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Common tropes to avoid - Meowser - 10-24-2017
So I've been working on my character's background with the intent of (hopefully) trying to establish some sort of small RP community on my seemingly RP-less world.
I have the basic idea and framework of the character worked out, an outfit built and my house decorated to complement my character background. But being that I have very little experience in RP in this game, I'm a little bit concerned that once I start actually preparing a written character I'll learn that similar characters are everywhere
I've browsed randomly through the character sheets on this site and haven't noticed anything similar, but I thought I'd ask here. Are there any trope background or character histories that should be avoided on the basis that everyone does them?
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Unnamed Mercenary - 10-24-2017
Put simply, no. This is roleplay and the limits are your imagination.
Tropes exist because they are common. What may make one person roll their eyes, another may find interesting. What I would suggest is thinking about what story you want to tell and what story you can provide to better other characters' stories. Remember that RP is a team effort! What might work nicely in fanfic doesn't always work out when you can't make certain decisions about other people's characters. That is the bigger picture. The collaborative writing effort is what keeps it going. Provide something for your fellow RPers to write with, as they should for you. Remember that while your character might be the spotlight in your stories, they will be a side character in another person's.
Naturally, you'll want to figure out where you prefer to reside on the low fantasy to high fantasy spectrum. Are they a seasoned adventure? Are they educated? Where are they from? Who are they trying to be? A backstory is nice, but remember that it's then the past. What is your character doing now that might bring the attention of other characters? Or what sort of people would catch your character's interest?
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Faye - 10-24-2017
There are a lot of people in the FFXIV RP community, many playing multiple characters or who have rerolled/retconned with entirely new concepts in the past, and they are all across the board in terms of character archetypes. It will be difficult to make any sort of character who doesn't have basic similarities with at least a few other characters, and I don't recommend striving for that for a few reasons. The good thing is that at least on a server with a smaller RP community like Famfrit, you will probably run into fewer similar characters.
Otherwise, there are way too many tropes to list them all and little point in listing them because, well... they are all subjective, albeit some more subjective than others. Tropes are not inherently bad things. Everyone will have differing opinions on whether tropes in general are good or bad, what tropes exist, and which of those tropes are "okay" to RP. Just have your own fun and make the character you want to make, and don't let anyone else define the tropes you want to avoid or embrace, just use your own judgment and preferences!
RE: Common tropes to avoid - ArmachiA - 10-25-2017
There's no tropes I can think of that will get you barred from any RP because it's too "common", if that's what you're afraid of.
If you want to know what's super common in the community for reference sake though...
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Aegir - 10-25-2017
All of my characters are super generic and super trope heavy and I still find people to RP with. Do what makes you happy~
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Kerrath - 10-25-2017
if anything, it'll be easier to get rp with a character with common features. make something you like. the only advice i have is that if this is your first time and you don't have pre-existing contacts it might be a smart idea to make a character that is not only simple, but accessible, and being an extroverted character helps a little bit.
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Edvyn - 10-31-2017
the most boring characters are those written with the express intent of not being boring - to avoid giving another "do what you want" reply (even though you really should just do what you want) I can list off some questions that I ask myself when I'm first setting up a RP character - maybe they'll help you idk
- What's the basic, overarching concept I'm aiming for here?
- Is this workable within the setting's bounds? (don't fuss too much about this but many roleplayers are strict about lore)
- Can I play this well? (if the answer is no, this isn't a reason to trash the idea - you just might need to learn a bit more)
- How will this character interact with others? (important - most people don't have a lot of fun rping with themselves)
- What drives/motivates them? (this is how you find plots!)
- Will I enjoy playing this in the long run? (this one's very important to avoid burnout!)
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Damien - 10-31-2017
Tropes aren't really bad on their own. Everyone and their mother does tragic backstories, but that's because they can give a character a compelling ambition or drive to do something. You can use any tool you like to piece together your character, but a simple character done well will forever be preferable to engage with than an butchered attempt at a horribly complex character.Â
Don't feel obliged to be different. After all, RP is sort of about fitting in. Having similarities to people is what can draw them together just as much as appreciating differences. I've made a character and played it without developing a backstory at all, and who the character eventually became was sort of improvised, shaped by ideas on the fly and RP with others.
I wouldn't get too caught up in background. It's only there to explain the way the character is now. When you start RPing, it doesn't become an exercise of referring to written out notes to calculate how your character would respond, nor does it become a task of trading fictional past experiences with other characters for theirs.Â
Things that really matter are the sorts of things you'll have to think about throughout your RP. What a character fears, what they hope for, their preference of weather, what hobbies or hidden talents they might have, how well they can cope under stress, how they deal with people, what secrets they're unwilling to share, how they talk, whether they are wealthy etc etc.
Aside from the past of your character, far fewer give thought to their future. I think it's a good idea to have goals for your character; short term ones they might achieve in RP, long term ones that might slowly unravel over time and change the character as they do, and even the long milestones that your character strives for but probably never ever reach.
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Impstatus - 10-31-2017
Human brain likes familiarity. It's our hardwiring that makes tropes persist. Everything has been done before. Free yourself by stopping worrying about tropes and cliches and what other people think about. Opinions are still like butts on current year, everyone has one.Â
Since I like stories, I usually focus as much into the framaework of the story I'd like to be my character's story as I focus on the character itself. If that makes sense. Just remember the basics. Write what you know about; what you like about, and you are on right path to creating character that just might stand the test of making it in RP community alive. You can't please everyone, but never forget that you are your no. 1 priority.
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Literal-Ghost - 11-02-2017
Pretty much just 'do what you want', like everyone else has said.
Though I would expand a little on what Edvyn posted, regarding 'How will this character interact with others?'
If there is a roleplay trope that I would recommend avoiding, it's the 'antisocial lone wolf' kind of character, but even that is more because people take this trope and then don't play with it in a smart way. I've seen it happen before where someone will have a concept for a character that they get very excited about, only to sabotage themselves when they are unable to draw others to that character because their personality is unappealing to others.
It's one thing to see a hard edged, sarcastic, antisocial character in a piece of media, where the characters around them are written to tolerate or even enjoy/respect their behavior. It's another to expect other actual people to want to interact with a character who, for all intents and purposes, is just a prick for no reason.
This isn't to say that it is impossible to play that kind of character trope, but the problem comes from a) when that trope becomes that character's singular defining feature on the surface, and b) when a player fails to recognize their character's antisocial behavior as a negative personality trait. If you do choose to make a character with a more dour personality, think of what value they would have to other characters, and of other facets of their personality. Do they have a specialized skill that would draw others to them? An interest, a hobby? Something they would like to talk about if given the chance? If this character has a bad attitude, then what is a reason why someone would want to hang around them and seek out their company? Or you could even take that trope and spin it. Why does this character behave this way? Did they experience something that they're having a difficult time coping with, and they project it in an unhealthy way? If so, do they exhibit other behaviors as a result of their trauma? Do they have a hard time relating to others for some reason and push then away to protect themselves? Do they see their behavior as something they don't really enjoy and want to change, but their negative tendencies still slip out in spite of their best efforts? Think of setting up your character in a way that would attract another character's attention another give people hooks to engage. Remember that RP is a social activity.
There aren't really 'good' or 'bad' character tropes, and it can be fun to draw from multiple tropes to help you fill out the meat of your character. But a trope in itself is more like a fluid category that your character can happen to fall into, instead of a concrete rule/building block of a successful character. Don't feel too bound to stick to any specific tropes, and don't feel like "my character is x trope so they can't have y personality trait". You have the freedom to experiment with your character and see what you enjoy and what feels natural, and then rework them if your decide you don't like what direction they're going in.
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Nebbs - 11-02-2017
Avoid them all, and create your own character.
If it turns out to be a trope match, who cares.
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Meowser - 11-02-2017
Wow, lots of unexpectedly detailed advice in this thread. I appreciate everyone who has responded - you've given me better perspective about this and plenty to consider. I don't mean to be so brief but it's a lot to digest right now.
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Kamome - 11-02-2017
I think a good metric for testing tropes is running your character concept through the Mary Sue test. Mary Sue stereotypes tend to line up pretty well with what ends up being somewhat common as the basic heroic archetypes many players go with naturally when making up a character.
Some examples of quizzes that can be used to help guide:
http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm
http://www.gotoquiz.com/is_your_character_a_mary_sue_2
Again, just a good measuring stick and tool to use to gauge generic traits, in the end. Don’t worry too much. Just do what you enjoy. The most important thing is to have a character you actually enjoy playing. ＾＾
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Nero - 11-02-2017
As TVTropes is so fond of saying, something being tropey doesn't mean it's bad. Tropes are tools. Cliches aren't inherently bad either; a character can be predictable without being boring (and vice versa), and there's nothing wrong with predictability on an innate level, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
That said, I haven't noticed anything in roleplay as extremely prevalent. There are a lot of characters who are mercenaries or adventurers, obviously, but other than that I would call the variety wide enough that you don't need to worry about being "samey".
RE: Common tropes to avoid - Mermaid - 11-02-2017
I feel like this topic has pretty much been covered but as people have said most ideas out there have already been used. Tropes on their own aren't a bad thing. Heck, most tropes became tropes because they were ideas people liked so much or worked so well that people overused them.
I feel like no matter what any character is going to fall into a few tropes. I personally like to offset this by breaking one or two. A good example would be you made an adventurer out to do good? Break the "dead parents" trope.