Character uniqueness

[Halloween]

 

Before I begin, I apologise if I come across as ranting, but I have witnessed this issue too frequently to ignore it.
 

Recently, I've encountered too many characters with ludicrous advantages or disadvantages that make them believe they are... special. I observed a person speaking through a text-to-speech phone working behind the counter of a juice shop. I have seen characters with facepaint and an edgy identity to try and "differ" themselves from others. I also saw a screenshot of someone rping a person who stutters as the head of communications. That's like saying if a blind person can suddenly become a busdriver. With that in mind, I would want to point out that you can be unique by simply being basic; having bizarre personas, powers, or impairments does not make a character unique.

 

Your character is unique if you offer him or her a personality with weaknesses and perhaps certain irritants and hobbies. This entire trend of having unusual ideas must halt; it's lovely, but it doesn't function that way.

 

And you can likely add a statement such as, "But Naha, why not just RPQM them?" Well, I can't RPQM everyone, especially when this is a recurring issue. If anything, RPQM staff should keep a look out for anything out of the ordinary (I am not saying they are not).

 

 

By that, I want your thoughts on it, lets keep it civil in here folks.

[Tzula]

As it stands, I do think RPQM is doing great work, though understaffed, they do their best. The issue though is that we often have so many people to RPQM which I think, at it's crux, it's a community issue. Something I've said on another thread is that people don't know what they are doing is RPQM worthy and those that should get RPQM'd are on the backburner due to the aforementioned issues. 

[Gallagher]

its common for newer roleplayers to try and go against the grain with the belief that for a character to be good, they need to be unusual or unique

its a bit like in fantasy writing where the main character always has some chosen one storyline and inherent ability that makes them different

it doesn't really fit the nature of our server. you aren't meant to feel like the main character, but just one life amongt many. thats why when ur shit character is CK'd, the server's story continues with or without you

ive used this example before, but Tony Soprano and Walter White (two well-written characters that everyone will know) are relatively normal blokes. tony soprano wouldnt be better if he was a cannibal. walter white wouldn't be better if he had a lisp and dressed up like a woman. it is in their relatability that the strength of their character and their writing becomes apparent.

we can relate to the feeling of monontony that walter suffers from being so ordinary. wanting to do something extreme and exciting. if you've worked a 9-5 (most of u probably havnet) then u will relate to that feeling of worrying that life is just passing you by and you could have made more of yourself. we can relate to the toxic masculinty that plagues Tony Soprano, because if you're a man, you've been in a situation where you were unable to open up and it festers inside of u.

 

these are just two common examples but i hope it helps you understand that to connect to a character and a story, there needs to be something u can relate to. some of these gtaw chracters are simply unrelatable in their outlandishness and their extremities mean that they do not fit into the story of the server unless forced in, roughly, which leaves other players feeling a bit weird about roleplaying with them.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Gallagher

[Obi Wan]

People can make any character without needing to write a  backstory and that trust is something that is put into the players to make realistic characters. I do not see any particular problem with being concerned with what every single person is roleplaying on the server as long as these characters are within the rules about character creation and follow the rules then let them do as they want.

[Gallagher]

1 minute ago, IHaveTheHighGround said:

People can make any character without needing to write a  backstory and that trust is something that is put into the players to make realistic characters. I do not see any particular problem with being concerned with what every single person is roleplaying on the server as long as these characters are within the rules about character creation and follow the rules then let them do as they want.

 

yeah but im selfish and i want to play in my little grimy HBO LA drama criminal fantasy and it takes me out of it when i see some random British bitch walking around, communicating solely through the usage of a Nintendo DS

[Snoof]

I think it's a little condescending to suggest it's only something new, inexperienced or 'bad' roleplayers do tbh.

 

I don't think having a 'thing' is inherently bad, it's just a matter of picking a 'thing' that isn't horrendously obnoxious to everyone who has to interact with it and doesn't break the world. The stuttering Head of Communications example just sounds funny to me. There's nothing unrealistic about a person with a stutter applying for that position. Maybe instead of questioning the validity of it you'd be better off questioning why somebody actually gave them that job? Maybe there's a story behind it you weren't privy to. The juice person was probably just mute; Mutes have jobs. Facepaint guy was probably some sort of redditor. It's easy to dismiss somebody's character as a gimmick if you only interact with them once and then turn your nose up at them.

 

In my experience, if somebody's portrayal of their 'thing' having character is poor and obtrusive, the problem more often than not is them more so than the character concept.

I do agree that bad actors should be removed, but telling the admins to just get rid of them is about as helpful as telling the police to just get rid of crime.

[Engelbert]

Being unique for the sake of being unique is not quite IT.

I witnessed few myself with unique touch on wrong places regarding their portrayal.

I admit, that my characters sometimes spin out of being average, but I am trying not to be unique.

Cause being unique doesn't necessarily mean you have to stand out.

[eTaylor]

I just dismiss them as your typical Los Angelenos freaks. These people aren’t any weirder than the “special” people you find on the streets of that metropolitan hell hole. The complexity of the psychology behind those characters is best ignored for your own sanity and roleplay.

[Prism]

12 hours ago, Gallagher said:

 

yeah but im selfish and i want to play in my little grimy HBO LA drama criminal fantasy and it takes me out of it when i see some random British bitch walking around, communicating solely through the usage of a Nintendo DS

 

[Engelbert]

29 minutes ago, eTaylor said:

I just dismiss them as your typical Los Angelenos freaks. These people aren’t any weirder than the “special” people you find on the streets of that metropolitan hell hole. The complexity of the psychology behind those characters is best ignored for your own sanity and roleplay.

Funny thing is, that complex psychology behind a character is usually well hidden, because only closest relatives, partners or best friends are allowed to look behind the curtain. So to majority of players it doesn't exist and only serves a notebook of sorts for character to act and think, as they do based on what's written in there.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Engelbert