General RP Chat #52: *A flash of light did nothing*

Lore Role-playing
487

Having a new Dwarf makes me very happy that I got that polar bear mount back in WotLK.

488

Third evening shift in a row. Woo. I’ll be glad to have tomorrow off so I can work on my thesis, actually play this bloody game or have a beer. Or all three.

1 Like
489

Me and my fiancée are getting rabbits tomorrow! :3

1 Like
490

Oh, I love rabbits! But they can’t quite match veal in terms of tenderness ^^

491

Nice! I’ve been wanting to get a cat but my girlfriend and I are currently too busy to properly care for one. I’m sure a cat will fit into our lives once I’ve finished my thesis though.

492

:neutral_face:

Welp that’s grim

493

I was gonna get a cat once but the Mrs hates cats.

494

Not really criticism, but something to note. I want to know more about Rorick. In forum games, don’t be afraid to include settings if you want which will character, like Astrophel in the wine shop. It’s a good feeling when other characters respond to the setting, and example of “bouncing back and forth” which is enjoyable in RP. Also props, is your idly fixing something? Tending to something? Gives us more character insight and ultimately more reason to respond.

Feel free to add or correct. :slightly_smiling_face:

EDIT:
I also forgot, as nice as the tip is, add such detail can take time, which we’re not all which in, I know. But you can include tidbits ! :smiley:

1 Like
495

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve been kind of reluctant to include a setting because it feels like I’d be imposing my setting on the other characters (i.e. why would another character find themselves in the wine shop to begin with?). I’ll try it out for sure though.

I feel like the part where my characters really shine are the interviews specifically because I can really go into their background. I’m generally confident with my roleplaying ability but always happy to learn. Forum RP might be where I’m least confident possibly.

@edit: It’s not that I mind taking time for building a nice setting. With a (possibly impossible to decipher) accent that’s a different question though.

496

Of course, the wine shop idea was just an example. :slightly_smiling_face:
For a more general place, a faction neutral inn is usually good. But then describe what to smell and see? Time of day and such. Why are they there? Just for a date? Just back from quest. You see what i am saying! :grin:

1 Like
497

I do! Thanks a lot my dude! I’ll definitely expand on what my characters do and say and which setting that happens in.

498

Hello, I would like to introduce you my latest character I want to roleplay with. Yes, his name is same as my DH but I hope that it won’t be too much of a problem.
If you will find something that you think is bad in my character background, feel free to point it out. :wink:

So
 Shalím was born in an ordinary Sin’dorei family. He is the youngest child. His father was a paladin, who died during scourge invasion. He has 3 older brothers and one sister, who became Magistrix.
Shalím was always interested in various poisons and their application. He also excels in stealth tactics. However, he was never good with his daggers. Everytime he trained with his brothers, he somehow got beaten or disarmed. They mocked him and called him “weakling” but in a good friendly way.
ShalĂ­m knows, that he has low chance of winning in a direct combat. He prefers to surprise his enemy, stab him with poisoned daggers and quickly fade away.

Shalím always wanted to get better. He researched better poisons and tried every possible way how to improve his stealth skills. Then he heard about Umbric and his followers studying the void. He joined him and hoped that he can learn something new which would improve his strategy of combat

Well as we all know, ShalĂ­m became a void elf and was rejected from Sindorei society, his own brothers wanted to kill him, because they believed that he is corrupted and beyond saving.
Shalím never accepted his fate. He joined Alleria only to survive. He doesn’t know where he belongs. He is not feeling like a trusted member of the Alliance and he doesn’t want to wage war agains his own Sindorei race.
He prefers peaceful approach. He hates himself for being what he is and he would do almost anything to get rid of his curse and rejoin his family.

499

Woah look at my glorious Dangerbeard! She hit 120 two days ago!

2 Likes
500

When it comes to RP backstories, it’s best to keep things tight by supplying, or implying, reasons why characters have certain aspects. As I have read the backstory, I am left thinking ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ on a lot of topics.

Having characters with the same name is best avoided a sit causes confusion and comes across unimaginative.

How? What moment in his life did this happen?

How did they beat him? Were they just more experienced?

Why and how did he come to this conclusion? Couldn’t he have simply trained more? How did he come across guerrilla tactics?

How? Where did this lead him? I feel there is a lot potential here as it would show how far he went.

This is where you have to some research. What uses would your character have to Umbric’s group?

Again research is needed as it happened the other way around; Umbric’s group was exiled then they became Void Elves. Was the character prepared for this? To go from exiled to mutant? Also, I don’t believe family would go from brother to kill target in a snap. How did this transpire? It can happen, but how?

I imagine this may be a cause for concern. As Void Elves, an uncertain mind is gaping weakness for the Whispers to seep in? This is up to you. Sure, he can be in denial, but he needs conviction in something to survive, I would say.

Why does he prefer a peaceful approach suddenly? If he hates himself, why hasn’t he destroyed himself? Being exiled, one would have had to accept things cannot be the way they were, especially after the transformation.

It’s good to have dots of idea, even better if you can string them together based on lore and credibility.

1 Like
501

I prefer learning parts of a character’s backstory through IC interaction. If it’s just thrown in my face as a novel, I become bored and uninterested.

I don’t need to know that to RP with him.

You can have an as extensive backstory as you like, but make people work for learning it. Make them get to know your character as you get to know theirs.

That’s one of the most interesting parts of RP. Learning about all the different backgrounds and personalities.
Don’t ruin it by shoving it in our face.

502

Sounds to me like he was asking for feedback on his backstory, rather than shoving it into our faces.

2 Likes
503

Yes exactly. And it seems that this time, I got a really well written advice and idea how to improve and where to look.
I don’t yet have all the answers for questions that Teríntha gave me. It changed my view on how to create a backstory.
You must always ask a question why your character did that and how. You need to consider his/her feelings and point of view based on the experience they lived through. Rather than creating a simple biography.

2 Likes
504

Hey, I don’t mind being corrected.
If you got good feedback out of it, good on you!

I was talking more in general about sharing entire backstories.

505

Some consturctive criticism is always good :clinking_glasses:

I for one love to put together lore pieces and like you, I prefer learning the character’s backstory
But in the meantime, I love to read novel-like backstories, especially in the cases of characters I probably never will meet in game and will not have the chance to know him/her^^

By the way Isn’t there a backstory/story vault somewhere on the forum? Or that was on the old site? :thinking:

506

Lots of threads weren’t carried over from the old forum. It could’ve beem lost lost there.

Also, what I noticed is that I very rarely meet anyone in game that I know from the forums. With a few exceptions.