Idle Policy
We do not delete characters. We do remove player accounts from +census after 2 weeks of inactivity. Characters who are removed from census are marked as such on their +finger, which discloses everyone's approval status. To become active again, get back on the grid and pose! The pose logger will eventually notice (at midnight) that you're back and wipe your inactive status. No need to contact or wait for staff.
After 1 month without RPing, then we figure you probably aren't coming back and so we rename your bit. It'll be your original name with a series of numbers afterward (like Jimbo_1234). This is so that another player can assume that character name next.
If you return after a month and nobody has taken the name, just rename yourself. If you were ever approved, getting back in is a matter of just going back on grid and RPing. If someone has taken your old name and is still active, you will want to rename yourself something else, such as your character's last name or nickname.
To do so, type "@name me = <new name>".
Freezing, Retiring, and Vacation
You may Retire a character (this means a permanent decision to no longer play that character). You may Freeze a character (this means marking a character as inactive due to the player not wanting to play the character). You may also go on Vacation (this means marking a character as inactive due to the player being unavailable).
When you are on Vacation or your character is Frozen, that character can be resumed at any time for any reason. Characters who are Retired do not get deleted, but they are not recoverable.
To freeze or retire a character, send in a +request. To mark yourself on vacation, send in a request or type "+vacation".
Exceptions To Unfreezing Characters: Players who are angry or upset when they elect to freeze or retire their characters may not recover said characters if they +freeze in an emotional reaction. Players who request a +freeze/+retirement within 24 hours of staff enforcing a policy or IC consequences are likewise not eligible to recover their characters.
Moving Things Along IC
If there is an RP bottleneck that requires your character's participation but you are inactive without warning, staff will @mail you to tell you that you have a certain time frame to participate before your character gets puppeted. This is typically only going to be the case if you go for an IC position of power or have become a key person in a specific plot.
Your RP habits will be taken into consideration (e.g., if you regularly only sign in on weekends, we extend your notice through the weekend).
After the notice period, staff will puppet your character if you have not yet taken the requested IC action(s) to remove the RP bottleneck. We will act in your character's best interest, but we will not make your character an exception to any IC consequences they incurred up to this point. You can resume play at any time.
If we have to repeatedly puppet your character we might speak with you to check in, and we may need to orchestrate IC changes, but we will not impose IC consequences for OOC circumstances.
