And They All Lived Happily Ever After

Lol, you have to get there first

Seriously though, I prefer to give my characters bitter sweet endings. I rarely go happily ever or straight up epic death. The story needs to be satisfyingly wrapped up and I feel that it needs to the character something that, whether they like it or not, replaces whatever they lost on their journey

Shak said:

Lol, you have to get there first

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Basically this xD

The only RP I've actually officially make an ending post in was the PC PMD RP in '13, where our team of 4 got through the first few floors of the dungeon, fought a really tough Steelix battle and ended with them ambiguously walking into the depths of the shadows, never to be seen again.

End of roleplay... You mean when everyone loses interest and the thread dies? Because I never really get to the "end" of a roleplay XD If I ever did get to the end I'd like to have my character appear to have a happy ending. Even if their dreams are crushed a week later for the sequel.

I don't have a certain type of ending I prefer, tonewise. The only thing I look for in an ending is for the story to resolve. All the possible plot lines need to be dealt with in a satisfying manner. I don't like very open endings, as for me, satisfaction is gained from working towards closure. Doesn't mean some loose threads can stay that way, but the bigger plot points definitely need to tie up nicely.

Elektra Heart said:

It's the end of the role-play, things are winding down. Your character's story coming to an end (at least until a sequel hehehehehe)

What do you do for them? Do they usually get a happy ending? Do you kill them off? Or do you just abandon them and leave it up to the reader to decide what became of them?

In most role-plays, I try to end with my character at least slightly better off than they were when it started. I've never killed any at the end, even though I've been tempted to.

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I've been in 3 that finished. In one of them, my character died, as I planned them to. In the other, he didn't. In the third, he technically supposedly died in the RP, but it was learned later that he survived in a sequel.

For the one that died, I actually planned the death from the beginning. Even then, I didn't specifically say, "He died." It was more or less implied. But I knew in the setting of the RP, a death was probably the most fitting end for the character.

For the one who 'died', that was more or less an influence based on what the other RPers in the RP did. I based it off of their choices and incorporated it into the story.

For the character who didn't die, I never really intended him to, I just sorta had him play through the story.

Some characters, I decide well ahead of time whether they will die or not. Others, I let the story influence the decision. Sometimes, I won't make that decision until it's right down to the wire. It really depends on the situation. I'm not afraid to kill off the character, if I feel that's the best ending for them.

My name's SV and I approve of this message.

I have never finished an RP before which is sad but prompts me to do more in the future.

Buut, when it comes to planning how any of my character will finish with the story, I don't usually do it. I mean, stories can come differently than how they are usually planned at the beginning and each character must adapt to these changes.

I haven't finished a RP yet... but I will have finished one very soon.

Honestly, I'm willing to let a character die if it makes sense in context. I don't like doing things for dramatic sake or because it's the end of the RP lets kill them off. I have to have a look at their story arc throughout the RP and how that has molded and shaped them along with how the RP is actually ending. I despise ambiguous endings (usually people do that when they're hoping for a sequel), though I also don't write a tell-all for that character. Perhaps, one day I can write out their future but I don't want to set anything in stone.

*Inserts a joke about actually finishing an RP*

It totally depends on the character.
If my character leans towards the good side, then I want them to beat the bad, get the girl (So to speak) and end up happy. But if my character is bad, and 90% of my characters are, I want them to end up in an epic battle to the brutal death.

Or I pull the Hero card, and have them sacrifice themselves to save the others. Like I said, really depends.

I haven't finished a RP (8

But I know that when I write stories, I tend to want to leave the endings somewhat open, so that the character has reached a happier state than they were in at the beginning, but that there are unanswered things or something happening right at the end that makes you realize that life goes on for the character even if the story ends.

So I imagine I would like to do that in RPing too haha.

If we cound Crossroads' first Act as finishing, then I certainly left Aberdeen in a much worse state than before xD At the start of the RP, he was happy-go-lucky, even if that was because he hid his inner troubles. But now he's all super vengeful and sort of depressed in Ilex Forest ooops.

I think it depends on the character and the setting. I don't think there's really a catch all answer, and if there is then that should be a pretty big sign to you. For a darker character who's only intent is to kill until there's nothing left to kill then you either have to do a redemption (so that he changes his ways, or so that once he ends up dying you actually feel sorry/happy for him) or write out his failure/success in such a way that it leaves you fulfilled. You can't just say 'and then everyone in the world was dead' but it also wouldn't provide proper closure to just have someone raise a gun and shoot them in the head.