skills.

Out of the other 4, one has been fairly content with her life but recently grown frustrated. She feels ready to get violent but she's weaker than average and only an average fighter. She's never even owned a weapon.

Then there's one who should be happy with his life, but I as a player find it boring. It would be better if the environment could turn against him, then he could die without it being my fault. Land pirates or hoardes of wild animals would be welcome. Life is simply too risk free and I've read of interesting things that have happened on the region like a hundred years ago or something, yet things like that don't happen anymore because no one plays bad guys and the animal populations have been culled.

Then there's one whose whole life has been full of learning, yet it feels like she's treading water instead of swimming forward. She has been frustrated occasionally but currently is fairly happy with her life. She's a vulnerable person, yet no one has ever tried to take advantage of that. She has done things like enter buildings that are off limits and everybody just ignores it because they know she doesn't understand it's wrong.

The last one is my newspawn. He's based on a quirk, and you know those things never last. He got given the short end of the stick in the skills roulette and hasn't found his place in life. Everyone seems to find him a really nice guy, so there have been no conflicts. No one has ever hurt his feelings yet.

[LittleSoul]

Hm.. that is a hard one. Especially with the ones that are happy. Normally for the unhappy ones since it works out IC if I personally find them more boring to play I take it as a cue to find somewhere else to live - a more interesting environment whether that means more conflict or more cooperation to accomplish goals. If they're happy it's a lot harder. You can't do much to change the character because if everything is all rosey then they've no real reason to change. You can't really move because.. why would they want to leave? However, if you're bored with that character you could roleplay -them- being bored after some time. In that case I would suggest nudging them toward a desire to explore a little? Travelling, trading, meeting new people. That can spice things up.
Other than that if it's not so much the environment but the character themselves that is boring that's also a difficult situation. I've found myself in it a couple of times, and what really helped me was getting them inspired to work towards some larger goal in life. Preferably one they have to travel at least a little bit for.

[hyrle]

If they're old enough, you could RP a sickness or something and have them die an old age death. Don't let how other characters react get to you. My characters will cry when someone close to them dies, but that's the character being sad, not the player.

Cantr is a game and therefore should be enjoyed. If part of it feels like a chore and is no longer enjoyable - then what's the point of carrying on with that part of the game?

That being said - I've had boring characters turn interesting, and interesting characters become boring. It can sometimes go in cycles.

[Friar Briar]

I like what LittleSoul and Hyrle have said. If needing to get rid of a character, then illness or accident can be role-played: I've seen a character have a serious accident, then role-played getting worse, and then passing.

As for me, when I, the player, need a change, what I do is hit the big X and do a hard reset. I start over with a new set of characters, new personalities, new storylines, new towns, new perspectives, etc. It's another way for me to further explore this world.

[Marian]

Send them out on a long trip alone and see if at any point you feel like picking them up again. If not, then just have them forget to eat. Easier on all the characters back home too because you'd have made preparations before you left as far as keys or whatever go, and they'd have time to get used to yours not being around before they even realized they weren't coming back.

[Slowness_Incarnate]

I feel like this. Right now. I want to play like...one or two out of my fifteen, not the rest. My typically most active characters, I don't even want to look at their activities. I have turned on the filter thing so they won't light up for talking, or anything.

[SumBum]

Some of them I selfishly don't want to lose but just can't manage playing right now for various reasons both in-game and/or due to real life. I hope others keep feeding them. I know that things will change and I'll want to have the option to play them again.

[Snickie]

I've become readdicted to a specific game again and also relatives are here so my stress level is through the roof because of them and right now I don't want to deal with anything IG that takes up more than two lines of text. Which means I'm only playing like two low-profile characters right now.

[freiana]

In my first time round, I'd been playing a char that got boring very early on. I held onto him for a while, but it just wouldn't get interesting. The others in town really liked him, though, so I would've felt guilty had I killed him of. So, instead, I gave him some sort of incident. I don't quite remember what happened, but his head smashed into something and was half-unconscious for days, only murmuring rubbish. He didn't die, though. He came back, but different. Mainly, I altered some of his memories to a far more extreme level; those people in town he didn't quite care about before he now suddenly hated. He was suddenly deeply in love with a girl he'd been calling his sister. A good friend of his suddenly became a sort of god, so important and awesome everyone should kneel before him. It changed him into one of my most enjoyable chars.

So, what I'm trying to say; There are ways to completely change a char. Especially for those who have close friends, this can create so much RP, because they need to completely re-establish their bonds. Maybe for one or two of your chars, this could help, too...

[cutecuddlydirewolf]

I'm having the exact same issue. I'm actually cutting down on my number of characters right now… most of the ones I'm trying to get rid of have just starved off, and one is actively trying to commit suicide.
However, I still have a few that have potential… those are the ones I woke up after I stopped playing them for a while. If there's the chance that you can enjoy playing a character again, then don't kill them off. But otherwise…
Like others have said, Cantr is meant to be fun. If a character is just dead weight, and taking care of them is a chore, then go ahead and let them pass on.

[*Wiro]

You should always try to be blunt before killing off a character. I've done it several times, and to my surprise it often worked. Try something like asking for a vehicle, preferably a specific one (like that car no one's driven in the twenty years you lived there). Many characters are simply boring because they are stuck in a rut. It is a society simulator after all.

1% of the game owns 50% of the vehicles. Like ffs just give your vehicles away.

[Friar Briar]

1% of the game owns 50% of the vehicles. Like ffs just give your vehicles away.

I know, srsly.

[SekoETC]

Topic Revive, I killed off a record number of characters last year and spawned replacements, so I'm still at 15. I feel burned out and also that my characters are trivial. Now 7 of my characters are relatively young and haven't yet established their place in life. My old ones are having existential crisis. I don't know if I really enjoy playing any of my characters currently. Everything I do seems trivial. I feel like when I'm gone, people will just move on and forget. Some of my old characters had landmarks erected for them. I used to play people who mattered, now I play nobodies. I understand it takes a while to establish yourself, but often my characters are in their seventies before they become a somebody.

[hyrle]

That's somewhat the nature of a game like this, though. It moves slowly and takes a while to establish yourself... especially if your character spawns in a well-established town that doesn't regularly provide opportunities for its young. On the earlier subject of the Cantr 1%... I agree more can be done about wealth distribution, but I often find it's the squeakiest wheel that gets the grease.

Like you, Seko, in the last year, I killed off 6 characters and spawned 6 more, so I am back at 15 as well. My rule was "Establish an interesting character idea and try it out." So each of my new 6 have interesting unique things about them that make them at least somewhat fun to play. I agree... none of them are particularly "established", but I find something interesting in each of them. I gave them interesting personalities and motivations. In fact, two of them have become hermits because their peculiarities made them outsiders to their spawning societies... but both have - IMO - those two have the most potential to be entertaining, since I can take them in quite an interesting direction if I can equip them properly.

I actually like playing a variety of characters in social standings. I have a few town leaders, a few town leader assistants, a sailor (I want more... so I should get on making that happen!), a few loners, and a few social outsiders in large towns. It gives me different perspectives on the green world.

In any case, my message is that it's okay to not have big impact characters - as long as you can find enjoyment in them.