Why do I never execute my characters correctly?

[KingstonThaIII]

Ok I don't know if I should be posting this on here but here goes. It seems that for a lot of my characters I have good concepts for them but when I actually make them I suddenly don't even know what to do with them. I don't know if I'm just not doing something right or I'm just desperate for roleplay. Any advice that can be given to me?

[Valkyria]

That heavily varies.

What are you trying to portray?

What happens when you come across an obstacle?

What happens when you come across a fork in the road?

We're not given anything to really work with, but what helps you feel immersed when you play the character?

 

There's really a ton of variables, but one piece of advice that I can give you regardless of context is: Stick through hardships. It might not be fun initially, but the followup from it might be making the whole thing more than worth it.

[K3V]

If you're looking for roleplay and seem lost in the mix, have a look through the factions section or the character development threads for inspiration. Perhaps try joining a faction, thats one of the best ways to find substantial roleplay. Then just go with what the roleplay environment throws at you.

[KingstonThaIII]

Just now, Valkyria said:

That heavily varies.

What are you trying to portray?

What happens when you come across an obstacle?

What happens when you come across a fork in the road?

We're not given anything to really work with, but what helps you feel immersed when you play the character?

 

There's really a ton of variables, but one piece of advice that I can give you regardless of context is: Stick through hardships. It might not be fun initially, but the followup from it might be making the whole thing more than worth it.

Let's put out an example:

I have an Israeli girl that recently arrived in Los Santos but she doesn't really know English which I would say is the biggest obstacle she has right now. She's getting a little better each day but god knows how long it would take her to be fluent in English.

Anyways a lot of times when my character runs into an obstacle sometimes I take the easy way out meaning that I try to weasel my way out of the roleplay situation ASAP and sometimes I try to get more involved in the roleplay situation. As a guy who sometimes fail to read social cues IRL the way my character reacts to situation depends on the way the situation is being presented as.

Usually I feel immersed with my character when they interact with people that are just like them and when they are in a situation that allows for them to develop their personality. It can be a positive or negative experience. That experience can heavily influence how I will have my character react to certain stuff later on in the future.

[K3V]

While the above is a very specific experience and example its not something that cant be overcome, there is a VERY big israeli population in certain areas of Los Santos, that would be an in straight away given that you speak hebrew. As for the way you react to situations just take each as they come, don't think to much about it, go with the flow.

[.Pluto.]

Depends on what are you trying to portray, and what do you actually like to roleplay. LEO? Join PD/SD, medics? Join Pillbox or FD, illegal? There's 40+ illegal factions. Etc. etc., 90% of server's roleplay is around the factions, pick one for yourself, and you'll enjoy playing the game.

[Koko]

9 hours ago, KingstonThaIII said:

Ok I don't know if I should be posting this on here but here goes. It seems that for a lot of my characters I have good concepts for them but when I actually make them I suddenly don't even know what to do with them. I don't know if I'm just not doing something right or I'm just desperate for roleplay. Any advice that can be given to me?

Starting a new character can be really challenging, and people go about it in different ways. Some like to create a whole backstory, personality, and really design and sculpt every aspect. I find that that doesn't work for me because I'm reactive to the world around me, and I may find that I lead my character to naturally react in an unexpected way which I incorporate into their personality later. There's nothing that will make me abandon a character more quickly than pushing a concept really hard and then realizing that I just don't want to play that right now or that the character feels different.

 

The way I create a character is I have a very bare-bones idea of what I would like to play (so for my current character, I knew I wanted to portray a Jamaican legal-leaning civilian in South Central that struggled with hood issues), but never go too in-depth. Whenever I tackle a new character my first few days/weeks are spent exploring and interacting with strangers, getting involved in as many things as would make sense with what I have so far, and see what character develops. Sometimes it's straightforward, sometimes it surprises you, but it always helps that it goes with the flow of actual in-game happenings instead of stuff you said that happened to your character in some past you made up.

[Adv]

10 hours ago, KingstonThaIII said:

Ok I don't know if I should be posting this on here but here goes. It seems that for a lot of my characters I have good concepts for them but when I actually make them I suddenly don't even know what to do with them. I don't know if I'm just not doing something right or I'm just desperate for roleplay. Any advice that can be given to me?

 

Hey man, I get you - and the hardest part a lot of the time, especially for me, is finding a way to relate and uncover the story behind the character, trying to make each a unique experience.

 

What i can say is that over the course of my time in roleplay as a whole, its easy to evolve and find new concepts moulding yourselves around the people that are around you. Don't set too much in stone and allow your story to progress and unfold, your traits etc as you develop your character.

 

I am great at planning characters out - or what i'd like from them but it very much changes when I start roleplaying them in the new scenario - as it should.

 

10 hours ago, KingstonThaIII said:

Anyways a lot of times when my character runs into an obstacle sometimes I take the easy way out meaning that I try to weasel my way out of the roleplay situation ASAP and sometimes I try to get more involved in the roleplay situation. As a guy who sometimes fail to read social cues IRL the way my character reacts to situation depends on the way the situation is being presented as.

 

I feel this part, too. Sometimes, you wanna be involved - other times, not so much.

 

It's also trying to extend out of your comfort zone where possible. If there's a situation that I have a knee jerk reaction to (where, IRL i'd probably say no) I'd usually use game mechanics like /flipcoin to help me make a decision that will give me a chance of doing something different - and its been challenging and rewarding at times! 

 

It's just about finding a way to balance it out and paving the path for your character. Don't always feel like you need to write a backstory, just let it happen as you develop.

[UTOPIA]

Go with the flow.

[eTaylor]

10 minutes ago, UTOPIA said:

Go with the flow.

This is probably the best advice you could possibly get.