by Erin What makes a good character? (creation, concept, style) To be honest, I have no idea what makes a good character. I have tried several characters which I thought of as "good" only to be blatantly ignored or killed outright either by me or someone else. To my mind though, a GOOD character is somewhat of a myth. What works for one person, may not work for someone else. Take "Erin" for example. She's a tart. She's also one of the friendliest neurotics in the place, and that's the way I play her. Why do I play her that way? Because it's what her history decrees. And I'm not talking about the history that I made up before I even set foot in the Castle the first time. Numerous relationships, loss of children (blood kids) and general dispair due to unfortunate events have caused her to be that way. At the moment, she has a hate/love relationship with Ella, depends on Mandrael and Drew for a sense of normalcy and being needed, she misses and worries about her daughter, she loves her friends with abandon. Small things, like her dragons; Mnem and Mnemoranth, and horses; Kahlana and Cherokee (didn't know she had those, eh? EARLY playing history there) have fallen by the wayside for bigger things - like demons and vampire possessions and clones that are really her enemies. THAT in my opinion, makes a GOOD character. One does NOT lose a child one day and is all happy a few hours later IRL, so it wouldn't seem plausible for a character in an RPG to do that. The fact that I see examples of this very thing nearly horrifies me - It's just NOT right. Every action has a reaction, I'm not saying to play your characters as though they were really YOU, but play in a realistic manner. Even goddesses have shitty days. What makes a good post? Detail. Detail. Detail. With the elite of the Wing, detailed posts have now become the norm. They don't necessarily need to be long, there's a major difference between quality and quantity. Short posts containing little more than "Walks in, goes to the bar, orders a drink and LOOKS at everyone" are annoyances that are readily ignored. There's nothing in there that explains the character, nothing that reaches out to grab your attention, shake you and say "PLAY WITH ME!". But there's a drawback to detail. Long posts can bore people senseless, especially if they are really about nothing. It gets dull, alright, the person is sad... but they don't need to go on and on about the stormy seas and winds tearing through the forrests of their empty hearts, so on and so forth. We only need to know the person is upset. Simply be creative without spouting needless rubbish. What makes an RP presence stand out? Creativity and, I hate to say it, but good pictures help. If you enter a room with a handle image that's 1)linked from a gallery and not edited, 2)a fnarkin' HUGE picture that hasn't been edited or; 3)a BADLY edited image - NO ONE is going to take you seriously. If you're entering a room (ANY room worth mentioning) and say nothing but "Enters, goes to the bar and sits down and orders a drink", again, no one's going to pay much attention - unless the picture is of some half-nude bimbo/ Rojo artwork whichs screams "Cyber me NOW!". The entry post is probably the most important because it introduces your character to the room and gives others some info as to what to expect. A good entrance will be descriptive without being long-winded. A good entrance will have more than a characters basic looks (I like an element of surprise and the descriptions of the personas general character to come out DURING roleplay). Basic things which make RP stand out though - spelling and grammar and punctuation and correct use of the written word. The rest of my rants can be found here... http://easel.stormpages.com |
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