another similar idea here: https://storium.uservoice.com/forums/211322-general/suggestions/5892846-narrator-can-make-moves-for-retired-characters where I commented:

Would love this to be an option, though I imagine it's somewhat tied in with the functionality of narrators being able to control NPCs as if they were characters rather than just scene descriptions.

if that was possible, then retiring would just be a case of the retiring player to have 2 options - deciding whether to write their character out permanently, or [by default, to account for those players who don't want to communicate, or for those who don't care enough to retire themselves and make the narrator do it] to allow the narrator to keep that character as an NPC.

though I'd definitely stick to it being around a conscious decision to retire, and wouldn't make it an arbitrary amount of absence. also you might have to give some kind of comeback for players who have their characters forcibly retired by narrators, against their wishes, though you don't even have that option currently anyway.

a similar idea here: https://storium.uservoice.com/forums/211322-general/suggestions/6097155-allow-narrators-to-control-absent-characters-to-av

I want to specify, this would be a method of last resort after trying to make contact with the missing player & only be an option, not an automatic occurrence.

We basically did a similar work around and I eventually retired the original character after 3 weeks.

If people go on vacation and tell their narrator, that's great. I would expect a decent narrator (and human being) to accept that and make accommodations, like getting permission to write in detail in the character's stead or having them sit out that part of the story in some way so their part of the story line will be put on hold, to pick back up 'as is' when they return, if that's even possible. It's understandable that work or life might get busy and especially if you are in a game that goes at a quick pace, it would be considerate for the player needing to go on hiatus to let the narrator and other players know in the comments that you want to keep playing, but give them an idea when you might be able to write again. Just wanting common decency here, nothing ridiculous. If the game was set up with 'no expectations' on how often people play, that's one thing - just let it go and don't worry about the game until somebody logs in. But if you are at 'normal', which is 2-3 scenes a week or even more frequently, it's just really rude not to let everyone else know what's going on. And of course there are major life events, etc., which is why *players* have the option of retiring the characters themselves, if they know they can't return and the narrator already has the ability to retire the character.

But just not saying anything (if you are capable) and never playing again is extremely rude. Tell somebody! If you miss a D&D session, the GM has to do some sort of work around for what's going on with the character. If you're in a table-top group, you have to let your GM know what's going on if you're going to miss playing. If you drop out of a game, your GM will likely have someone else play your character or kill him/her off or write them out of the story. Same deal.

I get why you say Storium might not want to do that, @September. Some people might abuse it. I guess I just expect common decency from players to tell their narrators if they will be away for an extended period of time. If they are no call, no show for a reasonable amount of time, as with work, they get fired. 2-3 weeks is a reasonable window if there has been no contact from the player whatsoever. And I'd much rather be able to continue to utilize a character or give someone else the opportunity to enjoy playing than just kill them off.

@Bookwyrm - if the person was so concerned with how much time they spent making the character, then they should be considerate to the rest of the group and understand that games shouldn't be put on hold for a month just because someone can't bother to log in and say "sorry, I'll be on vacation with no access to internet" and make other arrangements. I do like the idea that as a player, you could voluntarily turn your character over to someone else or the narrator to play if you know you can't ever come back or won't be back for more than 2 weeks. That actually might be the best compromise, if the players are respectful enough to let everyone else know what is going on.

I've narrated one game and been in another where the person just basically stopped posting entirely & it was very annoying, especially if your character was closely tied to the character whose player went MIA. We tagged them in the comments and poked them to try to remind them. The one in my game that I knew I emailed. There was much effort in both games to try to contact the player. I've heard that MANY narrators/games have had this problem. I wouldn't be so hard-assed if this were in person and I could just call the person or write to them on Facebook or something, but considering so many of these games are started open invite all over the world and I have no context for the person's (lack of) actions, I'm less forgiving if they can't just simply post. "Sorry, I'm really busy right now. Please play (or bench) my character for x amount of time (or) I will post in a few days." Doesn't have to be a long explanation. But I don't buy someone being torn up over their character being appropriated if they weren't concerned about what happened to the game when they went MIA. If they are, they're being selfish. This is a *collaborative* effort. Even more heinous - if they stop writing for a particular game and don't let anyone know, but CONTINUE TO PLAY IN OTHER GAMES. Don't even get me started on that topic. :D

Narrators can already do something better than this. It's called inviting a new player into the game and mentioning the absent player's character in their narration. There is nothing stopping the Narrator from allowing a new player (a friend of theirs even) to create an identical character, giving them identical cards, and then letting that loose into the game.

I don't think Storium will do what you're suggesting in the manner you suggest it's done. Would you advise a landlord to give away a renter's house keys because their renter is on vacation? If you need someone to stand in, be creative. Reduce challenges based on the number of people. Invite new people. Include the old character in the story as acting how they reasonably might act.

I have major concerns:

- You seem to have a lot of faith that narrators wouldn't abuse this. What if I let my game know that I was going to be out of town and wouldn't post until after [date], which is outside your two week period - if this is an automatic thing that can't be turned off, then my narrator could still give away my character, even though I've let the game know my plans.

- I like Aleph's suggestion from the forum, that this could be a voluntary option on the part of the player *only*, to open up the character to a new player. Some people might just prefer to retire their characters, and it's not polite or just to deny them the option. Certainly, there are characters I would not be comfortable just handing off to someone else.

- If (and it's a big if) we were ever going to give the narrator that much power over someone else's creation, it should not be at two weeks. One month at minimum. You're talking about permanently taking away someone's hard work and creative effort. That's not a trivial thing.

It would be nice, though, if players were able to bring a character out of retirement (with permission of the narrator), if they suddenly become able to play again.

You do have the ability to retire your own character if you need to stop playing. This is for when someone disappears, doesn't tell anyone & doesn't retire their character.

I would be pretty upset if this happened to one of my characters if I had to disappear for some unforseen reason. If this ever becomes a possibility I would want the ability to opt-out at character creation.