(08-31-2015, 03:36 PM)Klinzahr Wrote: However the danger of overindulging in these tragic scenarios arises when characters begin using them as a means to garner attention. Good tragedy, like good comedy, can only be played properly with a good balance of sad and happy moments. In a story line that is specifically intended to have a dark end, the lighthearted moments are actually more important than they would be in a comic tale.This really is an important point. So many times I've seen people lose the spotlight and suddenly 'OMG look at this tragedy that happened to me, pay attention!'
Tragedy is not a device to get people to pay attention to you.
The world is a difficult place and everyone has personal tragedies. In fact, one of my favorite 'tropes' in a lot of my characters is them coming to the realization that their suffering is not special... isn't different. It's common. It's the shared experience of many.
Another thing that was mentioned is the 'unfixable' That always bothered me. I don't want to throw out insults or make people believe they are 'doing it wrong' because I don't see things that way. But... when your character complains about being poor, having no food and you refuse someone willing to feed you? It makes no sense. I get you built your character to tell a story, but a large part of RP is being in a world you can't control. If my character is starving and is offered food he'd damned well take it. If my character is in trouble with a gang and is offered the coin out of it... he'll take it. He'd be weary, but he'd take it.
I think instead of holding on to pre-defined notions of how a character would go, people should think about how the opportunities presented to them from others can shape the story and bring it in a new direction. Perhaps by taking coin to pay off debts, the character instead decides to use it to gamble, feeding their addiction and getting them in further trouble. This gives the player who tries to help an 'in' into their rp, but also allows the first character to continue the path they wanted to take. Things like that.
