Dion

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

<Snipped quote by Odin>

But it'd be really hypocritical to point out peoples spelling errors, if you ever made one in your life.

@SleepingSilence

You are correct.

Character bios shouldn't have purple prose in it. You're writing something that clearly defines the character. They are not writing a story. If they make it difficult to understand what that character is, they have failed to write a character sheet...

@SleepingSilence

If they make it difficult to understand what that character is, then their prose isn't good, and their IC posts would be unreadable regardless. I'd rather see their proficiency with their prose in the CS, when I can still ward them from my RP, than afterwards, when they're already slathering their prose that was (apparently) so unreadable that I couldn't understand their CS, into my IC.

Makes sense to me.

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As noted in other thread, I am in.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

In my opinion, there are roleplays where a history section is called for; where it's thematically significant and will pertain more to the character and the story as a whole. However, in those that don't really need a history (which are often the majority), I prefer to have more of a lifestyle section, where you list a character's habits, profession, significant traits, etc. Just small details that bring the character to life more than writing a history that will be referenced maybe once IC. If anything, the history can be just that - references towards a character's past escapades within the IC posts, and sometimes historical reasons provided for anything out of the ordinary in one of the other CS fields. If need be, it can always be supplemented with the requirement for a Sample Post, as opposed to what I consider the Marmite of a CS (you either love it or you hate it).

@Grim

There is no reason not to include a history - it's the personality that's highly unneeded. Whether or not you believe a history is irrelevant IC is one thing but it provides good hooks for other peoples' characters to hook into if invited to/if they are good roleplayers that know character interactivity drives a roleplay forwards. History motivates why a character acts a certain why if properly written (which I'll admit mostly isn't the case on RPG, but ideally it does) and substitutes a personality section entirely.

Failure to include some form of history is only acceptable if the character is literally fresh out of the womb. Otherwise your character will resemble something close to a walled off section in the RP - floating on its' own with no connectivity to the roleplaying world around him/her and you might be better off writing a book or making your own solo RP.

@BrokenPromise Fair enough, length can be irrelevant at most times. Essential is subjective I think - imho, history should always be essential to tie a character to the world. I find that saying 'history will be revealed IC' is a thing that poor writers usually do when they can't be arsed to write a history or something. Leaving it completely out is, as described above, also just poor connection to the world around you. Short or long, there should be some kind of idea of what this character has done and gone through to motivate thoughts, actions, etcetera. It forms your area of reference - seems to be a critical part of a good character sheet to me.

EDIT: inb4 'it's in my head and that's what counts' yeah but if it's in your head then you might as well write it down.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

I've found no real correlation between a roleplayer's ability to fill out a bio section and their writing ability. Nor do I see any link between bio length and RP success rates. How effective they are needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis, but it ultimately depends on how the GM chooses to run things.

I don't mind filling out bios, but it's typically not very clear how much or what type of information the GM is looking for. I like to surprise other players, so I usually keep the bios pretty light. But it also depends on how the OOC is written up. Obviously I'm not going to write a 2K word backstory if you're going to describe the world in two paragraphs.

@BrokenPromise

I mean, I find a lot of correlation. Y'know, if your bio is riddled with spelling errors, poor prose, and a disregard for what I wrote in the OOC, then it's probably not much better in the IC.

A light bio doesn't mean it's not well written. I guess that's what it comes down to.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

To be fair, I've had players I've RP'd with for years who are fantastic get caught by the deadline. Sometimes all it takes is not seeing a game until the deadline is nearly up. That subscription button is great, but it also means you may never click the roleplay list links for weeks at a time.

I've also had a few times where I myself loved a game's concept and had a pretty solid idea for a character but I wasn't able to just get any of those ideas on paper and fleshed out, or writers block kicked my ass. I definitely know what it's like on either side of the fence.

@Dervish

Hm, I suppose that the first part of your post is true. But that's more the exception than the rule - and it's more of a matter of GM discretion than anything. I've given people that I know/am friends with a pass if I was convinced they'd fit into the RP. But I wouldn't do that to a stranger, which is ultimately what most GM's will end up dealing with. I generally don't miss deadlines but then I also write CS's fast, and can get a regular sized one up in an hour, maybe two.

I've never had the latter, though. I either love it or hate it - if I love it, I'll be inspired and if I'm not inspired I know I won't last in the RP. But perhaps that's just something I deal with.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

<Snipped quote by Odin>

Also a fair point, although I've only ever had a very small handful of instances where people didn't make the deadline, and that was almost always because they either started their sheet too late, couldn't think of ideas to flesh it out, or life came up.

@Dervish

The only one I can relate to is life coming up, in which case I'd probably ask myself if I wanted to get involved if my life is so hectic that I don't have an hour to kill and a CS to write. Other than that -> if you can't think of ideas, then you're probably not that inspired by the RP, and that's probably a bad sign from the start, and if you started too late, then as a GM I can only assume that to be a reoccurring theme.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Main reason I ask for detailed bios is threefold. First, some ideas people have for their character either don't work for the lore or the setting, or they are otherwise problematic without revision. Second, it helps me understand their inclination to take OOC information into account to make a suitable character for the premise. You can tell when somebody wasn't reading if they're including details that contradict what was outlined or flat out ignores something vital. Third, it helps gauge writing ability. When you are taking on 6-8 characters and there's over a dozen individual applications, it's the smallest details that might give one character a pass over another. I know from personal experience that I almost always get an absurd amount of applications and I even write critiques for each of them, but I cannot as a GM manage too many players without being extremely superficial and unfocused.

Point is, long bios absolutely have a place and aren't pointless. If a game dies prematurely, it's very likely a number of other factors that contributed.

@Dervish

I'd add that fourth; it also helps out weed out those players who aren't capable of writing a larger post/biography in a set amount of time. Writing slowly is one thing, taking a month to write a 6 paragraph biography of your character is another.

» ᴘᴀʀᴀᴅɪsᴏ

I know that Yuria is without internet momentarily but it seems the RP isn't exactly getting traction. CS's should've been finished by now and IC posts should've been made by now.

So, are we still doing this, or are we content throwing in the towel?

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@WTPR unique execution. I'm interested.

Odin's 1x1 Walhalla (18+).