RolePlay

[Cairn]

Every few years or so I get the urge to go back and and re-visit some foundational concepts of what makes this game tick.

Inevitably, it opens Pandora's box and the thread is locked. But in the meantime, it's good fun!

Here's a quote I'd like to discuss. Let's try and not get too off topic with it....like I probably will

"We cannot control extenuating circumstances. All we control is our reaction to it."

Let me paraphrase: "We can't always control what happens to our character. All we can control is our character's reaction to them."

/Discuss


[Here is my first two cents, but I've change to spare:
-When you're creating a character, you should not only have back story created to some degree, but also some goals in mind. These goals can as much clearly define your character traits as the backstory can. Too many times I have ran into characters who are simply 'out of things to do'. Think about it as you think about your own life - what is your immediate goal? 1 year? 3 years? 5? 10? What do you have on your docket that you want to achieve, immediately or down the line? Your character needs to have something to 'live' for.
-How does this affect how we react to things? Simple. It's like if, through something unforeseeable, you lose your job. Well, one of your immediate goals is self-presevervation, correct? To live, we need to eat. To eat, we need to have food. To have food we need to buy it, with money. You get the point. Your character needs to have reason and purpose. So, consider your goals as well, when you think about your reactions in-game.

There will be more. But I'd like to open conversation up

[Rucan]

When I started with Ellis on EZPC (the non-rp server at the time) I really had no intention to rp. EZPC was down for a couple of weeks and, going through PS withdrawal, I created Waesed on Laanx. Having no idea what I was doing I developed Waesed as I went along. I have created other characters just for rp and resurrected Ellis to tend bar at the RCD.

[Cairn]

I have only had the pleasure of meeting you once or twice in game, but both have been enjoyable. I'm quite glad that you developed your characters and chose to stick around for some roleplay!

[Mariana Xiechai]

"We cannot control extenuating circumstances. All we control is our reaction to it."

Let me paraphrase: "We can't always control what happens to our character. All we can control is our character's reaction to them."

I think the lack of control part is true in most everything, especially the environment in which our characters are thrown. You can't dictate what occurs to the character you are playing.

Exceptions to this, I feel, are things like True Death and some sort of handicap that renders your character disabled in some way. There's nothing wrong with doing these things of course, and they can add a lot of poignancy to a role play, but I do think it's courteous to speak to a player OOCly to see if they're willing to undergo something along those lines. This is especially true if you have not engaged this person before. Some would argue that's "character protection," but I would argue that ultimately the game serves the purpose of being fun. If someone decides they're going to walk up and poison somebody else's character and ba boom, that's it, it will likely spoil that person's fun, which removes the whole point of the game. Plus, if you run around trying to force that on people, they're likely to start avoiding you.

Something I've learned from running role plays is that setting a scenario up with live-action is all good, but at some point you MUST move the participants from watchers to players. They have to be given some capacity to have an influence on the role play. If you stream line it too hard and try to control every angle they'll typically feel that lack of permeability. They don't want to watch things happen, they want to help make things happen (or stop them, situation depending.) That is not to say they will SUCCEED, of course. Out trick them, outsmart them, and the consequences be what they will. It's merely the opportunity that has to be provided in some way.

Some two cents.

[Cairn]

Precisely,

"A chance for Faramir, captain of Gondor, to show his worth" if you will. If you aren't let to influence the RP, than it is completely someone else's story.

[Rigwyn]

Great post Cairn.

There's a lot to touch on, but I'll just touch on one point for now. You mention the need to develop characters that have some substance to them. I have found for myself, that it is VERY DIFFICULT to role play with a blank, undefined character.  I've tried creating blank characters and then just defining them as I go as some folks suggest. The problem that I have encountered with this is I cannot determine what my character would do or say in a given situation if I do not know who and what my character is. I can just be myself through my character, but I really don't advise doing that for several good reasons. 
1.  It tends to make the player emotionally vulnerable to what is said in game.
2.  I think it can make it difficult for a new player to grasp character/player separation.
3.  If you do this with multiple characters then you end up with a mob of clones that look different but sound the same. People will pick up on this.

My own personal preference is to start out light and to fill in the more specific details later. At minimum, I'll want to figure out:

Who the character is
A basic idea of their personality, likes and dislikes
How do they sustain themselves? ( ie. job, begging, stealing, etc.. )
Where did they come from
How did they get to Hydlaa
Why are they in Hydlaa now?
Where are they going?
What are their basic ambitions and goals
What motivates and demotivates them



   

[Tidebringer]

What I tend to do is form a basic concept of background (where they came from, what happened, why they decided to go to Hydlaa, etc.), who they are/what they like, and their ultimate goal.
After I create them I expand and develop that more, adding bits and pieces here and there as I see fit. I also take a bit of just how I think they would act under certain situations and take that into account while I RP.

[Cairn]

It is very tempting to put yourself in your character's shoes.

I would honestly say....Hmm.

Honestly, it's best to create a character that can be as far away from you, or that does things that you would most DEFINITELY not do.

Like for real. So you're straight, tried and true? Be someone who's crooked, rotten to the core.

So you struggle with a lot of things? Idk, be a paladin, a champion of good.

RolePlay someone who does NOT have your tendencies, does NOT think like you, and if you met, you might dislike.

Or not. It's your call.

But here's what happens (And happens in this game): A lot of 'mini-me's' get created, each with your own character traits. Than when they get slighted or insulted because of how they are, you take it personally. Why? Because someone just insulted something you do. It's all too natural to get offended. So you're a murderer who dislikes peace? Maybe now's the time to create a Xiosian peace lover, because otherwise all the peace loving tree freaks in Hydlaa will begin to tick you off. Not your character. You.

It's easy to say, "well separate yourself". We all know that a lot of issues in the past of this game have been caused from people getting way too attached to their characters because they in essence are their characters. Idk.

Just sayin' that if you make someone like you, you had better have a strong head on your shoulders and know what you're doing (and there are players here who are quite successful at that )

I'm with you Rig. I tend to start out light too. I truly can't imagine having a blank slate though. I know someone did it once to where they showed up in Hydlaa naked, with permanent mind damage, and no knowledge. That really didn't work too well I don't think, because as much as we like to say we're super-immersive, none of us have the time to play 24/7 or accommodate people.

Kinda like what Mari brings up - let's say you have a character being healed (I do), and I decide there just isn't ANYTHING that ANYONE can do to make her feel better. Well, that gets piss-poor boring pretty quickly. Odds are she'd just, well, die. Well, that should never be the case. ( I know that sometimes in RPs that odds can certainly feel stacked against you. I do find that you need to be able to derail, or at least unhinge people's plans. In the case I speak of, there have been de-rails and I surely hope there always will be, I love that the players are so creative!)

There truly is an innate need for the 'good guys' to win. Justice has to be served. If you like playing a defeated character, I applaud you. I know several characters who get beaten, tortured or killed, but hope remains. They always come back. I've (maybe) once seen a character that someone invested time into, not a one off alt, that was deprived of hope. There really is that little spark in us, and our characters as an extension of sorts, that drives us to believe there's always a way to overcome.

Take that hope away from someone's character and the game isn't fun anymore. And it's your fault, which is no fun. Give people very little hope of making your character worthwhile and it's much the same.

I don't think blank slates are much fun, lol.

Ummm....

[Ascomanni]

Something that I did when I got started was I made a blank slate character and put them in the game. They were really boring and unimportant. One of the countless neutral goods without any depth running around. I used them to get a feel for the setting and identify a niche to be and a story to be. I think take really helped. Granted, by the time I made I suppose you could say a real character I still had a lot to learn, but I could step forward with eyes open.

[Rigwyn]

You know, one thing that I like to see in a character is a bit of mystery.  I've run into one or two characters in the past that just had things about them that were hidden. They had secrets, masked motivations, or complexities that they would not just blurt out at the drop of a hat.  The player would drop a hint here and there that revealed that there was a little more to the character, but they wouldn't just hand you an essay or a bio, you would just get a little bit at a time so that there was always a bit of mystery to return to, and always a Ahhh moment where that new information would change your perspective on the character. This metaphorical onion peeling is an art.

[Cairn]

Most definitely. Not only is developing that an art, but also the reveal.

@Ascomanni

That's not a bad idea, but it makes my gut hurt a little, haha! I imagine it really was a learning experience though. And I bet you wrangled it into something great

[Mariana Xiechai]

Here's another thought: character dynamism. The world should not only effect your character but HAVE an effect upon them. Interactions with other characters that are especially noteworthy should have a chance of altering the way they think, and so forth. There's nothing I like better than a good debate between characters. It can be a world of fun when my own finds him/herself reevaluating their thoughts on a subject.

[Roled]

Backstory is, to me, the ticking time bomb or the germinating seed- choose a metaphor that resonates with you. Roled had some meta story- and some psychology. And some repressed trauma that even now is slowly coming to his consciousness. Some is obvious. other stuff is oblivious to RR but perhaps noticeable. I find it interesting that in the years of RR's development, well, yeah he had ubergoals- to never be poor again, to never be too weak to defend himself again, to never fall iby n love. The things that happened were unlooked for by me his player- that  people would like him, give him money and food- and be kind. Mostly.
What i didn't expect was how long it would take RR to come out ig, then how much more normalized his personality became as he was accepted by his friends. And how their challenges to him would change him. Case in point- I had decided RR was a pacifist, and wouldn't kill humanoids if he could help it. For a while stats made that decision easy- RR COULDNT kill much above a clacker for a few years. Then Dragonis, well, the whole scene with Dragonis, and D left. RR was more devastated than I imagined, and his response was, well, he started murdering humans (rogues, glads, cutthroats) willy nilly. Then he had to figure out how to justify killing with Xiosia.... and he hasn't achieved that yet.  I thank Dragonis and Thidin and Barike for making RR harder edged, and more secretly deadly, and more adept at acting nice when needed. Then a huge change was when Rigwyn became blind because of RR and Aleeane's fight with him.  I had no idea RR would feel so guilty about his part in Rigwyn's tortured life. Who knew RR would be compelled to help the B@#$%d?

So my player's intention for him was changed and thwarted and twisted.

That is part of the danger of rp- what might happen.

[Cairn]

Here's another thought: character dynamism. The world should not only effect your character but HAVE an effect upon them. Interactions with other characters that are especially noteworthy should have a chance of altering the way they think, and so forth. There's nothing I like better than a good debate between characters. It can be a world of fun when my own finds him/herself reevaluating their thoughts on a subject.

Amen! That is a wonderful thought. It's kind of like, hey, what's the point of having a static character anyways?

@Roled: I agree that backstory is key, and really ought to be a huge part when considering your actions moving forwards. The reasoning behind this being that if you have backstory you really ought to have reasons for what you're doing because of that backstory, correct?

I really like your last bit, about the danger of RP  - because it's both dangerous and what makes it fun!

[Volki]

When I made my first roleplaying character for this game (Sarras, duh), I think I was ~16 years old and wanted to go on adventures. Not my first time roleplaying, but probably my first time roleplaying with a character that I didn't plan to forget in the next month. I tried to make the character a lot different from me, but being young, her worldview and circumstances were similar to mine. For that reason, I never elucidated on her past because I decided it was a work in progress. Now I've solidified it, but never have I had to reveal much of it to anyone since 1) I'm not chatty and 2) I think character pasts should be revealed through actions, not long, deep conversations. Your character's past should include past interactions with other characters. So if some other player's character did something mean (like chopping off your character's hand...), your character should reflect that in future behavior.

But when I make a character, 100% of the time it spawns from an idea, and I mold the character around that. Once I start playing, the surrounding world begins molding that character, and my only purpose is to ensure that character's goals are met, to the best of my character's abilities.