So why is it that often times, in my experience, they're hardly used for anything more than character introductions? Actually, I should say why aren't they more utilized in the games I run? My rules indicate that the comm be notified if a player is going to be unavailable/out of town/taking a hiatus, etc., and I usually say that it should be posted in the OOC comm (cuz let's face it, that's the purpose of an OOC comm, am I right?). I just have to wonder what makes it so difficult that a player can't take 3 to 5 minutes to post, "Hey all! I'm not going to be around between this date and this date." Or, "Due to lack of creativity on my end, I'm taking a week off from RPing. See you all next week! :)"
It's not rocket science, so why don't people do this? >:( Argh! *pulls out her hair!*