Balancing character personality (Mundane or Mary Sue)

[Averis]

You always hear about "Mary Sue" characters, those that just seem perfect in every way, but what about characters that try too hard to be normal "Everyday Jane" or understated?

 

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake? 

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character? (Please be general. Don't call people out)

 

This isn't about the "right" or "wrong" ways to role-play, but more about developing characters, their backgrounds and what makes them tick. Obviously things that break lore go without saying, so I'm referring to when it is within the lore, but still too far on either end or just right etc. Some characters may try too hard to be interesting while others may have nothing to say at all. Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

[KitKat]

Playing a "Plain Jane" character is difficult but rewarding. I'll be playing an introverted conjurer when the game comes back up and I'm hoping she doesn't fizzle out (as many characters like that do). 

 

Part of the trouble is the way characters are viewed. In real life, if you saw a shy, anti-social introvert, you'd probably give up on interacting with them if they showed no interest or even trepidation in conversing. 

 

In a roleplaying setting though, I can not think of many times when someone playing a shy, introverted character is actively trying to not have any interactions. The key is recognizing that there is a reason for them being shy. Perhaps, like in my character's case, their player is trying to learn the world, is overwhelmed, and is looking for that spark to draw the character out of their shell. 

 

So, the moral of my post is: Just because someone seems like they don't want to interact doesn't mean that's actually true. It might take some effort on both players' sides to bring them out of their shell, but that's the rewarding part.

[Gideon Aryeh]

1. I don't like scripted rp, nor do I script my character's every action. He lives in a world, he is part of -that- world. If someone screams down the street he hears it. If there is someone getting mugged over that way he runs to help. He isn't limited to what he is engaged to at the moment. He is part of the world, and if the world does something to draw his attention he will react in one way or another regardless of what he may be involved in at the moment unless it is a situation he absolutely cannot get away from. For me roleplaying is playing as a living npc, someone who lives, breathes, eats, sleeps, loves in the particular world he/she is in. They react to situations no different than many of us do in real life, and I NEVER let ooc feelings get in the way of how my character would react to a situation. How he feels and how I feel are two different things.

 

Personally I like playing my characters like this. Characters that don't live in a bubble and are not shortsighted and limited to their own dealings and actions. They are part of the world and -react- as such.

 

I think for every positive you should add a negative trait. In my opinion the reason why Mary Sue's come off bad is because the player never lets their character be weak. They won't let them take losses. Fact is that there is always going to be someone better than you. Or there will be a situation that your character can't handle. There is nothing wrong with being awesome in some areas and weak in others, and don't make them weak in areas that are rarely seen. Make it in an area that sometimes may be exposed. It happens, and there is nothing wrong to that. It also adds soul and believability to the character. Its all about checks and balances, and remember people DO NOT need to know your character's weaknesses from day one, let them be discovered through roleplay.

[John Spiegel]

On a scale of "Mundane to Mary Sue" JJ scores a "JJ"!

 

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake?

 

If you got a basic outline of how you want your character to be, roll with that and see where it leads you. I recently had to sort out ohhhh a whole character in the span of five minutes based on a couple notes I liked as traits and was happy with what resulted out of it. I am talking about JJ's son, Alex. A botanist and alchemist by profession, but has some pretty in depth hand-to-hand training.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

I'm interested in most anyone's RP unless it's clear abuse of lore. Even "cookie cutter" stories are fun (in the end, pretty much every story is cliche). I especially enjoy the dynamic my character has with people that tout their rank or title as that my character (JJ) doesn't give a crap about that kind of thing. Respect by actions not titles!

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

(This is a mix of my XI experience and ARR stuff)

To be honest, I totally have made JJ a larger-than-life-badass-warrior-dude-with-crazy-ass-power. However, the majority of the time, JJ is a bumbling silly idiot. It's only in combat that his fright comes out. Even then, he can still be a bumbling silly idiot... he's part insane, part crazy and mostly all JJ. He's not one to boast his strength in any fashion, even taking verbal and physical abuse (smacks to the head, full-on slaps, having moonshine dumped on him... all usually because he's rather blunt or rude in some fashion) does not change that. He's had a stupidly tragic life. Parents died at 2, killed his first person at 13, burned his head at 16, lost his eye at 22, lost his wife, lost whatever home he had like three times and a bunch of other boo-hoo stuff. But JJ just keeps getting back up. Can't keep JJ down. (Yay! TMBG song! "Can't Keep Johnny Down")

 

In the long run, the past incarnation of my character in XI left a lasting impression on me and those I'm returning to. So I guess I did something right? I just had fun with it. If those around you are having fun with you then you're doing something right.

---

Sorry for double post, I must mention that when I first started RPing, I went through so many revisions because I didn't know what the hell I was doing. JJ XI was my first RP character. Ever. E>

[Jonexe]

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake? 

 

A lot of folks try to make a character have many life defining events... but that's not really necessary at all. People in the real world are very often changed by a singular event. A character doesn't need a life time of traumatic (or amazing) events to build up why they act the way they do. Watching a family member die is trauma enough to completely change a character; the whole family and every friend the character has growing up doesn't need to meet some grizzly end to have the same effect.

 

To that end, I try to make a character's life believable; an event or two that shapes the character's outlook on life; then filled with details that would make sense because of those events (or cause them). I feel this makes a character that's more realistic, and in the end, more fun for me to play.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

I've been role playing for a long time; and in that time I've seen just about every character trait you can imagine work amazingly and fail spectacularly. Anything can be interesting and enjoyable if they're played well. I've even seen completely lore-breaking traits (I'm really a DRAGON!) be played well enough that it's interesting for the parties involved.

 

What really ruins it is when someone doesn't stick with their traits. For example; the "tormented by a horrible past" character that instantly overcomes their past except when it serves their scripted events. You made your character have the past you did to frame how they're supposed to act... so make them act that way! If you want them to change, that's great; but change takes a long time, and thus you should work towards it slowly. I've seen this happen a lot with people who have characters that are less likely to be "likable." They try out their concept once or twice, notice people don't want to play nice with them, and then modify themselves to "fit the crowd."

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore?

 

Lore is a hard subject. For me, I prefer when something has some sort of existence in the world before you use if. If there's some kind of precedent for half-Miqo'te half-vampires... then awesome. Go for it. Even if it's something of a stretch to make it make sense. A great example is the folks playing Ishgardians. Obviously there's not a ton of lore... but there's enough there that yeah, it makes complete sense for you to play as one. Especially if you try to work within the bounds of what is known so you don't have to retcon yourself later. When you start getting in the realm of stuff that makes absolutely no sense with anything seen in the lore... well then you've gone too far (for me).

 

What kind of advice would you give given your past experience?

 

Have other people take a look at your character concept before you decide to play it; especially if you're unsure of lore. When you spend a lot of time working on something, you become attached to it, and maybe you don't realize some flaws that are present. Have someone look over what you've come up with. They can give you fresh insight and help you develop what you have into something you'll really enjoy. It will help you avoid being too over the top, as well as being way too mundane. Even I do it after having been role playing for a solid 15 years now. It never hurts to have another set of eyes.

[Eva]

I think it's impossible not to RP something that someone will perceive as being cliché for one reason or another.  Most things have been done somewhere along the lines, in some capacity or another, and there is very little that is truly, truly original.  Even if that is the RPers intent, there is probably some story, novel, video game, TV show, movie, or whatever else that has taken a look at the very same concepts but using different characters, settings, etc.  I know that's kind of a cynical approach to this to start, but please don't write me off yet.

 

I think the most convincing RPers are the ones who make use of a few of these potentially cliché elements to weave together an interesting story.  And I think the Mary Sue types are the ones who grab pretty much everything they've ever seen that they think is interesting and mush it all together into their character.

 

I think a truly interesting character is one who has depth, offers interesting conversation (or some compelling reason why he's not a conversationalist), comes with some sort of backstory to explain how he came to be the way he is today, and reacts appropriately (for the character) and realistically to RP situations.  These reactions should also be consistent or if they're not, there should be some specific reason why.  This realistic character should also come with varying strengths and weaknesses, and even if a proverbial "jack of all trades" - should have at least a few things that he's simply never experienced before, though doesn't necessarily need to admit to that if it's not in his nature.

 

There is beauty in imperfection and I like that a lot of RPers I've met in this community are able to recognize that.  :thumbsup:

[Fiona]

As someone new to this I find this thread really insightful! I've been thinking about how to make a character but maybe I was just over thinking it and should just start with something more simplistic.

[Clover]

Interesting topic!

 

Generally speaking, my characters (especially my main characters) tend to be normal people. Some might be stronger than others, but none if them is remotedly close to legendary. Characters that had led common or average lives are what I enjoy playing the most because they can develop in any direction as the story is actually roleplayed. It doesn't mean that none of my characters has had any sort of weird past; some of them did, but my main characters usually do not.

 

In any case, I do love it when other people play very special or very powerful characters, as those set the stories and scenes that will help my character's development! It's very cool if other characters easily overpower mine or place mine in very bad situations.

 

In the end, I just want to see what kind of emotions my characters can develop, what kind of emotions they can make me feel, and what kind of emotions they're able to provoke in those that surround them.

 

 

"When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?"

I enjoy playing with many kinds of people and many kinds of characters. If everyone was the same or always had the same traits, now that'd be boring ^^;

 

 

As for breaking the lore... my only problem would arise if the majority did that. It'd be odd if breaking the norm became the norm. Ironically, that'd make lore followers more special and rare!

[FreelanceWizard]

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake? 

 

I usually try to create a mundane character as defined by the game's lore for PCs, and that usually does the trick. PCs are exceptional, so it doesn't take much to make them not boring. Personally, I find characters with significant flaws, a strong will, and room to grow especially interesting.

 

One thing I also try to do is stick to what my SO calls the "Three Thing Rule:" if your character has more than three key character-defining descriptors, it's probably too much of a special snowflake. By "character-defining descriptor," I mean things like creature type, profession, gender, ability set, etc. You count all things inherent to the universe that are common for PCs as one Thing (as PCs are inherently exceptional), so a "miqo'te lancer" would be one Thing. A "miqo'te lancer spellcaster" would be two Things. A "miqo'te lancer spellcaster expert dancer" would be three Things and about at the extent of plausibility. A "miqo'te vampire lancer spellcaster expert dancer celebrity pharmacist and banjo player" (even excluding the lore plausibility, or lack thereof, of vampires ) would be 6 Things and way out of line.

 

Obviously, the Three Thing Rule is just a guideline, and it doesn't really handle characters who dabble in a lot of things (though I'd argue that just being a normal dancer, for instance, instead of a world-class one doesn't count as a Thing).

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

Wildly overcomplicated characters with extremely tragic pasts that they constantly complain about are, IMO, relatively boring as they don't typically exhibit growth (nor are they especially realistic). Similarly, accelerating character changes to the point of inanity -- such as the "one week pregnancy" and the "soap opera childhood" -- grates on my nerves.

 

What bothers me most of all, though, is the Drama Generator. This character is always melodramatically flinging himself off buildings, running away, throwing himself into the maw of the enemy to "punish" himself (or everyone else) in a cry for help, whining about how terribly unfair his life is, and altogether making everyone else's life into an episode of All My Roegadyn. The problem isn't so much what's being done as the sheer volume of it.

 

To end on a positive note, I enjoy RPing with anyone who has a character with defined characteristics, that fits with the lore, that doesn't constantly change (or, conversely, never changes!), and has real opinions and points of view. So, that's, what, like 90%+ of everyone's characters?

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

Make your character imperfect and three-dimensional. Stay within the boundaries of lore (or reasonable extrapolations thereof). Keep your character simple and leave a lot of blank spots that you can explore later to add depth if desired (or ignore if they're not necessary). Keep the melodrama to a relatively low level and use it when narratively appropriate -- not all the time. Ensure that your character has room to grow and change and isn't just stuck on the same note forever, as you'll get bored with that eventually. Most of all, be considerate of others' RP by not writing characters that clobber others' ability to play with grey areas in the lore. In general, if something you've written for your background would be impossible for other characters to say if it were true for every character who said it, you've probably strayed into dangerous territory, IMO.

[Myxie Tryxle]

What a lot of Mary Sues don't realize is that the flaws of a character tend to be more defining than their strengths, because the flaws will define which situations end up being tense and dramatic as well as giving them a hurdle to overcome. Let's consider for the moment a skilled warrior facing off against a mounted opponent. The warrior is at a slight disadvantage, but since he's a PC, he has that PC edge, so after a long fight with a few close calls he prevails. Now consider that same warrior, except he has a crippling fear of horses (or chocobos) because he was thrown from one as a child and broke his leg. Now, in addition to having to face the challenge of the mounted combatant, he has to find a way to conquer his own fear or flee the fight. Depending on how he overcomes the situation, there's potential for real character growth.

 

The balancing act comes in picking the right flaws. As an example, I made a character once in an MMO with amnesia. Trying to meet new people to RP with generally went something like this:

 

"Hello, I'm Flavius McRoleplayer. Who are you?"

".... I'm not sure."

"..... Okay. What do you do?"

"I seem to be pretty good with a sword, so I guess I'm a warrior."

.....

.....

 

That character didn't last long in my roleplay efforts. Googling "character flaws" will lead to quite a few resources with lists of examples as well as a little bit of advice on what makes generally good or bad flaws. It's best to pick one or two, as more than that can become debilitating or unrealistic.

 

Another good idea is to pick out a quirk. This isn't a flaw, per se, just a peculiar characteristic of your character that can make them more memorable. There's a ton of websites with suggestions for these as well if you need inspiration. One or two will make your character feel a little more human, because we all have some little things we do that are unique to our personality. For example, in real life I always need to have something in my hand. If my hands aren't occupied, I'll reach for something nearby to roll around or manipulate without even realizing I'm doing it (just realized I'm doing it right now with my glasses while I reread what I've typed). Much like flaws, any more than one or two quirks and your character risks becoming a caricature.

[Teardrop]

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character? 

 

I think the thing that I appreciate most from another player character is when they show me what they are, not tell me what to think about them.  You say you are exceptionally beautiful or strikingly handsome; give me the description of your character and let me be the judge of that...you may not be my type at all :roll:.  Funny prankster?  Tell me a joke, see if I laugh!  Moves on the battlefield that will put any who see them in awe?  Meh, I might have seen better, its hard for you to judge who I've seen to declare I'd be in awe of you... 

 

I'm sure its convenient to make declarative statements, and it ensures how another views you is how you view yourself, but having someone interpret for me how I'm supposed to view this or that...I'd rather pass my own judgement based on my own thoughts, thank you 8-)

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

 

Personally, I have a lot of respect for people who try as hard as possible to stay within the lore.  Lore can be really inconvenient sometimes, and sort of push a player into situations where they might not be %100 satisfied with their character, and it can take a bit of dedication and love for the setting to do so.   Many of the inconvenient parts of lore get danced around, or bent about, or otherwise distorted a bit, and I guess that's fine...heck, I'm not paying for a person's account, who am I to demand adherence to this or that?  I will, however, have a certain amount of expectations and preconceptions on what sort of roleplay experience I will have with that person, based on how far away the lore is strayed from.  Some may find it a lot of fun and refreshing to interact with, but personally, I'm not really expecting a whole lot out of Boxcutter Bananahammock, even after its explained to me he's a half-roegadyn/half-granok who was adopted by a long-practicing family of lala shelf-stockers, that worked in a famous sleep-furniture emporium in Ul'dah...all the usual character concepts are visited (half this/half that?  *check*.  Adopted? *check*  Non-racial parents who don't follow naming convention?  *check*), but this one may push it a little too far :lol:  Don't make it hard for me to suspend my disbelief...help me believe in you!

[Tivahlt]

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake? 

 

Personally, I don't really think about the characters as "boring" or "snowflake" until I've made them, at which point I tweak them if they fall into either category. Instead, I just make a character that I would enjoy playing, or one that I think would have interesting (though not always positive) interactions with the world and with other characters. Sometimes I base them on a certain personality trait or stereotype (polite and soft-spoken, shy and awkward, loud and brash), or a key event that could greatly influence a character's personality (the loss of a loved one, or returning to a loved one after a long period apart, etc.), or some sort of weakness and/or strength (naturally gifted at magic but physically frail or even close to dying. Fears failure more than anything else, even death! A gifted fighter that can't resist a pretty face or puppy-dog eyes.) or just whatever interests me (I wanna be crazy! I wanna be a ninja! I wanna be evil! I want a bigass sword!) and then expand from there until I create something that has desires, needs, likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, good and bad all mixed together. There is no "wrong" character trait, it's just a matter of how you play it.

 

Granted I've spent a lot of time learning how to write (former English major and all) so it's easier for me to balance the "good" things (the Mary-sue-ifiers) and the "bad" things (Boring McBorington makers), but it really just comes down to, "do they have more than one or two dimensions?" and, "would this person exist in real life?" I mean, granted, I doubt I'd ever see a genuine Miqo'te walking down the street, but that's obviously not what I'm talking about. If it helps, then take traits from people you know, but try to keep that to a minimum. You can use traits from yourself even, but for the love of the twelve don't just make a self-insert. You're doing it wrong. This is not Sword Art Online.

 

Also, something I like to use is the "Mary Sue Litmus Test" if I'm not sure the character is useable. It's not meant to be taken seriously by any means (there are lots of characters in the world of entertainment that would score high on these tests, but aren't Mary Sues) but it can help give you a frame of reference in both ways; is the character a Mary Sue, or are they so bland that they don't even register?

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character? (Please be general. Don't call people out)

 

I like...all of them? Aside from things like god-mode, or things that would be better suited to a kindergarten playground ("you can't hit me because I have a super awesome protect spell! Yeah well I have a sword that goes through protect spells because I channel aether through it!" I've never actually seen anything quite like that, but you get the idea) I've found that even the weirdest shit can be interesting to play with if done right. I've seen people break lore (I've done it once or twice myself) but make it work so well that I'd rather just take it as canon. I've seen people with borderline superpowers that balance it with believability. The key here is moderation, more than anything. Balance out the weird shit with more "normal" traits, or give some good reasoning for why it works. I've played with people whose characters were shy and not necessarily conducive to social interaction (a.k.a. RP) who were able to make that trait work and become an interesting mechanic. I've yet to find any "boring" characters, even the most unassuming of folks can be interesting.

 

I can only think of one player waaaaaay back in 1.0 where I had a (rather brief) encounter with them that I didn't enjoy, and it was because they went god-mode. It wasn't a fault in the character, but a fault in the player.

 

As a side note I think people also need to remember that conflict and bending (or even breaking) the rules is a good thing. both are things that drive stories, change characters, and sometimes rewrite the very fabric of "reality." Rules (or Lore in this case) always have exceptions, holes can be filled in many different ways. I'm not saying that everyone should just throw the lore out and do whatever they want, but I think characters that are made by playing around with the Lore, rather than using it as a strict set of rules that cannot be deviated from in any way, are more fun to interact with. They add a little bit of chaos to the mix, and I am a sucker for chaos.

 

My most memorable recent RP was almost entirely spent arguing with and threatening other characters, and playing with characters that occasionally bent the "rules," and it was amazing. It let everyone show the depth of their characters and interact in complex and interesting ways, and learn new things both in and out of character. Every once in a while I see someone (not just in FFXIV, but in every RP avenue) get offended by things not going their way, or not being up to their "standards," rather than looking at the "story" as a whole and seeing why their way might not be the best. Never take yourself too seriously, even if your character is a very serious person. Everyone is human and imperfect, regardless of what their avatar might be.

 

At the end of the day RP is just very slow, written improvisation, and there is something that every improv actor learns first before anything else: You never say "no," you always say "yes, and." In other words, just go with the flow!

 

As long as the other player isn't going god-mode, at least.

 

You can totally say "no" then.

 

Because they're dumb.

[Saefinn]

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake?

 

In my opinion, there is not a boring soul out there, yep, even those trainspotters wearing anoraks. Okay, I personally found a trainspotter I knew boring, because our interests didn't match, but he found himself interesting and as did his friends.

 

I think it's a question of finding something interesting about your character and bringing out that quality, something you're interested by, be it certain characteristics or traits, you can bring about depth. Even if you're simply a merchant's son who collects coins and likes to go out fishing on a friday, you might not be an exciting adventurer, but there are probably interesting life experiences and stories to tell. Perhaps with a bit of alcohol down your throat you might lighten up and be a bit of an animal. There can be interesting secrets or interesting things to have happened in your life or even interesting things that are to happen.

 

If you can make connections you find interesting, then I guess it makes it easier. Though I see no point playing a character you're not interested in, because it's harder to sustain and harder to get something out of it.

 

I know I am saying this as somebody who jumped right in an said "I'm gonna be a pirate captain", but I've added some depth to his character and thought about what kind of person he'll be. I picked captain because I've gone in the intention of starting a shell & FC.

 

I think to avoid Mary-Sues it's a question of trying to understand what people are like. You could take a Mary-Sue and completely descontruct her, on the surface she may be perfect, but deep down she has her own flaws, like the rest of us. She might be judgmental of others, she may cover her own mistakes and always put herself in the positive light, little miss perfect, living to an image, hiding her true flaws.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

I've barely roleplayed to be fair. A bit of an RP flair on WoW, SW:TOR and a friend's forum. I've always felt those trying to engage their character as though they were human (so to speak) have been more interesting. I remember in WoW, I encountered a bar maid, she was just like a normal barmaid, she wasn't doing anything over the top or bigging herself up. She was doing her shift, she engaged with her patrons as the patrons told their stories. In a way she was a catalyst for discussion, which is true of a good bar-person and in this sense helps a roleplay.

 

In another roleplay I encountered a discussion with a drunk who was a bit of a conspiracy theorist. I don't know who he was or what his background was, but I have met conspiracy theorists at bars, generally the alcohol will get that out of you. Sometimes it can be the little things that can leave an impression.

 

On another occasion, as a Night Elf Death Knight in Stormwind, I met a bigot. He didn't take too kindly to have my sort in the bar. Whilst the Death Knights were allied with the Horde and Alliance, but in this world there were individuals not comfortable with it and the guy played his part as the bigot. He was clearly prejudice. I on the other hand was having an identity crisis, Night Elves don't take kindly to the unholy, so becoming a Death Knight is a fate worse than death for a Night Elf. So rather than doing the whole, "you're a bigot" and sticking up for myself, I just downed my drink and accepted his insults. Somebody else stuck up for my character though.

 

For me, it's a turn off once people start going over the top, breaking the fluidity of roleplay, like a badly dubbed movie. Of course not everybody is an expert creative writer and I wouldn't expect them to be. I think it helps to take on the identity of who you're playing, whilst that may seem agiven, I think sometimes there can be a distance between the roleplayer and the character. You are the character, you're not playing a character. Perhaps this is why people say creativity is a mental illness?

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

I think lore is important, but I'm not anal about it. I think it's acceptable for people to make mistakes. I also think just because a certain culture in lore exists for different characters backgrounds, I don't think it should dictact how a character should be. Not everybody is a paragon of their own cultural virtues, some go completely against tradition. If people can do that in the real world, why not a fictional one? For instance, the name principles of my characters I mentioned in another thread. The principles break lore so to speak, yet lore is broken with reason. I think people need to work within the realistic confines of the world your character is based. So, you're not going to be Sephiroth with a jetpack weilding a lightsaber (as badass as that would be) and I don't think anybody's going to be knighted by the Queen of England either.

 

I think it's also worth bearing in mind some of the other restrictions - I don't think you could become Sultana just as you wouldn't become the Emperor in SW:TOR, because if you were able to (if you choose to ignore cutscenes and the game's story), there's probably about 5 other people trying to fill that spot.

[Nox]

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake?

 

I'm going to say that I never think a character is too boring or, to be honest, too snowflake. If Office Space has taught me anything, even office workers can be interesting and fun. I just role what I want to role. Generally, I just write up a character's personality, then tweak and tweak and tweak (I mean, I even remade my whole character) until I'm happy with the outcome. Though, I do generally have the whole personality written in my head before I've even started writing. I always give my character flaws. Always. Some flaws aren't there yet, but I know they will be down the road. In X'sato's case, I made him socially awkward yet outgoing and self-sacrificing. So, to answer the question, I just role what I want to role. Just give your characters reasonable flaws and you'll be perfectly fine. You might just be like me and be terrible at writing apps, but your character is natural, fun, and awesome when put into practice. 

 

Edit: I forgot to put this.

 

I find that asking "if" questions helps in creating a character's personality. Ask things that cover all the bases.

 

How would my character react if...

 

Someone they cared about was killed in front of them? (Drama)

They were asked for their hand in marriage? (Romance)

They were pulled into a bar fight? (Action-y)

ect.

 

They're pretty specific, but they give an idea.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

 

I haven't found a personality yet that wasn't enjoyable to rp. As long as the character isn't a Gary Stu/Mary Sue, it should be fun. I did play a blindly-loyal, overly attached girlfriend once and that was quite fun to play. I've had a lot of success with cynical characters, as well. I even made a character that was completely devoid of emotion once and even managed to make that interesting and fun. 

 

My background is in forum rping, so I can only speak for that. I find "meeting" threads to be terribly boring. Terribly terribly boring. Just two people going back and forth with nothing really exciting happening kills my "muse". So I make an effort to spice everything up. If anything seems too boring, make it a point to try and change that.

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

 

Oof. The line. I can't really speak much on the line, sadly. I generally only push the line with the ideas behind a character, then make it fit to lore in some way. As long as your character doesn't kick lore to the curb, I don't really see it being a problem.

[Vashies Rosada]

I'm not going have supper long post like some of you but..... 

 

What I think is that you should try pull out how you are in real life and what you like to be. Some people wish they where more talkative, or maybe you like be more heroic. Things you wish you could be or more of can turn your role playing story and acting to great things. You can be a lot things in real life but for once you don't want be super known for it, So you role play as more humble and quiet. These things can all so play huge part in trying make role player background and acting in the game fun.  You take your real self which is easy to be and mix it with some one you wish you could be or wish you more of. Makes role playing a lot easier for me.  This would included issues you have to, we are all not perfect so i think yes you should have some thing that makes tick and maybe some not good habits you have or could have.

 

I don't know if every one would agree but every one has different styles of role playing.

[C'io Behkt]

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake?

 

I don't.

 

By which I mean I don't think at all in those terms. I never worry about if the character will be too boring to others because I only make her to be interesting to me, the person who has to live with her for the long-term, and because I can't realistically predict what other people will find interesting or not. My hypothesis is that if I'm having a good time, others will feel my enjoyment and join me. I also don't think of snowflake because I always want to make someone who is 'normal' by the standards of the lore. A normal nobleman, a normal merchant girl, a normal whataver. There can be interesting and grand milestones in the past of a character, but I think how much you emphasize or draw attention to them will determine whether you're playing a snowflake or not. Most people don't broadcast their past to everyone who passes by, and neither do most of my characters, so by the time the backstory comes out, I've already established the character as someone with enough dimensions to be "allowed" that story.

 

Which means that, yes, in my opinion, the difference between someone perceived as a special snowflake and someone not is simply how hard a sell has been used in the marketing of the character's more unique traits.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

The character traits I find engaging all belong to the player, not the character.

 

It all boils down to style. I find people who are open to be the most enjoyable to play with. Someone who can adapt to the situation fluidly regardless of who walks in, where the conversation turns, or how many mobs suddenly spawn under our feet is someone who is infinitely fun to play with. Someone who gets bothered by shifts, whispers when your actions have "deviated from the script," and begin trying to turn the scene with "my character wouldn't do that" is not someone I enjoy playing with. Yes, your character wouldn't do that, so don't tell me and complain about it--just do what your character would do! Gosh!

 

Adaptability is what makes a character interesting because it is what allows a character to evolve. Being spry and quick with the uptake doesn't hurt either. I like it when people turn off their self-editor and just blurt out the first thing that comes to their minds, whether it is dialogue or a quick emote about how the character, who is more of a deliberator, is deliberating and chewing his lip. It's something I can respond to fast rather than waiting for a response to get polished and made "perfect."

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

The line moves.

 

My most interesting experiences have been with those who respect and keep to the lore while still being unafraid to exploit the open windows the lore leaves for us to explore. In roleplaying games of shared consensus, there is often a great stigma attached to deviating from established lore. I understand why it exists, but it also makes most people afraid to extrapolate for fear of being called out. The best advice I can give on how to know what the limits are, especially when we are talking about shared and differing perspectives, is to test those limits and actually -explore-. Let yourself get called out! When you go too far, you'll know, and you can adapt and pull yourself back to the divide. If we all stuck to our stereotypes and straight-paths, roleplay would be boring because the most interesting people are those who dare to test the world.

[Averis]

Guess I can answer my own post. It's really interesting to read the responses others have posted. Even though I've been involved in MMO RP for almost 10 years, I'm always learning and each community is a little different.

 

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake? 

 

Creating characters has always been something that I really enjoy, but it's a bit different creating a character for a predefined setting than one that you have created yourself. It's a good kind of challenge, though, and I think it has helped me with my own personal stories.

 

Like others have said as well, I try to have a balance of positive and negative traits. I probably usually lean more heavily on the negative type traits, though. Humans are inherently imperfect and I think that works well when creating a character. But they shouldn't be so "messed up" that they can't function, especially if you plan to interact with others. But I know that I have a lot of flaws and I'm usually observant of others around me, so I try to recognize those traits and add those that I think will help give my character that "human" and believable aspect.

 

When it comes to their background I try to give them reason for being an adventurer within the lore. I usually start with fairly humble beginnings and then add events that lead them to going out into the world. Since it's a character in a game, I want to have reasons to actually play the game and RP, so I often take class and skills into account as well. I look for ways to put them in that position to be X type of adventurer. So it's also a balance of gameplay and character development for me.

 

I'm not the most outspoken person IRL, so my characters tend to be a little understated, but I try to add a little bit of spice. I can easily fall into a trap of creating an overly flawed character and I've found that can lead to frustrating role-play. Like in real life, I don't think people want to be around someone that is always negative, quiet or complaining. So having some redeeming facets like kind or funny is the balance to the negative traits.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

I was in a heavy RP guild in EQ2 for a while and I learned a lot during that time and had some really memorable moments, but one thing that really turned it sour was when some of the members took things too seriously, they were basically inflexible. During a group event one of the members hit a mob that was a friendly faction to another player in the group. It broke out into a fight and made many people feel uncomfortable. In this case, I think it would have been better to have RPed the conflict instead of blaming the player. So I think it's important to walk into RP with a general attitude of playing along and being flexible. It's important to realize the the other players are still human and instead of flipping out about something they did (unless they are griefing you) try to take it as an RP challenge.

 

Don't try to be the center of the show. It's important to realize that this is a group activity and everyone should have their chance. Just like a group conversation in person, it's courteous to let everyone have their say.

 

This goes back to the character development too, I try to setup my character so that when she starts the game I don't have any set plans for how she will develop. That usually comes later as I see how those I interact with can affect her. That's not to say that those that have a full story planned are going to cause problems, but I think it's always best to be flexible. Think of it like a group activity, let the others around you enrich your ideas instead of using them only as extras for your stage.

 

I think the social aspect of MMO role-playing is what makes it most unique to other forms for story crafting. It's organic and just like life, you never know what will happen next, and just like life you shouldn't attempt to think that you can perfectly direct it. Be open to randomness and think of how your character will change or react to it.

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

Like I said above, I think taking it too serious can cause problems. That's not to say that you can't be really into your story or the lore (I know I am), but, again, when interacting with others you need to leave room for them

[Averis]

Guess I can answer my own post. It's really interesting to read the responses others have posted. Even though I've been involved in MMO role-play for almost 10 years, I'm always learning and each community is a little different.

 

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake? 

 

Creating characters has always been something that I really enjoy, but it's a bit different creating a character for a predefined setting than one that you have created yourself. It's a good kind of challenge, though, and I think it has helped me with my own personal stories. Limits can force you to be more creative instead of going with easy answers.

 

Like others have said as well, I try to have a balance of positive and negative traits. I probably usually lean more heavily on the negative type traits, though. Humans are inherently imperfect and I think that works well when creating a character. But they shouldn't be so "messed up" that they can't function, especially if you plan to interact with others. But I know that I have a lot of flaws and I'm usually observant of others around me, so I try to recognize those traits and add those that I think will help give my character that "human" and believable aspect.

 

When it comes to their background I try to give them reason for being an adventurer within the lore. I usually start with fairly humble beginnings and then add events that lead them to going out into the world. Since it's a character in a game, I want to have reasons to actually play the game and RP, so I often take class and skills into account as well. I look for ways to put them in that position to be X type of adventurer. So, for me, it's also a balance of gameplay and character development.

 

I'm not the most outspoken person IRL, so my characters tend to be a little understated, but I try to add a little bit of spice. I can easily fall into a trap of creating an overly flawed character and I've found that can lead to frustrating role-play. Like in real life, I don't think people want to be around someone that is always negative, quiet or complaining. So having some redeeming facets like kind or funny is the balance to the negative traits.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

I was in a heavy RP guild in EQ2 for a while and I learned a lot during that time and had some really memorable moments, but one thing that really turned it sour was when some of the members took things too seriously, they were basically inflexible. During a group event one of the members hit a mob that was a friendly faction to another player in the group. It broke out into an OOC fight and made many people feel uncomfortable. In this case, I think it would have been better to have RPed the conflict instead of blaming the player. So I think it's important to walk into RP with a general attitude of playing along and being flexible. It's important to realize the the other players are still human and instead of flipping out about something they did (unless they are griefing you) try to approach it as an RP challenge.

 

This goes back to the character development too, I try to setup my character so that when she starts the game I don't have any set plans for how she will develop. That usually comes later as I see how those I interact with can affect her or how the game story pans out. That's not to say that those that have a full story planned are going to cause problems, but I think it's always best to be flexible. Think of it like a group activity, let the others around you enrich your ideas instead of using them only as extras for your stage.

 

I think the social aspect of MMO role-playing is what makes it most unique to other forms for story crafting. It's organic and just like life, you never know what will happen next, and just like life you shouldn't attempt to think that you can perfectly direct it. Be open to randomness and think of how your character will change or react to it.

 

Just like sending a child off to school, when I develop my character I try to give them the tools to make it on their own, but beyond that I let the events of the game and the role-play shape them as I would in real life if I personally faced similar things.

 

Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.

 

Like I said above, I think taking it too serious can cause problems. That's not to say that you can't be really into your story or the lore (I know I am), but, when interacting with others you need to leave room for them.

 

Other things I become weary of are characters that have specific skills or looks that aren't actually in the game. It might not be lore-breaking, but I'm likely not going to remember that your character had a wooden leg and a tattoo etc. While that may feel limiting to some, I think it's just better to assume that people won't remember those details unless they interact with you regularly. Having to always point out that you have these unique features can be a bit jarring, but there are ways to work it into your RP that can work, it just takes a certain kind of understanding that not everyone will remember those details so I wouldn't make that a focus.

 

Number one advice is to have fun. You won't please everyone. Always try to be courteous of others role-play, but if something isn't fun for you then just nicely exit stage left and move on instead of trying to force it. Or you could stick around and observe and maybe you'll learn something new that can enrich your role-play.

[Orlog]

Honestly, my answer is pretty straight forward. Before hitting the lore, the race, the gender... I make a person. All of my characters I've ever made that have actually stood any test of time worked out the best when things in the physical realm was an after thought. Bea would still be who she is if she were a male Lalafell, Hyru, etc. Aside from that, I think about what honestly makes an interesting, but realistic (ya know, someone who catches your attention, but doesn't come off as forced as hell) person in the real world. I even go as far as looking at some of my own personality traits and exaggerate them. That way I'm working with something that I'm familiar with, but I'm not just making the same character over and over again.

 

Things like jobs, parents, living situations, religious backgrounds, etc. are usually an after thought, or not something I truly touch on until they're brought up in RP. Reminding me, I tend to make up a lot of shit on the fly and go with what feels right at the time! There have been a lot of things with my character that I just thought up on the spot and ended up being a large part of the character to date.

 

Honestly, I feel people who flesh out those sorts of details to the fullest tend to concentration on that a lot in their RP. I honestly couldn't give two shits about your family. I want to know about you (the character) as a person. I want great interactions that suck me into the moment and make me feel like I'm talking to a real person, not an archetype ( Tribal Miqo'te! Roegadyn Seamen! ). I'm not saying that every character that falls into that category needs to avoid those traits in order to make an interesting character, but the character shouldn't stop at the end of that summery, and even then, it should probably be a pretty small part of who they are anyway.

 

So, I guess it all just comes down to making a believable person for me.

[K'nahli]

When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake?

My very first character that I ever RP'd and gave a personality was the closest thing I ever had to a 'snowflake' character. Naturally I did worry that perhaps I was making her too perfect though that was far from my intention. She was supposed to be the sweet and easily-likeable character as well as being an adept warrior in many areas, being that she had trained almost all of her life.

 

Of course, I never wanted her to be seen as perfect. I find that concept mind-numbingly boring. What is there to like about a flawless character? She had a very troubled past and a number of flaws that predominantly had to do with her own emotions that led to her being a very fragile character that was on the verge of snapping should she succumb to another traumatic event.

 

Anyways, in terms of balancing my character I willingly accept that my character is not immortal and not able to easily overcome any situation be it battle, emotional moments or even an argument. It doesn't really matter to me where my characters' flaws lie, so long as they are enough to actually define who they are and how they behave in certain situations and perhaps even in every day life. As someone said, character flaws are far more interesting than merits in most cases.

 

When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?

 

I am not particularly inclined to any set personality as far as I can tell, but I must admit I do like characters that have secrets and don't easily dictate their lifestory to you in the blink of an eye. What is better than finding out something shocking about a character you have known for a long time and felt that you knew better than anyone else?