See, this is where we agree to disagree. I think if you're going to play a character, you play that character whether the game is canon-based or plot-based or not. But that's just my opinion. My other board is a canon-based, plotline-driven board. It's still AU because (repeats self) all roleplay is by its very nature AU. But I will rip people a new one (or threaten to do it) if they have their canon character behaving like they're not a canon character without decent cause and careful attention to the detail that brought about the change.
That's just my take on that issue.
I haven't run into marriage being the end with any of my characters, so I guess I'm lucky if that's another rampant thing. I've gotten bored with characters (married or single), but I suspect that's something different and there's no inherent relationship between the two things. And... I think that every season is open season at Milliways for marriage and pregnancy. What bugs me more (at Milliways) than people getting bored with their characters' marriages and either ending them or stopping playing is when people who've never manipulated time for their characters before suddenly do that to move along a pregnancy. I could really start listing all the things I've seen that bug me, but it's not that important. It's just a difference in RP style, and that's fine. It's a big board and I can be choosy about who I want to play with because, as so many people have told me, I'm just that intimidating. (I beg to disagree: even when I roleplay with myself, I've never found myself intimidating.)
But really, if someone tells me they play (for example) Batman, I'm going to expect that their character fights crime and drives the Batmobile and has that cool retractable wire rope in his belt and saw his parents murdered when he was a child and is Bruce Wayne, filthy rich playboy, underneath... not Bruce Banner, not Kitty Pryde, not Jack Sparrow. At least stay true to that much. Don't take a character and throw away everything that makes them who they are, because then a player might as well bring in an original character instead. For some peoople, that might be a better option.
Re: And for you, an essay...
That's just my take on that issue.
I haven't run into marriage being the end with any of my characters, so I guess I'm lucky if that's another rampant thing. I've gotten bored with characters (married or single), but I suspect that's something different and there's no inherent relationship between the two things. And... I think that every season is open season at Milliways for marriage and pregnancy. What bugs me more (at Milliways) than people getting bored with their characters' marriages and either ending them or stopping playing is when people who've never manipulated time for their characters before suddenly do that to move along a pregnancy. I could really start listing all the things I've seen that bug me, but it's not that important. It's just a difference in RP style, and that's fine. It's a big board and I can be choosy about who I want to play with because, as so many people have told me, I'm just that intimidating. (I beg to disagree: even when I roleplay with myself, I've never found myself intimidating.)
But really, if someone tells me they play (for example) Batman, I'm going to expect that their character fights crime and drives the Batmobile and has that cool retractable wire rope in his belt and saw his parents murdered when he was a child and is Bruce Wayne, filthy rich playboy, underneath... not Bruce Banner, not Kitty Pryde, not Jack Sparrow. At least stay true to that much. Don't take a character and throw away everything that makes them who they are, because then a player might as well bring in an original character instead. For some peoople, that might be a better option.