(06-04-2015, 12:07 AM)Reth Wrote: What are some of the warning signs that put you off a new characters?
As far as "warning signs" go, the main one I think of is a character immediately showing genuine romantic interest in mine right off the bat. Not flirting or flirty behavior, but deep, longing glances and acting like a soul mate or something. I'm a little jittery about romance RP in general because of drama that can follow, so if your character immediately tries to initiate that before they know one another, that's not going to get a good reaction from me.
Another thing is walking up and instantly attempting to metagame completing an action successfully on my character. If you say "Jim-bob walks up to where Soren is sitting at the bar, grabs him by the hair, and slams his face into the bar repeatedly until his body goes slack and he stops breathing" then you're on my blacklist for godmoding. Always give your actions a chance to fail unless you talk to the other player in advance and know what they'd like.
(06-04-2015, 12:07 AM)Reth Wrote: What are some of your pet peeves?
I personally don't like it when someone turns an interaction into a "Who could win in a fight?" dialogue or begins making random accusations in order to start a fight. There are a lot of ways to get a reaction out of a room without instantly turning on the aggression, especially because the kind of characters who start this tend to be the ones who like to play physically dominating sorts who are just out to beat someone down.
I also prefer the erp/makeout RP be taken to tells, please.
As a personal note, and others are -absolutely and justifiably- not going to get an argument if they disagree with me on this (so put the knives down), I tend not to like a lot of paragraph posting in busy or fast-paced RP. They take a long time to compose and a lot of folks are speeding through conversations. In forum RP I like the longer paragraph format for rich and vivid writing, but in-game I follow the maxim "Brevity is wit". It helps communication flows a little faster, and big text walls don't hammer chat boxes and make it harder to find posts.Â
(06-04-2015, 12:07 AM)Reth Wrote: What should I, as a new player, avoid doing if possible to become respected part of this community?
To be frank, you shouldn't be aiming to becoming a venerable part of the community. Just be a -part- of the community. 99% of the 'cool' or 'popular' or 'respected' posters here don't seem to be doing anything for name recognition. They're just trying to contribute and make the community as a whole better. Sounsy is a lore god, for example. nobody asked Sounsy to start it. S/he just started gathering lore and posting to help people out.
Just participate and try to make things better. Respect will come based on what you do.Â
And personally, I'll respect you a lot more if you stay clear of forum drama. >.>
(06-04-2015, 12:07 AM)Reth Wrote: And lastly, how do you personally find the balance between creating an interesting character without going full Mary Sue?
A Mary Sue character is really kind of an idealized character who might be an author insert and can carry implications of wish fulfilment.Â
In other words, a Mary Sue character tends to be often close to perfect and gathers people who love them.
To me? Perfect is boring.
My main character is a catboy with the absolute worst personal skills imaginable. Half of the good things he does end up being soured by the words that come out of his mouth, and he almost prefers it that way because he's afraid of getting too close to people. It someone put duct tape over his mouth, he would actually probably end up being a heck of a lot more likeable as a person. What makes him interesting, at least to me, is that struggle between obviously caring about people's well being and acting like a giant dick.
The end result can sort of be seen by what Sato's recently deceased (RIP Ellion) FC leader wrote about him in his will"
 "M'sato, you are probably the biggest asshole to have ever graced Eorzean soil when you were torn from the womb of that mother that had to have cussed the gods you came to be. Don't ever change. Well... maybe change your attitude. But you have good qualities, and if the existence of this will is any testament worth its salt at all, it is that you have a follow-through no one else can match.
The important thing isn't how perfect your character is. It's who your character is. How they act, what they struggle with, what makes them hurt, what makes them cry, what makes them laugh or turns them on and how they cope with all of it as well as how they touch the lives of those around them.
Perfect is limiting. Make enemies, then make up with them. Screw up. Fall down and have trouble getting up again. Lose when everyone expects you to win, and win when everyone expects you to lose.Â
Have fun with it. It's your character.
Characters: M'sato Tia (Lost Soul Seeker), Soren Walker (Ishgardian Midlander Pilot), Solomon Laguerre (Elezen Mercenary/Bar Manager)
Send me a PM if you feel like RP!
Send me a PM if you feel like RP!
