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Magellan · **12-16-2013, 03:30 PM**

While I agree broody characters can be a treasure trove of quality rp, there are any number of things that can go wrong:

#1 - they can be TOO good at playing broody.

If my character tries to interact with them for a half hour, and its like pulling teeth just to get a simple yes or no answer out of them, both I and my character will fail to get emotionally invested, will get bored, and move on. People can create too much of a barrier on their characters, severely limiting who will interact with them.

To use a single player game character like Cloud Strife is a poor example. That story was written specifically to tell Cloud's emotional journey. The other characters in FF7 did not have a choice whether or not they would interact with Cloud, their roles were written specifically that way. In essence, he could be as broidy as he wanted to be without losing friends.

#2 - they can be too dark/dramatic.

Traumatic backstories can lead to very compelling, intimate, emotional rp. But consider this; lets say my main character has 20 friends with traumatic pasts (its very prevalent in rp). And in one way or other, these backstories come to light by them acting out, breaking down, or creating very
dramatic stories. At some point, my character becomes a damn social worker completely flooded by constant drama.

It reaches a point where in order to stay sane she just doesn't give a crap. She can only harbor so much compassion for so many people. Its only natural she should seek out sunny, cheerful dispositions to alleviate the constant broodiness/drama/darkness.

#3 - broody characters can severly limit themselves.

Someone else touched upon this. A lot of broody characters get caught up in 'my character wouldn't fit here'. 'My character wouldn't fit there'. Essentially, you are left needing a very specific type of rp that requires a perfect storm of the right people, and the right scene, for your character to progress at all. Which isn't fair to you, or to other rpers.

Hope some of that helps! Broody chars can be a lot of fun to rp with, but it definitely requires a eeft touch!

Tiergan · **12-16-2013, 04:21 PM**

(12-16-2013, 03:30 PM)Magellan Wrote: #3 - broody characters can severly limit themselves.

Someone else touched upon this. A lot of broody characters get caught up in 'my character wouldn't fit here'. 'My character wouldn't fit there'. Essentially, you are left needing a very specific type of rp that requires a perfect storm of the right people, and the right scene, for your character to progress at all. Which isn't fair to you, or to other rpers.

Hope some of that helps! Broody chars can be a lot of fun to rp with, but it definitely requires a eeft touch!

This is kind of an important thing to touch upon.Â Just like real life anti-social folks kind of cut themselves out of a lot of really great experiences with other people by avoiding others - anti-social characters can cut you out of RP if you're not careful.

Sometimes its just a matter of knowing the kind of RP you enjoy and don't enjoy, and making sure that your character's anti-social-ness limits only the sort of RP you wouldn't really be into in the first place.

For example, tavern RP generally isn't my thing.Â I know it's a lot of fun for others, and I don't hold it against others if they do enjoy tavern RP, but on a personal level, I just don't find it interesting to sit at a bar, drinking, and talking about my day.Â Because of this, I'm okay with both of my characters just not having the personality for bar-hopping.Â

Other times, it's about finding creative ways to do that 'reverse-hook' that everyone's been talking about and RP around your character's limits.

So if I randomly felt the itch to tavern it up?Â Or there was an RP event that was tavern-related that fits my schedule and I wanted to show support for the community by going anyway?Â I could send my character in with a cluster of friends and have him get hilariously tanked.Â Maybe he's even a lightweight and it doesn't really take him all that long to get drunk and lose his "amg, i hates poeple, getawayfromme" exterior.Â Or maybe something great happened and he's feeling oddly celebratory.Â Or maybe the opposite happened and he wants to dunk his head in a vat of booze and forget.Â

There's lots of methods I could cook up to get my character in the action.Â Just like with a lot of things in RP - it takes you actually thinking stuff up and going with it instead of just parking your character somewhere and wondering why no one wants to talk with the socially-cripple, anti-social, dark broody loner-person sitting quietly in a corner in a tavern full of happy drunk people.

Cemi Epocan · **12-16-2013, 06:23 PM**

Cemi is so out-going, loud and inquisitive she randomly approaches said brooding folk and practically forces conversation onto them!
I salute those who can stick to such characters, but I personally could not play such a one! I like my toons to be up-beat!

But I agree, don't be afraid to approach them! Most of the time they're just too shy or approach others or it just isn't in their nature. But if they -really- wanted to be alone, they wouldn't be standing there in brooding silence!

You could just end up getting told to sod off but hey! At least you tried to brighten up their day!

Seriphyn · **12-16-2013, 11:56 PM**

I'm not a fan of dark, brooding characters purely because...well, how many people in real-life do we know that go through traumatic experiences but nonetheless remain pretty normal 99% of the time?Â

People go through cancer, loss of family members, rape, and such other tragic things, and yet you can still take them to the pub or club and they'll party the night away like any other normal person would.

(Above is mixture of personal opinion and non-hostile provocation to get people's counter-thoughts to build on my own!)

Xiaoli Vorgan · **12-17-2013, 12:46 AM**

These types of characters can be interesting if done in a way that doesn't run those who try to engage away. I've often seen this type of character RPed and it just goes so deep that many times you will find other characters trying to avoid RP with said person.Â

This in turn, begins to bleed into OOC and sometimes people wonder "why doesn't anyway want to engage with my character?" I'm not saying anything is wrong with the RP style, I just think that if you start to ask yourself that question, you may want to make some adjustments.Â

Any "personality type" can get over-used extremely quickly, not just the brooding type. Examples would be the "genius bookworm whose powers know no bounds", the "i've been abused by way of (fill in the blank) and its a million times obvious that I have been every time I RP. Moderation is the key to all mary-sue personalities as well as non-mary sue personalities.

Darkfae · **12-17-2013, 03:31 AM**

(12-16-2013, 11:56 PM)Seriphyn Wrote: I'm not a fan of dark, brooding characters purely because...well, how many people in real-life do we know that go through traumatic experiences but nonetheless remain pretty normal 99% of the time?Â

People go through cancer, loss of family members, rape, and such other tragic things, and yet you can still take them to the pub or club and they'll party the night away like any other normal person would.

(Above is mixture of personal opinion and non-hostile provocation to get people's counter-thoughts to build on my own!)

That's not actually true. There are plenty of people who go through those things and can't just up and go to a pub or club or large social situation and just party the night away like normal people, and it'sÂ definitelyÂ NOT 99% of the people out there who go through the above. IfÂ that were the case, we wouldn't have such a huge number of mental health clinics and they wouldn't be so hugely booked all the time helping people get back to the point where they can hang out with a moderate sized group of friends, let alone a huge group of strangers.

Vysce the Lad · **12-17-2013, 08:18 AM**

(12-16-2013, 03:30 PM)Magellan Wrote: To use a single player game character like Cloud Strife is a poor example. That story was written specifically to tell Cloud's emotional journey. The other characters in FF7 did not have a choice whether or not they would interact with Cloud, their roles were written specifically that way. In essence, he could be as broidy as he wanted to be without losing friends.

Aha~ But are not the characters we create written specifically according to their emotional journey? Sure it's a little different since the other characters we see are each controlled by a different person, but each could be as well defined by dark pasts and the like. Characters we create have just as much right to be as broody as he is, and we have to act as a certain flower girl did and approach them~!Â Wink

***Maril*** · **12-17-2013, 10:26 AM**

(12-16-2013, 11:56 PM)Seriphyn Wrote: I'm not a fan of dark, brooding characters purely because...well, how many people in real-life do we know that go through traumatic experiences but nonetheless remain pretty normal 99% of the time?Â

People go through cancer, loss of family members, rape, and such other tragic things, and yet you can still take them to the pub or club and they'll party the night away like any other normal person would.

(Above is mixture of personal opinion and non-hostile provocation to get people's counter-thoughts to build on my own!)

This is not really the case. There may be people who can function after experiencing something traumatic, but you have to remember that the way the western society tends to work, there is an extreme pressure on these people to "walk it off", and pretend nothing had happened. Mental illnesses is a taboo, something you don't talk about to a lot of people, and families. They simply will not accept what's happened to their loved ones, because it puts them in a damaged and dysfunctional light. So maybe you can take these people to a club, and maybe they'll look like they're having fun, but what you see can be far away from the actual truth. Many feel ashamed over their experiences, or feel that they need to seem to be strong for the sake of others, and fear that if they are not then the people around you will hurt more than you are. I would encourage you to look a little closer, next time you see something like what you describe happen.

Furthermore, an anti-social character does not need to have a traumatic experience that makes them grumpy, being anti-social can just be a part of who they are as a person and how they have always been - Just like some people irl have always been introverts for as long as they can remember. However seeing as most MMORPG settings are plagued by disasters, and FFXIV ARR especially, I imagine it would be pretty common to see people who's somehow had to deal with traumatic events.

No Longer Exists · **12-17-2013, 11:26 AM**

Being the broody one in my troupe, I think it has to be said that two things must occur.

1> Brood -with- people. I joined an RP FC, then let the grumpy ensue. My character eased into the group and has now made himself known through actions rather than words. He hasn't made great personal connections yet, but he's made his mark. He's polite, rigid, and quiet, tends to frown at people but never say why, and never stuck around for annoying social situations. As of late, things are evolving in him and he's leaning toward certain people rather than away from everyone. He even said a cussword and admitted to one that he actually has -feelings-, although that's all he said. Literally. To play brooding well, one needs a group. It's like casting for a story. Plot elements.

2> Be sociable OOC. I talk about my character openly, without revealing things. Some folks see broody characters and get the impression that the player is just as standoffish. So I call my character "Grumpy" regularly, make jokes about his "legendary frown" and his ability to "suck all the fun out of the room" but I also make it clear that I'm approachable as a player and open to RP. I've watched the inns and these forums, folks say they look for RP and most don't actually connect out of social worry. Don't be worried, reach out. Some of the funniest RP I've played in any MMOs is when two broody loners stand next to each other and "think things" then look at each other say "....yep". No conversation necessary.Â
Toss a tell, ask to RP, get on the grid a bit then unleash the dark mystery of the wrinkled broodyface.Â

P.S. - I'm serious. If you want to have broody RP, send me a tell on Lukas Valenwood. I will happily have him stand next to your character and think surly things, frown, grunt, and most importantly brood. Wink

Tiergan · **12-17-2013, 01:25 PM**

(12-16-2013, 11:56 PM)Seriphyn Wrote: I'm not a fan of dark, brooding characters purely because...well, how many people in real-life do we know that go through traumatic experiences but nonetheless remain pretty normal 99% of the time?Â

People go through cancer, loss of family members, rape, and such other tragic things, and yet you can still take them to the pub or club and they'll party the night away like any other normal person would.

(Above is mixture of personal opinion and non-hostile provocation to get people's counter-thoughts to build on my own!)

I think it depends on the degree of broodiness, how bad [insert traumatic experience here] was, and how well the player pulls it off.

Fantasy worlds can set up some pretty devastating scenarios that we can't really relate to in real life, and it hits a point where it actually comes off a little weird if your character is super well adjusted and happy afterwards. Hell, there are a lot of real life scenarios where it's a little weird if that person is super well adjusted and happy afterwards.

That said, I think there is something to be said about being *too* anti-social like Magellan mentioned.Â Far be it for me to say someone's RPing wrong, but if trying to RP with a broodtastic character is like pulling teeth to get decent responses, they're just screwing themselves over.Â It just becomes annoying trying to RP with them and that's not too fun for anybody.

Tiergan · **12-17-2013, 01:33 PM**

(12-17-2013, 11:26 AM)Black Hat Wrote: 2> Be sociable OOC. I talk about my character openly, without revealing things. Some folks see broody characters and get the impression that the player is just as standoffish. So I call my character "Grumpy" regularly, make jokes about his "legendary frown" and his ability to "suck all the fun out of the room" but I also make it clear that I'm approachable as a player and open to RP. I've watched the inns and these forums, folks say they look for RP and most don't actually connect out of social worry. Don't be worried, reach out. Some of the funniest RP I've played in any MMOs is when two broody loners stand next to each other and "think things" then look at each other say "....yep". No conversation necessary.Â
Toss a tell, ask to RP, get on the grid a bit then unleash the dark mystery of the wrinkled broodyface.Â

I think this is really important for both less-then-sociable characters and villains.

As much as people try not to mix IC/OOC - a lot of people unconsciously do so if all they see of you is your anti-social brooder or your conniving villain.Â Because of that, it is so, sooo unfathomably important to show that you're a nice normal human being OOC that is aware that your character is a grump/jerk.

Tiergan is the resident grump amongst my characters and after RPing with a group long enough, I wound up with my avatar. <___<;

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RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes