Detachment from Character

[Rigwyn]

I had an experience recently during an rp where I ( the player ) experienced a powerful adrenaline rush when my character engaged in a dangerous situation. It was as if I myself was in that situation. It seemed that I experienced what it would be like to be my character at the moment. I've gotten phyched while playing fast paced action type games before but nothing like this.

Given this I'm very interested to hear what other players have to say about this.. Some questions for discussion:

Do you play your character as if it was yourself or a modified version of yourself?

Do you play your character like its a n inanimate chess piece - with no attachment or connection whatsoever ?

Have or do you ever experience any sort of sensations during rp ?   

Do you normall seek this sort of experience during rp or do you try to avoid it ?

 

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

i always get vertigo in the narrow spiral walks in the DR.

[Dalgin Xawanda]

Well Rig, when I thought about Dalgin, I thought of some ideal characteristics: Charismatic, Smart, Educated, Polite, and such.  I'd like to think he shares some characteristics with me.  But, to make it interesting, I gave him a whole 'nother depth to him (that you know all about, Rigwyn  ).  I suppose that, if I were to make another character, I would try something very different, sort of experiment.  In RL, I am not a mean person, but could I pull off a mean character?  I don't really know.

Also, I guess this is because I have never played a game like this, but, I can say that I feel excited when I RP.  It feels very cool, like writing a book with someone else, improvising every line.  I'd even go as far to say that I've been 'craving' it.  Sometimes, I feel like mild mannered Dalgin doesn't get in enough trouble, and he goes for a long time without any sort of involved discussion or conflict.  That sort of thing is rare for him, but I resist the urge to break character and I make it work.  So, I think what I feel is different than what you do, because we have had different experiences.  But I can feel empathy your excitement.  Sometime, you and I should find a way to get in trouble together.   

(But not too much, I don't want and go like Tolian.   )

[verden]

If you begin to seek it out, it can become an obsession. It easily develops into an unhealthy one for many people. Detach from your character. It is only pixels.

[Garile]

Uhm most characters I'm not really to attached to but some grow on you more then others. My character Garile definetaly was one of the most fun to roleplay.

She definately had aspects of me but definately had aspects I don't have aswell. Useally though I only see her as a few pixels but a few times I saw her as more. when in a roleplay with Sangwa things just clicked for one and she somehow acted differently then I expected at first but still was tottally Garile. Kinda strange but a good feeling nontheless.

Still it is a very rare moment.

[zanzibar]

This is something I really enjoy about games, and yes I've experienced it with PlaneShift.

[Illysia]

I think it is part of a progression and an acting experience. For me, Illysia was initially created with my personality with a few exceptions. Over time she grew in ways that I had not and I was able to detach more. Generally you start with what you know and usually, what you know best is yourself. That is the progression aspect of the matter.

The acting part would be feeling as your character feels. Without it I don't think you would be able to RP well as you have to be able to put yourself in the character's shoes to be able to RP their reactions to their environments. On the other hand, most definitely limit how much you empathize with your character as it can cause unhealthy attachment, feelings of personal injury (manifesting itself in various ways), and disillusionment from the game due to an overload of these experiences.

All of that being said, I still get an adrenaline rush when one of my characters get into a heated argument or a fight.

[Mordraugion]

Detachment is what I started off with but as my characters grew I found with at least one of them I found myself experiencing the highs and conversely the lows along with them

[Lokter Tarvitz]

Jump off something really high like Gug... I just wait to hit the ground like it was me who was falling.

[zoran]

I regularly have to use /unstick to get myself away from PS. 

I hope I won't have to resort to the... more uncomfortable alternative one day.

More seriously, I do what I guess most players do: start their character with traits they can connect too, and when they feel reasonably connected diverge.

[Rigwyn]

@Lokter Heh... like the diving board on one of the spirals in the DR Acuzio showed me that one... fall takes about 500-600 hp if i recall correctly.

@ Dalgin Trouble ?  Heh.. heh...  You know Rigwyn doesn't try to get into trouble...    


 

[Garris Shrike]

Eventually, with the first few, I found myself engaging with them as a bit of myself. Now that I have so many, it has truly become a game to me. While it is more of a live-action game to me, where I act out the roles as a great actor would attempt to do, I still remain detached.

[Akkaido Kivikar]

Being from a good-guys guild, I can tell you we all get a rush off little RPs using 'evil' alts we randomly pop in and out of the game occasionally.

[Tazen]

I guess it would depend some what on how emotional you are as a person, I would think it fairly hard for a non-emotional person to roleplay a compasionate and emotional character. The type of 'emersive' experience is good because it shows you are bringing your character and the world he/she/kra lives in to life. I have met several very strong roleplayers in my time here that do get effected when there character suffers some form of upset or trauma, so my advice would be to always remember who you are. 

[Sarras Volcae]

Haven't played this game yet so I'm not really sure how to answer, but I've had roleplaying experience...

Do you play your character as if it was yourself or a modified version of yourself?
I don't try to, but my personality can occasionally shape a character. Usually the character I play the most.

Do you play your character like its a n inanimate chess piece - with no attachment or connection whatsoever ?
  Yes.

Have or do you ever experience any sort of sensations during rp ?   
That's what she said.  I've laughed. I've been kinda-not-really angry, like if my empire was crumbling or something. That's all. Nothing extreme. But I've made other people cry or threaten to /wrists due to roleplaying.  I prefer to see other people's reactions. Hopefully there's no suicidal nerds here, haha.

Do you normall seek this sort of experience during rp or do you try to avoid it ?
Typically that's why you'd roleplay. To experience something without actually experiencing it. So if you wanted a good roleplay you'd have to have some kind of... sensation or something like that.

However, I have never had an experience that affected me that much. I barely even have adrenaline rushes in real life. Not even sparring or fighting. Maybe a couple times when my life's been threatened, but I can't really give input on rushes while gaming. Pretty weird, imo.

Wow, it's 5 am... I need to sleep, lol