Prevalence of Ghosting
Bri has the right of it. Those cases she mentioned aren't really ghosting, they are occurrences that are thrust upon you.
I have a Guy,He is third longest tenure , for three years, he wouls sweat out the fires in Oregaon . he chats with another person who has been around for a while, who lives in the UK..she has Covid problems and job problems as she is a doctor.. both missed alot of time, both found a way, between each other and a quick OOC or PM to let us know they were down for the count.
Had people down south that floods hit them... and As Bri mentioned, I had two people reach out to me, because the player had passed.
You , more or less, can tell though? some one who is really into the game, and suddenly they ::poof::. You know something is wrong, people who don't get along with other players, or constantly whine in PMs..then they go dark. You know they just ghosted.
whether you are a player or a GM , when things go dark, I keep my list up, might give a game a year or two, if the GM vanishes. But one thing i have found, that helps..a little? We have folks who are more like a gamin community. and whether its OOC rants, PMs to me, or PMs to each other. We get to 'know' the players and we hear some of the bad stuff.. 2 of the three players of my space game, how vanished, we knew had Med issues...the one? was never confirmed, but he alluded to his problems, and was really into the game. the other two, we knew as well, abut were contacted to let us know.
As i often say. None of us are paying, or getting paid to be here. In RL this is a tiny part of people lives. For those who, this place is a larger part of thier lives? They find ways to let folks know, even if it takes a week or so.
I take players who have been in the gaame for years, and put thier Characters on the NPC list, if they don't let us know.If they are able to come back, we just add them back to PCs.
For GMs , I have 4 games on my list. one is all but dead, the GM is a mover and a shaker on another site, that i play one game in..this site, her games are, more or less, ignored....There is another Guy who GMs on that site, he started a game there, but left the one here to die...another GM..just poofed, and nothing..ever. and the Last one, was a former player, we knew had issues.. the talked about them in OOC, he mentioned he was going to the hospital, and that was it., never posted again, for 4 years now?
I'm sorry to ramble like this. But taake this place for what its worth. Ghosts are going to happen, , just roll with it, and deal with it as it happens. The Main thing, this is our Little refuge. don't be afraid to get to know each other, and don't feel you have to? Just enjoy the games and comradery.