(12-06-2014, 05:21 PM)Titor Wrote: This post might be blunt but I am going to write it anyway.
I rped an introvert character for a while. Nothing hermit-like but just quite shy. It turns out a lot of people got annoyed with my character because she was an introvert. You need to think of it from a real-life scenario. If you walked up to someone who very clearly did not want to talk, would you keep trying to drag it out of them to talk? Probably not. It would come off rude if you were clearly making a person uncomfortable who did not want to talk or was shy and uncomfortable with sudden social interactions.
This is the issue with rping an introvert character. RP conversations will die and connections will be missed because other characters will not want to try to drag the conversation on (especially if your character is giving short replies or otherwise looking uncomfortable), and it is very hard on the OOC person to keep trying to figure out points that might grasp your characters attention/interest and break out of the bubble. While you can discuss things OOCly, at some point you reach a meta barrier that might force interaction a bit too much. (Ex: "Hey! Talk about astronomy. My character loves astronomy and will open right up!") especially if the other character has little or no interest in the fields that would cause your character to open up.Â
Most introverts and shy people IRL have a small set of very close friends. It would be unreasonable to think that your character would suddenly get into a good conversation with every character he or she meets and become best friends (or even friends) with anyone. An introverted character is a very hard task to manage, and I know from experience. The task was a bit too hard for me, so now while I have a slightly introverted character, I have, for the sake of interactions and plots, made him a bit more sociable (though not a social butterfly by any means).
Sorry if this post was blunt, I do not mean this specifically towards you or that you are doing anything wrong, just trying to share my experiences and what people have told me about my own introverted/shy characters.
Do not apologize, I understand what you said and I know you are right. IRL I have been an introvert for all of my life (26 yo old now, with just one relationship on my back that lasted in my 19-21 span) so I know how it feels. But IRL I have never had occurrences in which people immediately walked away upon learning I was shy, or upon learning I didn't want them as my boyfriend (yes, I'm a girl IRL). Friends, I've had cliques, and it was all of people who were forced to stay around me for set amount of times (great way to break through shells, imo.
It's why I had proposed to make school-like RPs. School/work is a good place where to make friends as well as enemies, because you are forced to stay together with others for some hours and that is plenty of time to really get to know each other). I just feel people walk away way too easily sometimes, I guess. That's not really what I am used to when I socialize with someone. Clearly these two cases in particular walked away driven by OOC reasons, not giving me much of a chance to give them more of my character.
Again, I'm a real-life professional and licensed introvert (probably borderline antisocial, if we don't count my sociality in virtual OOC chats), so I understand your opinion, and it's what I have been thinking all along so (again, I'm in acceptance with what I do and its consequences, as stated at the bottom of my OP). What I am struggling to come to terms with is these OOC-driven decisions from others to not even try to RP with or quickly move on when they learn I won't be their e-dating partner. It hurts to feel like I have to be what others want rather than what I want to be.
To be an interesting, intriguing, well-written character, there needs to be something to allow the audience to relate to them. That is what the problem is with who wants their character to be "perfect". Perfect characters will never be strong, and strong characters will never be perfect, because WE (those who read, who watch, who RP) are not perfect.
"What makes a strong character is how they deal with their flaws, their fears, their turmoils, their troubles that get in the way. That's what makes them relatable." -- N.C.
"What makes a strong character is how they deal with their flaws, their fears, their turmoils, their troubles that get in the way. That's what makes them relatable." -- N.C.
