First of all, hi Planeshift. Some of you might know me as Kaibane, because I changed my character name. I have been playing for around 3 years, but the activation email for the forums never worked. Finally, I tried again, and it did. I have been wanting to post this for a while, ever since I got my name changed:
The point of this topic is discussion of "evil" characters. As some of my friends know, I changed my name for roleplay purposes: Avathius was his name as a noble leader of the Legacy guild (it had a different name, but it's conterversial), but then his best friend was killed in a war and he turned to darkness and chaos. He was banished from the guild (which he later "killed." Actually, everyone just left lol, but whatever) and then, in his anger, completely annihilated the guild that slew his friend (actually, the guild war made the enemy guild break up, so this is almost partly true). Avathius then delved into the darkness of his past and his Black Flame name, Kaibane (pronounced "kaibayne," for those in-game who were wondering. It's not "kaibanay") he changed to be his real name. Now he is feared and hated by all, wanted by law, and his only true home is the death realm among the death mages who seek shelter there. When he travels through Hydlaa he is forced to walk in the shadows, blade drawn, lest a guard or citizen see him.
People read my description (which isn't entirely like that, but it's close) and then decide that they want to hate my character. Now, I'm ok with that. An evil character should be hated. But then, they start insulting ME as a person, because of what I say in my character description. Some of the comments were:
"Noob!" (of course, *ugh*-are there even noobs in PS?)
"Don't talk about how powerful you are! I can get my guild to gang up on you and kill you any time!"
"You suck. Characters aren't supposed to be evil." (no joke here. Someone actually said that. A character can be whatever you want it to be, jeez)
"I could kill you in a duel. Don't threaten me."
People don't understand: I don't duel anymore. I used to have killer stats, but because of 0.5 my character now sucks (at least he can wear heavy armor and has some half-decent gear). My "threats" are for RP purposes only.
The overall point of this thread is that there are too many character descriptions that go like this:
"He always has a twinkle in his eye and a good story to tell"
"She is always willing to party or have a keg of beer in Gugrontid"
"An old, crusty warrior who is always telling stories of past battles"
"A friendly blacksmith who likes to start conversation"
"A tricksy and humorous prankster who loves to laugh"
"The proud leader (or officer) of his guild, who is skilled in combat"
"A fine warrior, he is always for justice!"
No offense to people who's descriptions are like this: I'm fine with a few of these in PS. But when 90% of PS's population has a description that resembles one listed above, that's when I can't take it anymore. I remember a year ago, there was some guy named Xul or something, who would wander around to people asking if they were "the One." Anyone else remember him? Personally, I think that is a great and original RP idea. Just saying that you are a champion of good, or that you like to party, or that you're friendly, is honestly kind of boring if overused.
But really, the point of this topic is that I think it is ok for PS to have evil characters. I don't think everybody should be an evil character. I don't think MOST people should be evil. In fact, I think only around 25% at max should be evil or lawbreakers. But that's not my point. My point is that people need to stop hating the evil characters. Evil is a part of PS rather you like it or not. Deal with it. It's hard enough to play an evil character without haters breathing down my neck, telling me that I suck.
Those few who have evil characters, let's raise our RP chalices and have a toast to pretend hatred! Just remember to keep that hatred in-game only =D
