(07-13-2016, 05:22 AM)V Wrote:The use of "better" rubs me the wrong way as well. I have characters that are products of unlikely pasts and characters that are just a Brume thief or Lominsian trade ship proprietor. Is the Garlean defector somehow less valuable than the history professor on her first teaching assignment? Or somehow offensive for having an unusual past? I don't believe so.(07-13-2016, 04:41 AM)Miah Gamduhla Wrote: I'm a pretty fervent believer that more "average" characters make better characters.
"Better" is a fairly loaded worded. I'd say average characters are much safer/easier characters to play, for a variety of reasons, and that ease of play results in less skilled or experienced writers getting much better results instead of fumbling around with a more complex and extravagant character that would require more finesse to play to appropriate effect.
I also don't believe either one is more of a challenge to write than the other. They present different challenges. The more generic characters require a lot of extra work to make them feel like an actual part of the world instead of something that could be cut and pasted into any environment, and the more uncommon characters require a lot of delving into lore and a huge dose of humility to not overplay them into some shounen fever-dream of power and uniqueness.Â
"Better" is way, way too value based a word to use here, I think. And I'm sure it slights a lot of talented writers who've developed interesting characters that happen to have bombastic backstories.
(07-13-2016, 05:02 PM)Graeham Wrote: Mostly because I have a strong loathing for the 'defector' trope in most forms of media.I never understood why so many defectors in media take up arms against their countrymen. I recently rewatched an old Star Trek episode about a defector who was deeply offended by the idea that he would betray his people and rationalized his defection in terms of actually helping his culture. Somehow the idea that a defector can still be loyal seems suddenly quite lost in media.
