When is it the right time?

Something that's not really been written about much, at least not that I've found, is "When is the right time to leave a fed?" I'm going to try and give at least a partial answer. Ignoring real-life time constraints (new job, new partner, kids, life in general), when is the best time to leave?

When the fed is no longer fun to read.

That's as far as I'm concerned, actually. Once something stops being fun, and if things in the fed are getting distressing for you, it's time to leave.

Which is what I did last night, actually. I told Dave (EPW) that, because the cards are getting distressing, I was going to have to leave. It was nothing that Dave or anyone else had done - I certainly wasn't forced out, and never felt like I was being forced to leave. But the last couple of cards have, for me, been the opposite of why I got into the hobby. I joined EPW because it looked fun. But the segments on the last couple of cards have been really distressing and upsetting to me, and I was actually starting to dread the next card.

Some would say in that case, I shouldn't read the segments, but I think that's unfair on the people and characters who take the time to write them. Some might say I should ask people to tone it down, but again, that's unfair. Some might even say I should try and put more segments in myself - but Brown's not really a segment character, and Otaku needed another couple of matches so I could find his voice in the company. Besides, I actually think the cards are getting segment heavy as is.

Yes, this is a bit of a "Goodbye EPW" post. It has, until the last couple of cards, been really fun.

But the fun started to stop around Wrestlestock, and I've enough stress in my life without reading something that I find distressing.

But when else is it a good time to leave a fed? I think there are some characters who just run out of things to do in a fed. They need to step back and take a bit of time to freshen up, and I think that's a good time to leave a fed, at least for a time. I'm not a fan of changing characters suddenly just to freshen things up - sometimes a brief lay-off, say six months or so, is enough to give the character a rest, give the handler time to do something else, and bring them back with a different outlook. The character then doesn't risk becoming stale.

When things stop being fun, or to freshen up a character. Two good reasons to leave a fed.

And...

Best of luck to Empire Pro Wrestling. Dave's got a great roster he can rely on, so it'll become even stronger as time passes :)