Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

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Aduah
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Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby Aduah » Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:31 pm

So, I was curious.

How do you all react in real life to in game character deaths?

As for me, well, I'm a pretty sensitive soul. So, when a character dies, one I'm pretty close to, I suddenly have a bout of shock and anxiety followed by real tears. Something that indicates to me, "Wow, I formed a real connection... and now its gone." It still surprises me... That I have this reaction, Then again I suppose it doesn't. Surely I'm not the only one who feels real loss when an in game character dies...
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby MonkeyPants4736 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:02 am

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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby the_antisocial_hermit » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:55 am

You are definitely not. I am usually sad when a character's close friend or significant other dies, and may shed a few tears, but every now and then, there's one that just entirely tears me apart. Thinking about no longer being able to interact with the character crushes me, makes me anxious and keeps my mind running long after I should be sleeping, because I can't stop thinking about where the story could have gone. Or I worry about the player, whoever they may be and hope they are okay, if it seems like an unexpected end.

It sounds silly, but every now and then, there's just one that gets to me more than most.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby ManyVoices » Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:38 am

What's harder than a character death is being a player that hits the green X. Then you suffer multiple deaths, and relationships ending, and have a pretty depressing few days, followed by weeks of wondering how they are. First time I ever unsubbed, I cried. Second time, I stalked the forum for over a year. Third time ... ugh! Gotta get smart and just not re-activate the account. I still miss characters from years ago.
Last edited by ManyVoices on Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby the_antisocial_hermit » Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:54 am

I have never been the player that's hit the X, and I am not sure I could be; I think losing that many at once would be too intense. I let the emails come, I'd log in (maybe play for a little bit again), then log out, and then another would come later.. and one time I just made the decision to not log in, because I knew it wasn't fair to others. I felt sad, but very free when I got the final one.

There was a time I culled my account through PD's help, and I played out those few deaths. One of them was heart wrenching, and I felt awful.

Even though most of mine have slipped away with some distance for me, there are definitely ones that I still miss from years ago.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby kronos » Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:27 am

Over the many years I have played there have been plenty of times a character's death leaves me with a feeling of profound loss, and I am guilty of shedding a few tears on a couple of occasions. The first I can recall was around a bazillion years ago with the death of zug zug, a right tear maker.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby Blackdeath » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:17 pm

I've definitely been pretty upset when a char close to one of my own dies - especially suddenly. If it's during a fight, or travelling to new places, or even the dreaded sleeping sickness - it gives me and my char a bit of time to prepare for the worst. Much like real life. Those heart attacks though, man, the shock factor alone changes my day.

That being said, I've definitely mourned my own chars live's when they've been cut short. Seeing all their plans pixelate away....
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Aduah
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby Aduah » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:32 pm

What's harder than a character death is being a player that hits the green X. Then you suffer multiple deaths, and relationships ending, and have a pretty depressing few days, followed by weeks of wondering how they are. First time I ever unsubbed, I cried. Second time, I stalked the forum for over a year. Third time ... ugh! Gotta get smart and just not re-activate the account. I still miss characters from years ago.


Well I've only been playing now for about 10 IG years, so I've never unsubbed. I've thought about killing characters off by starvation or poison. But all my characters have interacted with their communities, so I feel bad about potentially ending their lives due to the fact that I have made them a large part of their communities.

I always wonder about people who have died. Do they ever come back to see how/if thier old character was honored in any way... do they feel hurt if thier old character was shoved into the ground without much remembrance. I, of course, do wonder if any of my characters ever will make a big enough impact to actually be reserved in history. I guess only time will tell.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby ManyVoices » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:50 pm

Aduah wrote:I always wonder about people who have died. Do they ever come back to see how/if thier old character was honored in any way... do they feel hurt if thier old character was shoved into the ground without much remembrance.


Well, seeing as I've returned a couple times, I can give a little insight there. There are some pros and cons.

The pros: I recently had a trader, and he got to pass through a town where I had a former character, and sure enough, there was a statue erected for him, and a building named after him. It puts a smile on your face. Sometimes you may know a character, but not real well, and you come back and that character becomes the most important person in their lives; you had no idea how awesome they were the first time around. There's also the joy of seeing a characters you once knew, which leads into the biggest con ...

The cons: Meeting people you knew as a different character. There's a moment of happiness to know they are still alive, followed by the total realization that your new character means nothing to them. I experienced this, this last round, where three people I knew from a past character came into town, even referenced my character (not by name) and spoke of great memories. You sit there and watch them enjoying a moment knowing they don't care about your new character at all, wishing you could partake in that great memory. Another con, I also once had a relationship with a character, came back into that town as a different character later and almost had to leave as they had moved on and found someone new. It's kinda like real life watching your girlfriend date some new guy. I was proud of that character though, he overcame and stayed in town and was very happy there.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby the_antisocial_hermit » Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:02 pm

It can be a sad thing when you go back to a place where you had a character live for ages and see nothing left of what they knew.

Not too long ago, I revisited a place where one of my characters lived 200 years ago. I don't think I'd been back there on any character since she lived there (she probably died there about 150 years ago). The grass hut she and her significant other had built looked like all the other abandoned ones; the name had been changed. The animals were different, too, which was really, really weird to see. One of the animals that changed had been a big deal back in her day. The only thing really left of her time there was the stone landmark statue she made for her significant other when he died.

The character that visited there also spawned in a town where one of my favorite characters ever lived a long time. It wasn't as sad, though. Several buildings were the same, if used differently, and there were a few people from her past still there that I know remember and miss her. But she died only about 70 years ago vs 150.

I've found notes from my old characters in strange places, and they live on through those notes, too. I found a poem one character wrote for her significant other and then I found the suicide note she left after she decided she could no longer go on without him. There's a bit of nostalgia and sadness, but also some fond memories when I see those things.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby Akulli » Wed Apr 05, 2017 11:00 pm

How do people handle the heartbreaking roleplay! Ugh, right in the heart too...
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby Mafia Salad » Sun May 14, 2017 6:28 pm

Image

The gut punched feeling is very real. And unlike likeable characters in books or movies dying, sometimes the plot isn't forwarded by the death. It's just tragedy. No in game reason behind it, just senseless death.

I think because the characters are interactive makes the hurt that much deeper. Book characters don't respond to you even when you respond to them. Cantr characters do. You've shared good times and bad times with them.

If fictional worlds couldn't draw out real emotions they wouldn't be so popular.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby nateflory » Mon May 15, 2017 12:56 pm

I've only mourned a few characters over the years. Like TRULY mourned them, and felt sad and terrible for their e-Deaths.

However, just the other day, one of my vaguely sleepy characters buried his wife, who had died of a heart attack a while ago and he'd been taking her body elsewhere... and I started typing out the eulogy (to be heard only by some random stranger from a foreign language who stumbled into that port town). :( :cry: :cry: :cry: It took me a gods-forsaken HOUR to finish typing that first word-bomb of a post because I suddenly started bawling from the wave of Sads that overtook me.

Surprisingly powerful reaction to a pretend life lived in text alone.
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But yes, very much what folks said above. It's real.
I have one established character I cant let go of, but don't play, because it will hurt too much to continue, yet hurts too much to continue their current sleepy non-life, and yet also ending it will crush other characters I'm sure, so I can't do that. Pesky Feels. :? 8)
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby Millhouse » Mon May 15, 2017 3:31 pm

I think there's really only been once where it kind of got to me on a personal level and I totally did it to myself. I spawned a Neanderthal character who thought the co-leader of the town was his Momma. When she died, it was the first death he'd ever seen and he thought she was just sleeping. I made some comment like "Sleep good, Momma" and like the instant I typed it I got a lump in my throat.

I'd say it's usually the loss of a good player that affects me, like when *wiro hit the X. It was sad on a personal level because he had great and memorable characters, so I guess it was more OOC sadness. There's been a few others like that.

Usually I struggle with making the in-game grief seem genuine. Like I'll keep it up for a few hours or a day or two at most if it's supposed to be a particularly sad loss but it's hard for me to keep it going any longer than that.
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Re: Real Reactions to in game character deaths.

Postby the_antisocial_hermit » Mon May 15, 2017 3:53 pm

It is hard to keep it up, especially if they've been sleeping for a long time.

The one that affected me the most in the last year was because the character had always been very good about informing mine of impending tiredness and always promised they would not go the way they did, so it was a huge shock when they did. It would have been hard for my character at any time, as much as it depended on them, but it was also such a shock to myself, even though I reminded myself it was possible from time to time.

Another of that player's characters was a good friend to another of mine, and while I was not as sad at its death as I was the other, it made me more sad about the player's absence, as it was a testament to the diversity of that player, whoever they were. I'd have never guessed they played both.
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