COMING THIS SUMMER, IN A WORLD etc etc
This is meant to speak for those of us1 who don't have the time, creative ability or technical skill to create a new character every time we would like to join a new rp thread. Two questions: What's your opinion on it (does it make the person seem like they don't care about your thread, is lazy, not committed enough, not serious enough about rp in general), and also, is it cheating? Do you think it is impossible to keep a character's continuity consistent when they are active in multiple stories at once? How should the player of a "multiverse" character treat death, permanent injuries and relationships? What about their memories? If a character learns a new skill in one thread, surely it would be cheating for them to suddenly learn that skill in another, matrix-style.
1 Actually just me. I haven't yet met anyone else who suffers from mono-character syndrome here. Presumably, if they exist they're probably smart enough to just play in one thread at a time.
bee tee dubs: I'm really just asking because I started my one character, without thinking at all, in a second thread when I was a few days old here and didn't really know any of the unwritten rules every community has. Basically this topic is just my un-subtle way of learning them.
This is meant to speak for those of us1 who don't have the time, creative ability or technical skill to create a new character every time we would like to join a new rp thread. Two questions: What's your opinion on it (does it make the person seem like they don't care about your thread, is lazy, not committed enough, not serious enough about rp in general), and also, is it cheating? Do you think it is impossible to keep a character's continuity consistent when they are active in multiple stories at once? How should the player of a "multiverse" character treat death, permanent injuries and relationships? What about their memories? If a character learns a new skill in one thread, surely it would be cheating for them to suddenly learn that skill in another, matrix-style.
1 Actually just me. I haven't yet met anyone else who suffers from mono-character syndrome here. Presumably, if they exist they're probably smart enough to just play in one thread at a time.
bee tee dubs: I'm really just asking because I started my one character, without thinking at all, in a second thread when I was a few days old here and didn't really know any of the unwritten rules every community has. Basically this topic is just my un-subtle way of learning them.
I don't mind multi-verse characters so long as they are kept seperate. Seperate descriptions, seperate art, seperate backstories appropriate to the storyline and so on with no ties into each other whatsoever. A might know B in Universe C, but in Universe D, they might be deadly enemies.
mross wrote:
COMING THIS SUMMER, IN A WORLD etc etc
This is meant to speak for those of us1 who don't have the time, creative ability or technical skill to create a new character every time we would like to join a new rp thread. Two questions: What's your opinion on it (does it make the person seem like they don't care about your thread, is lazy, not committed enough, not serious enough about rp in general), and also, is it cheating? Do you think it is impossible to keep a character's continuity consistent when they are active in multiple stories at once? How should the player of a "multiverse" character treat death, permanent injuries and relationships? What about their memories? If a character learns a new skill in one thread, surely it would be cheating for them to suddenly learn that skill in another, matrix-style.
1 Actually just me. I haven't yet met anyone else who suffers from mono-character syndrome here. Presumably, if they exist they're probably smart enough to just play in one thread at a time.
bee tee dubs: I'm really just asking because I started my one character, without thinking at all, in a second thread when I was a few days old here and didn't really know any of the unwritten rules every community has. Basically this topic is just my un-subtle way of learning them.
This is meant to speak for those of us1 who don't have the time, creative ability or technical skill to create a new character every time we would like to join a new rp thread. Two questions: What's your opinion on it (does it make the person seem like they don't care about your thread, is lazy, not committed enough, not serious enough about rp in general), and also, is it cheating? Do you think it is impossible to keep a character's continuity consistent when they are active in multiple stories at once? How should the player of a "multiverse" character treat death, permanent injuries and relationships? What about their memories? If a character learns a new skill in one thread, surely it would be cheating for them to suddenly learn that skill in another, matrix-style.
1 Actually just me. I haven't yet met anyone else who suffers from mono-character syndrome here. Presumably, if they exist they're probably smart enough to just play in one thread at a time.
bee tee dubs: I'm really just asking because I started my one character, without thinking at all, in a second thread when I was a few days old here and didn't really know any of the unwritten rules every community has. Basically this topic is just my un-subtle way of learning them.
Ugh, yes, this is exactly how I am. I really don't see anything wrong with it as long as you stick within the rules of the rp. I honestly don't have a problem with it at all. Though, I usually get rejected for a lot of rps for it. It pisses me off when people say "just make a new character" about it, because making a good, developed, ORIGINAL character takes some people a while to make. Granted, I don't really have time to sit down and make up a new backstory for Stell everytime I use her for a different RP.
Them again, as a non serious, freeform rper, I usually think people just need to chill out about stuff like this. After all, it is YOUR Character, so no one should be able to tell you where you can and can't use them, right?
Meedleboot wrote:
Ugh, yes, this is exactly how I am. I really don't see anything wrong with it as long as you stick within the rules of the rp. I honestly don't have a problem with it at all. Though, I usually get rejected for a lot of rps for it. It pisses me off when people say "just make a new character" about it, because making a good, developed, ORIGINAL character takes some people a while to make. Granted, I don't really have time to sit down and make up a new backstory for Stell everytime I use her for a different RP.
Bolding a specific part of your post because this happened to me once with a group. Long story short, I had to follow their canon and make a new character that fit very specifically into it because I couldn't use one of my own for a while (eventually they let me use my own, but I still had to alter him a bit and it just didn't work out in the end; couldn't make a new character I could stick with and altering others to fit into what THEY needed for plot just didn't work-- decided it wasn't worth it, because I was frustrating some folks, and left).
I'm willing to give SOME lei wey to having to alter a character, but after a while I get frustrated with continual efforts and give up. I have lots of characters who are adaptions of each other, usually to fit different canons (that's how I ended up with my two Laurens, actually). If you don't mix up canons horrendously, I'd say go for altering a pre-existing character. I do it!
Meedleboot wrote:
Them again, as a non serious, freeform rper, I usually think people just need to chill out about stuff like this. After all, it is YOUR Character, so no one should be able to tell you where you can and can't use them, right?
Weelll yes & no. Now, this is from speaking from someone who helps run a strict rp guild on Furcadia, so my "no" stems from the fact that we want your characters to fit into our setting's time period. My "Yes" stems from earlier comments of altering a character.
....
That is my jumbled two cents. This topic is more convoluted for me than I first thought! D8
Yeaaaah, I try not to get mixed up with serious rpers. Not my my cup of tea. I don't have time to make characters for 'em, and I really don't understand them, I suppose. Guess I just need to talk one on one with a serious rper sometime to get into their heads a little.
... Maybe sometime. They kinda scare me, to be honest. :C
... Maybe sometime. They kinda scare me, to be honest. :C
I constantly have several characters in several different RPs at once. My 'secret' I guess is that I have a generic history; the backstory of the character before they were involved in any RP. Then whatever RP I get them in, that makes their history and I keep that history separate; I don't write it in the website.
I hope that makes sense. It's hard to explain xD
But I have characters, some that are really neutral, with no backstory, that I just toss anywhere, in any timezone. xD
As for the learning a new move, I'd keep that move to only the RP that he/she learned it. It's common sense. Like I said, it's making their own history in that RP. Completely different from the other RP.
I hope that makes sense. It's hard to explain xD
But I have characters, some that are really neutral, with no backstory, that I just toss anywhere, in any timezone. xD
As for the learning a new move, I'd keep that move to only the RP that he/she learned it. It's common sense. Like I said, it's making their own history in that RP. Completely different from the other RP.
With my Lord Darth Angelus character, I have always had a rough idea of how and when he would die (which I later made much more solid). So what I did was break down his life into different time periods. For example:
Between 0-20 years old, he was a Jedi in truing on the planet Delius.
20-22 he had turned to the Darkside and was doing missions for the Empire.
23-27 after uncovering a big conspiracy, he went into the Unknown Regions.
Since this is a Star Wars character I have that timeline to stick to as well. So what I do when roleplaying him is look at when it takes place in Star Wars history and what is he doing around that time. If it's something that isn't going to work, I would then look at some of the support characters I have created, maybe one of them would be available to take part.
And with The Old Republic coming out sometime this year, it is set 3500 years before my character is born but at one point he gains access to the knowledge of an ancient Sith Lord. So while I can't roleplay my character directly in the game, that Sith Lord is an option.
Between 0-20 years old, he was a Jedi in truing on the planet Delius.
20-22 he had turned to the Darkside and was doing missions for the Empire.
23-27 after uncovering a big conspiracy, he went into the Unknown Regions.
Since this is a Star Wars character I have that timeline to stick to as well. So what I do when roleplaying him is look at when it takes place in Star Wars history and what is he doing around that time. If it's something that isn't going to work, I would then look at some of the support characters I have created, maybe one of them would be available to take part.
And with The Old Republic coming out sometime this year, it is set 3500 years before my character is born but at one point he gains access to the knowledge of an ancient Sith Lord. So while I can't roleplay my character directly in the game, that Sith Lord is an option.
CelestinaGrey wrote:
I constantly have several characters in several different RPs at once. My 'secret' I guess is that I have a generic history; the backstory of the character before they were involved in any RP. Then whatever RP I get them in, that makes their history and I keep that history separate; I don't write it in the website.
I hope that makes sense. It's hard to explain xD
But I have characters, some that are really neutral, with no backstory, that I just toss anywhere, in any timezone. xD
As for the learning a new move, I'd keep that move to only the RP that he/she learned it. It's common sense. Like I said, it's making their own history in that RP. Completely different from the other RP.
I hope that makes sense. It's hard to explain xD
But I have characters, some that are really neutral, with no backstory, that I just toss anywhere, in any timezone. xD
As for the learning a new move, I'd keep that move to only the RP that he/she learned it. It's common sense. Like I said, it's making their own history in that RP. Completely different from the other RP.
I agree with this. It's pretty much what I do too.
I find it's ridiculous for those who demand you make a new character for every rp. I mean if your character can fit into any kind, why make new ones constantly? If you're creative enough to make them fit in anything, it's more creative then pumping out constant characters that may never be used again after that roleplay.
I'm fond of recycling characters from setting to setting, too. Sometimes I replay characters in different settings because I'm just not ready to stop playing a character, and the RP they were involved in closed or otherwise stopped. Sometimes I like a core concept too much, and tweak things about the character until they 'fit' into whatever place I'm shuffling them off to. Other times I like to think about 'what if' scenarios - what if some event happened differently in a character's life, and it brought major repercussions with it? And so on and so forth.
Obviously, I don't play much with people that insist that there's only ever allowed to be one single version of a character.
Obviously, I don't play much with people that insist that there's only ever allowed to be one single version of a character.
Honestly I think anyone can make any character fit into a certain situation without having to alter them too much (or even at all.)
For example, Lunyka's biggest fear is snow, so if the RP took place in an artic wasteland, sure it may not be the best idea to use her, but she can easily react as to how much she hates the artic wasteland and would like to move somewhere warmer someday so if anything her fear would be played down to just a thing of hate.
My characters have kinda specific backstories, but, if you think about it, their backstory shouldn't really affect how they would fit into a RP because it is literally just their past.
Thats my whole view on it all.
For example, Lunyka's biggest fear is snow, so if the RP took place in an artic wasteland, sure it may not be the best idea to use her, but she can easily react as to how much she hates the artic wasteland and would like to move somewhere warmer someday so if anything her fear would be played down to just a thing of hate.
My characters have kinda specific backstories, but, if you think about it, their backstory shouldn't really affect how they would fit into a RP because it is literally just their past.
Thats my whole view on it all.
Kat-Kat wrote:
My characters have kinda specific backstories, but, if you think about it, their backstory shouldn't really affect how they would fit into a RP because it is literally just their past.
Thats my whole view on it all.
Thats my whole view on it all.
Weelll you've got to be mindful of your backstories sometimes, especially if you don't want to face IC consequences with them.
The classic example I'll use and have been stuck with is someone with futuristic elements mentioning how they got them/showing them in a medieval setting. Only two of my medieval-inclined characters aren't going to presume you crazy for babbling on about your sci-fi backstory, and that is because they've had some exposure to it. They're wise enough not to talk about it in certain companies.
But if my other characters start to presume you batty for talking about how you gained robotic parts or can manipulate plasma, or they make incorrect assumptions about it that seem logical to them, don't take it personally. They're reacting accordingly to this mix of settings you keep making.
Now, am I saying you should totally keep out one setting from another? No. As stated, two of my characters HAVE been exposed to this and it is kept canon to them. However if you aren't mindful of your IC audience and tailor to them with due care, then you've got to be ready to face the reactions of said IC audience.
<Am I derailing this topic? I'm sorry, if so-- I didn't mean to.>
I have absolutely no problem with re-using characters. I have a massive cast of characters, but several of them have seen multiple uses, sometimes at the same time- I once was using Scars in six roleplays at once. I've never tried to add Scars to a roleplay that doesn't allow for short, dark-skinned, redheaded elves, so I've never had the problem of him not fitting the setting. As to backstory, all my characters have a default backstory that I reset them to when they join a new roleplay.
Lex's default background is the younger brother of a drug addict, mother died when he was young, father left when he was slightly older but still young, insert roleplay-specific elements, he grows up to become a bartender. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single setting in which there are neither drug addicts nor bartenders, so Lex's background doesn't need to be modified as much as fleshed out.
As long as you feel you're capable of keeping them separate and not losing interest in any of your roleplays, I see no problem at all with using the same character.
Lex's default background is the younger brother of a drug addict, mother died when he was young, father left when he was slightly older but still young, insert roleplay-specific elements, he grows up to become a bartender. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single setting in which there are neither drug addicts nor bartenders, so Lex's background doesn't need to be modified as much as fleshed out.
As long as you feel you're capable of keeping them separate and not losing interest in any of your roleplays, I see no problem at all with using the same character.
Thanks for the massive amount of feedback dudes and ladies, it's been super helpful
I think in the future I'll just go for maximum transparency and let the GM know about any multi-versing I'm doing when I first request to join
I think in the future I'll just go for maximum transparency and let the GM know about any multi-versing I'm doing when I first request to join
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