"So, I'm thinking of leaving the site/taking a break..."

Whether it be for a temporary hiatus or permanently, here are some things that will help you, or at least the rest of the community, following your decision. This FAQ is not here to try to convince you to come back; life happens, and it oftentimes leaves us without a choice, on some matters, especially where hiatuses become a concern. You're here because this decision has already been made, whether for or by you, and this FAQ is here to help you wrap things up regarding that.

Now, shall we begin?

CHARACTERS:
What happens to your characters, in character, is entirely up to you, as their owner. There are various options: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and Missing being the most cut-and-dry of them. If you need to make a quick decision then the default option is for a character to be marked as "Missing," requiring no IC explanation on the matter. If, however, you want to wrap things up a bit more, you can provide an explanation for the circumstances of their disappearance (in a thread, on their CS, in a log, or in a message; please send a copy of the message to a staff member, as well), or opt for one of the other options. Adoption, as detailed in it's own Sticky, would allow another user to take the character off of your hands; you would have full control over who the character goes to, and what, if anything, could be changed upon adoption. If, again, the decision needs to be quick, you can leave the adoption process to staff, with these instructions (as well as how to treat the character if it is not adopted), and we will sort things out for you as best as we can. Missing and Adopted character sheets will be moved to Dropped, until the account is deleted, whereas Dead characters' sheets will be moved to the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The... less cut-and-dry options for what to do with your character are, for various reasons, more complicated. For example, you could make it where your character has suffered a great Injury, but then you'd have to explain why it's drastic enough for the character to not live their life normally. Really, the only ways to get away with this without any "need" for the character to seem like they're living some sort of life would be to put them into a coma. This, for writing's sake, has the bonus of allowing you to pop them out of said coma, should you return. Until your account is deleted, these characters will be moved to Dropped. Another option is to do some variety of NPCing a character. The typical option allows the character to still exist without its previous prevalence, as well as providing the option of the character to be played by multiple users, per your discretion. You could also allow for a partial-NPC solution, wherein one person may play the character until you return, without it counting against their total character account. You choose who this person is. NPC characters do not move from the NPC section unless their creator chooses, even if the user's account is deleted. Please post your username among the "playable by" users, for later reference.

THREADS:
The most obvious answer for what to do with a thread when you're leaving the site, should you have time to do so, is to simply leave the thread. Now, IC, this can get incredibly complicated as oftentimes it would require finding an appropriate IC place for the character(s) to leave. If mentioned to other users, they might be able to move the setting for the rest of the characters elsewhere, leaving it just to be that your character(s) didn't follow for their own reasons. By this, there is another, but also potentially complicated option. Should everyone involved in the thread wish it, the thread can be treated as "Non-canon," where every user involved agrees that the thread will be treated as if nothing in it happened, like the thread was never created. Every user that has posted in the thread has to agree to this, however, and a staff member has to create the last post (and tag) for the thread, marking it simply as "NON-CANON." You may also create a thread specifically for the sake of explaining the circumstances of your character's status while you are away.

ACCOUNT:
If your account is going to be rendered inactive, there are a few things to do. For one, it is requested that you post a thread under [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], which is specifically what that section was created for. You don't have to explain the circumstances unless you want to, but we do hope for you to mention whether or not you might come back. If so then staff can thus be made aware of such and keep your account from being deactivated, or worse, deleted. On the flip side of this, if you have absolutely no intention of coming back, you may state as such and request that your account be deleted. Regrettably, we will oblige this, as well.

Should you return, there are things that will, or can, be worked out, but that choice remains up to you, as it can be. In the end, we will happily say that we were glad to have you, Guest, and hope to see your return.

Thanks for the memories,
~SERP Staff