The Sindome Slump
"...So, what do I do now?"

I think more than a couple've people have been stuck in this situation before. When you're starting to feel aimless IC (particularly as a midbie who's sunk all those sweet sweet ue hours in and are now hooked), in lieu of "log off for a couple months" or "reroll", what's helped you regain your footing?

I've seen this thread concept once or twice, but (and because I think the game/its community have probably changed in the past 7-8 years) in lieu of necro-ing a mega old one, I wanted to pop my head in and see if anyone had some advice in terms of 'what do I do when I've lost sight of my #1 goal'?. This is a tad bit personal, and partially me fishing for advice under the guise of offering it, because I'm stuck in a similar slump - but there's also some stuff I wanted to type up and share that's personally helped me out've a rut before.

My Personal Advice (that has worked for me, and might not work for you, but why not list it anyways):

01. There's always room for a little bit of nonsense
This isn't me advocating for characters to go completely off the rails (though, hey, it might fit in with your development!), but moreso that not every goal/action for your character has to be a hundred-percent serious. Investing in silly, lower-stakes hijinks not only gives you a short-term goal in itself, but might open itself up to larger opportunities/possible goals along the way. If you decide to throw another character a surprise birthday party, maybe people start asking you to host more of them. If you organize a little small-stakes heist, maybe an NPC notices and asks to put you up to a bigger one. If you put up some guerilla art, maybe someone reaches out about a bigger mural.

People generally enjoy some silly nonsense and helping other characters out with said nonsense once in awhile. A heist on VS's towers might be a big ask for other characters to help out on, but sneaking into the Phallus Palace to try and swipe a sexy nurse's outfit? Much easier. Start with nonsense, and go from there.

02. Factions/NPCs are here to help you
Obviously, the majority of your RP's going to be with other PCs, but if you're really stuck somewhere, NPCs/GMs exist to give you a little nudge. Some of the best RP hooks I've gotten were from - hanging out in faction spaces where I really shouldn't have, picking an NPC and deciding my character will die for them without question, or just getting curious about that random NPC in some corner off've [x] street who hasn't appeared to move in 500 years. If you're interested in an NPC, faction, or a location (even if it looks unused/abandoned), I'd recommend leaving a note or puppet request and seeing what it could lead to - and, as a bonus, bring a friend along.

03. I KNOW IT'S SCARY but make a cold call (it works)
If you really need to look for direction, there are characters with the chyen and influence who are worth approaching for advice IC. It may seem intimidating, but longer-term characters, especially those in positions of power, influence, or infamy, are probably very used to this - and if they don't have hooks for you, they probably have someone they can point you to who does. A character's giving out loans? Ask about them. Someone leases a business? Ask about open positions for work, including positions that they aren't actively advertising for. Listen to that corpie try to recruit you to work for their great and glorious corporate overlords. Consider it, even.

If you're at midbie-level, you have already passed the most important barrier to entry for longer term characters to hire you or bring you under their wing, which is "you probably won't perm out in a month's time". When it comes to someone else/another PC investing in you or your character, nothing else matters quite as much as this.

I would also offer that a slump or failure or disappointment is also a potential opportunity for character growth. Does this prior experience become an opportunity for your character to explore something new or a new connection as they work through their existential and interior funk?

Beyond this I also want to emphasize that it is completely fine and natural to take a break for a few days IRL or whatever time you need. This is a game at the end of the day. Feelings run strong and tensions run high but you can't forget to feed your body and your soul for inspiration too.

Normally, I go into DND mode, and I talk to my friends, and we find goals to work on together.

But here's some idea to spice things up for you/ breath some life into rp when you are lost:

1: Join your rivals.: If you can't beat them, join them. A change of pace, a bit of betrayal. You'll have whole new plots in no time.

2: Respec: You get one, after a year. There's a bunch of Sci-fi reasoning for a complete change in your skills (Remember the demolition day cryo-learning?) If you aren't enjoying what you play, change it without boothing out. Keep all your friends, do new shit.

3: Pivot your training: FInd something new to learn. If you aren't maxed UE, you can pivot and do some other things. And this really just helps you be a more rounded character. Maybe your Dip learns secure-tech so he can get paid disabling cams next Syndicate war that kicks off. Maybe your gunner thug learns art, to spraypaint the best murals of dead friends. Maybe the techy starts doing a Radio Show once a week, speaking out on topics they feel strongly about.

If I remember correctly, I don't believe you just get a respec after one year. You have to have a very compelling reason for one.

One such helpfile lists you as being eligible after a year.

Just saying, it's an option instead of boothing the character. Use the one, singular respec you can do on your PC.

I always look at RP spaces based on what kind of story can be told in them. I think Sindome is an excellent space for stories about personal or factional beefs where the two sides go at each other and ultimately one of them comes out victorious but the world itself is unchanged. It's that latter bit (the world itself being unchanged) which can feel stifling and certainly induces my slumps.

It's really hard to get IC buy in on any remotely "grandiose" character goals because unfortunately player characters seem to be aware of the limits set by the OOC culture of the game. You can do battle with or join existing factions, but you can't create new ones. You can buy the lease for existing stores, but you can't create new ones. People hold up the three case studies of things like that having happened and say "look! It can be done!" But the majority of players feel/know that it is unattainable. Maybe with an extraordinary amount of irl time and effort you might make some progress towards a goal like that, but even then it seems very easy come easy go.

When you can't change the world in a game where for many the only content is player generated content, that cap becomes a comprehensive limit on player creativity when trying to get things done. I don't even necessarily care about actually achieving the goal, it is just something to motivate my character, but when all the other characters seem to be aware of the limits swiftly the vibe becomes 'why bother?' and then the slump sets in.

I think the work the Sindome team has put into grid 4.0 is great, and we should appreciate it and give props where props due, etc. I say this with all of the love and respect due to the endeavor, but I, and I feel like most people who are not deckers, are just using the grid as a form of an Agent from cyberpunk red. Check the mail, check the Twitter feed, maybe browse a node or post. Beyond that it just kind of falls flat for most people aside from niche situations and from reading these same complaints and sets of feedback on it I feel like it is just the way it will always be unless a lot of "balance" is overlooked or we get the City on the matrix and have deckers become lethal. I try to engage with the grid, and utilize it the best I can, but for your average player that only equates to so much before you realize you have other things to do.

There is a lot of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good enough going on, where someone would rather sit back and wait for events to line up for their specific skillset rather than take every job and bring on people to shore up deficiencies or even just experiment with what other kinds of archetypes can do to enhance work, leading to all that knock-on RP that comes with it.