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Are niche characters considered bad?


ChickenOffSky

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18 hours ago, SCANDALOUZ said:

There's a very thin line between A) Niche, Unique, Creative, Different & ETC and B) Snowflake, Cringe, Comic-Relief, Not-Serious, Bad, Caricature & ETC.


In your case, the Karen-character in questioning seems to fall into the B) category, even if your intent was to be in the A) one.
Why? It's indeed stereotypical and a comic-relief more-so than anything else. It's good to see such things as NPCs, but not as characters.
It may be unique, but it's still depth lacking. You mention a background, okay, but backgrounds are bullshit and they are the least important part in character creation. Where's her personality beyond being a Karen? Where's any depth, motivations, aspirations, or any hope for a character arc (or character development), or "telling a good story" with/about said character if you will?

It's a fun one off, but it's indeed not a character I'd label good.

TLDR: Roleplaying is about storytelling (or telling a story). You know, writing/reading a book/novel.
Can't write a book solely based around a stereotypical Karen. Not a good one, at least.

Karen's have lives, too... 

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20 hours ago, DLimit said:

Karen's have lives, too... 

On 1/16/2021 at 2:39 PM, Keane said:

Because of how Rockstar made ped skins, they often tend to exaggerate stereotypes which adds to the effect

It's more than that actually: Not only do the peds typically display stereotypes, they limit these stereotypes to specific situations/locations (those where you encounter them in the vanilla game).

 

Our ingame environment is much more flexible than the sp storymode, however- using a custom skin andvarious outfits for instance allows Karen to visit any business, blend in with the other visitors and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike unexpectedly (when a sales agent makes a mistake, for instance).

 

The same goes for other skins- the bodybuilder can't take on a shirt when he should wear one, the mobster has to stick to his suit, the Rockford-Lady mid-term fails at being a fashionista when only having access to a single set of clothes, and the prostitute is always a prostitute, even if she's not in the mood ic and trying to do something else.

 

More important and restrictive than other players' reception is the limitations this imposes on the enacting player and their portrayal of the character.

As mentioned using a ped-skin does not only display your character as vidual stereotypes (a custom skin can do that just fine too!), but moreso as a stereotype in a specific situation.

As soon as these conditions are not met, the ped skin becomes invalid, and you have to decide to not rp something for ooc restrictions:

let's just say a prostitute being invited to a high class party where you need a dress or at least something that goes over the butt.

Or alternatively to not just hit on one stereotype, the mob crew going to the sauna and the guy with the ped skin having to stay out because he can't use a bathrobe for the cool screenshots.

 

That doesn't mean you can't use a ped-skin, however if you want a flexible and versatile character and don't intend to use the overweight-effect*, you're always better off with a custom skin, as it allows you to better adapt to situations to ->find your character's niche in the world.

 

*Ped-skins displaying overweight visually can generally be counted as enriching the visual aspect of the game because everyone else has the freaking same bodyshape

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What I’d say is that some people (me included) see these characters on some occasions and they never tend to last. I think noche characters would be great and I’ve actually had the chance to RP with a few but I was very selective when it came to choosing them because sometimes you’re able to see whether or not that character has a strong background in the server for it to be like that. And RPing a Karen I suppose would come good if she had a house a job and perhaps one teenage boy that would make the character seem more stable. Rather than just a woman who complains a lot to anyone she meets. But that’s just me I rather get involved with people that have been here for a good time and have some background within the server.

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