Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeajea" data-source="post: 2558657" data-attributes="member: 37238">The general vibe of what people have to say here is pretty similar, bar some differences over the details. So here's how I deal with things:Jea is a pretty damned powerful character, by the very nature of what he is. He was the first character I made, and he's the one I'm most attached to. He's also the most complete and in-depth character, with a character history so detailed that I once tried to write it all out as a story, and failed for the work it would've taken. But point is this, I don't want him dying. He has done so several times, and because he's high powered and has friends in the right places, he tends to get brought back. This is an option, to loose a fight and come back later for revenge. Loosing doesn't have to mean dying, either - to be subdued is fine. This is particularly appropriate for Good vs. Evil when Good wins - Good might take pity on Evil, and try to talk Evil out of their ways when Evil has been subdued. Evil can either genuinely have second thoughts, or merely play along with it. Or if Evil wins, maybe Evil has a reason to want Good alive? Maybe Evil places a spell on Good, or somehow uses Good for Evil's own purposes? There are many possibilities, and it's just less interesting roleplay to walk in to a fight, blast your enemy or be blasted by your enemy, consequently win or loose, and that be that. A character gone, either yours or the other person's.Besides, because of the nature of this site, it's all about developing your characters, roleplaying through talking and just having a good time. These three focuses mean that fights should be uncommon, and heavily steeped in story. Too often I see fights that are just done for little reason other than two bored players. (Or in some cases, one VERY bored player).So, I would rather think an entirely different tack is required to make any progress. We more experienced players all, I think, know the virtue of Roleplay over Hacking and Slashing, so we should be aiming to RP as much as we can with the newer players. Let's make them take their energy away from generating one Uber character after another, and get them to (at least at first) focus on one character, that character's history, personality, appearance and style or roleplay.  When I see a newbie on site, unless they're being actually rude to me or I'm in the middle of something that's very absorbing / important, I'll go to the newbie and go over things - from how to use iChat to how to do good roleplaying. I'm sure I've appeared arrogant at times, it's an unfortunate habit of mine to make myself sound superior, but I hope that (and I think I have succeeded if I look around at the number of people who're still  here and doing well who I - at least in part - taught to RP) I've succeeded in both entertaining and educating during my time here.I know it's not easy, though, and I don't expect everyone to have the patience to teach newbies. All I can say is, the number of newbies that I've taught who have blossomed into very good RPers who's names are now big in this site are beyond my remembering. And now it's just really nice to think that I've helped in part to keep this community alive, and so the (sometimes) difficult beginnings and the people who later decide they don't like RP really and quit... they're worth it.As a final note, I was a newbie once too. I could credit many people with helping to form my characters and my storylines, many of whome have now left this site. It's always a little painful to loose a friend who's added something valuable to your character. To site an example, Nich was the inspiration that made me start working on Jeajea's past properly. He's the reason Jea was once a Vampire, and this in turn sparked an entire chapter about Fleeting Shadow, Jea's old mentor who removed the curse of the Vampire before Jea took first blood. It's things like that, which don't even need to come out in RP often, if ever, that are really what give a character depth and interest. You can tell, I think, when a person has no past for a character. They're essentially RPing themselves as a God(ess), and while that's all well and dandy, far more fun is to have a character who has their own life outside of yours. As long as the distinction between real life and roleplay remains intact, a lot of fun is to be had at times.~Jea's player (What? You actually *read* my ramblings?)</blockquote>

Verification