...I'm working on the Classes page.
As for the rest of it, there's a pretty simple answer: I got burned out.
On 29 December, RMI will turn five years old. On 28 December, I (Austin) will turn twenty. And a vague month-or-so before that, I will have my fifth roleplaying anniversary.
It's been kind of a long haul. When I first started RMI, it was with my best friend, Sherri. We were co-Heads, that first year, and freshmen in high school. We had a rough first term, a rough second term, and a rough third term. Somewhere in the middle of that, Sherri left RMI because Real Life got too busy. Talitha Cumni stepped in for a few terms as DH, but her Real Life got in the way too, and it was then that Garen Tennant became a permanent fixture as RMI's Deputy Head. Somewhere along the way, we acquired a Quidditch programme and a Drama Club. Somewhere along the way, I acquired a disturbing number of characters.
Stavros Ploukratia, Allegra Ruisi, Scott Kendrick, Mia Nealson, Hank Macrae. I adopted Kaseem Bakhum, who had been Sherri's, in that first graduating class too. Monica Jiminez was in the second graduating class. One free term, then Alissa Kendrick. Then Phoebe and Dylan Maddox. Megan Macrae, Rob Jacobs. Trevor Jacobs and Edmund Tarry. Elise Jacobs. The Lander-Guidos, the Headmaster. Briefly, the caretaker. Briefly, the Quidditch Coach.
...needless to say, when I impose per-term character limits, I do it with the knowledge that having five characters in one year seriously sucks.
But in the midst of all that, I was getting busier with Real Life too. I graduated high school with both a high school diploma and the International Baccalaureate diploma in 2010, then spent the last year as a freshman in Chemical Engineering. RMI had become a stressful obligation instead of a fun hobby, and by the end of my freshman year, I was done.
Yes, I wanted to quit. I handed the site over to Garen Tennant and Gaston Munro for about a half-term, planning to hand it off to them. But between time concerns and the question of who would pay for the site, and the awkward reality that I'm the only one on the Admin who knew how the site was coded at the time...we realised that it just wasn't realistic to hand RMI off to Garen and Gaston.
And then came that awkward point in time where I considered closing RMI. What else was I going to do with something that frustrated me and burned me out when I had so much else going on?
But the great thing about RMI is that we aren't just a roleplaying site. When I tried to make RMI into a place that was open, safe, and welcoming for everyone, regardless of their writing ability or anything else, I accidentally created the best support system ever for not only myself, but for you guys. Because when I suggested closing RMI to the few who knew about it at the time, all hell did break loose. It was only a day or two later, when Garen texted me, that I really got it.
"I think I can do it [take control of the site]. And I think it would be letting people down not to [. . . .] All I can think is that Rebecca Brandon is getting so good and I love seeing Milo Sarkes be a freak, and how [Gwen] told me she thinks the RMI authors were a literal godsend b/c we've made her life so much better and I couldn't give it up."
This is the RMI that I wanted it to be. Somewhere where people could improve their writing, be creative, and have a safe place where they wouldn't be judged. It's not perfect, but realising that I have a responsibility to you guys helped me snap back into gear. It helped me see how much I would miss those things too, if RMI closed, and how I owed it to Garen, to Rebecca, to Milo, to Gwen, to me to keep it going.
So we got a new site design, a new Headmaster, and I sadly-but-necessarily abandoned a handful of characters. I gave everyone else that chance too, because if I felt overwhelmed, who was to say that nobody else did? Consequently, we have both the fewest number of characters and the most active number of characters we have had on RMI in a long time. I think it worked - and I'm less stressed because Kristina de los Santos has taken over profile duty. And although there may be disagreements in Chatzy sometimes and tempers can flare, and although the new site isn't perfect (eep, yes, getting on that ><; ), I hope you can see the RMI Garen helped me to see again through those cracks.
Cheers,
Your friendly local Austin
Yes, I wanted to quit. I handed the site over to Garen Tennant and Gaston Munro for about a half-term, planning to hand it off to them. But between time concerns and the question of who would pay for the site, and the awkward reality that I'm the only one on the Admin who knew how the site was coded at the time...we realised that it just wasn't realistic to hand RMI off to Garen and Gaston.
And then came that awkward point in time where I considered closing RMI. What else was I going to do with something that frustrated me and burned me out when I had so much else going on?
But the great thing about RMI is that we aren't just a roleplaying site. When I tried to make RMI into a place that was open, safe, and welcoming for everyone, regardless of their writing ability or anything else, I accidentally created the best support system ever for not only myself, but for you guys. Because when I suggested closing RMI to the few who knew about it at the time, all hell did break loose. It was only a day or two later, when Garen texted me, that I really got it.
"I think I can do it [take control of the site]. And I think it would be letting people down not to [. . . .] All I can think is that Rebecca Brandon is getting so good and I love seeing Milo Sarkes be a freak, and how [Gwen] told me she thinks the RMI authors were a literal godsend b/c we've made her life so much better and I couldn't give it up."
This is the RMI that I wanted it to be. Somewhere where people could improve their writing, be creative, and have a safe place where they wouldn't be judged. It's not perfect, but realising that I have a responsibility to you guys helped me snap back into gear. It helped me see how much I would miss those things too, if RMI closed, and how I owed it to Garen, to Rebecca, to Milo, to Gwen, to me to keep it going.
So we got a new site design, a new Headmaster, and I sadly-but-necessarily abandoned a handful of characters. I gave everyone else that chance too, because if I felt overwhelmed, who was to say that nobody else did? Consequently, we have both the fewest number of characters and the most active number of characters we have had on RMI in a long time. I think it worked - and I'm less stressed because Kristina de los Santos has taken over profile duty. And although there may be disagreements in Chatzy sometimes and tempers can flare, and although the new site isn't perfect (eep, yes, getting on that ><; ), I hope you can see the RMI Garen helped me to see again through those cracks.
Cheers,
Your friendly local Austin
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