So are you saying that someone with about ten ‘titles’ crammed in and ‘first glances’ that are each 3 paragraphs long are ‘good’ and have a point?
Again, if the person is writing a TRP for their own enjoyment? Sure, fire away, it’s not skin off my nose.
But, if they are legitimately trying to make a TRP that is useful for others engaging in RP, I would suggest that trying to make it ‘reader friendly’ is perhaps a useful end goal?
Depending on how well-written they are? I don’t like people with dozens of titles, but hey, perhaps I’m a bad RPer because some of my first glances have a longer text than two sentences.
While I commend the effort to try and dissuade edgelords and title-collectors, I gotta disagree with regards to prose: wanting to succinctly depict your character with words does not a promiscuous ERP-searcher make.
I never said it did?
That said, Purple Prose is definitely a case of “Less is more”…
please no more ‘my character sounds like Famous Actor or Videogame Character’ in profiles. it ruins my immersion.
imagine reading Game of Thrones and midway through a passage getting a reference to the Wendy’s restaurant chain or Harry Potter. it’d pull you right out of it.
I said right at the beginning in an opening paragraph somewhere that it’s down to personal taste. I myself have a few profiles where I’ve got a voice claim or a theme song. I’m more pointing out that they’re unnecessary fluff and not essential to the creation of a profile. This is a list of ‘probably should or shouldn’t’, I’m not enforcing my opinion on anyone. <3 <3
I personally think people will be more likely to look at your profile if it adheres to some kind of standard, that’s all.
I should have been more clear but this is aimed at those over the top, extremely sexualised descriptions you will find in the profiles of many a Stormwindian.
A lot of it is inherently designed to pull you in towards depraved ends. I’m guilty of excessive prose in writing, typically, but I will not have someone suffer through a profile full of it to get an idea of what my character is like.
In all honesty, I would love to be able to post examples of what I’m talking about but it would plainly go against the ToC even if I believe, I blotted names out/etc.
Wasn’t talking to you …
Ah! This I can agree with!
What’s the difference between “Lordaeronian”, “Westfallian” and “Frostwolf”, “Shadowmoon” “Bleeding Hollow” and why the second is praised upon and not the first ? ![:thinking:](https://d1bg94bbsh66ji.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/thinking.png?v=6" ":thinking:")
I can assure you that people would be just as annoyed if you called your Orc “Frostwolfian” or “Shadowmoonian”. The -ian added to the words is what people dislike.
I’d find it weird to call myself a France man. Hence I use an adjective form.
Would do the same with any other country, make an adjective that “fits”. Like Kul Tiran.
Kinda puzzled as to why it’s frowned upon despite being a neologism.
Lordaeronian is a canon denonym.
It sounds, quite frankly, ludicrous.
I realise I’m being slightly unfair here. I don’t think it’s too bad when it’s applied to a kingdom, perhaps, but when you literally refer to yourself as a ‘Goldshirian’ or ‘Westfallian’, it just sounds absolutely silly.
I’m sure you wouldn’t refer to yourself as a Frenchian or a Franceian.
I feel like guides like these are (mostly) always well-meaning; nonetheless I also get the impression that they’re preaching to the choir, and that the target audience rarely, if ever, actually looks at these things.
It’s always the best when some of them forget to update their TRP’s in public and they got something like:
Health: 2/15
Like lmao are you about to collapse & die or what?
This is part to consider too, although some of the biggest names on AD also have laughably bad profiles while they attempt to mock the abilities of other roleplayers.
As with everything, inhaling ones own effusions too much tends to make one feel high and mighty when one actually looks embarrassing.
I never understood this myself.
While I am guilty of having a voice ref on my TRPs, I don’t actually RP yet and will actually clean up my TRP a lot if I were to finally do it.
I usually use voices that exist in WoW, like for example, my warrior has ‘‘Sorka’’ from Iron Maidens, and this toon has ‘‘Rixxa Fluxflame’’ from the MOTHERLODE!!!
I remember people pretending to be Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher Series, when TW3 came out…
As much as I can agree with a lot of the points made I would just like to point out that a RP profile is there for you to customize as you see fit.
I for one have a few First Glances that aren’t exactly glances, like my characters’ personality, while others include her weaponry, scars, etc, a list of things that could probably not be considered a glance but at the same time, it can. Just because it’s a paragraph, doesn’t mean its not a glance. It’s just how I choose to set up my profile.
These things are also suggested methods and not something set in stone. A person is free to customize his or her profile according to how they see fit, that’s the point of creativity isn’t it? I’m not saying go and write a full history in your TRP, but at least not limit yourself to single line sentences just because it says ‘glance or a short description.’ A glance implies the action in noticing a detail by the character, not how long it takes for you as the player to read the little bit of information that though is probably a paragraph in that little tab is probably not more than 10-20 words in length if you were to copy pasta and put it into word. Really. xD
While I try my best to tweak and summarize accordingly, there are some things I need in this profile for myself to remember (What is in her first aid kit so that I don’t turn the bag into Hermione’s magical purse) more so than anyone else needs to see. I don’t intend on having a window open with what I do and don’t have somewhere to tab in and out of when I can just pop it into an easily accessible in-game addon. ![:stuck_out_tongue:](https://d1bg94bbsh66ji.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/stuck_out_tongue.png?v=6" ":stuck_out_tongue:")
In a lot of ways, I’m guilty of doing these things, but at the same time, if you’re not in the mood to read my profile, then that shouldn’t limit you to wanting to learn about my character through RP, it’s an optional benefit, not a requirement, and I always look forward to meeting new peeps IC even if I’m a little shy to approach or start. I don’t encourage that everyone should write full length novels, but heck, sometimes a little more than a morsel is nice to read when you’re bored and waiting for that next event or dungeon.
EDIT: OOOOOOF That was long. Ehm.
TL:DR - I agree with some points made, I’m guilty of some too! I personally think its up to me how I set up my profile, regardless. RP with me, I’m a nice person. I like chocolate milk. <3
My goggles apperently also functions as a scouter.
I agree with a lot of what’s in the OP and would like to add:
Please press the enter key occasionally, bonus points if the paragraphs and line breaks make some sort of sense.
Formatting your text at least a little is important if you want more people to read your description.
I totally agree and can’t understand why you want someone to think about a random actor when they see your character… IMO it’s way much better to describe the voice instead with words, low, high, raspy, growling, smooth, etc…