The problem with too much backstory is that you don't leave much room for character development. If your character has already gone through a strong developmental arc, there's probably not much else he or she could learn, and he or she might then be set in his or her ways. Furthermore, the game should be your story, not happen after your story. What's the point in RPing a character who's already done everything and experienced everything? The game is the journey, not the destination. Also, and this is the most blunt reason of all, no one cares. Everyone has their own character history and they're pretty focused on it. When everyone is trying to tell everyone their back story, you get a lot of talking and not a lot of listening. You could come up with a 600 page back story, but it will still fall on deaf ears most of the time. Personally, I keep it simple and streamlined so there's room for development in the future and I don't bore people to death talking about myself. That doesn't necessarily make it boring.
Eko Tenok - The intellectual savage. Eko was born on an unknown jungle island somewhere in the south seas. His people are a sub-species of Miqo'te that can not be defined by Seeker or Keeper. They have no written language, no oral legends, a very limited spoken language, no religion, and only have mastery over basic stone tools. Four cycles ago, Eko was found, captured, and brought to Limsa Lominsa by pirates hoping to make a fortune off of their discovery. He was freed by the Port Authority and taken in by a sophisticated old gentleman who taught him how to speak, read, write and function in society.
That's pretty much it for my character. It's interesting (I think it's interesting at least) and it's streamlined. Plenty of room is left for character development, but he's not just a blank and standard character either. I'm no expert, but I think my character is a pretty decent example of making a back story basic and in-depth at the same time.
Still want to write about your character but you're afraid of adding too much back story? My solution to that problem is writing post-ARR stories. Things that happen to my character after the events of FFXIV. I have a direction I want my character to progress in, and I use the finished product of that as my slate for writing that kind of stuff. That's just me though.
Eko Tenok - The intellectual savage. Eko was born on an unknown jungle island somewhere in the south seas. His people are a sub-species of Miqo'te that can not be defined by Seeker or Keeper. They have no written language, no oral legends, a very limited spoken language, no religion, and only have mastery over basic stone tools. Four cycles ago, Eko was found, captured, and brought to Limsa Lominsa by pirates hoping to make a fortune off of their discovery. He was freed by the Port Authority and taken in by a sophisticated old gentleman who taught him how to speak, read, write and function in society.
That's pretty much it for my character. It's interesting (I think it's interesting at least) and it's streamlined. Plenty of room is left for character development, but he's not just a blank and standard character either. I'm no expert, but I think my character is a pretty decent example of making a back story basic and in-depth at the same time.
Still want to write about your character but you're afraid of adding too much back story? My solution to that problem is writing post-ARR stories. Things that happen to my character after the events of FFXIV. I have a direction I want my character to progress in, and I use the finished product of that as my slate for writing that kind of stuff. That's just me though.
