Guidelines to play an "evil" character

[Tessra]

Well, a few people have pointed out that no character should be "only evil" or "only good."  People have a wide range of actions and motivations, and a well-developed character will as well. 

[Bamko]

I had to skip ahead some in this discussion since it turned into a flame war... Look up at the subject people.  Why you dislike someone is not the topic.

My contribution to this thread is http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StupidEvil.  It is short and gives you a bit to think about. 

These are the people who seem to think having an evil alignment means doing nothing but evil every waking moment, even out in broad daylight. Like, say, stabbing a peasant while several high-level town guards are watching for no reason other than you were bored.

So I believe that a character who is evil should probably try to appear to be good-ish, unless they are playing a stupid evil person, who tends to cut of their nose to spite their face and end up in prison, an asylum, or some other consequence.  That is my opinion on it anyway. 

[Sangwa]

Between the flame that same point of view and link was conveyed. Your help is always welcome though, against the likes of Rinenud.

[Avathius]

Evil characters are D.O.A. in PlaneShift.

Yup. Pretty sad in my opinion. My character is evil, and all the people who are "old, wise sages," "booze-chugging partygoers" or "aged warriors with a twinkle in their eye and a story to tell" seem to like poking fun. That's not because I play it badly, it's cause they just don't like the fact that there is Horde in Yliakum jk

[Sangwa]

If you tell them you touched the brim of the Crystal, they'll certainly think you're playing it badly.

[Tessra]

Evil characters are not D.O.A in Planeshift.   Players who are capable of having a thick enough OOC skin to deal with godmodding and superhero-esque good guys are hard to come by though. 

People get so eager to play with a "bad guy" that they go overboard and burn out the bad guy's player.  Use some restraint, and play with common sense, and we won't have this problem. 

[Sangwa]

So, the hints you have are not actually for anyone who is playing a "bad guy" they're for anyone who's not.

[verden]

Evil does not translate well into this game. Part of it is settings, part mechanics, and the other part is the bit that nobody gets.

[Sangwa]

I agree. That's one of the reasons why the Dark Empire's focus has changed over the times, from lawful evil to lawfully ambitious.

[Knightspark9]

I wouldn't call the criminals in-game  'evil.' Just... Being very ambitious in their goals.

[Elkarway]

I agree. That's one of the reasons why the Dark Empire's focus has changed over the times, from lawful evil to lawfully ambitious.

Haha, I love this.

[Avathius]

Evil does not translate well into this game. Part of it is settings, part mechanics, and the other part is the bit that nobody gets.

There should be nothing in any MMORPG that prevents its players from being evil. Nothing at all. The fact that you say there is here is true, but sickening.

[Mekora]

Now thinking about the topic further, evil is so over-done and... unrealistic. Corruption is much more realistic and interesting. To some they are interchangeable, but to me they are not. Then again, Planeshift may not be made to be 'perfectly' realistic.

[neko kyouran]

http://www.pandora.com/music/song/cage+elephant/aint+no+rest+for+wicked#lyrics

[Mask]

Now thinking about the topic further, evil is so over-done and... unrealistic. Corruption is much more realistic and interesting. To some they are interchangeable, but to me they are not. Then again, Planeshift may not be made to be 'perfectly' realistic.

Well, if you talk about evil you need to somehow define it (an be careful towards not letting the following discussion slip into the ususal internet-ugliness). From a story point of view, you're completely right (since corruption, or lets say, the slow decline of a character's morals to a much greyer - or even darker - spectrum makes very nice conflicts possible that fuel rp if done right). I even think that this is the best source for all those cliché "Light vs Dark" conflicts that's feasible for the community with the current game mechanics.

As far as I can tell, the community is partly avoiding those kind of things because of OOC reasons (they do not want to cause or be on the receiving end of grief and nasty OOC feuds). The absence of death as a threat is also a IC and OOC problem. Then again, this all seems solvable.

http://www.pandora.com/music/song/cage+elephant/aint+no+rest+for+wicked#lyrics

Cease and repent!