Personally I've always been a big advocate of having a backstory for a character, though how big or influential a backstory has varied. For settings I'm more familiar with, I'm happy to give a bare minimum and then let it evolve from there, but in settings I'm just getting into, like FFXIV, I tend to try and make a backstory a bit more in depth using lore I read and the likes if only so I can get a proper feel for the universe, and a more solid grounding from which to RP from.
To each his or her own, though! My own way may be somewhat bizarre. Why make a background for a character in a universe you don't have a lot of experience with bigger than one you do have experience with? But I find it's working for me, at least crafting this guys story. ^^
EDIT: Giving it some more thought, a backstory should, in my opinion, always have some scope for alteration and by no means bind a character too much to it. People change their minds and circumstances change, etcetera. Sticking to the backstory of your character like some kind of religion is a surefire way to meet trouble somewhere down the line. It's a backstory, after all! Not the story!
To each his or her own, though! My own way may be somewhat bizarre. Why make a background for a character in a universe you don't have a lot of experience with bigger than one you do have experience with? But I find it's working for me, at least crafting this guys story. ^^
EDIT: Giving it some more thought, a backstory should, in my opinion, always have some scope for alteration and by no means bind a character too much to it. People change their minds and circumstances change, etcetera. Sticking to the backstory of your character like some kind of religion is a surefire way to meet trouble somewhere down the line. It's a backstory, after all! Not the story!
Wiki in Progress - And being messed up: Emvi'zi Lavint
