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+--- Thread: The Importance of History. (/showthread.php?tid=11862)
The Importance of History. - Hammersmith - 06-01-2015
Alright. Â I have a question that I think I'll be interested in hearing answered repeatedly.
How important is backstory to you? Â Is your char a blank slate being painted completely by day to day events they run into, or are they dragging around a ticking machinery of Past Events that are pointing their decisions as much as The Moment is?
To follow: Â How important is it for that backstory to be known? Â We all know the Chronic Exposition Monkey. Â The guy who barfs up a novel's worth of backstory at the slightest, or even complete lack of, a reason to divulge. Â Then you have people like Hammer, that asshole, who don't talk about their past, refuse to talk about their past, and have gone several iterations of existence with Revealing the Big Story of Hammer to anyone or anything.
I think the two are important facets, I think both are often abused, ignored, and twisted as anything in a large sampling of players is likely to be. Â I think that, with the right players, they both work, I just know I favor Deep Back Story, but I don't see a reason for People To NEED to Know the Story at the drop of a hat, or several hats, or any hats, ever. Â Maybe it shows up in a glimmer, but I'm not the sort to think Exposition of My Past is a thing that is a requirement for introductions or even casual friends.
So what're your views on it?
RE: The Importance of History. - Bryn - 06-01-2015
Bryn's 40, that's a lot of backstory. Big events in her past are the main influence and motivators for today-Bryn, so it's very important to me that I have a solid idea of her past. As solid as it can be with what little Ala Mhigan lore we've been given so far anyway. Mumblegrumble.
But Bryn is an intensely private person. I find that this blend of having a character with a lot of history and yet having her be very guarded has been very fruitful for RP; I offer snippets about her past to the characters around her, and it's up to them to piece the whole story together. It's much more enjoyable than having her be an open book.
Eventually I will write her story. But it's awkward without more lore to work from.
RE: The Importance of History. - K'hatos - 06-01-2015
Backstory is the operating system that allows a character to function. Even if it's just a basic few bits of information, a character needs something to inform their decisions and outlook. And like a computer's OS, the vast majority of people don't need or care to know how it works, just that it's there, doing its job. While a few (those close to the character) will want to delve into the code and see just how your character ticks.
RE: The Importance of History. - Chris Ganale - 06-01-2015
I think one look at the wiki pages for Ganale, Tahz, or Chao make my position very self-explanatory. That said, they, and all my characters, are actually rather reticent to actually talk about their past in anything resembling casual conversation. One of my as-yet-unwiki'd characters, Ghost, refuses to talk about his past at all.
RE: The Importance of History. - Lilia Lia - 06-01-2015
Developing a backstory for Lilia helped me flesh out her character a lot, something that would be valuable even if I never showed it to anyone. I made much of it public on her wiki page in the interest of serving as a reference for things people's characters would know about her but that their players wouldn't necessarily.Â
So I think that's part of the benefit of it. It's funny because I was actually just looking at your wiki page and I am going to ask your permission to have my character take notice of something in your backstory. This, I think, is the proper use of making your backstory well known.
As for me, I restrict the details of Lilia's biography to things that aren't a secret, because I think part of the fun of RP is learning things about the other character through the course of interacting with them. Obviously for some characters (such as yours) it's highly unlikely that any of these secrets will ever come out. For me, I enjoy dropping little hints here or there that might make people wonder, regardless of whether Lilia is ever going to open up about it.
For a character who's unlikely to ever open up about their past, you might consider "spilling the beans" about those details in the form of a biography just for the sake of other people's enjoyment. I think RPers are generally pretty good at resisting the urge to metagame when it comes to character histories, but that may just be my limited experience.
So in short: Making a biography is a great way to nail down aspects of your own character, and it can be useful to show to others if you are open to having other people share certain aspects of your history. But the really juicy details of backstory are something I would probably omit from a public biography.
RE: The Importance of History. - Hammersmith - 06-01-2015
(06-01-2015, 04:28 PM)Lilia Lia Wrote: So I think that's part of the benefit of it. It's funny because I was actually just looking at your wiki page and I am going to ask your permission to have my character take notice of something in your backstory. This, I think, is the proper use of making your backstory well known.
I'll have to agree on that point. Â I think what history a player shows on a wiki needs to be expected to be picked up on by readers, which means I try to frame it in a general manner of whatever wake of reputation might follow the char who's featured on the wiki. Â Specifics, deep details, and major life events don't tend to show up in those places, much less private things Hammer's unlikely to ever open his mouth about.
As for taking notice: Go for it. Â As noted: What's public on that wiki is stuff I'm alright with people taking IC.
I guess that also opens up the question: How much of a history are you people alright with being Public Knowledge and how do you get that done. PMs? Rumors? Linking a wiki and saying READ PUNY MORTAL AND DESPAIR? Old chars aren't just pulled from the aether and most people end up building an expected baggage train of events that get carried into the public eye in one way or another. How do you get that out there, yourself?
RE: The Importance of History. - Arrelaine - 06-01-2015
Personalities have always been more important to me than backstories. I work on character attributes, etc and then I'll fit a background to them. I had a character who was an amnesiac who frequently forgot a lot of things and so it made her background completely moot - she didn't remember squat. Later on, a fellow roleplayer and guildmate decided to make a character that turned to look like her, so we decided they would be twins and there would be some serious family angst there about her amnesia.
Arry's background matters a bit, but for the most part she views it as 'another life' and rarely talks about it. She lives in the present, and sometimes that makes her impulsive. She's a free bird, now! Her background does give her a reason to be impulsive, have a 'does what she wants' attitude and sometimes a bit of a childish side despite her age.
RE: The Importance of History. - Gone. - 06-01-2015
Back story is important to a point. It can set the tone and mood for a character as well as help build those initial layers. In short, back story is one of many building blocks in the writing process.
It is, however, not a replacement for actual development, especially when there's additional people involved. If you end up writing a novel's worth of history for your character, then you might as well be flying solo; you've decided all of the growth on your own, railroading the journey long before it even begins.
Once a level of imbalance like that is reached, back story no longer serves as an aid; it just becomes a hindrance, one that needs to be addressed immediately if you're ever to succeed.
RE: The Importance of History. - Chris Ganale - 06-01-2015
(06-01-2015, 04:28 PM)Lilia Lia Wrote: So in short: Making a biography is a great way to nail down aspects of your own character, and it can be useful to show to others if you are open to having other people share certain aspects of your history. But the really juicy details of backstory are something I would probably omit from a public biography.
(06-01-2015, 04:37 PM)Hammersmith Wrote: I'll have to agree on that point. I think what history a player shows on a wiki needs to be expected to be picked up on by readers, which means I try to frame it in a general manner of whatever wake of reputation might follow the char who's featured on the wiki. Specifics, deep details, and major life events don't tend to show up in those places, much less private things Hammer's unlikely to ever open his mouth about.
Me, I treat the wikis as exactly that: a "factual" article giving biographical story details on the character in question. Most of the stuff in my characters' backstories aren't things that are common knowledge, but I put them there anyway for completion's sake, and so if anybody questions how/why they can perform X ability, I point to the appropriate wiki section.
RE: The Importance of History. - Harmonixer - 06-01-2015
Good thread, OP.
I'm guilty of creating characters on a whim, with little to no plan to keep them and over the course of random RP after the initial pitch- developing their backstories on the fly. I feel as though I have a grasp on what's immediately important to their creation and what people will ask and sort of wait to see what people will actually care about.
From there, I'll go back and create wikis or write small segments to further their development.
I find a lot of joy in watching things come to shape. I think it's a much more rewarding because I get to discover the character with my partners, even if they aren't aware.
Crazy person warning:
I'm quite capable of making long backstories and do it when needed, but most of the time a solid framework and mannerisms are all that's needed. Besides what I've mentioned, the primary reason is because MMO lore is a bitch to work with. You only discover things much later, from sources of material that aren't immediately available to you. Items that aren't released or quests that people don't have uploaded on wikis or what have you.
I'm not against people crafting larger basis for their characters, but I wonder if they have as much fun as I feel I sometimes do when I get to 'watch my own characters tell their tales.' If that makes any sense.
For me, this is part of the drive of RP. It's discovery. I still count on others to provide me with stories and answers and I do my best to do the same- I just may not immediately know. Sure, certain events are part of their development, but I couldn't tell you every detail. Obviously this does not count for all of my characters, but a fair amount of them follow this rule.
Or maybe I just lack the ability to dedicate the time to think of this stuff properly.
Or I just like to fuck with people.
RE: The Importance of History. - Lilia Lia - 06-01-2015
(06-01-2015, 04:37 PM)Hammersmith Wrote: I guess that also opens up the question: How much of a history are you people alright with being Public Knowledge and how do you get that done. Â PMs? Rumors? Linking a wiki and saying READ PUNY MORTAL AND DESPAIR? Â Old chars aren't just pulled from the aether and most people end up building an expected baggage train of events that get carried into the public eye in one way or another. Â How do you get that out there, yourself?
This is a really interesting topic. While it does feel a bit presumptuous to tell people "you might have heard of my character," there are times where it makes sense, such as when aspects of their backstory line up. This is one of the things I love about the RPC wiki, because I can brush up on the characters and try to see if there is the potential for crossover knowledge.
How do I get the word out? I try to read up on characters that I plan on interacting with so that I can spot these things ahead of time, and if I think any of my character's story is relevant to them, and we are likely to RP, I will gently point it out, probably by contacting them in private. Eorzea is a big place but I think it makes plenty of sense, for example, that two people who both served in the same Grand Company might recognize one another the first time they meet in-game.
RE: The Importance of History. - Lilia Lia - 06-01-2015
(06-01-2015, 04:50 PM)hauntmedoitagain Wrote: It is, however, not a replacement for actual development, especially when there's additional people involved. If you end up writing a novel's worth of history for your character, then you might as well be flying solo; you've decided all of the growth on your own, railroading the journey long before it even begins.
I agree with this to an extent, but there's a difference between flat characters and round characters. Not everybody is RPing a character arc, and I think the fact that some of us choose to place our characters at the end of their development rather than the midst of it, can help them work more in the service of other people's stories.
As an example, Ms. Havisham in Dickens' Great Expectations is a flat character. Nobody expects her to change over the course of the story. But that doesn't mean she isn't interesting, and it doesn't mean a lot hasn't happened to her that resulted in the person she is.
Characters like this can be good in RP, I think, when they are a catalyst to other characters' development.
RE: The Importance of History. - Aduu Avagnar - 06-01-2015
I think the major influences of your character are best to be worked out before hand, but for myself the Minutae of my character is decided as and when it would be appropriate.
For example, big things that influenced Nako: Being sent to Ul'dah, killing his sister, training in the different schools of Magic, his Tutor and how he acted, etc.
Minutae: Being able to sing or dance, favourite colour, likes and dislikes (Beyond ones that may define an aspect that is a regular occurance)
RE: The Importance of History. - Roen - 06-01-2015
Roen's backstory is the foundation from which I draw upon for her motivations and outlook. But Roen is a very private person so much of her history is not widely known nor is it readily shared. When I created the character, I wanted certain historical elements as part of the character, so her backstory was worked out to some detail.
And as time goes on with her current RP, I count the last 18 months of RP as part of her history now, and all that has happened has helped her change and evolve.
Where as for Brynnalia, my alt, I basically had a clear picture of her personality and that was about it. Her history was vaguely worked out in my head, but nothing concretely written down. That might change when I finally get down to writing out her wiki.
And speaking of wikis... Roen's wiki has a lot of info. But I don't expect all of that to be used. I've mostly fared well in people using the wiki/posts info with good judgement in RP, whether it was sprung on me as a surprise or discussed with me beforehand.
This is my OOC disclaimer on the wiki page though, and my general view on how I see it being used.
"This wiki page contains details about Roen's past, especially in the History section. Some of it may be discovered by those who actively seek it out, but much of it is not generally known. General and Behavior information are free for any observant character to play off of, and the same goes for the Rumors. History is purely there for OOC knowledge and is to help with plot development with those I am involved in a storyline with. Same goes for Recent Events, Relationships, and all the stories in the Written Works section."
RE: The Importance of History. - Coatleque - 06-01-2015
I use backstory as a general guide to give reason for why a character acts the way they do. My character will not discuss their past unless someone else asks. It's just a way for me to pre-generate answers in my head for those inevitable questions. "Where are you from?" "What was childhood like?" "Why did you leave?" "Why haven't you gone back?" etc. . .