I can't speak for everyone, but I personally choose to use NPCs rather than playing with outright villainous characters, or being one myself. Some of these NPCs are in the game and my character reacts to what they do in story quests perhaps; most are of my own creation and are handled offscreen.Â
That isn't to say that my characters are all heroic--even Kevaraan, despite his amicable demeanor, has done questionable things. It's largely up to other players whether to see my characters as heroes or as more ambiguous individuals. I see them as neither, and my style is too individual-focused to get involved in plots or larger efforts against a "villain" character.
I'm sure there will be at least some people interested in playing the villain though--it's just not something I have a lot of experience in, despite seeing guilds built around that in other games.
Edit: I'd like to add after reading some replies that the arcanist Kevaraan assisted in the past probably has some traces of BPD or mental illness. She is important to him, and I don't plan on playing her onscreen because she isn't personable or friendly at all--and that would go nowhere. But most average people would probably agree she's less than wholesome, has sinister or selfish motivations, and that her relationship with Kevaraan is certainly not conventional and has affected him quite a bit.
That isn't to say that my characters are all heroic--even Kevaraan, despite his amicable demeanor, has done questionable things. It's largely up to other players whether to see my characters as heroes or as more ambiguous individuals. I see them as neither, and my style is too individual-focused to get involved in plots or larger efforts against a "villain" character.
I'm sure there will be at least some people interested in playing the villain though--it's just not something I have a lot of experience in, despite seeing guilds built around that in other games.
Edit: I'd like to add after reading some replies that the arcanist Kevaraan assisted in the past probably has some traces of BPD or mental illness. She is important to him, and I don't plan on playing her onscreen because she isn't personable or friendly at all--and that would go nowhere. But most average people would probably agree she's less than wholesome, has sinister or selfish motivations, and that her relationship with Kevaraan is certainly not conventional and has affected him quite a bit.
