(07-06-2016, 01:17 PM)Velour Wrote:(07-06-2016, 07:29 AM)LadyRochester Wrote: Their reasoning doesn't seem to go beyond:
"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT MY CHARACTER TO BE SADD!!1!" So, I have a few questions for the RPC regarding character death.
Hmm. It might be a matter of lack of context but I'd be minorly annoyed if my story telling took a back burner to how my friends wanted their characters to be happy/comfortable, but then again I'm a roleplayer that adores dipping into more mature roleplay and finding others of similar mind.
I think that's the ever-vital "OOC > IC" thing.
"It makes me feel bad OOC and I don't want to touch it" is, sorry, a 100% viable reason to not want to partake in a certain RP plot. And "but (character name) would be sad!" is 99% of the time a more socially-accepted way of saying "but I would be sad!".
OOC is more important than IC. Preserving real life people's feelings is important and should be a priority in any social hobby, which RP intrinsically is.
But: the fact that OOC is more important than IC doesn't mean that the solution is not killing your character.
If someone is very upset by something you are adamant you want to do in your RP, it just means that you and the person have different priorities and limits with regards to what you find fun in an RP. These differences may be irreconcilable; they may not be. The only way to find out whether they are or not is to talk, with said person, about said differences.
Which can be a difficult discussion. On both parts, it requires a certain amount of self-awareness (knowing what you want and why) and humility (admitting that what you want isn't "objectively best", and that other people are allowed to want different things). But honestly, even if you don't have that talk, someone's going to be upset and the storyline is going to be affected quality-wise or tainted with OOC hard feelings.
"Just do it anyway, who cares what other people think" will often end up with the person not RPing with you any more anyway; because you showed a disregard for their real, OOC feelings in favour of fiction, and that's not a trait you usually want in a friend. IMO, it's better to discuss it beforehand and - if necessary - part amiably than to burn bridges like this.
"Keep your character alive, it's not worth losing the friendship over" is also a bad idea. It means gutting your enjoyment and satisfaction out of the plot. I find I'm intuitively aware of when it's time for my character to die, and trying to sustain them beyond that point results in an empty shell of who they used to be; it's sad. And, again in my experience, I find it usually results in me slow-fading and eventually quitting from the roleplay in question anyway. I'd rather talk about it and try to find a way that we can both get what we want and enjoy.
I always - extreme circumstances notwithstanding - think it's better to communicate like adults about what you want, what they want, and how you can both achieve it.
Sometimes that means making changes to the characters' relationship so the death won't affect that particular person's roleplay in the way they dislike. There are lots of ways you can do this. Figuring out how to rewrite the past, or even the future, of your characters' time together so that both of you can achieve the resolution you want can be satisfying in itself.
Most potential retcons are going to look kind of convoluted at first, but the "right one" will usually click into place once you hit upon it. It all depends on exactly why they don't want your character's death to happen - what is it they're worried about? Then figure out a retcon (or future character development!) to avoid that, while still allowing you to do what you want to do with your own character (in this case, kill them off). Talk about it together with the aim of building something you can both be happy with.
Sometimes actually talking about why you want to kill the character, and the new opportunities it opens up, actually brings the person around and they end up feeling positive about the new direction. If they're not aware of the context behind your decision, it can seem pointless and sensationalist. If you have a solid reason, making said reason clear can make the decision clearer, too.
Whether you're the one who wants to kill your character, or the one upset about your friend doing so, talk about it. And listen to what they have to say for their side, too. Roleplay is supposed to be a collaborative endeavour, and I don't think that should stop applying when you disagree over something that's supposed to be a tool to greater enjoyment.
That's my 2p, anyway (more like 2£ now - bad at brevity as ever, lol).
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