Stories from RhyDin & The Rings

I left because of not having time to commit to it, seeing that I was just getting into College there just wasn't time. But that wasn't the main reason.

Mainly, I got bored.


Dueling is essentially the Competitive gaming scene of RP, it has ranks, rules, tournaments, teams, star players, reporters ETC. And while some might find it fun; me, being younger, I can't sit there and enjoy dueling as much as i used to. The time length (average being an hour from experience and other posters to this thread) isn't a problem: its what happens in that hour. Your character is locked into the ring, rarely getting to talk outside of it because you are having to 'focus' on the duel at hand. The rounds are too long a part most of the time to feel like I am actually doing anything worthwhile.

To draw off of my experience. If i am doing anything competitive, i will want to be fully immersed and doing some at all times: Macro/micro, creating tactics, actually putting my skill to the test, ETC. Even when you add in the scouting and number crunching of Dueling, there is still time when you can lean back, walk away, go watch a video and that, for me, killed it.

As a comment...

Of the 23 people who have voted so far...there are 0 votes for having left because of rule changes. So...while rule changes may have contributed to dissatisfaction, it was never the tipping point that made anyone leave.

The biggest reasons (so far) have been personal life (7), lost interest (5), and conflict issues (4 and 3).

I don't think we can do a lot about the lost interest category. As that's pretty normal for any activity. Chess, Tai Chi, Yoga, ... people try it, some stick with it, some lose interest.

We also can't do much about personal life. Life is what it is...kids, family, illness, job...we've all had things that pulled us away from the game. Nothing the game offers is ever going to trump those.

The Conflict/Issues category is probably something we as a community can do something about. Like trying to be more open to each other, each other's ideas and play, and be more cooperative and supportive with each other.

I hope people continue to respond to these polls. It's been informative.

Jake wrote:As a comment...

Of the 23 people who have voted so far...there are 0 votes for having left because of rule changes. So...while rule changes may have contributed to dissatisfaction, it was never the tipping point that made anyone leave.

The biggest reasons (so far) have been personal life (7), lost interest (5), and conflict issues (4 and 3).

I don't think we can do a lot about the lost interest category. As that's pretty normal for any activity. Chess, Tai Chi, Yoga, ... people try it, some stick with it, some lose interest.

We also can't do much about personal life. Life is what it is...kids, family, illness, job...we've all had things that pulled us away from the game. Nothing the game offers is ever going to trump those.

The Conflict/Issues category is probably something we as a community can do something about. Like trying to be more open to each other, each other's ideas and play, and be more cooperative and supportive with each other.

I hope people continue to respond to these polls. It's been informative.

Agreed, Jake. We duelists can be an emotional, prideful, bunch. It's good to see this dialogue being engaged.

Random wrote:There's often a lack of interest in hardcore RP

This isn't what I selected in the poll, because it wasn't an option. It's definitely a contributing factor for me. Over time especially, the tone of common roleplay and storylines has changed, and the sort of roleplay/writing that I prefer to do has become fairly antiquated here. In short, Freeform RP is hard. It's harder to create meaningful storylines when anyone can opt in/opt out of anything without consequences, when there are no rules, no DM.

This isn't a judgement on the types of play that happen here now. It's just not as engaging to me, personally, and it does play into why I've left before. It's not the sole reason:

Jake Thrash wrote:The Conflict/Issues category is probably something we as a community can do something about. Like trying to be more open to each other, each other's ideas and play, and be more cooperative and supportive with each other.

People/toxicity are also part of the equation for me.

In truth, this poll will struggle to capture a lot of the answer, because so many players have left ROH over the years and cannot partake. While I'm sure that "personal life" is probably the primary reason people leave (we all get busy over time), problems with admins and other players is absolutely a primary reason why people leave. There have been regular exoduses of huge numbers of players at various times over the past many years, and all of them have happened during times of high toxicity in the community.

Not contributing to the toxicity level of the community is something we all have to be aware of. It's a personal challenge that we have to make to ourselves.

The polls did get linked to the RoH and RDI facebooks where a lot who have left are part of the groups. Also thinking of posting on the RDI side for those who don't check RoH.

Hopefully we will get some feedback from those who have left-left. They are missed

Looks like a lot of good discussion. Thought I'd drop in and add my info in case it's helpful.

I voted personal life. I no longer had time to sit down at a computer at night and wait 15-30 minutes to find a duel and then spend 30-45 minutes in 1 duel. I definitely did not have time for 4 hour tournaments and 1-2 hour challenges. I miss the community and game though. It was hard to leave.

Hope everyone is well!

Mostly time conflicts with work schedules and personal obligations outside of work.