Disclaimer:Â Â What follows is strictly my opinion. Â I will RP with most anyone regardless of how I view their RP styles/techniques. Â I will probably incur the term "RP elitist" at some time or another, and that's fine. Â I tend not to see that as a negative the way some try to imply that sort of connotation. Â I admit that I do have certain hopes, but I also have no desire to demand my own expectations be met. Â But to reiterate, what follows is my opinion, and those opinions of others are apt to be different.
When I think about some of the most talented and interesting characters I've interacted with, they are not always necessarily the most powerful or the most intelligent or the best at something. Â I find weakness and vulnerability to be enticing qualities in characters and this "room for growth" makes for a lot of interesting possibilities.
To me a character that changes gradually over time in realistic ways is also interesting. Â Characters that change drastically overnight are usually less "real" to me, though I accept that certain events in their stories may trigger a sort of "about face" where there is a sudden shift in value, aspirations, etc.
Interesting characters to me also have motives for everything that they do, whether I'm privy to those or not. Â And I don't expect to be always privy to the reasons for things. Â But I do like to know that there are reasons that support decisions and that a character isn't necessarily doing things just willy-nilly (footnote: insanity is a sufficient enough reason if that is a part of the character's persona).
I don't usually like seeing anything overly supernatural or out of scope with the lore of the game cropping up in RP, but I usually kind of accept it in stride whenever it does so long as it's not something I feel is extremely ridiculous. Â I know there are RPers that will latch on to certain aspects of the lore and interpret things one way or another and that's fine as well. Â But for myself I prefer to avoid anything that's very extraordinary.
Most of the rest of what you've asked about boils down to the RPer and individual preference. Â I like comic relief once in awhile, but when everything is a joke or there's never anything regarded seriously than I feel like something is missing. Â This sometimes feels like being spoon fed a diet of only cake, candy, and sweets. Â While it may seem ideal at first, there quickly comes a point where I really want some meat and popotoes. Â And I prefer more serious, gritty style of RP where bad things happen and need to be dealt with, and not everyone can skip around on cloud nine all of the time.
Good versus evil is sort of the same thing. Â I tend to view it more in shades of gray. Â "Good" may mean different things to different people and is highly based on perspective. Â Often the best "evil" characters have very compelling reasons for behaving the way that they do, depending perhaps on something from their backstories. Â You can refer back to what I said above about motivation for character actions/behavior. Â If a character's family was slain by someone and their story is angled at seeking vengeance, that's definitely one of those gray areas.
I'm glad that you read the RP guide and gleaned a lot from it, and I'm happy you started this conversation as well because it is very interesting to see how other people feel.
It's also important that people realize that opinions are being expressed here, and there seems to be a lot of sensitivity in the RPC community of late, or false perceptions that certain remarks that are being made as generalizations are directed at individuals. Â I would encourage everyone to take these posts with a grain of salt because I can see how quickly tensions could rise if someone assumes a remark is directed specifically at them. Â The RPC harbors a number of different communities which each encompasses different sets of values and beliefs.
When I think about some of the most talented and interesting characters I've interacted with, they are not always necessarily the most powerful or the most intelligent or the best at something. Â I find weakness and vulnerability to be enticing qualities in characters and this "room for growth" makes for a lot of interesting possibilities.
To me a character that changes gradually over time in realistic ways is also interesting. Â Characters that change drastically overnight are usually less "real" to me, though I accept that certain events in their stories may trigger a sort of "about face" where there is a sudden shift in value, aspirations, etc.
Interesting characters to me also have motives for everything that they do, whether I'm privy to those or not. Â And I don't expect to be always privy to the reasons for things. Â But I do like to know that there are reasons that support decisions and that a character isn't necessarily doing things just willy-nilly (footnote: insanity is a sufficient enough reason if that is a part of the character's persona).
I don't usually like seeing anything overly supernatural or out of scope with the lore of the game cropping up in RP, but I usually kind of accept it in stride whenever it does so long as it's not something I feel is extremely ridiculous. Â I know there are RPers that will latch on to certain aspects of the lore and interpret things one way or another and that's fine as well. Â But for myself I prefer to avoid anything that's very extraordinary.
Most of the rest of what you've asked about boils down to the RPer and individual preference. Â I like comic relief once in awhile, but when everything is a joke or there's never anything regarded seriously than I feel like something is missing. Â This sometimes feels like being spoon fed a diet of only cake, candy, and sweets. Â While it may seem ideal at first, there quickly comes a point where I really want some meat and popotoes. Â And I prefer more serious, gritty style of RP where bad things happen and need to be dealt with, and not everyone can skip around on cloud nine all of the time.
Good versus evil is sort of the same thing. Â I tend to view it more in shades of gray. Â "Good" may mean different things to different people and is highly based on perspective. Â Often the best "evil" characters have very compelling reasons for behaving the way that they do, depending perhaps on something from their backstories. Â You can refer back to what I said above about motivation for character actions/behavior. Â If a character's family was slain by someone and their story is angled at seeking vengeance, that's definitely one of those gray areas.
I'm glad that you read the RP guide and gleaned a lot from it, and I'm happy you started this conversation as well because it is very interesting to see how other people feel.
It's also important that people realize that opinions are being expressed here, and there seems to be a lot of sensitivity in the RPC community of late, or false perceptions that certain remarks that are being made as generalizations are directed at individuals. Â I would encourage everyone to take these posts with a grain of salt because I can see how quickly tensions could rise if someone assumes a remark is directed specifically at them. Â The RPC harbors a number of different communities which each encompasses different sets of values and beliefs.
"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." Â ~ Lewis Carol
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
