This little quip made me laugh, no offense I don't think it's weird for another person to find something 'okay' while you find it 'annoying', different strokes for different folks, yes? I said it's overused because it's generally in majority of the rp's that I've seen so far.

There's other things that could be done to help players role play a character with more depth, I put in habits because it's the easiest way to do it requiring such a small effort.

I normally create a profile and follow it rather than evolving my character personality through play. There's a few advantages to this approach:

a) Limitations of personality - When you create a character personality before playing, taking note on what your character will/won't do adds depth as well. If you state that your character is angry and brooding, he wouldn't be introducing his name when meeting new people yes? (a big contradiction when I was reading profiles and role play posts that's pretty common) Just as we won't say or do something, so does our characters.

b) A roadmap of behaviour - The opposite as above, focuses on what your character might normally say or do in certain situations. If you say that your character speaks in riddles, then make it a point to come up with one every time (even a lame one) it has to be consistent to be believable.

c) History - Use the biography that you've written for your character to fuel your role play. Sometimes flashback to a childhood when seeing someone play fireworks, or meeting someone from your hometown in an off chance encounter in the market, etc. It's a strong story hook that will root your character further into the game world.

Above all make sure you create a character that you CAN play. If you write that your character has a temper in your profile but keeps laughing and agreeing with everyone in the game, that's when characters become no more than caricatures, as Aewyn had put it earlier.

Oh and Wandering Ape's input on speech patterns was awesome!

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