In other news, I am going to put up a little Blurb for yall to help you in your rp life. This is kind of going along with something I wrote on my Aisthesis site, and I was getting on a tangent, so I decided to put it on my blog instead.
MAKING A MILLION CHARACTERS AND TAKING CHARACTER RISKS
A million and one characters: I can already feel the outcry coming my way. "A million characters!? How can I possibly roleplay a million characters!? What would I even do with all of them!? And don't get me started on writing their bios!"
I am being figurative, sort of, not really, when I use the number million. But the point is that more characters = better.
Perusing others' sites, I usually notice that there will be that one member who only rps one character (maybe two). Now, if that member was only on to roleplay once every other week or twice a month, that is understandable. Obviously getting into a lot of roleplay would prove to be a mistake since other members would be stuck with them, or have to make some awkward excuse in-game in order to pull their stuck characters away.
But for the most part, even when school is super hectic, members can get online at least once a week. Even when I was taking 15 college credits in less than 6 months while attending highschool, job searching, and graduating, I was able to get on at least 4 times a week, which was pushing it, admittedly, but I made it work.
So why a million characters? If having one or two is good for the not-on-so-much people, why can't it be good for the active people?
For massive sites like Aisthesis or Desai or Mortalatitis, I always follow one of two rules of thumb. 1: Make as many characters as I want rather than need. 2: Put at least 1 character in every conceivable position available on the site.
Why? This gives me more opportunities to be involved in plots, major or minor, and makes me be more creative with my characters to avoid copies and similarities.
Sometimes, I find that a random side character I made is the one I love the best, rather than the character I initially put more importance on.
Example: I joined a site called We Are Gifted, run by Phoenix. Awesome site (just wound up not being the site for me, so I left later)
My initial main characters based on favoritism were Navi and Regor, who had cool powers and stuff. Then we randomly needed some killers, so I made Callisto (from Rampant Unicorns) and Minstrel.
OMFG.
Minstrel, the random guy I made who was actually supposed to die early in the rp, suddenly became my favorite character, ranking it up there with my few other favorite characters. AND he became my most developed character EVER next to Kieran Draeyva from Were Myths.
I was actually loathe to leave the site simply for that he was there, and I couldn't see him being anywhere else.
But now, I never would have found this character if I had not decided to make a bunch of characters at random to fill in the needed positions.
On to the next half that ties in the first, taking character risks.
The beauty of having random side characters is that this part is easier to do (especially if you don't care about them), but risks need to be taken by the main characters we love as well.
All in the name of character development of course: your own characters and others'.
For those on Aisthesis, I was actually going to kill Eriacu in the name of character development. Everyone else's that is. I was interested to see how it would affect the rest of the St. Cerveaux children, especially Luca, who would be the reason for his death and all.
Only reason he's still alive is because my curiosity at how he would develop from the incident won out over curiosity of Luca's development.
On the same note, let me share with you what I wrote on my character's site concerning my old character Severin from Roanoke.
BLURB, July 4, 2014
I'm so happy! Last night I found a picture that matches Severin from Roanoke to a T.
I know Roanoke died long ago and I never really played the same character anywhere else, but he will always be a favorite of mine.
How did it all come about?
Well, Severin was sent off to kill another character named Alphard (a one armed chick). They fought, and in their battle, she chopped off his arm. Something to remember her by. Forever.
It's not exactly the most memorable scene in and of itself. I've read rps with far worse incidents that ended in limb loss. But what made this one stick out in my mind so much was the fact that we never plotted it out. It just happened. She went out on a limb and cut off his arm.
Usually permanent scenes as such are plotted out. Rpers ask other rpers what is cool with them and the like. The only times I've cut off limbs in rps (or worse) is after I got the other player's permission.
But with Alphard, I just refreshed the page and found that post staring me in the face. No warning. No plotting. Just total surprise and randomness.
It was absolutely perfect. I actually had to take a moment to read it over a few times, trying to make sure I'd read it right. But there it was. Severin had lost an arm. In that moment, we both connected, author and character, responding to this loss with shock, as well as uncertainty and fear for Severin's well being afterwards
I think that is true roleplay beauty right there. Going outside the box and doing things unexpected. Because the way we respond is what will build or break our ability. In real life, we can't plan out everything that happens to us and people around us. Amputees did not voluntarily plot out the loss of their limbs. So long as we are not god modding or powerplaying or something, why shouldn't we go out on a limb and do something unexpected?
So that is the lesson I learned from Severin, and though he only lived for a few months, he taught me something amazing, and I have come to feel closer to this character than all my other hundreds, for the simple reason that I was able to share such a moment with him.
And Severin still is my closest character. In character-closeness rankings, it goes Severin, Minstrel, Arkadi, Niitari, and Anarawd. Yah, he's even higher than the character I named myself after.
But that never would have happened if RPERS HAD NEVER TAKEN RISKS!
I admit that the Severin example was a different rper taking a risk with my character, but the point is that risk taking is good and should be done more often.
And what was my tie in with these two?
More characters = More risks!
Cause then you won't care if your random side character whose name escapes you decides to go crazy and jump off a cliff.
To get ideas for risk taking or plotting in general, I made a generator long ago called the Hand of Fate. I've used it before, and it helps to get the mental gears churning.
Alright, that's all for the moment. I may make more to this point in another blog post. On to other stuff!
AVATARS!
I was stalking Dawny's blog and found her awesome new avatars from renmarugames and I couldn't help but make my own.
Advent Notredame
When he was little and cute before being kidnapped and experimented on.
Eriacu St. Cerveaux
After he got older and grew his hair more. His eyes are supposed to be more blue.
Jaehazerys East
When he also was younger.
Taikatalvi Norcross/Tockspringe
:< I'm so mean to him...
Tara Solomon
From Death Eaters! Whoo! Her eyes are actually blue-gray hazel, but gray is the best I could pick.
Zeke Romulan
Not the best of him, but I attempted. He's probably thirteen or fourteen in this picture.
I may just add on more to this blog update this evening, but we'll see.
Peace out minions.
