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Edvyn and Magellan:
I'll definitely admit to having way more success in characterizing Virara's social retardation than her skill in combat, lol.
But I think that it's fine to have a goal in mind as to what sort of character you want to play, and to what impression you should give. Maybe I'm spoiled from pbp and bbs rp, where others only have your writing to go off of, but there's plenty of reason why playing an expert in something is not out of the question and should be respected. The kind of story I want to tell demands that level of skill. There is no reason for me to play the character otherwise. If that is not something another rper can respect, that's less my problem and more theirs, I feel. If you do nothing more complex than tavern rp with an expert, sure I'd say it was a waste, and just there to bloat the player's own ego, but to me rp is group writing, not acting, and my character has a purpose to fulfill in the narrative. Besides, I think it's fair for people to want to write a character that doesn't resemble themselves. I'll let the most airheaded rper play a genius if they give enough ic reason for me to respect them, background wise, even if I think their writing ability doesn't communicate it well. God knows I've played dozens of characters who were scientifically or mathematically inclined and I have the worst track record with those things. Not by choice either, I often got pressured into that role by friends or forum members who expected me to do so, a kind of OOC typecasting, lol.
But say that the character had no background in burger flipping or whatever, and yet made the best burger anyone has seen when it was time to have a cooking competition. Then I'd question the narrative purpose of them just being super good at it suddenly. The example Magellan gave is pretty good for understanding why people are afraid to play an expert; given background, it's easy to respect an expert, but without it the player is just trying to look cool...
I'll definitely admit to having way more success in characterizing Virara's social retardation than her skill in combat, lol.
But I think that it's fine to have a goal in mind as to what sort of character you want to play, and to what impression you should give. Maybe I'm spoiled from pbp and bbs rp, where others only have your writing to go off of, but there's plenty of reason why playing an expert in something is not out of the question and should be respected. The kind of story I want to tell demands that level of skill. There is no reason for me to play the character otherwise. If that is not something another rper can respect, that's less my problem and more theirs, I feel. If you do nothing more complex than tavern rp with an expert, sure I'd say it was a waste, and just there to bloat the player's own ego, but to me rp is group writing, not acting, and my character has a purpose to fulfill in the narrative. Besides, I think it's fair for people to want to write a character that doesn't resemble themselves. I'll let the most airheaded rper play a genius if they give enough ic reason for me to respect them, background wise, even if I think their writing ability doesn't communicate it well. God knows I've played dozens of characters who were scientifically or mathematically inclined and I have the worst track record with those things. Not by choice either, I often got pressured into that role by friends or forum members who expected me to do so, a kind of OOC typecasting, lol.
But say that the character had no background in burger flipping or whatever, and yet made the best burger anyone has seen when it was time to have a cooking competition. Then I'd question the narrative purpose of them just being super good at it suddenly. The example Magellan gave is pretty good for understanding why people are afraid to play an expert; given background, it's easy to respect an expert, but without it the player is just trying to look cool...
Quote:Anyways, I've always been wary of overpowered characters because I don't understand how they are supposed to meld well together with regular characters who lean more toward realism. Like, take for instance someone who, in previous scenes, used to drop numerous enemies like flies and now they find themselves in a situation where 2-4 people are surrounded by 4-5 Amalj'aa and are treating it like a very threatening situation... what is the OP character supposed to do? Stay true to his character and clean them all out swiftly and easily? Or downplay his character so that it doesn't eliminate the sense of tension/the scene in general for the others - in which case it just stops being a character's trait and more of a "I am OP when I can get away with it" card?That's actually sort of a good point. I have to be wary of these things because my character suddenly gained the ability to punch through cobalt when sufficiently enraged. I mean I'm fine with that, lol. It's just that it was a totally unexpected result of an inconclusive rp fight, and not even something I wrote myself. I just wrote "she hit really, really hard" in purpleprose like I always do, but the result on the defender's side was broken armor... So now I do have to consider, well, this really wouldn't be a challenge for Virara, and try to figure out a way to either communicate this to other players so the challenge is appropriate, or otherwise come up with an excuse to explain why it is. Not to mention some people like fighting at a level of rather mundane swordplay or martial skill. (In a world where people fly around and shoot fireballs, but whatever floats their boat, I guess.) So I have to tone down what my character can do for them. If I say "she's literally so fast that she can't be seen for a moment," that would be unfair, so I would say "she's almost too fast to follow with the naked eye." The wiggle room offered is pretty important, IMO. I can't just assume they're weaker because they're essentially playing a different game.
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AV by Kura-Ou
Wiki (Last updated 01/16)
My Balmung profile.
AV by Kura-Ou
Wiki (Last updated 01/16)
My Balmung profile.