(03-04-2015, 02:56 PM)Caspar Wrote: [quote=Hihimi pid=153511 dateline=1425490919]
(Look at how often professional writers write novels about writers...) A player with a strong sense of objectivity can recognize the character is not them, and they don't need to react to things that happen to their character the same way their character does, or vice versa. The problem is that few of us are professionals, or 100% objective, and being too attached to the character because it resembles ourselves can sometimes lead to unpleasant rp. Like when a player gets offended and acts out against other players because their character basically is them, and other characters ICly insulted or disagreed with their character. Or when a player becomes somewhat as attached to their fictional romantic interest as their character does, and dislikes being asked to give them some time to rp with other characters.
That captures the crux of it, though: A writer's plot isn't going to be steamrolled by an outside force doing something wrong to him. The writer might suddenly fall into a depression because of something in real life, but the fiction is completely in control of the writer. The trick with roleplay is that none of us are truly in control of our destinies here if we share our worlds with other people; It's cooperative, not single player. The writer will likely not be surprised by a sudden betrayal or break-up or loss of life or something happening in-world, but the same can't be said for those of us living in it.
For what it's worth, I do agree with Franz: Good characters require a spark of soul or life to be real enough to me, and while the best writers can inflate a flat character without using something like that, I don't know how many of the folks in Eorzea can strive to that level. I've had my mood infect Warren and Warren's infect me, but I'm lucky enough to realize when that's happening most of the time.
There's nothing wrong with being invested. There's something dangerous, though, when it's the only thing you have to invest in.
![[Image: yEROfKO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yEROfKO.png)
