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 Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:26 pm
Start...Your...Engines!
Now that that is out of the way, I've been around since the beginning (even before that before go-gaia) but there's always this constant. People come, people go.
They don't have the drive anymore. They have nothing to prove.
We've all seen it, we've all felt it.
What drives us? What drives you?
Most vets such as myself can attest to the fact that 'once you've done it all, what's left to do'
By that I refer to, 'Tell a bunch of stories whether good or bad, own a guild or two, make it successful, make it fail. Win a bunch of championships, accolades, awards, whatever. Build a new character from scratch, get him to the top, and do it again and again. Until you bring back your original character from out of obscurity, only to do it all over again. Put over new people, teach them, train them, Tell more stories'
But after all of that, what's left?
So I ask what drives you?
Is it some sort of point you're trying to drive to that you feel you haven't?
Is it someone saying that you can't do something, and you want to prove them wrong even if they're not around?
Is it something else?
I mean ultimately it's ego when you boil right down to it.
But let's face it, in all honesty. The way the community is in itself. It's not the same this year as it was last, much like it was the year before.
There aren't as many stories to be told, and it becomes fewer and fewer.
So it makes me ask, are you staying just to stay?
Because you like the community, so you just play through the motions?
Just asking for the sake of curiosity, and perhaps growing a tad tired of people leaving, and want to know why you're staying?
Your drive to stay
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:54 pm
I really enjoy roleplaying in general. I enjoy the character development, the forming of relationships, friendships and rivalries. I'm not so good at the 'in ring' aspect of what we do, but I very much enjoy the 'out of ring' interactions.
As sappy as it sounds, the reason I stick around are for the storylines, really. I feel there are a lot of possibilities and opportunities to be done with my characters. I never get bored of them, as I'm always adding to their backstory or tweaking their personalities to fit into whatever interaction or scenario I'm playing. I've gotten attatched to them. They're not characters I can use in other roleplays, such as those in the forums. I've created them for this specific brand of roleplaying. I would really prefer not to just abandon them after all the work I've put into them.
Granted, there are times where I'm just tempted to call it quits and leave due to various reasons, one of them being how reclusive and timid I've become, but I can't seem to pull away. It's my creative side, my urge to write. I often struggle to keep myself motivated to finish my own stories, and I find roleplaying with a partner(s) helps feed into my creativity. With my characters, there's always something I can do with almost everyone else's, I like to think. It may not be original or new, but it can be molded and make into our story in it's own special way.
I'm constantly thinking up of ideas and story plots, saving them in my little idea bank for later use. I haven't 'done it all'. There's still a lot I have left to do, and then some. I just want to roleplay. I want to tell stories with whoever is willing to roleplay with me.
Not sure if that answered your question or not. I just rambled.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:27 am
Personally, I don't know if I'm able to stick around when I'm not inspired, which is why I originally left years ago. But every now and then I would think of the people here and smile. It was crazy to come back and see a lot of the vets still active. I don't know if I'm qualified to answer the question of staying after doing it all because: 1) I've already left before and 2) I feel like there's plenty of things I haven't done. But it was so nice to return and be remembered and welcomed. I think everyone is aware of the toxic side of our community, but it's also a great community with great people. I think the community aspect is what keeps a lot of people here RPing.
I feel like a few things drive me at the moment. I want to top what I've done before and be remembered as a good RPer. I think I'm a better writer and creative thinker than I was before. I also think I'm doing the best RPing of my "career" right now in BBW and it's been fantastic. I want to sink my teeth into some good storylines and feuds because there aren't very many in my past that really stand out to me. But mostly what's keeping me RPing is that it's just fun. I enjoy the freedom to write creatively and I'd like to push myself to the level that some of you others are at. I wasn't having fun when I left because I wasn't as into wrestling as I was when I was younger and I was simply in too many guilds. So it's nice to be able to focus on ONE guild and put all of my energy into one goal. I've really been enjoying RP since my return, so I don't think I'll be going anywhere soon.
This is a good topic. I'd like to know what drives you, Chrono, since you've been doing it for so long. Would like to hear Kelly's take on this too since his character is like 5000 dog years old.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:04 pm
Since you so elegantly asked I'll gladly say what revs my engines.
For someone who has done it all, and by that I mean all those examples I've listed, I've done. Whether it's come from obscurity to becoming the community leader. To being arguably the most decorated legit champion (by that I mean not adding fake title runs to make myself look better) in gaia history. To creating arguably one of the greatest 'divas' ever. (at least top 10), to the factions, the convoluted stories.
To being the most beloved guy
To being the most hated guy
But what drives me? That might be a tough one.
It used to be to out do myself year after year, put my characters in situations that 'humanized' them. Because 'yes' they portray themselves as gods, deities, entities, whatever. Doesn't mean there cannot be qualities of human.
But what drove me off the edge? (see what I did there?)
As the years go. I've just not felt that passion anymore. As someone who loved wrestling, the art of it. The stories of modern day 'good and evil' in a contact 'sport', the way it seemed like beloved comic characters came to life.
But now lately I've delegated it to background noise, or even not on at all.
Maybe that passion disappeared when I felt there wasn't anything I could do to top myself. Maybe I felt that passion disappeared when you put your all into matches, and storylines, and making the best possible guild all year
but then someone comes around after not even being around for months, and is recognized as being better than you, despite only being active for two weeks simply because the community you've worked so hard for doesn't recognize that work, and would rather chastise you as a person.
And I get it, it's simply karma or whatever form of 'payback' that one believes in. But I've always recognized or read matches, promos, and all of that with pride. Regardless if I liked someone or not, I'd be quick to point out if it was bad and how to improve upon it.
Yes I'd give the whole 'that was bad, and you should feel bad routine' publicly, or whatever but privately is a whole story entirely. I've helped out each and every single person that asked, and even went to those that didn't.
Because I liked the stories that people could come up with, even when they didn't make sense. I appreciated the effort they put into it.
But as the years went by it just became more and more clear to me that some people (and certainly not all) would put forth less and less effort but expect more and more. That got tiring real fast.
Maybe I got tired of the catering to each and every single person's 'needs' as far as roleplaying goes. 'Oh you don't want to face so and so, I can arrange that', "Oh you want to go after this title, I'll see what I can do."
Maybe I got tired of going 'I think you'd do well here', 'I think you two should team up' or offering suggestions that could benefit more than one person.
The selfishness, the backstabbing, and all of that for what?
But then on the other side one has to realize. That's in 'every' community.
There's always some toxicity that sprouts, even before a presumed individual comes along and all the blame goes to them.
and we've all played are part, all of us. Each and every single one of us, have played a part in that. Whether you think it or not.
Maybe I got burned out , and it became a chore to come on. Day in and day out it was a struggle to even log into gaia. I even removed the site from my 'favorites' list on my bookmarks to least used folders.
Because I began to question the validity of RPing a 'fictitious' 'sport' of something where the outcomes were already 'pre-determined' and no matter how good you were, there was always going to be someone vastly less skilled than you in a spot above you simply because their nose is the brownest.
But we all get what way right?
Burned up, fed up, tired, lose the passion, the creative well dries up, not entertained, etc.
Most of us drop everything and go.
But some stay go, come back, and repeat the process.
However, I never really left.
So what drives me?
Despite everything I've listed above
Despite doing it all, even things I haven't listed.
Because I have stories to still tell, because I've created an entire universe, a plethora of characters all with intrigue backstories that intertwine with one another. I have over 70 characters (yes, over 70) characters that I've introduced in one form or another on gaia. Even the casually introduced ones, have a very vast history that I've gotten saved up for 'just in case' moments.
How many can really say they've done that?
Because there are one or two goals still left in the tank that I want to achieve.
Which I'm sure that even after I achieve those, there will be more.
Because despite the fact that some people in this community grates my nerves, and despite the fact that I grate the nerves of nearly everyone.
We're still a dysfunctional family, we've grown up together figuratively, some literally.
Perhaps I simply stay because I can, and am too stubborn otherwise to leave despite how unwanted I may or may not be.
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ProtoWolf 2.0 Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:30 pm
Well since MQ asked;
I love storytelling and wrestling. Maybe not in that order. I have been roleplaying all my life, started young on battle.net while playing StarCraft, moved onto Gaia when I got into Wrestling, participated in some of the first wrestling RP threads, created one of the first wrestling RP guilds, have drawn comics about my characters wrestling since I was nine and could formulate the idea of wrestling in my head.
Like Chrono, I have hundreds of characters that exist across multiple platforms in different ways, all with stories between them whether it's a Warcraft universe or a Wrestling universe or a superhero universe. There's a lot of rich material that these characters have been through with me. Long after this community dies years from now, FFA will still exist in my comics and head-canon. The Monitor will still be in a blood feud against his will with Mike Landry, Kelly King 2.0 will still be trying to claim the FFA Championship for the first time, Delta will still be picking on everyone smaller than him, James Caputo will still be trying to find the perfect tag team parner, the Bloody Stampede will 15 time tag team champions, and Joshua "Mad World" Madwohl will probably STILL BE THE FFA Inferno Champion going on 15+ years.
At the end of the day I just... love wrestling and roleplaying. I love Kelly King 2.0, his rich gaia history, and I will love creating more and more stories with him for as long as the community has a guild or two to post in. I don't believe the notion that there are only "so many" stories left to tell or that King himself has run dry on the amount of stories he can tell. King has a smaller title history than most of the other "legends" he's been around because I've only focused on them when my character was supposed to, otherwise I was building new stories without them.
I like to take a break once or twice a year from Gaia just to refuel my drive and creative juices and I think that has been very healthy for me and has kept me in the game long after all of my friends have stopped playing toy soldiers. Sure, things can be frustrating and you don't get along with everyone, but that's a community and that's just what happens.
I've just always loved sharing my passions and storytelling with people. I've loved that I've been able to help people grow, like Geoff and Nuke and Metz and Randy and Matt and anyone else who has "Respected" me enough to ask for advice or opinions. I wouldn't throw away the time I've spent here for anything. I met Dallas here and that was worth the price of admission as it is.
So I keep going because it's part of me and I enjoy it and I probably always will.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:59 pm
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ProtoWolf 2.0 Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 5:48 pm
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:25 pm
What drives me? Creativity
this community is an outlet for my creativity.
My adhd always gets in rhe way of writing my other stories because i just cant focus (not to mention when i get writers block) and i cant draw, dont have the equipment to do lets play videos (yet)
Rping is my outlet for my creativity (dont worry ill stay even after i finally get my rp group irl together thatd only be once a week)
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:10 pm
Always need a creative outlet.
I wasn't an artist by any means, and I'm not musically inclined what-so-ever. I felt as though writing was always a strong suit of mine in school, too. I think that's why I had so much confidence in joining this community when I was almost ten years old, but I was still not up to par (see: bleeding from the eyes). Developing AJ Warner into a cynical, self-entitled, prideful character with a lot of shitty backstory and examples of a tough life was so much fun for me. Just someone who wanted to take from others.
Not to mention, the stuff we produce as a tenured community of friends and peers is soooooo much better than WWE's bullshit nowadays. We actually have continuity amongst characters and their past rivalries/alliances.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:15 pm
I also asked out my fiance (and future wife) through Gaia,the year I planned on quitting, and it did spawn one hell of a storyline. So there is 'that'
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:42 am
I'm no writer, and would never call myself one. Hell, I don't even enjoy wrestling as much as I used to - hence why my stories are, for the most part, becoming batshit insane, with little to no semblance of realism involved.
The truth of it is I just stick around because, and argue if you want, I consider most of you guys to be good friends. The RPing was my primary reason of being here, but as I find myself less and less inclined towards escapist fantasy, it became secondary to the community we've built. It's all good fun.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:51 pm
Stories! =) Have had fun writing with Trent and Bad Boy in WWFG while doing the Russo story in BBW, even if nobody else noticed since I started them in like November or something! rofl
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 8:53 pm
Didn't bother looking at the other answers before I wrote mine. If I end up being redundant from others I don't regret it.
This could also be "The reason why I returned."
The first initial response to why I'm here is the fact that I still love wrestling. Even if WWE is in a never ending horrible "If I were to be caught watching this I would be embarrassed" state, even if there's not that many alternatives on TV, and even if it's the least popular thing I will still watch wrestling. When I originally came here, I at least had friends in grade school to talk about it. When I quit this because I went into high school, I had no one to talk about it besides my brother and my dad.
I was bored one day in January, randomly wanted to get back into a wrestling thing, and I remembered that I used to love how things were done here. So I came back after high school and it's nice to have other wrestling fans to talk about it, complain about it ((A lot of complaining)) and laugh about the ridiculousness that happened before.
The other reasons, basically a big reason why people love wrestling, is the ability to create amazing story lines and matches. The ability to display creativity, combine ideas with the rest of the great writers on this site, and increase my writing skills through role playing here is fun to have and look forward to when everything else in life sucks. What certain people say about wrestling; there can be months worth of crap that happens in wrestling, but there are those moments that happen that recreates your love for it. When you and a person ((Or group of people)) do something that you strategically thought out and performed without flaws, it feels awesome. The style we have in RPing wrestling also remains why I stay here rather than go to any other site.
As I shortly stated before, working with a lot of you is another reason why I stay. Most of you are amazing writers and there are some that I want to work with, whether it's for the first time or get to work again.
That is why I returned and I stay here.
Edit: Just saw Cartwright's post, perfect example why I remain here. Loved doing that story line.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:04 am
I'm here because I'm the Batman of this community.
Because I'm the leader the community deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So I remain here. Because I can take it. Because I'm not your hero. I'm a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A guild owner.
...
But in all honesty, I'm not here for roleplaying, storylines, being creative, matches, my love for wrestling, etc. While it's all true, it's not why I'm here. I'm not here to compete. I'm not here to make stories, even though occasionally I do get involved in one. I'm not here to make myself look good (anymore).
I'm here because I want to always make sure everyone here has a place to compete and have fun storylines. I'm here to make sure people will get to evolve their characters and aim higher and higher for them. I'm here to make sure this community is a safe environment for all.
For as long as this community needs a guild to compete in, I'll be here. As long as this community needs threads and aggressive posts deleted from this guild to stop drama in it's tracks, I'll be here. As long as people need someone neutral (unless it's about King because King is my bae) to talk to and deal with issues, I'll be here. As long as this community needs a friend, a strict guild owner, and a tight schedule of shows in BBW, I'll be here.
...
Because I'm the god damned Batman.
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